1. Can you tell me about yourself?
Answer: In my QA career, I have been working on various system
platforms and operating systems like Windows 95, Windows
2000, Windows XP and UNIX. I have tested applications
developed in Java, C++, Visual Basic and so on. I have tested
Web-based applications as well as client server applications.
As a QA person, I have written Test Plans, Test Cases, attended
walkthrough meetings with the Business Analysts, Project
Managers, Business Managers and QA Leads. I have attended
requirement review meetings and provided feedback to the
Business Analysts. I have worked in different databases like
Oracle and DB2, wrote SQL queries to retrieve data from the
database. As far as different types of testing is concerned, I have
performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing,
Black Box Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and
UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Testing. I have participated in
Load Testing and Stress Testing.
I have written defects as they are found using ClearQuest and
TestDirector. Once the defects were fixed, retested them and if
the passed, closed them. If the defects were not fixed, then
reopened them. I have also attended the defect assessment
meetings as necessary.
In the meantime, a continuous interaction with developers was
necessary.
2. What did you do in your last project?
Answer: In my last project, the application was a web-based
application developed in Java platform. As a QA Person, I wrote
Test Plans from the requirement documents and Use Cases. I
performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing,
Black Box Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and
UAT (User Acceptance Testing). I have participated in Load
Testing and Stress Testing. I attended several walkthrough
meetings for requirement reviews and provided feedback to the
Business Analysts. Mostly, I was in the backend testing, which
required writing SQL queries directly to the database.
Besides these, I wrote defects using ClearQuest. Once the
defects were fixed, retested them and if the passed, closed them.
If the defects were not fixed, then reopened them.
3. Have you written Test Plan? What is a Test Plan? What
does it include?
Answer: Yes.
What is a Test Plan?
Answer: A Test Plan is a document that describes the scope,
approach, resources, and schedule of intended testing activities.
It identifies test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks
and who will do each task (roles and responsibilities) and any
risks and its solutions.
What does a Test Plan include?
Answer: A Test Plan includes Heading, Revision History, Table of
Contents, Introduction, Scope, Approach, Overview, different
types of testing that will be carried out, what software and
hardware will be required, issues, risks, assumptions and sign off
section.
4. Have you written Test Cases?
Answer: Yes.
What is a Test Case? What does it include?
Answer: A Test Case is a document that describes step-by-step
process how to test the application. A Test Case includes Test
Case ID, Steps Description, Expected Output, Actual Output,
Pass/Fail, and Remarks. (Remember, this is NOT a part of Test
Plan. It is a separate document written using Excel. In some
companies, they use Rational TestManager or TestDirector. But
for companies, who do not have these tools, use Excel sheet. In t
he example below, it is in the Excel sheet)
Did you use any tools to write Test Cases?
Answer: Yes. I have used TestDirector (now called QualityCenter)
and Rational TestManager to write Test Cases. However, in most
of the companies, I used Excel sheet.
How many Test Cases did you write in your last project?
Answer: I wrote about 1100 Test Cases in my last project. (The
reasonable number of Test Cases varies from 500 to thousands.
The number 1100 test cases can be completed in 6-month project
duration).
What document did you refer to write the Test Cases?
Answer: Requirement document. (NOTE: It can also be Use
Cases, or Design Document. It depends company to company. In
some company, they use Use Cases. In some companies, they
use Requirement Documents and in companies, they use Design
Document. However, in practical scenario, most of the companies
have requirement document at least).
5. Did you have a situation where you did not have any
documents (no requirement document, no Use Cases, or no
Design Document) and you had to write the Test Cases?
How did you write the Test Cases in this situation?
Answer: Yes. I have been to that kind of scenarios several times.
There were companies where they had no documents at all. In
that case, I had to discuss the application scenario and
functionalities with the Business Analysts or developer. On the
basis of that discussion, I prepared a document in consultation
with Business Analysts and Developers and then started writing
Plans and Test Cases.
6. What you worked with Use Cases before?
Answer: Yes. I have written Test Cases using Use Cases.
Can you tell me what a Use Case is?
Answer: A use case is a document that describes the user action
and system response for a particular functionality.
7. What is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)?
Answer: SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) is the process
of developing software through business needs, analysis, design,
implementation and maintenance. Software has to go through
various phases before it is born which are as follows:
(i)Generating a Concept – A concept comes from the users of the
software. For example, a Pizza Hut may need software to sell
pizza. An Indian store may need software to sell its newly arrived
movies or grocery. The owner of the company feels that he needs
software that would help him in tracking his expenses and income
as well as enhance the selling process. This is how the concept is
generated. The owner will specifically tell the software company
what kind of software he would need. In other words, he will
specify his requirements.
(ii) Requirements analysis – After the owner (user) knows his
requirements, then it is given to a software team (company) who
will analyze the requirement and prepare requirement document
that will explain every functionality that are needed by the owner.
