Posts Tagged ‘Software Test’

Software development means, creating software to fulfill the specific needs of the customers. Depending upon their requirements, the software outsourcing firms develop customized software solutions. The client requirement can be an open source software or program for personal use.

Software development is an extension of computer programming. In programming, programmers design and write, test and troubleshoot, and maintain the source code of the computer programs. The source code is written in programming language. Software development extends beyond programming and it includes research and development, modification for re-use, re-engineering, maintenance and any other activity, which creates desired software product.

The software outsourcing firm can follow a structured, engineering based approach or an incremental approach depending upon the requirements of the project. However, most software development methodologies adopted by the software development firms, adopt an approach which is a mix of below mentioned stages:

• Understanding and analyzing the specific needs/problems of the customer.
• Devising a strategic plan or design for the software-based solution.
• Implementation (coding) of the software.
• Test running of the software.
• Deployment.
• Maintenance and bug fixing (quality check)

These all stages are combined together to create a software development life cycle or SDLC. Depending upon the specific needs of the clients the software outsourcing firm creates and delivers a specific software solution. This involves development of software at above mentioned stages, in different orders. The development process may devote more or less to any particular stage depending upon the requirements of the project.

The development software firm can adopt a “Waterfall” (structured) or an extreme approach. The extreme approach lays more emphasis on coding and development of automated tests and spends less time on planning and documentation. A more structured approach like the Waterfall methodology analyzes the risks and develops a detailed plan before the beginning of the coding phase of the software development cycle. This prevents design changes and re-coding in later stages of project.

Depending upon the complexity of the software requirements of the customers, software outsourcing company can select and follow the methodologies available to them. Waterfall approach is the best option when the developer understands the requirement completely and it is possible to plan a solution well ahead of time. If however, the project appears to be a complex one and is prone to risks then the best option is to adopt an extreme approach, like an incremental methodology. It is a step-by-step process and minimizes the risks associated with such project. It is advisable to adopt extreme approach when a software problem does allow enough space for proper planning and development of the project. The present day software outsourcing company has at its disposal, different methodologies to develop software solutions for its clients. Waterfall, Prototyping, Incremental, Spiral and Rapid Application Development (RAD) are some of the widely used methodologies by the modern day software outsourcing firm.

Mr. Jim John is the Sr. SEO Expert in Tatvasoft. TatvaSoft is a leading software development company in India. The company focuses on custom application development for all the clients cost effectively. TatvaSoft delivers superior solutions pertaining to software development using advanced technologies such Asp.Net, C#, VB.Net, PHP, Silverlight, Flex and many others. Clients get comprehensive software development services with a round the clock uninterrupted support.

Author: Jim John
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

Why prevent defects?

During software testing projects there can be an overwhelming desire to get software testing underway so as many defects as possible can be uncovered quickly. However rushing into software testing like this may not be the most efficient approach.

From a software testing perspective, and in terms of defect repair costs, software test coverage and software test personnel effort it is more effective to eliminate as many defects as possible prior to testing the software.

Cost of Repair Inefficiency Industry data for the cost to repair a defect given the stage of development the defect is uncovered in shows clearly that it is more expensive to resolve an issue later in the project life cycle. For example, finding a defect in system test tasks 40 times more effort to resolve than finding the same defect in the requirements stage. Since the value of cost is relative, the base value maybe defined in terms of money, time or effort.

Again, as an example, when testing starts at the Unit Test stage the relative cost to repair a defect is already twenty times that to repair the defect had it been uncovered at the Requirements stage.

In short, the cost to repair an issue increases significantly between stages, in particular when the customer uncovers a defect.

Clearly, finding defects as early as possible during product development, especially prior to formal software testing, will be the most cost effective option.

Test Coverage Inefficiency

1. Defects block code from being executed.
2. Defects can mask other defects existing in a program.
3. The code that the defect is located in must be executed.
4. The code must be executed with the proper data to cause the defect.
5. The defect must propagate to the test results being verified.

Given the effect that blocking and masking have on software testing test execution and the criteria to uncover a defect (i.e. the code the defect is located in must be executed), it follows that the more defects that can be uncovered prior to testing then the more efficient testing will be due to reduced masking and blocking effects.

Tester Inefficiency

When software testers start to uncover the same defect repeatedly or have to restart testing due to an incorrect release they can begin to feel they are merely a technician for a sloppy development group and not a testing professional.

This can have a detrimental effect on a software tester’s motivation towards their job. Within the software testing team it can sometimes result in the software tester adopting attitudes like, “Why should I care about my work if the others clearly do not care about theirs.”

