Software testing refers to the process of evaluating a software program, to know whether it has the quality and complies with predetermined requirements. Through testing, software professionals aim to single out and correct mistakes at an initial phase. It is a significant aspect of QA (quality assurance) and an essential element of software development. Now, let us discuss some tips for testing and quality assurance.
Have A Quality-Centric Business Philosophy
The philosophy of a software development company will determine how well (or bad) the development process will be. The developing software’s quality has to matter to the company, and this is something which top-quality work is based on. It takes time to produce fine code and correct bugs, but software testing is beyond an element associated with the service for which money has to be spent. It is a useful investment too, as faulty software is much costlier and does not go down well with users.
Know The Importance Of Quality
Your team of software developers must know how important it is to build a top-quality software program. The developers also have to know the effects that program errors might have for a business, especially on the applications that are critical to keeping it running.
The initial step of QA begins with programming, which has to do with incorporating a fine software concept and software design. With the right approach and top-quality coding, it is possible to prevent consequent errors and other issues in an easy way. Bug fixing has to be a smart and clean solution, rather than a temporary way of dealing with an issue. Albeit it takes slightly longer occasionally, temporary solutions that do not address underlying issues can be elsewhere in improper places.
Remember That QA Is No Stage
Neither quality assurance (QA) is the first link in software development, nor is it the final link. QA is among the steps in the continuing agile software development process. Software testing occurs in every single version of a software program, and the components of development will be executed only after testing. So, it has to be there as a standard and continuing element of daily software development.
Identify And Define All Your Requirements
Before starting software development, it is important to define the quality criteria and requirements of the to-be-made program. This must be done because every developer and stakeholder has to understand what program should be developed. Besides, another reason to do the aforementioned is that it allows bringing together many different ideas concerning quality and requirements.
As per ISO 9126, software quality aspects are categorized into requirements namely functionality, usability, reliability, maintainability, portability, and efficiency. The software testing professional have to check quality criteria and each of the aforesaid requirements. The results have to be conveyed early by means of fine documentation so that any errors that occur in development can be fixed early enough.
Have Dedicated Staff For Testing
Software testing has to be allocated to one who is devoted to this task. This assures that software testing is performed in a professional manner with focus, not casually. Testing is beyond clicking through a to-be-made software program; a cheap workforce will not replace it. Every strategy, standard and guideline should be followed in testing. Automated testing must be done as a general rule. Every relevant test has to be part of the process from the get-go and implemented without interruption. Only dedicated professionals can offer the experience and expertise necessary in methodological testing.
Use Automated Testing
Test automation is common these days. Automatic equipment has to do around 80% of all software tests. It is very helpful to have automation for standard tests that have repetitions or the ones that are not easy to perform manually.
Automated software tests can be divided into the following.
- Unit tests
- Integration tests
- Component tests
- GUI (Graphical User Interface) tests
- Acceptance tests
However, testing everything through automation is impossible. For instance, testing related to the usability of software cannot be done using automated tools. So, manual testing has to be a vital part of SQA (software quality assurance).
Ensure Good Communication Among Team Members And Stakeholders
An extremely significant aspect of software quality management is communication. It is possible to address, reconstruct and correct software bugs only through good documentation. Besides fine communication in a team of software developers, it is also essential to have fine communication with customers. For instance, not communicating fresh specifications early enough, could just cause more costs and major delays in the software development project. Feedback has to be a frequent aspect of SQA to keep the team and customers updated on the present state of the development project.
Ensure There Are Values To Be Had For Everyone
Everybody who takes part in the software development project has to know the advantages of both testing and quality standards. If customers exit a software-based platform, like an ecommerce website, for instance, what would the repercussions and expenses be? That customer action could bring about considerable revenue loss for you. This is reason enough to put money and resources into building top quality software programs.
Finding product errors and defects allows identifying and resolving issues for both developers and customers. So, customer concepts like prebuilt design should be improved. When the concepts do not work in software usability testing, especially for mobile phones, the tester will be able to tackle the issue in time. Designs can then be tweaked, and thereby, any loss of revenue avoided.
Not knowing testing and quality requirements tends to mean a resource shortage. There could not be anything worse than interns or unqualified personnel replacing professionals or testing being canceled completely.
Keep Improving And React To Any Change
Continuous betterment is the key in the agile software development process. The same goes for software testing.
Methods and tools for software testing to guarantee quality constantly keep emerging. If a project’s criteria changes, tried and tested processes will not go well with those requirements and can no longer be utilized together. So, testing professionals have to keep learning about new techniques and tools, plus scrutinize present processes frequently. For this, the following are useful.
- Sharing knowledge among company teams and testing professionals; and,
- Discussing strategies, trends, issues and their possible solutions in conferences and groups.
The aforementioned helps in adapting and optimizing software testing and other processes, efficiently.
Use Fine Testing Tools
Tools are important especially for automated testing. Besides well-structured processes and work methods, testing professionals must use the tools that help to streamline their work.