The requirement document will be the main document for
developers, testers and database administrators. In other words,
this is the main document that will be referred by everyone. After
the requirement documents, other detailed documents many be
needed. For example, the architectural design which is a blueprint
for the design with the necessary specifications for the hardware,
software, people and data resources.
(iii) Development: After the detailed requirement documents
(some companies have design documents instead of requirement
documents), the developers start writing their code (program) for
their modules. On the other hand, the testers in the QA (Quality
Assurance) Department start writing Test Plans (one module=1
test plan), test cases and get ready for testing.
(iv) Testing: Once the code (programs) are ready, they are
compiled together and to make a build. This build is now tested by
the software testers (QA Testers)
(v) Production: After testing, the application (software) goes into
production (meaning, it will be handed over to the owner).
(vi) End: And one day, the owner will have say bye to the software
either because the business grows and this software does not
meet the demand or for some reason, the he does not need the
software. That’s the end of it.
8. What is Business Requirement Document (BRD)?
Answer: It is a document that describes the details of the
application functionalities which is required by the user. This
document is written by the Business Analysts.
9. What is Business Design Document?
Answer: It is the document that describes the application
functionalities of the user in detail. This document has the further
details of the Business Requirement Document. This is a very
crucial step in Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
Sometimes the Business Requirement Document and Business
Design Document can be lumped together to make only one
Business Requirement Document.
10. What is a Module?
Answer: A ‘Module’ is a software component that has a specific
task. It can be a ‘link’, which can go inside to its component detail.
(This is NOT a very common question for the interview. This is
just for your knowledge, if you don’t know what a module is.)
11. What is walk-through meeting?
Answer: Once the Business Analysts complete the requirement
document, they call a meeting to explain how the functionalities
work, what the process is in the designed application and other
details. The Business Analysts explain the high level
functionalities of the application (software) that is going to the
built. The participant members in the meeting may provide feed
back and various point of views are expressed. This is
walk-through meeting.
12. What is a Use Case and what does it include?
Answer: A Use Case is a document that describes the user action
and system response for a particular functionality. It includes
cover page, Revision History, Table of Contents, Flow of Events
(normal flow and alternative flow), Exceptions, Special
Requirements, Pre-conditions and Post-conditions.
13. What is Build?
Answer: When each of the different modules of software is
prepared, the Configuration Management Team (CMT) puts them
in a single folder and it is called the ‘Build’. . (This is NOT a very
common question for the interview. This is just for your
knowledge, if you don’t know what a build is.)
14. What does the Build Deployment mean?
Answer: When the Build so prepared by the CMT (Configuration
Management Team), it is deployed (put) to different Test
Environments, it is called the Build Deployment.
15. What is Test Strategy?
Answer: A Test Strategy is a document that describes the test
efforts, test configuration, testing tools to be employed, test
environments, exit criteria and entry criteria for testing, what
different types of testing will be carried out (for example, smoke
test, regression, load test, functional test and so on) types of
testing to be carried out and system requirement. The Test
Manager or Lead writes it. (Remember, the Tester does NOT
write Test Strategy. A Tester writes Test Plans and Test Cases)
16. Are Test Plan and Test Strategy same type of
documents?
Answer: No, they are different documents. A Test Plan is a
document that collects and organizes test cases by functional
areas and/or types of testing in a form that can be presented to
the other teams and/or customer (see the definition on this page
for Test Plan) where as the Test Strategy (see the definition in the
above question) is the documented approach to testing. The
tester prepares test Plan whereas the Manager or lead prepares
the Test Strategy. Both are important pieces of Quality Assurance
processes since they help communicate the test approach scope
and ensure test coverage while improving the efficiency of the
testing effort.
17. What does Test Strategy include?
Answer: It includes introduction, Test Objectives, Test Process,
Test Methodology, Test Scope, Release Criteria for Testing (exit
criteria), Test Lab configuration, resource and schedule for test
activities, acceptance criteria, test environment, test tools, test
priorities, test planning, executing a test pass and types of test to
be performed.
18. What are different types of software testing and define
them?
Answer: Different types of testing are:
1) Unit testing
2) Shakeout testing
3) Smoke testing (Ad-hoc testing)
4) Functional testing
5) Integration testing
6) Regression testing
7) System testing
8) Load testing
9) Stress testing
10) Performance testing
11) User acceptance testing
12) Black box testing
13) White box testing
14) Alpha testing
15) Beta testing
(Note: Except the Shakeout testing and Unit testing (which are
respectively done by the CMT (Configuration Management Team)
What is Unit testing?
It is a test to check the code whether it is properly working or not
as per the requirement.
What is Shakeout testing?
This test is basically carried out to check the networking facility,
database connectivity and the integration of modules. The
Configuration Management team, who prepare builds for test
environments, normally does this test. They also test whether the
major components of the software are not broken. This test is
done BEFORE the build is deployed in the test environment. After
the shake out testing, the next step is smoke testing (which is
done by the testers after the build is deployed in the test
environment)
What is smoke testing?
