Best Practices for the Formal Software Testing Process

This is the digital version of the printed book (Copyright © 2004).

Testing is not a phase. Software developers should not simply throw software over the wall to test engineers when the developers have finished coding. A coordinated program of peer reviews and testing not only supplements a good software development process, it supports it.

A good testing life cycle begins during the requirements elucidation phase of software development, and concludes when the product is ready to install or ship following a successful system test.

Nevertheless, there is no one true way to test software; the best one can hope for is to possess a formal testing process that fits the needs of the testers as well as those of the organization and its customers.

A formal test plan is more than an early step in the software testing processit's a vital part of your software development life cycle. This book presents a series of tasks to help you develop a formal testing process model, as well as the inputs and outputs associated with each task. These tasks include:

• review of program plans
• development of the formal test plan
• creation of test documentation (test design, test cases, test software, and test procedures)
• acquisition of automated testing tools
• test execution
• updating the test documentation
• tailoring the model for projects of all sizes

Whether you are an experienced test engineer looking for ways to improve your testing process, a new test engineer hoping to learn how to perform a good testing process, a newly assigned test manager or team leader who needs to learn more about testing, or a process improvement leader, this book will help you maximize your effectiveness.

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