MTAT.03.159: Software Testing€¦ · the deliverables of a single design phase • Communicates change poorly – Does not show how changes, fixes, ... Automated vs. Manual New test

MTAT.03.159 / Lecture 06 / © Dietmar Pfahl 2013

MTAT.03.159: Software Testing

Lecture 06: Test Lifecycle,

Documentation and

Organisation

(Textbook Ch. 6, 7, 8) Dietmar Pfahl email: [email protected] Spring 2013


Announcement

• Guest lecture by Ibrahim Akman (Atilim University,

Turkey)

• Title: Assessing Software Quality Using Markov

Decision Processes

• Date: Monday, May 20

• Time: 12:15-13:45

• Room: J. Liivi 2-403


Clarification

Statement vs. Block coverage

if(cond)

statement1;

statement2;

else

statement3;

statement4;

statement5;

if(cond)

blockA;

else

blockB;

c1

s1 s3

d1 d2

s2 s4

s5


Clarification


if(cond)

statement1;

statement2;

else

statement3;

statement4;

statement5;

if(cond)

blockA;

else

blockB;

Test Case -> cond=d1 (true):

40% statement coverage / 50% block coverage

c1

s1 s3

d1 d2

s2 s4

s5


Clarification


if(cond)

statement1;

statement2;

else

statement3;

statement4;

statement5;

if(cond)

blockA;

else

blockB;

Test Case -> cond=d2 (false):

60% statement coverage / 50% block coverage

c1

s1 s3

d1 d2

s2 s4

s5


Project Report & Presentations

• Project reports of ALL

project groups are due by

Friday, 17 May, 19:00

• Presentation schedules for

each lab group will be

posted on Monday, 20 May

• Presentation time: 10 min

incl. 1-2 min for questions

• Presentation content:

– Brief intro/motivation of topic

– Sources used

– Overview/illustration of

proposed solutions

– Brief discussion of

advantages/disadvantages

– Conclusion


Structure of Lecture 6

• Test Lifecycle

• Test Levels (Ch. 6)

• Test Planning and Documentation (Ch. 7)

• Test Organisation (Ch. 8)

– Organization Approaches (Kit’s book Ch. 13)

– Competences


Test Process – The Management View


Process Types: from Waterfall to Agile


V-model

Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Build

Test

Requirements

Design

Unit test

Integration test

System

Acceptance test

Code


Assumptions of V-model

• It helps to have a blueprint laid out in advance – It is easier to think about a product in terms of a hierarchy

of blueprints

– It is good to test each blueprint

– It is good to use each blueprint as a basis for testing

• It is much easier to find faults in small units than in large entities

– Testing of large units can be carried out more easily when the smaller parts are already tested

• It is better to finish a given task before starting work on another task

Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Build

Test


Benefits of the V-model

• Intuitive and easy to explain

– Matches to familiar waterfall

– Makes a good model for training of people

– Shows how testing is related to other phases/activities of

the waterfall process

• Scalable / adaptable to various situations

– If the team is experienced and understands the inherent

limitations of the model

• Beats the code-and-fix approach in larger projects

– Better quality

Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Build

Test


Weaknesses of the

V-model

• Document driven – Relies on the existence, accuracy, and timeliness of

documentation

– Asserts testing on each level is designed based on the deliverables of a single design phase

• Communicates change poorly – Does not show how changes, fixes, and test rounds

are handled (rework!)

• Testing windows get squeezed

• Based on simplistic waterfall model

• Does not fit into iterative development

Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Build

Test


Excursion:

Levels, Types, and Phases –

not the same thing

≠ ≠


Test Levels

Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Build

Test

• Test level – a test level is a group of test activities that focus

on a certain level of the test target

– Test levels can be seen as levels of detail and

abstraction

– How big is the part of the system we are testing?

≠ ≠


Dimensions of Testing

unit

integration

system

efficiency

maintainability

functionality

white box black box

Level of detail

Accessibility

Characteristics

usability

reliability

(module)

portability

Test Levels


Test Types

• Test type – evaluate a system for a number of associated

quality goals

– Testing selected quality characteristics

– Testing to reveal certain types of problems

– Testing to verify/validate selected types of functionality or parts of

the system

• Common test types

– Functional: Installation, Smoke, Concurrency (Multi-User)

– Non-Functional: Security, Usability, Performance, …

• A certain test type can be applied on several test levels and

in different phases

≠ ≠



unit

integration

system

efficiency

maintainability

functionality

white box black box

Level of detail

Accessibility

Characteristics

usability

reliability

(module)

portability

Test Types


Test Phases

• Test phase – Test phases are periods of time in a development process (exclusively) dedicated to testing

• Test phases do not always match test levels or types

– In iterative development test phases may not match test levels one-to-one

• Often, there is unit testing but no unit test phase

• You can have several integration phases

– or integration testing without an integration phase

– Phases might match the test levels • as depicted in V-model

≠ ≠



unit

integration

system

efficiency

maintainability

functionality

white box black box

Level of detail

Accessibility

Characteristics

usability

reliability

(module)

portability

Missing dimensions:

Test Phase

Automated vs.