This test is done when the build is just prepared (fresh build) and
deployed in the test environments. This is basically an ad hoc test
to check roughly to make sure the major functionalities are not
broken. It is the preliminary a test carried out by the QA tester.
After the smoke test, the testers perform functional testing.
What is Functional testing?
It is a test to check whether each and every function of that
application is working as per the requirement (remember this
work “as per requirement document”-you must say this in the
interview). It is a major test where 80% of the tests are done. In
this test, the Test Cases are executed (or run).
What is Integration testing?
It is a test to check whether all the modules are combined
together or not and working successfully as specified in the
requirement document. (Just for your information: Each developer
works on different modules. When they finish their code, the
configuration management team puts them together and prepares
a build. We, as testers, need to make sure that these modules,
which are now combined, work as per requirement document)
What is Regression testing?
When a new functionality is added to the software, we need to
make sure that the added new functionality does not break the
other parts of the application. Or when defects (bugs) are fixed,
we need to make sure that the bug fix has not broken the other
parts of the application. To test this, we perform a repetitive test,
which is called regression test.
What is System testing?
When testers complete testing (The testers test the application in
the test environments, meaning they test with the test data only,
NOT with the real data), the application (software) has to be
tested in the real environment. What it means is, since the testers
test it in the test environment with the test data, we have to make
sure that the application works well in the real environment with
the real data. In test environment, some of the things cannot be
simulated or tested. Al though the test environment is very similar
to the production (real) environment, we need to make sure that
we get a smooth delivery in the real system as well (As servers
are different and database is different, things may not work as
expected when the application is moved from test environment to
production environment)
What is Load testing?
It is a test to check the user’s response time for number of users
using any one scenario (single business process) of the same
application at the same time.
What is Performance testing?
It is a test to check the user’s response time for number of users
using multiple scenarios (multiple business process) of the same
application at the same time.
(Did you notice the difference between Load Testing and
Performance testing? What is it? See the highlighted bold letters)
What is Stress testing?
In this type of testing the application is tested against heavy load
such as complex numerical values, large number of inputs, large
number of queries etc. which checks for the stress/load the
applications can withstand.
What is User acceptance testing (UAT)?
In this type of testing, the software is handed over to the user in
order to find out if the software meets the user expectations and
works as it is expected to. In this testing, the tester may do the
testing or the clients may have their own testers (For example,
banks may have their own teller employees who can test the
application).
What is Black box testing?
It is test where a tester performs testing without looking into the
code. (OR it is a testing method where the application under test
is viewed as a black box and the internal behavior of the program
is completely ignored. Testing occurs based upon the external
specifications. Also known as behavioral testing, since only the
external behavior of the program is evaluated and analyzed.)
What is White box testing?
It is a test where a tester looks into the code and performs the
testing.
What is Alpha testing?
In this type of testing, the users are invited at the development
center where they use the application and the developers note
every particular input or action carried out by the user. Any type of
abnormal behavior of the system is noted and rectified by the
developers.
What is Beta testing?
In this type of testing, the software is distributed as a beta version
to the users and users test the application at their sites. As the
users explore the software, in case if any exception/defect occurs
that is reported to the developers.
19. What is the difference between Load Testing and
Performance Testing?
Answer: Basically Load, Stress and Performance Testing are the
same. However, Load testing is the test to check the users’
response time of number of users of any one scenario of the
application whereas Performance Testing is the test to check the
user response time for multiple scenario of the same application.
20. What was the process of QA testing in your company
where you worked for the last time? (Or As far as the QA
process is involved, what was the testing process in your
company?)
Answer: The QA testing process that was followed in my last
company where I worked was as follows:
First of all the Business Requirement Document was prepared as
per the client’s requirement (with the muck-up). Then on the basis
of the requirement document, QA Team wrote Test Plans, Test
Cases and Test Strategies. The developers started coding their
modules (started programming). Once the developers finished
coding, the Configuration Management Team compiled the code
together and prepared a build. This Build is now deployed to
different testing environments where different types of testing
were performed. Once the defects were found, the testers would
log the defect using the tools available (like TestDirecotor,
ClearQuest and so on. For the companies who cannot afford
these expensive tools, they can use Excel sheet as well). Once
the defects are logged, then those defects would be discussed in
the defect status meeting and would take further actions
(meaning, closing, reopening, retesting of defects etc).
21. What is Change Control?
Answer: It is a document that describes the additional
functionalities that are added after the Business Requirement
Document is signed off. It can be updated in the old business
requirement document or it can be a separate document. (For
example, in the Business Requirement Document, on the login
page, there are User Name and Password fields. The owner of
the software wants to add, “If you do not have User Name and
Password, please click here.” This is a change. But this change
came after the document is signed off by the Project Managers.
