Establishing Clear Communication Channels and Expectations

We’re fortunate in testing that we generally follow a well-defined process, have clear role definitions and test tools to support us. Our test tools record activity, manage planned and current activity, and support communication between teams and individuals. This is in the form of bugs and passed & failed tests. The process is there to steer us safely through difficult periods of a project when many people around us may be making irrational decisions.

Don't Overlook It

I’m not sure why but automated security testing is, without doubt, the poor relation to all other types of automated testing. The software testing industry has been trying super hard to automate functional testing for well over 20 years – and the results have been patchy at best. I see all sorts of attempts but it’s rarely questioned as a sensible aspiration, even in situations when the return on investment (ROI) is nowhere to be seen. We relish the thought of automating unit tests and even have whole conferences dedicated to test driven development. 

Strategies for Effective UAT

One of the perks I’ve enjoyed about being a Consultant is that I’ve been able to work in a number of different organisations in a range of roles. I’ve had the pleasure of working in some very small private companies to massive companies with offices around the world, as well as a number of public and government organisations, again both large and small. One would think that each of these different environments would have their own unique challenges, and they do to a certain degree, but you’d be surprised how many things are exactly the same across the board.

Introduction: Understanding the Significance of Software Testing

So, the big question is ‘Why Test’? Let’s face it, we do take it for granted that things just work or at least should work all the time. But products, services and applications are generally all thoroughly tested before they reach you, giving you a great user experience. It’s very easy to take things for granted, like taking a flight; you simply book your flight online, print or download your tickets and you’re off… But in the background, there’s a million other things happening you probably don’t even realise. 

Selecting the Right Performance Testing Technique

There are many different types of performance test – sometimes referred to as performance testing techniques. It’s not always easy to know which you need so this article aims to give some guidance on the performance testing technique you might want to consider for your system.

A Comprehensive Guide For Requirements

That’s not technically true… I’d love to spend time with family, eat chocolates and open a small selection of functional, relevant and meaningful gifts along with a stack of Christmas Pudding and brandy butter and maybe user acceptance test a glass or two of Baileys! 

However, as we hurtle along towards the festive season at an astonishing rate, I’d like to blog about requirements in software testing as they are so crucial to getting a good outcome, but so often hard to obtain. 

The Possibilities & The Impact of UAT on Agile Performance

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development is based on twelve principles:

1. Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software
2. Welcome changing requirements, even in late development
3. Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months)
4. Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers

Guidelines for Implementing Regression Testing

Regression testing is performed to verify that a code change executed in the software does not impact the existing functionality of the product. By regression testing, you are making sure that the product works fine with new functionality, any bug fixes or changes with existing features. Previously executed test cases are re-executed in order to verify the impact of change has not adversely affected existing functionality.

Don't Push Aside Your QA Team

Like other engineering principles, software engineers should be responsible for delivering high quality, bug free products that work under all conditions. I wholeheartedly agree that developers (and the whole team) should be accountable for product quality and there needs to be a mind, and culture, shift so that the responsibility of quality control is not abdicated to the testing team.

Risk Assessment and Analysis

As testers we are inclined to try to test everything, however factors such as timescales, available resources, technical complexities and costs can prevent this from happening.

We need to use the resources we have as effectively as possible, we need to test the most important things as a priority.