SOFTWARE TESTING GLOSSARY (Update)

This glossary is a living post – so will be edited as we come across terminology that is not included. If you have any suggestions or disagree with an explanation, drop us an e-mail and let us know. TCL India offer this as a means of establishing glossaries of your own or as a point of reference. This update includes 10 new definitions.

A…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Accessibility: (Testing)Looks at an application to ensure that those with disabilities will be able to use the application as an able individual.

Agile: A development method, involving the creation of software, with the contributing parties, including testing, all working on the same item at the same time.

Alpha: (Testing)Testing of an application which is in production, but not available for general use. This is normally performed by users internal to the business.

Analyst: Person who interacts with the business in order to understand and document their requirements for an application or change to an existing one.

Analyst (Test): Person responsible for the preparation and execution of test scripts, recording and progressing of defects, reporting into the Test Team Leader or Test Manager.

Automation: The process of developing a script or program which can be run by software rather than a Test Engineer, to test an aspect of an application. Automation is used to increase the speed of test execution.

Automation Centre: A tool used in the automation of software testing. Seehttps://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-127-24%5E1074_4000_100__&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

B……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Beta: (Testing)Testing of an application which is in production, but not available for general use. This is normally performed by a select group of friendly external testers.

Black Box: The process of testing without understanding the internal workings of an application, relying on inputs and outputs only.

Bug: See DefectBusiness Requirement Specification: See Requirement Specification

C……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Case: See ScenarioCode: The software that has been produced by development and is being subjected to testing.

Completion Report: A document produced during the testing and presented to the project manager on completion of testing activity. The document should detail the tests that have been performed along with the associated results and defects. Some reports may include a recommendation for the applications suitability for release to production.

Component: The smallest item that is testable or producible. This often refers to a single file of code.

Configuration Management: The means of managing the components required to make a larger item. Applicable to files, documents, data, hardware, software, tools. Understanding of the versions of each component required in order to be able to re-build the larger item.

Criteria: See Entry Criteria and Exit Criteria

D……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Data: Information pertaining to the use of a system or recorded through the use of a system. Data is used in order to test a system, potentially after data cleansing if personal information is involved.

Data Generator: A tool used to generate high volumes of data in order to be able to test many permutations, or to load test an item.

Data Protection Act (DPA): The act that determines how personal data should be used and protected from abuse.

Data Scrambling: The process of altering personal information from data to be used for testing purposes.

Defect: Where the item under test has been found to inaccurate, resulting from testing. Primarily used in associated with software, but equally valid for static testing of documentation.

Defect Detection: The means of identifying a defect. Can be a metric used to predict the volume of defects expected during the course of a project, or as a means of looking back at a project to understand where testing needs to be concentrated in future projects of a similar nature.

Defect Removal Efficiency: A metric used to assess the ability of testing to remove defects as they are introduced, during the software development life-cycle, keeping the cost of testing later phases to a minimum.

Defect Turnaround: The time taken from the identification of a defect, through to the point of resolution. Different levels of granularity may be used. e.g. A focus on the time taken by development.

Developer: A person responsible for the development of an application.

Development: A process of producing an application by production of low level design, code, unit testing and integration in the small testing.

Dynamic: Testing which occurs on the right hand side of the V-model, with the application present.

E……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Environment: The combination of hardware, software and data as used in development, testing and production. The platform/s upon which the testing occurs.

Entry Criteria: The criteria that must be met prior to a deliverable entering the next phase of testing to another. This is normally associated with documented test assets and pre-agreed volumes of defects.

Error: See Defect

Exit Criteria: The criteria that must be met prior to a deliverable leaving the current phase of testing. This is normally associated with documented test assets and pre-agreed volumes of defects.

Execution: The process of working through a script on the application under test, in the testing environment.

F……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Functional: (Testing) The testing of a products function, against requirements and design.

Functional Specification: A document which extracts all of the functional requirements from the requirement specification.

G……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Glass Box: See White Box

Grey Box: Testing performed by testers with some knowledge of the internal workings of an application. See also Black Box and White Box testing.

H……………………………………………………………………………………………………

High Level Design: A design showing the major components and how these will interface to each other, defining the hardware to be used and the software that will be impacted.

I…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 


Integration in the Large: Where the application or applications that have been developed are brought together along with those which have remained unchanged, building a production like system around the application/s. Testing is then applied looking at the communication between the different applications.

Integration in the Small: Where the components of the application that have been developed are brought together along with those which have remained unchanged, building the application or major component of a single application. Testing is then applied looking at the communication between the different components.Integration: The act of bringing many parts together to form a whole.

ISEB: Information Systems Examination Board. This was historically the board that was used to certify test professionals at either Foundation (Entry Level) or Practitioner Level (Advanced). See:http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5732

ISTQB: International Software Testing Qualifications Board. See:http://www.istqb.org/

J…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
K……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Key Performance Indicator: A mechanism built on one or metrics, which determines a band of acceptable performance, which over time is often targeted towards improvement.

