Introduction - strategy for software testing | Verification and Validation (V & V)

Introduction - strategy for software testing

• Testing is the process of exercising a program with the specific intent of finding errors prior to delivery to the end user.
• A strategy for software testing provides a road map that describes the steps to be conducted as part of testing.
• Any testing strategy must incorporate 
• Test planning,
• Test case design,
• Test execution,
• Resultant data collection and Evaluation.

What Testing Shows

A Strategy Approach to software testing

• Testing is a set of activities that can be planned in advance and conducted systematically.
• For this reason a template for software testing—a set of steps into which you can place specific test case design techniques and testing methods—should be defined for the software process.
• Generic characteristics of Strategy Approach to software testing.
• To perform effective testing, you should conduct effective technical reviews. By doing this, many errors will be eliminated before testing commences.
• Testing begins at the component level and works “outward” toward the integration of the entire computer-based system.
• Different testing techniques are appropriate for different software engineering approaches and at different points in time.
• Testing is conducted by the developer of the software and (for large projects) an independent test group.
• Testing and debugging are different activities, but debugging must be accommodated in any testing strategy.

Verification and Validation (V & V)

• Software testing is one element of a broader topic that is often referred to as verification and validation (V&V).
• Verification refers to the set of tasks that ensure that software correctly implements a specific function.
• Validation refers to a different set of tasks that ensure that the software that has been built is traceable to customer requirements.
• Boehm states this another way:
• Verification: “Are we building the product right?”
• Validation: “Are we building the right product?”

Who Tests the Software?