Agile Testing & Test Management Responsibilities

Introduction

• The Foundation Level qualification in software testing is for individuals involved in software testing roles, such as testers, analysts, engineers, consultants, and managers
• It is also for those needing a basic grasp of software testing, including project, quality, product, and development managers, alongside business analysts and IT directors
• Possessing a Foundation Certificate enables individuals to pursue advanced software testing qualifications

Business Outcomes

• The value of software testing is recognized, along with fundamental concepts
• Adapting the implemented test approaches and activities depending on the context is essential
• Documentation can be improved with a focus on effectiveness and efficiency
• Proper alignment of the test process with the software development lifecycle is key, along with understanding management principles
• Defect reports should be written and communicated clearly and understandably
• Factors influencing priorities and efforts are understood, leading to effective participation in cross-functional teams
• Risks and benefits of test automation as well as essential testing skills are recognized
• The impact of risk on testing is understood for progress and quality reporting

What is Testing?

• Software systems are integral to daily life, and defects cause problems, including financial loss, time, reputational damage, injury, or death
• Software testing assesses quality and reduces software failure risks during operation
• Software testing discovers defects and evaluates the quality of software artifacts
• Software artifacts, when tested, are test objects
• Testing involves more activities and aligns with the software development lifecycle, not just running software and checking results
• Testing includes both verification (checking if the system meets requirements) and validation (checking if the system meets users' and stakeholders' needs) Testing can be:
• Dynamic Testing
• Static Testing
• Static analysis and reviews are part of static testing while the execution of software is part of dynamic testing
• Test cases are derived with differing techniques and approaches in Dynamic Testing
• Testing is not only technical but requires planning, management, estimation, monitoring, and control
• Testing is largely intellectual using analytical skills, critical and systems thinking, and specialized knowledge
• The ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-1 standard further explains software testing concepts

Test Objectives

Typical objectives include:

• Evaluating work products (requirements, user stories, designs, code)
• Triggering failures and finding defects
• Ensuring test object coverage
• Reducing risks from inadequate software quality
• Verifying fulfilled specified requirements
• Verifying compliance with contractual, legal, and regulatory requirements
• Providing stakeholders with information to make informed decisions
• Building confidence in the quality of the test object
• Validating test object completeness and functionality to stakeholder expectations
• Objectives vary based on work product, test level, risks, software development lifecycle, and factors

Testing and Debugging

• Testing and Debugging are SEPARATE activities
• Testing triggers failures that are a result of defects in the software (dynamic testing) or defects in the test object (static testing)
• Debugging is concerned with locating the cause of failures (defects), analyzing them, and eliminating them
• The typical debugging process involves:
  • Reproduction of a failure
  • Diagnosis (finding the root cause)
• Subsequent confirmation testing checks to see if the fixes resolved the problem
• Preferably, confirmation testing shall be done by the same person who performed the initial test
• Regression testing can check whether fixes are causing failures
• Debugging removes defects when static testing identifies them

Why is Testing Necessary?

• As a form of quality control, achieving goals within scope, time, quality, and budget constraints via testing is crucial
• Any stakeholder can bring a project closer to success with testing skills by identifying software defects
• Testing defects are detected in a cost effective means
• Testing aids user understanding and assures needs are being met
• Testing can meet contractual or legal agreements

Testing & Quality Assurance

• Quality assurance (QA) and testing are different, although terms are often used interchangeably, and testing is a form of quality control (QC)
• QC is product-oriented, corrective, achieving appropriate quality levels
• Formal methods, simulation, and prototyping are used among others
• QA IS A preventive approach
• QA is process-oriented, and focuses on process implementation and improvement
• Both development and testing benefit from QA and good processes generate good products
• QA also benefits test results to fix defects

Errors, Defects, Failures, and Root Causes

• Errors (mistakes) by humans produce defects (faults, bugs), which may result in failures
• Errors occur due to time pressure, complex work, processes, infrastructure, interactions, fatigue, or inadequate training
• Defects exist in documentation, source code, or supporting artifacts and may lead to defective artifacts later
• Defects in code cause a systems failure to do what it should or cause it to do other things
• Failures are also caused by environmental conditions like radiation
• Addressing and removing root causes prevents recurring failures or defects which are identified through the root cause analysis

Testing Principles

Following are some key principles:

• Testing shows the presence of defects not the absence. (Buxton 1970)
• Exhaustive testing is impossible (Manna 1978). Test techniques, case prioritization, and risk-based testing is used to focus test efforts rather than attempting to test exhaustively
• Early testing saves time and money. Costs are reduced because fewer failures occur later in the SDLC (Boehm 1981). Static and dynamics should be applied early
• Defects cluster together (Enders 1975). Defect clusters are important input for risk based testing
• Prediction of defect clusters can be found using the Pareto principle
• Tests wear out (Beizer 1990). Existing tests and data can be modified with automated regression testing to increase their effectiveness
• Testing is context dependent (Kaner 2011). There is no single universally applicable approach
• Absence of defects fallacy. It is a misconception to expect that verification will ensure system success. Thorough testing of all the finding defects could still produce inferior systems