Clearly if repeated or “obvious” issues can be removed prior to testing, and proper product releases delivered, then a tester can spend their time uncovering more critical, challenging defects making their contributions to product quality more significant.

How to prevent defects

Fortunately two methods exist that can uncover defects early in the development cycle:

1. Software Reviews, Inspections or Walkthroughs
2. Configuration Management

In fact Software Reviews (et al) and Configuration Management methods have been shown, empirically, to reduce defects in software more so than any other software development technique, methodology, languages, etc.

Software Reviews, Inspections, or Walkthroughs

This essentially covers reviews of project artifacts such as design documentation, code, test scenarios, or any other artifact associated with a software development project. The basic premise is that an artifact is presented to peers and they are tasked with looking for defects. A review can be held at any stage and for any project artifact.

Configuration Management

Configuration Management is the process of systematically handling changes that occur to a product during a project and afterwards when the product is delivered to a customer (where the customer can be considered to be the test team). It involves determining a project/product baseline in terms of artifacts (documentation, code, executables, etc); controlling these artifacts and the changes to them; and recording and reporting the status and changes to these artifacts over time.

Conclusion

In conclusion it is important, from the software testing perspective, not to overlook the importance of preventing software defects early on in the development and design process. For the software tester preventing many types of defects early on in the software development life cycle is likely to result in higher levels of job satisfaction as the software tester has the opportunity to then employ his or her skills to full effect at the stage of the project where software testing really matters. And as part of the software testing process, it is important for the tester to get involved far earlier in the software development process if these benefits are to be realized.

William Echlin
http://www.SoftwareTesting.net
William Echlin is managing director of Traq Software Ltd, the company behind http://www.SoftwareTesting.net providing news, reviews and articles on software testing tools.

Author: William Echlin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canada duty tariff

It has become obvious that a company is only as efficient as its software. This is the technology age. More is being done faster and more automated than ever before. Anyone who is running a business has seen the benefits of software development. Unfortunately along with this development comes many errors, glitches, and set backs. Developing new software can be a very painful process if the right measures are not followed. Imagine integrating software that is supposed to track and order inventory only to have it implemented and cause crashes on the system. This would take hours to fix and you still need to be running business as normal to keep your customers happy. Whether your IT group is developing its own application or you are integrating a third party application to help you manage a critical business function, it is a good idea to consult with experienced software developing companies. They will limit the potential risks accompanied by installing new application. These consulting companies have extensive experience making test software to help you ensure that your application will function as you expect and that there won’t be other problems.

Software Development companies take the testing responsibility so your valued IT staff can focus on their core competencies. Many times in-house IT groups lack the time, resources and experience to thoroughly test new applications. Allowing an outside source to take on this responsibility of making a software test will save you time and keep the business running as usual. Some of the main advantages of Software Development companies are they have streamlined test practices, proven methodologies, clear and comprehensive test planning, complete test metrics with trend analysis, total knowledge transfer and ongoing skill-building training programs.
A company is only as efficient as its IT group typically. Let them thrive in their area of expertise and allow outside professionals with test making software to take care to the integration and implementation of new complicated applications. This will show that you understand the skill set of your IT group and that you want to help them help the company. It is important that you test making software in a controlled environment.
Software development companies have controlled environments and will discover and troubleshoot many of your new applications problems before you even have to deal with them. Listed below are ways software development companies test new software. Regression Testing is the term used for re-testing after fixes or modifications of the software or its environment. Re-running test cases for a new build of software that includes new features, to ensure that product features still work. Automated Testing Tools can be very effective for this type of testing process.

Other types of test done are; user acceptance testing, installation testing, negative testing, and smoke testing. User acceptance testing involves testing based in specifications or use of the end-user. It determines if the software meets the acceptance criteria and should be widely implemented in an organization. The installation testing makes sure that in the cases of an unexpected event that information on the system will be preserved. These events could be loss of power or insufficient memory. Negative testing attempts to find the situations where the software fails. This is very important as it will help prevent future problems that will arise. Smoke test is part of the initial testing process to determine if a new software version is performing well enough to undergo further testing. For example if the software causes crash, slows down the system or corrupts data it isn’t ready for further testing. With all of these available tools and test in most cases you are better of relying on professional software development companies with their own test making software.

Mark Keller is a Client Account Specialist for 10x Marketing, an internet marketing company. If you would like to learn more about Test Making Software visit Aculis.com.

Author: Marc Keller
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
PCB stencil online quote