Manual

New test vs.

regression test

…


Testing in different process types

Programmers

Testers

Waterfall model Agile model(s)

Customer

Programmer

Programmer

Tester

Idea: Testing in collaboration


“What is time-paced development?” – Time is fixed, scope changes, e.g. Scrum

• 30 days to complete iteration or sprint

• 90 days to complete release 1

• 90 days to complete release 2

• 180 days for whole project


Challenges of Testing in Agile / Time

Paced Development

• Requirements change all the time

• Specification documents are never final

• Code is never ‘finished’, never ‘ready for testing’

• Limited time to test

• Need for regression testing in each increment

– Developers always break things

– How can we trust that the code is not broken?


Requirements

Unit

testing

Coding

Module

design

Architecture

design

Functional

specification

Acceptance

testing

System

testing

Integration

testing

Testing in Time-Paced Development

• Testing is not a phase

– But part of each development

task

• Software is developed

incrementally

– It has to be tested incrementally

• Rapid, time-paced development

– Time-boxed releases and increments

– Deadlines are not flexible

• Scope is flexible

– Testing provides information for scoping


Approaches to Testing in Time Paced

Development

• Automated regression testing

– Automated unit testing

– Test-driven development

– Daily builds and automated tests

• Stabilisation phase or increment

– Feature freeze

– Testing and debugging at the end of the increment or release

• Separate system testing

– Independent testing

– Separate testers or testing team Testing

Increments


A Combined Testing Approach


Coping with the Challenges

• Requirements change all the

time

• Specifications are never final

• Code is never ‘finished’, never

ready for testing

• Not enough time to test

• Need, to regression test

everything in each increment

• Developers always break things

again

• How can we trust?

• Let them change, test design is

part of each task

• Focus on developing ‘finished’

increments, tracking on the task

level

• Testing is part of each

development task

• Trust comes from building-in the

quality, not from the external

testing ‘safety net’

• Automation is critical



• Test Lifecycle





– Competences



unit

integration

system

efficiency

maintainability

functionality

white box black box

Level of detail

Accessibility

Characteristics

usability

reliability

(module)

portability

Test Levels


Test levels vs development paradigm

Level OO Procedural

Unit Method Function or procedure

Module Class Group of functions or

procedures

Integration Cluster of

classes

Subsystem

System System System


Unit testing

• Unit = smallest testable software component (e.g. labs 1 and 2)

– Objects

– Procedures / functions

– Reusable components

• Tested in isolation

– Should be planned and results public (in team)

• Usually done by programmer during development

– A pair tester can help

• The textbook idealizes a heavy weight model for unit testing

– “The unit should be tested by an independent tester (someone other than

the developer) and the test results and defects found should be recorded

as a part of the unit history”

• Also known as component or module testing


Scaffolding

Test Harness

(automated

test framework)


Test-driven development

1. Write a test

2. See it fail

3. Make it run

4. Make it right

(refactor)


Integration testing

• More than one (tested) unit

• Detecting defects

– On the interfaces of units

– Communication between units

• Helps assembling incrementally a whole system

• Non-functional aspects if possible

• Done by developers/designers or independent testers

– Preferably developers and testers in collaboration

• Often omitted due to setup difficulties

– Time is more efficiently spent on unit and system tests


Integration Testing – Procedural


Integration Testing – OO


System testing

• Testing the system as a whole

• Functional

– Functional requirements and

requirements-based testing

• Non-functional

– Performance, stress, configuration,

security, ...