Now this is a change control and comes as a separate document.
(It is also called Change Request, Modification Request).
22. Have you written Change Control?
Answer: Yes. There was a situation where in one page of an
application in my previous project, when the user clicked
“Contact” link, it would pop up a different window (new separate
window). But it was NOT the way it was described in the
requirement document. In the requirement document, when the
user clicks “Contact” link, then it should navigate to another page
(Not a separate new window. Then was it a problem?
Functionality wise, it was NOT a problem, however, on all the
other pages, when the user clicked “Contact” link, the system
would navigate to next page (not a separate window). So, it was
NOT CONSISTENT with the other functionalities on the other
pages. Therefore, it was a consistency issue. I reported this as a
bug. But the Project Manager asked me to write it as a Change
Control (because it requires more budget to fix this issue) so that
he can address this issue at a later time. So I wrote this as a
Change Control. (However, it is NOT a job of a tester to write
change control. It’s the business analyst’s job)
23. What is Backend Testing?
Answer: It is a test to check whether the data displayed in the GUI
front-end matches with the particular data in the backend.
24. Have you done any Backend Testing and/or if you did,
how did you do it in your last project?
Answer: Yes. I have done backend testing. When I was working
in my last project, this was my scenario of backend testing:
I was working on Reports. It was the scenario of testing one
application used in the bank, where a customer comes to a
bank’s front desk, the bank teller is requested to open a Checking
Account. The associate then asks for the personal information
about the customer, which, are the primary data, such as: First
Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Address and Social Security
Number. The associate then puts these primary data of that
particular customer into the computer, which then afterwards
batch-processed (normally happens in the middle of the nigh).
Now, after the batch process, the information of that customer
goes into the central database in the XML format. The data now
from the database goes to ETL (Extract-Transform-Load). (ETL is
a tool made by two companies ‘AbInitio’ and ‘Informatica’) ETL
now processes the job to create a file (output file) to produce the
report. The file is now displayed in the GUI Front End report with
the help of Business Object (or Crystal Reports. These are tools
that display data in GUI format). In the GUI Front End report, let
us say, if for January, the deposit of that person was displayed as
$ 900.00. Then my job was to validate whether this $900 is
correct or not. I validated this data by writing SQL queries directly
to the database. The data pulled from my SQL query should
match to the data in the GUI front end. In other words, my SQL
query should also display $900. If it matches, it is well and good. If
it doesn’t, then it’s a bug. This is how I have done my Back End
Testing.
How can you be sure that the query you wrote is correct? Or how
do you know that the data you pulled from the database is
correct?
Answer: I write SQL query based on the requirement document.
In the requirement document, various conditions are given for the
query. Based on those conditions, I write SQL query. Therefore,
anything different from the requirement document is definitely a
defect.
25. From you resume, I see that you have been working in
one place for a very short period of time. This raises me
questions why. Can you explain why?
Answer: As a consultant, I am hired for a certain period of time
(for project duration only), normally for 6 months to 1 year. Once
the project is over, I needed to move to another project. That’s
why you see me in the resume jumping frequently here and there.
26. What is done on the first day of the work?
Answer: On the first day, the Manager will come to receive at the
lobby. He/she will welcome you; tell where you will be sitting. The
next thing will be will show you login name and password and they
want to make sure that the login name and password works so
that you can use your computer. Then the Manager will tell you
where the documents are located in the network drive (or shared
drive, or ClearCase, or Sharepoint—different companies use
different software for this purpose). Once you find the documents,
then you will ask them what you will be working on what are the
related documents that you should read. You start reading the
documents, which lasts normally one week or more.
27. What do you do on the job every day? What is the first
thing you go when you go to work on a day? (What is your
routine job?)
Answer: Go to work, have a cup of coffee (coffee is free in any
work place), then check emails. I will check in my calendar
whether there is any meeting for the day. If there is anything
urgent work that needs to take care of, then I will start with that
job. Otherwise, I will start what is left from yesterday on a priority
basis.
(This question was asked to one of my friends while he was
attending interview in one of the companies. When they asked
him this question, his answer was, he said, “I start testing”. This
was his wrong answer. The answer varies in which phase of
testing the application is. If the application is in very beginning
state-meaning that the coding has just begun, then the tester’s
job will be to analyze and read the requirement documents, write
test plans and write test cases. Probably attend walkthrough
meeting and so on. However, the daily routine job would be, as
mentioned above, check emails, read documents, attend meeting
and so on. It’s not that as soon as you enter the office, you start
testing)
What do you do if you have any questions to ask? Who do
you ask?
At the beginning, we all panic, what kind of questions to ask?
What if they ask questions that I don’t know? Is it OK to ask
questions? What do I do if I don’t know how to do the job I am
assigned to? and so on.
