An engineering approach to Software Testing and Test Automation

Complex Data Boundaries: overflow or type mismatch? Complex data types are created by composition of basic data types. Compositions of data of the same type are formed as arrays. Compositions of data of different type are formed as records. There are internal (technical) rules defining how complex data types are managed. The rules are platform and [...] ...

Hospital error leads to radiation overdoses The article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cedars13-2009oct13,0,1200257.story (…) Doctors believed it would provide them more useful data to analyze disruptions in the flow of blood to brain tissue. That meant resetting the machine to override the pre-programmed instructions that came with the scanner when it was installed. “There was a misunderstanding about an [...] ...

Data Container Boundaries: where is the weakness? All the values used by computer programs are classified by type (integer number, floating point number, string, date, etc.), and all data types are internally encoded with numbers. Digital nature of computers makes them specific and discrete with numbers; once-and-forever defined memory cells serve that purpose. The capacity [...] ...

Software Testing is an empirical process. Empirical approach as an opposite to theoretical requires observation, investigation and experimenting. Results of those actions performed are collected, documented, analyzed, and categorized, before conclusion is made. A Scientific Method of Learning consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. [...] ...

The story Maybe the story began when I noticed that a status message (a line displaying text at the bottom of the window) looked somewhat unusual. Or maybe when I checked the log file to investigate, and found out that the program reported “______ file updated”. That looked as a typo, or unsupported characters in the [...] ...

Reference page: Error, Bug, Issue, Incident  More often than other developers, about incidents hear product managers, customer support techs, and product support programmers – whenever an end-user experienced and reported a problem with the software product. However, incident is not necessary a bug. It might be caused by a variety of reasons, like following: Configuration [...] ...

Reference page: Error, Bug, Issue, Incident  The notable comment about word “issue” used in software testing context is that it’s often referred as a problem or an obstacle – which is uncommon meaning.  Generally, an issue is defined as “something that is sent out or put forth in any form” (Dictionary.com). Wikipedia explains this discrepancy with [...] ...

Reference page: Error, Bug, Issue, Incident  Let’s start from definitions. A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Wikipedia.org “An unwanted and unintended property of [...] ...

Reference page: Error, Bug, Issue, Incident Let’s start from definition. “Error – a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech.” Dictionary.com Indeed, in the most circumstances when it was referred as “error” it was a mistake, as in the examples below. Typo, or syntax error in the programming code Logical [...] ...

“We have a build error…”, “You need to investigate that incident…”, “Today I fixed two bugs…”, “We already saw this issue in the last release…”. Are you used to hearing that? Have you ever wondered why there are so many words used talking about software problems? So did I. Looking back to my 15 years being in [...] ...

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Proverbs and quotes Never say, “oops.”  Always say, “Ah, interesting.”  Author Unknown There is no failure.  Only feedback.  Robert Allen Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them.  Andrew V. Mason Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.  Eleanor Roosevelt Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.  Author Unknown A successful person [...] ...

Proverbs and quotes Axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon our pulses: We read fine things but never feel them to the full until we have gone the same steps as the Author. John Keats A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no [...] ...

Design first Before producing any code we need to think of an algorithm first. This is a design phase. Design could be narrow – in this case all the details are created “on the fly”, while coding; or it could be very detailed, with functional diagrams and pseudo-code. Unit Function Design Unit function design aims [...] ...

Proverbs and quotes I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.  Thomas Edison Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.  Rita Mae Brown If the past cannot teach the present and the father cannot teach the son, then history need not have bothered to go on, and [...] ...

Proverbs and quotes You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. Clay P. Bedford Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so [...] ...

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A challenge Requirements are never complete or detailed enough… It might be a risk we have to consider or a challenge we need to take. This applies to anything in our job: from testing to development tasks. How do I handle this? An approach The approach I use I usually call a breakdown or decomposition. One might [...] ...

Is your automation asset or debt? Test Assets? Vendors, offering Test Automation tools, often refer to automation and its elements (i.e. scripts, data files, logs) as “test assets”. I could certainly agree with such reference, if it’s based on the assumption that since time, money, and effort were put [invested] to create those elements, they are assets. [...] ...

SoftwareQATest.com – Software QA and Testing Resource Center by Rick Hower StickyMinds – Software Quality Engineering. Browse articles. ...