– As important as functional

requirements

– Often poorly specified

– Must be tested

• Often done by independent test

group

– Collaborating developers and testers


Types of system testing


Regression testing

• Testing changed software

– Retest all

– Selective regression testing

• Regression test suite

• Types of changes

– Defect fixes

– Enhancements

– Adaptations

– Perfective maintenance

[Skoglund, Runeson, ISESE05]


Retest all

• Assumption:

– Changes may introduce faults anywhere in the code

• BUT: expensive, prohibitive for large systems

• Reuse existing test suite

• Add new tests as needed

• Remove obsolete tests (discrepancies between

expected and actual output)


Selective regression testing

• Impact analysis

• Only code impacted by change needs to be retested

• Select tests that exercise such code

• Add new tests if needed

• Remove obsolete tests


Acceptance testing (α, β)

• Final stage of validation – Customer (user) should

perform or be closely involved

– Customer can perform any test

they wish

– Final user sign-off

• Approach – Mixture of scripted and

unscripted testing

– Performed in real operation

environment

• Project – Contract acceptance

– Customer viewpoint

– Validates that the right

system was built

• Product – Final checks on releases

– User viewpoint throughout

the development; validation



• Test Lifecycle





– Competences


Test Management

• Goal

• Policy

• Plan

• Follow-up

• Reach India

• Go west

• Get three ships

• …


Test Planning

• Objectives

• What to test

• Who will test

• When to test

• How to test

• When to stop



Software Project Management Plan

Goals

• Business

• Technical

• Business/technical

• Political

Quantitative/qualitative

Policies

• High-level statements

of principle or courses

of action

• Govern the activities

implemented to

achieve stated goals


Hierarchy of test plans


Test Planning – different levels

Test

Policy

Test

Strategy

Detailed

Test Plan

Detailed

Test Plan

Detailed

Test Plan

Detailed

Test Plan

Company or

product level

Project level

Test levels (one for each within

a project, e.g. unit, system, ...)

Master test plan

Acceptance test plan

System test plan

Unit and integration test plan

Evaluation plan

Number of needed levels depends on context (product, project, company, domain, development process, regulations, …)

Master

Test Plan

Master

Test Plan


Purpose of test case (planning)

• Organization

– All testers and other project team members can review and use test

cases effectively

• Repeatability

– Know what test cases were last run and how so that you could

repeat the same tests

• Tracking

– What requirements or features are tested?

– Tracking information’s value depends on the quality of the test

cases

• Evidence of testing

– Confidence (quality)

– Detect failures


Defect report (Test incidence report)

• Defect ID

• Date detected

• Project ID

• Defect type

• Location

• Symptoms

• Tester/inspector

• Defect origin

• Phase injected

• Phase detected

• Defect repair time

• Related problem

report



Survey of defect reporting in SW industry

Laukkanen E. I. and Mäntylä M. V., "Survey

Reproduction of Defect Reporting in Industrial Software

Development" in Proceedings of the 5th International

Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and

Measurement (ESEM), 2011


Test results report

• Test cases executed

• Versions tested

• Defects found and reported


Standards

• IEEE 829-1998

Standard for Software Test Documentation

• IEEE 1012-1998

Standard for Software Verification and Validation

• IEEE 1008-1993

Standard for Software Unit Testing

->

• ISO 29119

Software Testing Concepts


Overview of ISO 29119


Test plan according to

IEEE Std 829-1998 (Appendix II)

a) Test plan identifier

b) Introduction

c) Test items

d) Features to be tested

e) Features not to be tested

f) Approach

g) Item pass/fail criteria

h) Suspension criteria and

resumption requirements

i) Test deliverables

j) Testing tasks

k) Environmental needs

l) Responsibilities

m) Staffing and training

needs

n) Schedule

o) Risks and contingencies

p) Approvals


Test Plan (1)

a) Test plan identifier

b) Introduction

– Product to be tested, objectives, scope of the test plan

– Software items and features to be tested

– References to project authorization, project plan, QA plan, CM plan, relevant policies & standards

c) Test items

– Test items including version/revision level

– Items include end-user documentation

– Defect fixes

– How transmitted to testing

– References to software documentation

Slide not shown in lecture;

Only illustrative background info


Test Plan (2)

d) Features to be tested

– Identify test design / specification techniques

– Reference requirements or other specs

e) Features not to be tested

– Deferred features, environment combinations, …

– Reasons for exclusion

f) Approach

– How you are going to test this system • Activities, techniques and tools

– Detailed enough to estimate

– Completion criteria (e.g. coverage, reliability)

– Identify constraints (environment, staff, deadlines)




Test Plan (3)

g) Item pass/fail criteria

– What constitutes success of the testing

– Coverage, failure count, failure rate, number of executed tests, …

– Is NOT product release criteria

h) Suspension and resumption criteria

– For all or parts of testing activities

– Which activities must be repeated on resumption

i) Test deliverables

– Test plan

– Test design specification, Test case specification

– Test procedure specification, Test item transmittal report

– Test logs, Test incident reports, Test summary reports




Test Plan (4)

j) Testing tasks

– Including inter-task dependencies & special skills

– Estimates

k) Environment

– Physical, hardware, software, tools

– Mode of usage, security, office space

– Test environment set-up

l) Responsibilities

– To manage, design, prepare, execute, witness, check, resolve issues, providing environment, providing the software to test

m) Staffing and Training needs




Test Plan (5)

n) Schedule

– Test milestones in project schedule

– Item transmittal milestones

– Additional test milestones (environment ready)

– What resources are needed when

o) Risks and Contingencies

– Testing project risks

– Contingency and mitigation plan for each identified risk

p) Approvals

– Names and when approved




Test plan quality criteria

Usefulness – Will the test plan effectively serve its intended functions?