As mentioned earlier, on the first day, your Manager will give you
the system (computer) (They normally call system, not computer),
will tell you what the User ID and Password is, where are the QA
documents on the shared drive (or Network drive) are and so on.
They will definitely ask you to read a lot of documents at the
beginning (And you must read read and read those documents
AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. At the beginning, allocate about 2
hours extra at home for reading these documents. This habit will
put you on the top of your job). These documents are normally
design specification document (DSD). Different companies call it
with different names, for example, Requirement Specification
Document (RSD) and so on. After reading the documents, you will
be asked to write Test Plans or Test Cases (Don’t panic. The
Test Plans and Test Cases templates will be give by your
manager or test lead and they will tell you what to do and how to
do because different companies have different formats they
follow. If they don’t have one, then you can always prepare a
sample from this website (see on the right column) and give it to
them. You will be hero)
Who do you ask?
Now let’s say you did not understand something while reading
documents. Who are you going to ask? Answer-Business
Analysts who wrote this document. If you have any other
questions that you don’t know, you will be asking that to you friend
first, if he/she is not able to answer, then ask this question to the
Lead (or Manager). Do not ask too many questions (some people
get irritated). Therefore, it is important to read read and read.
That’s the only way to succeed.
If you have any questions in TestDirector, or QTP or any other
automation tools, then there is a HELP menu as well as tutorial.
Please go through these, read them before you ask any questions
to anyone else.
What kind of questions should I ask in the meeting?
Nothing. My advice is, keep your mouth shut. Just listen. This is
the best way to handle the job until you are confident enough to
speak and you know what you are talking about. If they ask you
some questions, then reply gently, wisely.
How to deal with your team members?
Most probably, you will not be the only tester in the team. There
will be more than you. Sometimes, dealing with you team
members is frustrating, specially when you are new. They try to
ignore you. They want to show themselves smart. Don’t worry.
Don’t blame them. This part of the human nature. Try to cope with
it. Invite them when you go for coffee (in the coffee room in your
office, don’t go outside), try to share your feelings and so on. It is
all how you handle your friends. It is part of your daily activities,
handle it gently. This is part of the situation I have gone through,
my friends have gone through. I am just sharing this with you.
28. Have you used automation tools?
(Normally, when some one asks this question, we tend to think
about automation functional testing tools, like WinRunner,
LoadRunner, QTP (Quick Test Pro), Rational Robot, Experian
and so on. But the reality is, even a Manual Tester also uses
automation tools like bug tracking tools like TestDirector,
ClearQuest, PVC Tracker and so on. Therefore, your answer
should be Yes)
Answer: Yes. I have used TestDirector and ClearQuest as defect
tracking tools. (Your answer is based on whether you have used
automation tools specially for functional and load testing. If you
have NOT used, but read about these tools, then you may be
better off saying, “I know about the tools. I was involved in some
of the testing using these tools, but would need some brush up in
order to work independently.” I am saying this because these
tools are difficult to tackle in the interview and have to know in
depth. In order to pass the interview on functional automation
tools, it may not be easy unless you really know the stuff. But,
since there is not much to learn in ClearQuest and TestDirector,
you only have to know what different types of fields are there in
the defect logging window when writing a defect.)
29. When you log a defect using TestDirector (or ClearQuest)
what fields do you see?
Answer: When we log a defect, we see Defect ID (it shows later in
TestDirector), Summary (where we write short description of the
defect), Description (long description of the defect), Detected by
(Person who found the defect, (it’s you), Severity (meaning-is the
defect critical? High? Medium? Or Low?), Date, Detected in
Version, Priority, Project, Status, Assigned to and so on.
30. Are you better working in a team or working alone?
Answer: I am a team player. I get along with team members very
well. As far as the working is concerned, I can be equally
productive in team or working alone.
(Caution: Never say, I like working alone. This could lead you to
not getting a job as they are always looking for people who can
get along with other people.)
31. Do you have any situations in the past where you have
some arguments with your team members?
Answer: No. I never had that type of situation wherever I have
worked.
(Even if you had one, it’s a good idea to say “No”. This could be a
red flag, which might stop you from getting the job)
32. What do you like about a Manager? And what don’t you
like?
Answer: The best thing I like about a Manager is that the Manager
should be able to coordinate with the other teams so that we can
get the updated documents, for example, updated requirements
documents right away. A Manager who can efficiently in
distributes the work to the team, without being biased and easily
accessible and protective to his team for the right cause. As far as
“what I don’t like” is concerned, I don’t like a manager who keeps
coming to desk 10 times a day to check my work even if it is just a
regular work. Once the responsibility is given, the team member
should be trusted and let his work done.
33. Where do you see yourself in another 5 years?
Answer: I see myself a QA Lead in another 5 years.
(You can also say “QA Manager”, but since the QA Manager is
taking your interview most of the time, they some times feel
challenged. Therefore, it might be a good idea to limit you to QA
Lead)
34. Why are you in QA?
Answer: I am in QA because I like this job.
