Software Testing Terminology
Software testing is a crucial part of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that ensures the quality and functionality of a software product. Effective communication within a testing team and with other stakeholders requires a strong understanding of the terminology used. This article provides a detailed breakdown of common software testing terms, categorized for easy reference.
Core Concepts
- Bug/Defect: An error, flaw, or imperfection in the software that causes it to produce unexpected results.
- Test Case: A set of instructions designed to verify a specific functionality of the software.
- Test Suite: A collection of test cases grouped together to test a particular module or feature of the software.
- Test Plan: A document outlining the overall testing strategy, scope, resources, and schedule.
- Requirement: A documented description of what the software needs to achieve.
- Quality Assurance (QA): The broader process of ensuring the overall quality of the software, encompassing testing activities but also preventive measures.
- Quality Control (QC): A subset of QA focused on verifying that the software meets specific quality standards.
Testing Types
- Black-Box Testing: Testing the software from the user’s perspective, without knowledge of the internal code.
- White-Box Testing: Testing the software with a thorough understanding of the internal code structure.
- Functional Testing: Verifying if the software functions as per the defined requirements.
- Non-Functional Testing: Evaluating qualities of the software beyond core functionality, such as performance, usability, and security.
- Acceptance Testing: Formal testing conducted by the end-user or customer to determine if the software meets their acceptance criteria.
- Unit Testing: Testing individual units of code (functions, modules) in isolation.
- Integration Testing: Testing how different software components interact with each other.
- System Testing: Testing the entire software system as a whole.
- Regression Testing: Re-running previously successful test cases after modifications to ensure functionality hasn’t regressed.
- Smoke Testing: Basic high-level testing conducted before more thorough testing to identify critical issues early on.
- Sanity Testing: Brief testing to ensure a new build is stable enough for further testing.
- Exploratory Testing: A session-based, creative approach to test the software based on the tester’s experience and intuition.
Testing Techniques
- Equivalence Partitioning: Dividing input values into valid and invalid categories for testing.
- Boundary Value Analysis: Testing software behavior at the edges of defined input ranges.
- Decision Coverage: Ensuring all decision points (if/else statements) in the code are exercised during testing.
- Error Guessing: Anticipating potential errors based on experience and designing tests to uncover them.
Additional Terminology
- Defect Lifecycle: The process a bug goes through, from being identified to being fixed and verified.
- Test Automation: Using scripts or tools to automate the execution of test cases.
- Test Data Management (TDM): Creating, managing, and storing data used for testing purposes.
- Severity: The seriousness of a bug, impacting its priority for fixing.
- Priority: The urgency of fixing a bug based on its severity and potential impact.
- Code Coverage: The percentage of code executed during testing.
Conclusion
By understanding this terminology, software testers can effectively communicate with each other, developers, and other stakeholders. This fosters a collaborative environment that leads to the delivery of high-quality software products.