License To Crack - Basic Questions on Testing

What is Software Testing

Software development is a process in which a software product or project is developed to fulfill the needs of a customer and deliver them with specified cost and time period, Who would want to make products of no standards or stability in today's IT world? Well, if there are any, then they are the ones who do not consider Software Testing as a must. They also do not consider the quality of the product. It is a process of evaluating a system manual or automatic means and verifies that it satisfies specified requirements or identifies differences between expected and actual results.

Why to test

The very basic question that arises in everyone's mind about testing is Why to test? .Talking in terms of real life situations, we Check any vegetables before we buy, we Check the television before we buy and we Check the car before we buy and so on. So, we check or inspect the article/ object, before us using that. This applies to software also and software is no exception to this.

To better understand the important of testing, let us take a typical banking application, which uses software. If the application is going to wrongly post the transaction, and the balance is not shown correctly, the bank will start losing its business. In a nuclear reactor, the control mechanism of nuclear explosion is taken care by a sophisticated software; and if that does not work properly, the rector may act as a super, it has the same ability to perform 10000 wrong operations in one second, if not tested properly.

So, testing becomes absolutely essential to make sure the software works properly and does the work that it is meant to perform. A product can be made better (or at its best) only after it goes through a proper process of development, testing and bug fixing. Not only should it go through this process, but there should also be a good and healthy relation between the developers and the testers to attain this objective.

What to test

Any working product which forms part of the software application has to be tested. This includes any programs and the associated data. The program may be an exe file or a servlet or an active server page etc. The data also must be tested for accuracy. Date includes the database information an any stored procedures or triggers that act on the data.

Among the programs and data, the programs need more attention and must be tested rigorously. If the programs are tested right, there is a higher probability that the data will also be correct, but not necessarily.

How often to test

Since the programs and date are tested, testing has to be performed, wherever they change. When a program (source code) is modified or newly developed, it has to be tested. The controlled conditions should include both normal and abnormal conditions. Testing should intentionally attempt to make things go wrong to determine if things happen when they shouldn't or things don't happen when they should. In short it can be termed as "Creatively Destroying the Product".

Also, whenever the future and volume of data changes, the application has to be tested. As an analogy, when we buy a new television, we test it before taking it home. At the same time, in case of any repair work, we re-check or re-test the television unit, before we take it. This is applicable to software also.

Who tests

When a programmer initially codes a program, he/she himself/herself test it. This is similar to a student who writes an exam, checking the answers by self. This is to make sure that the price developed by the programmer meets the expectations of the programmer. This is first round of test, that the software piece undergoes. After the programmer makes sure that the software piece works fine, their is a separate team that ensures that the software product works as per the requirements. It is typically the testing team that does this round of testing. This way, the software is observed by different pairs of eyes. This is similar to a teacher evaluating the answer papers of the student, for correctness.

Finally the software is tested by the customer/client/end-sure. Because the software is going to be used ultimately by the client, in his/her place. This is similar to a person, buying a car, is actually doing a test drive of the car, before buying the car.