Software Quality and Testing Basics

Overview

• Topic: Basics of software quality and testing, including roles of testing, QC, and QA throughout the project life cycle.
• Focus: Key definitions, the importance of testing, stages where testers are involved, and what defects are.

Quality: Definitions and Perspectives

• ISO: Quality is how well inherent characteristics fulfill requirements.
• ISTQB: Quality is how much a component or system meets requirements or customer needs.
• ASQ: Quality is meeting stated needs and being free from deficiencies.
• Developer view: Quality means code matches specs, follows best practices, and works correctly.
• User view: Quality is reliability, security, appearance, speed, ease of use, and friendliness.
• Core idea: The main goal of quality is happy users.

Why Testing Is Necessary

• People make mistakes, which leads to defects and unhappy users.
• Testing does not guarantee zero defects, but improves quality by finding and fixing issues.
• Helps prevent users from finding defects in production.
• Testing is sometimes required for product delivery to meet standards.

Testing, Quality Control (QC), and Quality Assurance (QA)

• Testing: Compares actual app results to expected outcomes; aims to find defects and report on quality.
• Quality Control: Analyzes metrics and statistics after testing; checks if the product meets acceptance criteria and is ready for use.
• Quality Assurance: Improves development processes to prevent defects; focuses on proactive process improvement.

Product vs Process Focus

• Testing and QC focus on the product and its current quality.
• QA focuses on the process to prevent defects before they happen.

QC vs QA: Comparison

Project and Project Life Cycle

• Project: An activity to achieve a goal with fixed resources and within limited time.
• Project features: Clear goal, coordinated actions, uniqueness, and resource limits (budget, time, people).
• Life cycle stages: Initiation, Planning, Development, Testing, Release, Support, Closure.

Testing Team Involvement Across Stages

• Initiation: Rare; may assess idea or concept viability.
• Planning: Test requirements and create detailed test documentation.
• Development: Continue test documentation, review and expand functional specifications, and perform prototype testing.
• Testing: Execute functional and non-functional tests; report results.
• Release: Process user feedback, validate fixes, and do regression testing.
• Support: Similar to release; handle fixes and do regression testing as needed.
• Closure: Testers usually not involved.

Cost of Defects Over Time

• Early defect discovery is less costly—fixes can be made by adjusting concepts.
• Late discovery (after release) increases costs, as it may require redoing major project phases.

Defects and Bugs

• Defect/bug: An error in the system or program that causes incorrect or unexpected behavior.
• The terms are similar; the main point is both refer to problems that affect the product.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Quality: Meeting requirements and user needs; absence of deficiencies.
• Testing: Comparing actual vs. expected outcomes to find defects and report on quality.
• Quality Control (QC): Analyzing outcomes after testing to determine product readiness.
• Quality Assurance (QA): Improving processes to prevent defects.
• Defect/Bug: Error in the system causing incorrect or unexpected behavior.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Learn how to raise and describe defects.
• Study testing strategy to better organize work and increase defect detection.