35. Why do you like this job?
Answer: I like this job, because it is process oriented. Meaning
that I get an opportunity to work from analyzing the requirement
documents to writing test plans, test cases, testing the
application, logging defects, retesting, preparing reports and
finally testing in production as well. Therefore, I am involved from
the very beginning to the end of the software development life
cycle (SDLC) process. I like this.
Another reason is I like to find defects. I enjoy logging defects.
The more defects I find, the happier I am.
36. How do you determine what to test in an application?
Answer: First of all we have the test cases (or test scripts) that
are written based on the requirement document. This pretty much
covers what functionalities to test. Therefore, looking at the test
cases tells us what to test in the application.
37. If you have no documentation about the product, how do
you test an application? Describe the process.
Answer: Well, this is a situation where I have come across
several times. Some of the companies in my previous projects did
not have any documents. In this case, I went to the Business
Analyst and some times to developers to find out how exactly the
functionalities work, how to navigate from one page to another
page and so on. After getting a clear vision, I write test cases
based on the conversation (which is a step by step procedure to
test an application) and get ready for testing.
What do you do once you find a defect?
Once you find a defect, this is what we need to do:
1. Recreate the Defect: Once you find a defect, we must try to
recreate (meaning that we should be able to reproduce it) at least
3 times so that we are sure that it is a defect. Some times, once
we find it log it without recreating, may put us in a false situation
(because sometimes the application does not behave in the same
way). Therefore, it is important to recreate the same defect
several times.
2. Attach the Screen Shot (supporting document): Once we
confirm that it is a defect, and then it is a good idea to attach
supporting documents when we log (write) a defect. For example,
screen shot, requirement document etc. For instance, let us say
that instead of “Continue” button on a page, there is a typo
“Contiinuee”. Now, we will make a screen shot of this page (To
make screen shot, press “Print Screen” button on the keyboard,
and open a Word document, and Click Edit on the Word
document and “Past” it. You will see the screen now) Now, a
tester needs to write defects in easy and clear language to make
all the developers to understand easily.
3. Log the Defect: Now, the next step is, we need to log it.
Depending on the company what kind of tools they are using (for
example, some companies use TestDirector to log defects, some
companies use Rational ClearQuest, some use PVC Tracker and
so on). If the company is small and cannot afford these expensive
tools, then they may simply use Excel sheet to log defects. We
log the defect.
38. What are the basic elements you put in a defect?
Answer: Basic elements we put in a defect are: SEVERITY,
PRIORITY, CREATED BY, VERSION NO, HEADER,
DESCRIPTION OF THE DEFECT where we write how to recreate
a defect, in what module the defect is found, Status, and so on.
39. What is the biggest bug you have ever found?
Answer: Well, there are many big defects I have found in various
projects. For example, in the last project, on a page, there was a
button called “More Information”. Once the user clicked that
button, the system would open a new window (pop up).
We could close the new window in 3 ways:
-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page
-By clicking “Close” button on the page
-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board
Although the combination key (Alt+F4) was not mentioned in the
test case, I just wanted to try how the application reacts when
Alt+F4 is pressed. Then I pressed Alt+F4. The result was a
disaster-the application crashed (broke). The application
disappeared from the computer monitor. Since it was the last day
of testing for us, it brought chaos in our Managers, Leads and the
whole teams. Finally, the developers disabled Alt+F4 as a
temporary solution and the application went into production.
40. How do you make sure that it is quality software?
Answer: There is a certain process how the quality of software is
guaranteed (ensured). If is defined by the ‘exit criteria’. (What it
means is, a QA Manager writes a document called Test Strategy.
This Test Strategy defines the ‘exit criteria’.) Exit Criteria gives the
measurement, for example, in order to confirm the quality, how
many critical defects, high defects, medium defect and low defect
are acceptable? These are all defined in the exit criteria.
(Normally in practice, for a quality software, there should no
critical defects (0 critical), no high defect (0 high), no medium
defect (0 medium) and may be 1 low defect)
41. As a QA Tester, can you tell me the situation when you
felt the most proud of it?
Answer: When I find the defect that normally others don’t find,
then I feel very proud. For example, there were situations where I
found bugs that crashed the whole system at the end of testing
phase. I tried the scenarios where the scenarios were NOT
mentioned in the test cases. For example, we can close the
windows by clicking X on the page, with “Close” button and so on.
But there is another way that you can close the window, by
pressing Alt+F4 on the keyboard. Not many testers test this
scenario. I have done this in my last two projects. Both the time,
the application crashed which became a big issue. I felt proud.
42. What made you to choose testing career?
Answer: I am a very detailed oriented person and I like
process-oriented job. The way QA process works is just the kind
of work I like. For example, analyzing requirement documents,
attending walk-through meetings, writing test plans, writing test
cases, executing the test cases (or running the test cases) testing
the application, logging defects, retesting them and so on. I think I
really like the process and that’s why I chose this career.
