Today most of the organizations are moving or have already moved to agile development and testing. Or at least they think so. Sprints and daily stand-ups are common. Everybody is talking about Scrum & minimum viable product. We are tracking the team velocity & burndown. We have cut down on the documentation & invested in working software. Everyone is focused on customer satisfaction by accepting change. But wait a minute! This is too-happy a picture to be true.
Functional Testing
Failing to plan is Planning to fail | What is a Test Plan in Software Testing?
How did you study when young? Ever prepared a time-table? Planned to study during early morning hours or late in the night? Researched about and collected the required books? Decided your approach to understand it or just mug it up? Focused on the main chapters which would yield maximum marks? What if you didn’t plan anything? Yeah! Chaos. You wouldn’t be here reading this in that case…That’s the importance of planning, in every sphere of life & software delivery too.
Manual Testing is NOT dead, but Manual Testers are!
Recently a lot has been written & talked about the future of Manual Testing. Manual Testing is indispensable part of ensuring a high quality software. On the other hand, Automation Tests help you cut down the release cycle time. But usability & human behavior cannot be automated. With reduced time-to-market there is an added pressure on enterprises to seek automation alternatives. With the rise & growth of new technologies, people are more interested in scripting. But Manual Testing is the input to Automation scripts. Unless AI technology matches a human brain, Manual tests are best kept ‘manual’. You cannot automate everything. Cut the crap! Whatever be the debate but still Manual testers are finding it hard to stay relevant in today’s job market. Why?
Agile Project Management | The Manager or A Mentor?
For more than a decade now, Agile Project Management has been used and it wonderfully continues to grow in popularity. It is one effective methodology introducing revolutionary methods for the practice of project management. ‘Agile’ is an umbrella term used for identifying various models used for agile development, such as Scrum. Since agile development model is different from conventional models, agile project management is a specialized area in project management. It is required for one to have a good understanding of the agile development process in order to understand agile project management.
Test Estimation | Even super-testers can go wrong
Most of the QA professionals are among the smartest people on this earth who often boast advanced degrees in engineering, mathematics or computer science. In some ways, we are like Superheroes – capable of breaking down a whole application and defeating an army of programmers with our defects, testing complex functions, juggling numerous technologies, ensuring customer ideas morphed into working software, all the while not breaking a sweat. So how is it that despite such technical savvy, programming prowess and quality driven attitude, we are defeated at test estimation front?
Software Testing is inferior to Development | Why (not)
Though the aspiration for being a successful IT professional is strong, we assume that the word ‘IT professional’ is synonymous with ‘Developer’. When a testing opportunity presents itself, there are many doubts in our minds and we often wonder if it’s the right career move or not. While being a developer is great and has immense potential, it should not be concluded that being a tester means the exact opposite. Let’s explore the reasons behind the perception – Software Testing is inferior to Development,
Automation is NOT a cure-all | Limitations of Automation Testing
In an agile business, automation is becoming an essential process. Companies are now taking advantage of automation testing tools to increase their efficiency and productivity. Automation is frequently evangelized as the cure-all of software quality woes. Some of the benefits that accrue from automated tests include test reusability, repeatability and coverage besides the savings on effort, time and cost it takes for execution (compared to manual testing). However it’s NOT the answer for everything. Test automation, while being able to improve numerous aspects of software development, has limitations that developers and quality assurance teams should be aware of from the start. Understanding these limitations of automation testing will help us devise an efficient & effective automation strategy.
Do we really need Manual Testing?
Quality – Why is this word so important for your software? Software teams today involve a number of people: developers, testers, support engineers, designers, product managers, and executive stake holders. A low quality software impacts all of these or in other words everyone in the team is responsible for the quality of software delivered. When we look into the overall effectiveness or cost manual testing still have a pivotal role to play. Unfortunately, very little discussion is only happening on how to improve efficiency of manual testing instead most of discussions are happening on how to increase the level of automation. Many of us would advocate the fact that Manual Testing is no longer needed, and I know it well why they think so. It is mostly because of the drawbacks and challenges associated with Manual Testing.
How to build an ideal Mobile App Test Plan
‘Mobile App’ is the new buzzword. Then how can one stick to the traditional Test Plan template? The purpose of the Mobile App Test Plan is to define how the testing effort for the App release is planned, executed, and controlled. It is critical to have a rigorous Mobile App Test Plan before the App is deployed. The idea is simple, focus on the value it offers – boil Test planning down to only the essentials and cut all fat and fluff. Test Plan shouldn’t be like any other dead document (resulting in wasted effort) – written, reviewed, referred to a few times and then cast aside as the project moves ahead. A comprehensive Plan gives customers the confidence that an efficient Test process is adopted to ensure optimum App Quality! Let’s have a look…
What is Agile Velocity and why it matters?
Velocity: “the speed of something in a given direction.” And how do you measure it while driving? How do you know that your average velocity is 80 km per hour if you have traveled 160 kilometers in 2 hours’ time? I.e. kilometers traveled in one hour. The same goes for an agile project. Agile Velocity is an extremely simple, powerful method for accurately measuring the rate at which scrum development teams consistently deliver business value. This article explains the principles behind agile velocity tracking.
V Model for Software Development Life Cycle | Verification & Validation
Also known as Verification and Validation model, the V Model is an extension of the waterfall model and is based on the association of a testing phase for each corresponding development stage. This means that the V Model demonstrates the relationships between each phase of the development life cycle and its associated phase of testing. There are Verification phases on one side of the ‘V’ and Validation phases on the other side. The Coding Phase joins the two sides of the V-Model. The horizontal and vertical axes represents time or project completeness (left-to-right) and level of abstraction, respectively. This is a highly-disciplined model and the next phase starts only after completion of the previous phase.
14 Automation Testing Myths, Debunked | Facts and the Fiction
Automation testing is a concept that is heavily marketed today. There has been a real convergence of tools and approaches in automation in recent years. It’s increasingly considered as integral to project delivery, rather than something that exists to cover business-as-usual regression testing after project completion. Faster releases, increased test coverage, frequent test execution, faster feedback to development team, just to name a few are being counted as some of the Test automation benefits. Automation is being portrayed as the silver-bullet in testing technology. But everything is not so ideal. Not every organization (or client) is reaping the actual benefits of Test automation. Certain Automation testing myths must be addressed in order to correctly apply it in the most effective & efficient manner. In this article we shall examine some of the most common automation testing myths and how these prevent organizations from succeeding in Test automation.
AB Testing (A/B) | A statistical approach to optimization
Most of us have had an argument with friends or colleagues about which route is fastest from home to office or vice-versa. How’d you settle that bet? Yeah! Test it out. Leave the same place at the exact same time, via separate routes, and find out whose way is the best. Hope you got a brief idea about AB testing 😉 which is used by today’s designers & marketers to gain insight into visitor behavior and to increase conversion rate. Though one of the easiest and most effective technique for optimization, A/B testing is still not as common as Internet marketing subjects as SEO, Web analytics and usability. People just aren’t as aware of it. Let’s explore more about AB Testing.
Defect Metrics | Severity, Density, Removal, Leakage, Cost and Age
In software testing, it is most important to measure the quality, cost and effectiveness of the project and the processes. Without measuring these, project can’t be completed successfully. The goal of testing is to determine if the requirements are met. During the course of testing, we find defects, or instances where the software does not meet requirements. Hence, in the area of software testing metrics, there has been abundant work in analyzing defects via different Defect metrics.