Test Activities, Testware, and Test Roles

• Testing is context dependent, but there are common sets of activities without which testing is less likely to achieve test objectives
• These sets of test activities form a test process
• The test process can be tailored to a given situation based on various factors
• Which test activities are included in this test process, how they are implemented, and when they occur is normally decided as part of the test planning for the specific situation
• The ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-2 standard provides further info

Test Activities and Tasks

• A test process consists of main activities and iterative or parallel implementation
• Testing activities are tailored to the project and system
• Test planning consists of defining test objectives and an approach achieving objectives with imposed constraints

Test Monitoring and Control

• Test monitoring involves ongoing checking of all activities and comparison of progress against the plan
• Test control involves taking actions necessary to meet testing's objectives

Test Analysis

• Test analysis includes analyzing the test basis to identify testable features and to prioritize test conditions, along wit risks and levels
• The basis and test objectives are also evaluated to identify potential defects and testability
• Test analysis answers the question “what to test?” in terms of measurable coverage criteria

Test Design

• Test design includes elaborating test conditions into test cases and other testware and identifying coverage items to guide specification inputs
• Used to support the activities
• Test design includes defining test data requirements, designing the test environment, and identifying needed infrastructure and tools, and answers the question “how to test?”

Test Implementation

• Test implementation includes creating/acquiring necessary testware
• Test cases are organized into test procedures and suites
• Setting up the correct tested environment

Test Execution

• Runs the test in accordance to the test execution schedule (test runs) which can either be manual or automated
• Test execution can take many forms like continuous testing or pair testing sessions
• Test results compared with expected results
• Any anomalies are analyzed to identify their likely causes

Test Completion

• Occurs at milestones for any change requests or product backlog items created
• Archived or handed to the appropriate teams when useful
• Lessons and improvements for future iterations are also recorded
• Shutting down the test environment is important
• A generated completion report is created and shared to the stakeholders

Test process in Context

Testing is not only carried out during the test team activities Testing also depends on factors like:

• Stakeholders (needs, expectations, requirements, willingness to meet)
• Member Skills
• Business Domain

Testware

• Needed for test activities from the Test activities
• Consistency and integrity are assured from work products
• Different organizations manage, name, and shape their work products depending on organizational needs

Test planning work products

• Includes test plan, schedule, risk register and entry with exit criteria.

Risk Register

• A list of risks together with their likelihood, impact and info

The test monitoring & control work products

• Include the test progress reports, risk implementation

Testing

• Provides users with
• Indirect representation on the dev project
• Testers ensure that their understanding are thought out through the development.
• Testers help
• Comply with regulatory standards
• Meet contractual agreements

Test Activities & Task

• Process
• Test monitoring / control.
• Actual testing
• Analysis
• The test objects testability.
• Test data supported for test techniques
• Analysis answers the question "what to test"

Test Analysis work products

• Include prioritized test conditions-acceptance criteria, and defect reports
• Defects regarding test basis.
• Test charters-coverage and requirements
• Test environment
• Verification and building test environment
• Testing needs to consider a number of areas

Traceability between Test Basis and Testware

It is to

• Establish and maintain Traceability
• Evaluate how the test monitoring and control processes throughout testing defects

Roles in Testing

• Principal roles in testing
• Test management
• Testing role

Roles and responsibility

• Dev team

• The test organization is covered with skills of the people and the test approach

Engineering

• Testing -Test analysis

• Agile framework
• The way a development manager can handle the team

Essential Skills

• The ability for testers to work is crucial
• A tester is someone to work on the project in teams

Skills from other teams

• Testers and skill

• Technical knowledge
• Communication skills
• Analytically thinking
• Domain knowledge to understanding the clients

Testing skills needs to

• Bring project to success
• Improve quality. Communicate and a constructive way

Whole Team Approach

• The team has many different approaches
• The team have skillsets can perform tasks.
• They share a work space.
• Communication

Test Levels

• Component: Testing components in isolation, often performed by developers.
• Component Integration: Testing the interfaces and interactions between components.
• System: Overall behavior and capabilities of system, sometimes simulations of sub-systems are possible
• System Integration: Interfaces with external services.
• Acceptance: Readiness for user deployment

Context of Software

1. software
2. Architecture
3. Tech used
4. Project constraints
5. Regulations
6. Quality requirements

Test Techniques

• Support the test by using "what to test"
• Used to create cases systematically test cases

Technique use

• Classifying
• Black box
• White box
• Easy
• Test cases
• Analysis-how the test tool works
• Independent of how. implementation

• Implement structure and
• Need for cases
  • Tester uses and knowledge to design and create test cases.
  • Need to detect defects

Static review

• Examination is manual
• Test needs to include improving quality checking
• Test consistence
• The process is completed, and users need to be able to understand the testing skills

Driver for development

• BDD-desired behavior
• ATTD derive best acceptance criteria and design process

Automation

• CI-promotes shift left for coding
• Non- functional quality
• Less need for manual testing
• However, it can be not easy
  • It need a lot of work
• Manual testing will always be used

Agile

• Early testing is important

• Review specifications before testing
• Tests cases used before codes is run and implemented under the test
• Completing and static coding that tests automated, and source testing as part of the whole process

Good testing practices in the chosen model SDLC include a

• Corresponding testing activity. So that all of the development activities are focused and completed

*TESTING IS KEY