L……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Live: See Production

Load: One of the types of performance testing, this looks at testing for the maximum load on the system.

Load Runner: Tool used to performance test one or many applications, to understand how it handles increases in load. See:https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-15-17%5e8_4000_100__

Low Level Design: Definition of exactly how the application/s will be modified or produced in order to meet the requirements and the high level design. This can extend in some examples to elements of pseudo code being defined.

M……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Metric: A measure of an attribute or occurrence in connection with an organisation, department or functions performance.

N……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Non-functional: How an application performs, rather than how it does it.

Non-functional Specification: A document which details the non-functional requirements such as performance, security, operational elements.

O……………………………………………………………………………………………………
P……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Performance Centre: A tool used for measuring the performance of an application or series of applications. See:https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-126-17_4000_100__

Performance: Used to describe many types of testing relating to the speed of an application. See Volume, Load and Stress.

Plan: A document produced for a type of testing defining how the testing will be performed, when the testing will be performed and who will be performing it. The test plan lists the test scenarios that will be scripted.

Preparation: The process of generating the test scripts.

Prince2: A project management methodology that is used amongst a lot of blue chip organizations to bring discipline to the software development life cycle.

Priority: The importance of fixing a defect from a business perspective. Defined by business representatives.

Production: The area or a computer network that contains applications which are in use by real users and contains real data. The area that applications are released to on completion of a project.

Q……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Quality: The suitability of an item for its intended purpose and how well it achieves this.

Quality Centre: Tool used to assist with the management of testing, recording and tracking scripts, logging and tracking defects and more. See:https://h10078.www1.hp.com/cda/hpms/display/main/hpms_content.jsp?zn=bto&cp=1-11-127-24_4000_100__

R……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Regression: Retesting of a previously tested program following modification to ensure that faults have not been introduced or uncovered as a result of the changes made.

Requirement Specification: A document normally produced by a business analyst, capturing the needs of the individual in a manner which means that they can be translated into a software solution.

Re-Test: Taking a defect which has failed and executing the associated test script again.

S……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Safety Critical: Used to identify something for which the use has an impact on personal safety, such as medicinal applications or those used by rescue services.

Scenario: A high level description of how a requirement is going to be tested.

Script: Referable back to the scenario, the script defines each step that must be passed through in order to perform a test, along with the expected results. As the script is executed, results are recorded and if they match the expected result are marked as passed, otherwise as failed. A script containing a failure should have a resultant defect raised.

Schedule: A document, similar to a project plan, but detailing the activities associated with testing, when they are due to occur and who will be performing them.

Severity: The importance of a defect to testing and the application. Defined by Testers

Special Interest Group In Software Testing (SIGIST): A group that has been set up by the British Computer Society, made up of people interested in the subject of software testing.

Smoke: A process of proving an application or environment is ready to commence full testing, by running a sample set of scripts testing the primary functionality and/or connectivity.

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC): The process of taking a requirement and translating it into a fully working application.

Static: The process of testing without the presence of software. Normally refers to the testing of documentation.

Strategy: A document produced at project or programme level, defining what testing is to be performed.

Stress: A form of performance testing, whereby the volume of testing is increased to a point at which the application is deemed to be failing to perform, either due to failure to meet performance criteria or system breakdown.

T……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Technical Architecture Document: Definition of how the business requirements should be translated into a technical solution at the highest level.

Test Bed: A cumulative term used for all of the test environments used by the test department.

Test Director: A tool used for test management, capture of requirements, scripts and defects, with the ability to manage defects through to resolution. Now replaced by Quality Centre.

Test Maturity Model (TMM): A means of measuring a testing department’s level of maturity in a similar manner to that of the capability maturity model (CMM).

Testing: The process of reviewing an item for accuracy and its ability to complete the desired objective.

U……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Unit: The testing of the application by the developers at a component or modular level, looking at whether the code is performing as expected.

User Acceptance: The means of testing applied, normally by members of the business or recipients of the system, whilst still in the test environment. This looks to ensure that business requirements have been understood by all involved in the application production as well as providing an opportunity to check the business processes that the application will be used in conjunction with.

V……………………………………………………………………………………………………

V-Model: A testing focussed software development life-cycle where the process of creativity occurs down the left side of the V and the process of testing up the right side of the V, where each step down the V has a corresponding point of testing up the right of the V. Begins with a requirement and terminates with User Acceptance Testing.

Version: An alpha numeric means of identifying a particular build of software, or a component thereof. The version changes incrementally to reflect each modification of the software, component, document etc.

Volume: (Testing) A type of performance testing which increases the volume of users on a system, in each cycle, taking the volume up to a prescribed limit, normally exceeding optimum load.