43. When should testing start in a project? Why?
Answer: We should start testing as soon as the following things
are ready:
-Test Data are ready
-Build (all the developers have coded their code and merged them
together)
-Test Environment (servers, network etc) is set up and ready
-When the manager asks us to go ahead and start testing.
44. Let us say you have a web application to test. How do
you go about testing it? What is the process?
Answer: First of all, I will look at the requirement documents (or
design document in some companies). The requirement
document will tell us what the functionalities in the application
(software) are. Once I analyze the requirement documents (one
module=one requirement document). After that, I will write test
plans for each module (one module =one test plan). Then after
the test plan is complete, I will write test cases (One module can
have hundreds, even thousands test cases). Once the test cases
are ready and the application is ready (or once the build is ready),
then I will start testing. Before I start testing, however, I will make
sure the test environments, test data and defect logging tools are
in place. This is how I will go about testing an application.
45. What is a “bug?”
Answer: A bug is a bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault
in a computer code (program) that prevents it from behaving as
intended (e.g., producing an incorrect result). (You can also add
this: When the expected results (accordingly to the requirement
documents) don’t match with the actual results (while testing),
then it is considered a bug)
46. How would you ensure that you have covered 100%
testing?
Answer: The testing coverage is defined by exit criteria (There is
exit criteria and entry criteria in the Test Strategy). For example, if
the exit criteria says “The software will be acceptable to the client
only if there are no critical defects, no high defects, no medium
defects and only two low defects”, then all the critical, high,
medium should be zero. Only 2 low defects are acceptable. Thus,
100% coverage is measured by the exit criteria. Also, 100% test
cases must be executed in order to cover 100% of testing.
47. What problems did you face in the past? How did you
solve it?
(You will be OK if you just give one of the problems below, not all
of them)
Answer: I had many problems while testing applications in the
past.
As far as I remember one of them (then describe one of them
from below), this was the scenario:
(i) It was a web-based application. I was working on a module
called “Transaction Summary”. There was “Submit” button on that
page. After entering data in the all the fields, for example, First
Name, Last Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth and so
on, I clicked the Submit button. Once I clicked Submit button, an
error page displayed, “Page cannot be found…”. Since it was a
critical defect, I immediately informed the Test Lead. There was a
chaos in the room. All the developers, Database Administrators
and Testers gathered in my cube (room). No body could tell
exactly what was wrong with it. Finally, one smart guy checked
into the database and found out that one of the files in the
database was closed. The status of all the files should be in the
open status. Once the status of the closed file was put in the
“open” status, the application worked fine.
(ii) One of the problems was in the Login window (page). When
the user enters and Login Name and Password, then Password
should be encrypted. One of the Test Cases was that I needed to
open database and see whether the password is encrypted or
not. I found out it was not encrypted. I reported it as a bug (defect)
and it was fixed in the next release (build).
(iii) Defects I have found in a project was a defect to close a
window (pop up).
For example, in the last project, on a page, there was a button
called “More Information”. Once the user clicked that button, the
system would open a new window (pop up).We could close the
new window in 3 ways:
-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page
-By clicking “Close” button on the page
-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board
Although the combination key (Alt+F4) was not mentioned in the
test case, I just wanted to try how the application reacts when
Alt+F4 is pressed. Then I pressed Alt+F4. The result was a
disaster-the application crashed (broke). The application
disappeared from the computer monitor. Since it was the last day
of testing for us, it brought chaos in our Managers, Leads and the
whole teams. Finally, the developers disabled Alt+F4 as a
temporary solution and the application went into production.
(iv) Another problem was that a user would search for branch
location information of a bank. The user logs in by using User
Name and Password. After the log in, on the “Search Location”
page, the user enters and zip code of the location he wants to
find, then clicks Find button. After that the system (application)
gives a number of branch locations. The user now clicks
“Request Information” for one of the branches. As soon as the
user clicks “Request Information” button, the application breaks
(displays “Page cannot be found” error). I logged this defect as a
critical defect. When the developers and database administrator
looked into it, then they found out that in one of the tables, the
data was not recorded. In all the tables (UserProfile table,
ClientID table and SessionID table), the data should be populated
with the information entered by the user. For some reason, in one
of the tables, it was blank (null). Once they wrote a small code to
populate data (enter data) to the table, the application started
working.
(v) In my previous project, when the customer wants to upload a
document, for example, a copy of a monthly statement (in Word
format), on the website, the system should automatically change
the Word document into .pdf format. Once the document was
uploaded, I saw that the fields in the .pdf document were
interchanged (misplaced). For example, the First Name displayed
in the Last Name section. Date of Birth displayed in the Social
Security Number field and so on. We found out that the problem
was a mapping problem (remember this word). Once the mapping
was correct, I tested in the new build. It was fixed.