Accuracy – Is the test plan document accurate with respect to any statements of

fact?

Efficiency – Does it make efficient use of available resources?

Adaptability – Will it tolerate reasonable change and unpredictability in the

project?

Clarity – Is the test plan self-consistent and sufficiently unambiguous?

Usability – Is the test plan document concise, maintainable, and helpfully

organized?

Compliance – Does the test plan meet externally imposed requirements?

Foundation – Is the test plan the product of an effective test planning process?

Feasibility – Is the test plan within the capability of the organization that must use

it?



• Test Lifecycle





– Competences


7 approaches to test organisation

1. Each person’s responsibility

2. Each unit’s responsibility

3. Dedicated resource

4. Test organisation in QA

5. Test organisation in development

6. Centralized test organisation

7. Test technology centre

[Kit, Software Testing in the Real World Ch 13, 1995]


1. Each person’s responsibility

+ Natural solution - Testing own software

Product

developers

M

P P P P

P

T


2. Each unit’s responsibility

+ Solves dependency

problem

-Two tasks

-Double competency?

Product

developers

M

P P P P

P

T

P

T


3a. Dedicated resource

+ Solves multiple task problem

+ Single team

- Management of two types

- Competency provision

Product

developers

M

P P P T

P T


3b. Dedicated resource on a large scale

+ Solves mgmt problem

of 3a

- Where to put

organiztion?

Product

developers

M

P P P P

Product

developers

M

P P P P

Test developers

TM

T T T T


4. Test organisation in QA

+ Solves mgmt problem of 3b - Teamwork problems?

- TDG lost in QAO

- PDG not responsible for final product

Test Development

QAO

Group

Product Development

PDO

Group


5. Test organisation in development

+ Solves mgmt problem of 4

+ May solve teamwork

problem of 4

- Dependent on management

communication

Test Development

Group

Product Development

PDO

Group


6. Centralized test organisation

+ Solves mgmt problem of 5

+ Career path for test mgmt

- VP key for test

- Teamwork at low level?

- Consistency of methods?

Test Development

Group

Product Development

VP

Group


7. Test technology centre

+ Solves consistency

problem of 6

- VP key for test

- Teamwork at low

level?

Test Development

Group

Product Development

VP

Group

Test Technology

Group

SE


Which organization

should we choose?

• Depending on

– size

– maturity

– focus

• The solution is often a

mixture of different

approaches


Criteria for choice of

organization

A. Support for decision making

B. Enhance teamwork

C. Independence / Autonomy

D. Balance testing – quality

E. Assist test management

F. Ownership of test technology

G. Resources utilization

H. Career path


Decision matrix

A B C D E F G H Sum

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


Test Specialist Skills

– personal and managerial

• organizational, and planning skills

• keep track of, and pay attention to, details

• discover and solve problems

• work with others and be able to resolve conflicts

• mentor and train others

• work with users and clients

• strong written and oral communication skills

• work in a variety of environments

• be creative


Test Specialist Skills – Technical 1(2)

• education in software engineering principles, and

methodologies

• strong coding skills and an understanding of code structure

• understanding of testing principles and practices

• understanding of basic testing strategies, methods, and

techniques

• experience to plan, design, and execute test cases and test

procedures on multiple levels

• process issues


Test Specialist Skills – Technical 2(2)

• networks, databases, and operating systems

• configuration management

• test-related documents

• define, collect, and analyze test-related

measurement data

• testing tools and equipment

• quality issues


Recommended

Textbook Exercises

• Chapter 6

– 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12

• Chapter 7

– 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11

• Chapter 8

– 2, 3, 6, 7, 9


Next Week

• Lecture 6:

– Tools, Metrics, and Test Maturity Model

• Lab 6:

– Project presentations

• In addition to do:

– Submit project reports before Friday, May 17, at 19:00

– Read textbook chapters 6-8 (available via OIS)

Documents

MTAT.03.159: Software Testing€¦ · the deliverables of a single design phase • Communicates change poorly – Does not show how changes, fixes, ... Automated vs. Manual New test