W……………………………………………………………………………………………………

W3C: World Wide Web Consortium – body creating web standards and guidelines. http://www.w3.org/

WAI: Web Accessibility Initiative. See: http://www.w3.org/WAI/

Waterfall: Project Management Method whereby each element of the software development life-cycle occurs sequentially.

Win Runner: A tool that was historically used for test automation. See Automation Centre.

White Box: Testing normally performed by developers, looking at the code and ensuring that each model of code is performing as expected. See Unit

X……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Y…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Z…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Contractually Demanding Testing from Developers

It is an experience that testers all over the world will instantly understand. The contract with the development agency makes no demand for them to perform unit and integration (in the small) testing.

How does this manifest itself? Firstly, the Test Manager will specify within the Test Strategy or Test Plans a series of entry criteria, from development into testing. This should comprise test plans, a full suite of test scripts and a series of defects that have been raised. As the development nears completion, the Test Manager will begin to ask for the evidence of the testing and look to meet the entry criteria for Integration (in the large) or formal testing.

At this point the response can be that the unit and integration (in the small) testing has not been contractually specified. The supplier often takes one of two stances, stating that this cannot be achieved, or insisting that the testing can be performed, but at additional cost and increased timescale. This immediately places the Project Manager in an awkward position: they will be unable to agree to the additional time and will not want to incur the increased costs. The normal action at this point is for the Project Manager to accept that a mistake has been made, log a risk and accept that the code will be delivered into testing without development testing having occurred (or proven to have occurred).

The quality of code is now likely to be of a lower standard and the volume of defects expected in the formal testing higher. This may result in additional cycles of testing and increases in costs from this perspective (part of the risks that the Project Manager will have taken on board). As the volume of defects found during the black box testing grows, the demand on the development agency increases and care should be taken to ensure that defect fix times are monitored. These are likely to slow as the volume of defects increases and this should be reported to the Project Manager as soon as it is seen. A good contract will have service level agreements(SLAs) in place, to ensure that defect turn-around is at a specified rate depending on severity and priority.

If the development agency has failed to perform their own testing, the demand is placed on the testing team or test supplier and the estimates that they will be working to should be re-visited. If testing is working on a fixed price contract, failure to meet entry criteria should constitute a change request and the ability to re-price.

It may be possible to insert some of the test team with the developers, allowing them to test unit and integration (in the small) in parallel to the developers. Alternatively, testers with a technical bent can be asked to look at the code, perhaps performing dry runs. If the testing is being performed but the deliverables are not being made available, then it may be possible to witness some of the testing that is occurring. It must be said that these last two points are more geared to damage limitation, rather than ensuring that the right level of quality has been built into the product.

We need to avoid this in the first place, so ensure that your organisation's Supply Chain has a standard wording that is inserted into all contracts with development agencies protecting from such events. For smaller organisations that do not have a Supply Chain function, bring the Test Manager on board for up-front consultancy; they should look to ensure that this does not happen. A further measure is for the development agency to be asked to sign off the test strategy, which should detail the entry criteria into the formal (black box) testing phase, giving the buyer some level of recourse. Lastly, as a Test Manager, don't leave it until the end of development to find you have a problem - identify it as early as possible and get written agreement that the appropriate testing will take place and that the test assets produced will form part of a deliverable.

Metrics & KPIs

Metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are a key aspect to any successful Test Function and to any service delivery. TCL India recognise the importance and can deliver Metrics and KPIs as a natural part of their service capability, bringing them together to form a balance scorecard. This accumulation of data is sometimes referred to as a dashboard and is designed to provide a single visual display of how the service is performing against expectation.

The TCL India Scorecard is broken into 7 key areas, although more areas of interest can be added if the client requires. These are the key components that are considered to be essential to the measurement of the service and the Testing it delivers.

Estimation : Accuracy : Overspend Areas : Environments : Code Delivery : Design : Requirements

Cost : Blended Rate : Cost per Defect : Onshore vs. Offshore : Cost per Project : Scale : Complexity

Responsiveness : Acknowledging Resource Requests : Identification of Candidates : Placement of Candidates : Staff Replacement : Issue Resolution

Satisfaction : Survey Responses : Project Feedback : Value Add : Innovations

Deliverables : Quality : Timely Delivery : Appropriate Sign Off : Resource Quality

Development Quality : Unit Testing : Code Delivery : Accuracy of Code : Defect Turnaround

Effectiveness : Defects by Phase : Root Cause : Analysis : Defects in Live : Script Coverage

These metrics are grouped together and provided to the client in a single diagram. The rings represent the targeted achievements for each of the primary areas, converted into a single scale. The points of the star are representative of how close to achieving the target the service has achieved. This means that the rings can be set at the required level for a period of time, or adjusted monthly, driving through change within the service.