(vi) The most common problem that I have faced in my previous
projects are the Java script errors, data connectivity, error, HTTP
500 error (This error occurs when server is down), HTTP 400
error (when file is not found) and so on.
(vii) “Father” pop up displayed when Print/Print Preview button
clicked. (This was coded by the developer to mark this coding
portion (for his/her own purpose as a mark to indicate where
he/she made changes, however, forgot to remove it). Once the
developer fixed it, it still displayed the same thing (because it was
in the servers memory and could not go). Now, I had to reset
memory of the server from my machine. Therefore, what I did is, I
went to the website I was testing (for example,
http://mysite.app.org/My_profile) and added reset.aspx at the end
of the URL (Now the URL becomes
http://mysite.app.org/My_profile/reset.aspx and hit enter. It took
me to the server memory and I selected section and submitted
the query and it was cleared. Retested again and it is now OK.
(viii) I was testing a web application. On one page, I clicked Save
& Continue button twice (my mistake). Once this button is clicked
twice, the system displayed an error message, “Could not save
the answers, please contact technical support”. (When clicked
only once, the button works fine.).
Solution: Once the user clicks the button once, the button was
disabled later so that the user cannot click twice.
(ix) I was testing a web-based application. Once all the fields are
entered on the one of the pages, we had Print Preview button. If
the user clicks this button, we were supposed see the same
information in a new window in PDF format. While looking at the
data in PDF file, there were some fields missing, for example,
Date of Birth was missing in the PDF file.
48. Tell me about the worst boss you’ve ever had. (Here, you
should be careful not to say any negative words about the past
boss. This will give a reflection that you cannot work with different
nature of people. You should be able to show them that you can
cope with any king of boss. Therefore, just take an idea below
how the answer should be.)
Answer: I can hardly think of any Manager that was really bad. But
when I compare, then I remember of a Test Lead who was just
made a lead from the developers team. She used to feel that she
has been very proud of her position and used to boss around.
Some times, she used to call home and check where I was and
what I was doing. Or have I completed my job before leaving and
so on. I think, whatever she did, was in the benefit of the company
and myself in the long run which would give me more confidence
in future.
49. What do you like about QA?
Answer: The best thing I like about QA is, I like the job which is
more process oriented. For example, we have to work right from
reading the requirement documents, providing feedback to the
Business Analysts as necessary, writing test plans, test cases,
execute the test cases, interaction with different developers,
attend walk-through meeting and so on. I am a very detailed
oriented person. When I test applications, I try to get into the
depth of functionality so that I don’t miss out anything. Finally, I
love logging defects.
50. What are all the basic elements in a defect report?
Answer: The basic elements in a defect report are: Defect ID,
Header, Description, Defect Reported by, Date, Status, Version,
Assigned to, Approved by, Module where the defect was found
and so on.
51. What is the difference between verification and
validation?
Verification: Verification is a process to ensure that the software
that is made, matches the original design. In other words, it
checks whether the software is made according to the criteria and
specification described in the requirement document. It is to
check whether you built the product right as per design. It is a low
level checking. (It is done in walk-through meetings generally). It
checked whether it is made accordingly to the design..
Validation: Validation is a process to check whether the product
design fits the client’s need. It checks whether you built the right
thing. It checks whether it is designed properly.
52. How do you know it is sufficient testing?
Answer: Every company has entry and exit criteria. When we test
applications, we refer to exit criteria. When we are about to finish
testing, then the QA Team (QA Manager) refers to the exit criteria
(exit criteria tells the level of defect that you can be comfortable
with before it goes to production. For example, there should be
ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium
defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100%
executed etc). Once the exit criteria meet the requirements, then
the software is considered to be sufficiently tested.
Every company has entry and exit criteria. When we test
applications, we refer to exit criteria. When we are about to finish
testing, then the QA Team (QA Manager) refers to the exit criteria
(exit criteria tells the level of defect that you can be comfortable
with before it goes to production. For example, there should be
ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium
defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100%
executed etc). Once the exit criteria meet the requirements, then
the software is considered to be sufficiently tested.
53. How to derive test scenarios and use cases? What are
the contents and format?
Answer: Test scenarios are derived from requirement documents.
We follow each and every functionality (called business rules)
mentioned in the requirement document. One functionality can
have multiple business rules. For example, let us say in there is
one requirement called “Login”. This “Login” may have various
scenarios. For example, one scenario is, enter the right User ID
and wrong password. The system should display an error
message. Another scenario would be to enter wrong User ID and
right Password. The system should display an error message.
The third scenario could be to enter the right User Name and right
Password. The system should allow the user to get into the
system. This is how the test cases are derived from the
requirement documents or from the Use Cases.
(For contents for formats of test scenario, please refer to question
4 in qaquestions.com)
54. What are the types of test cases that you write?
Answer: We write test cases for smoke testing, integration
testing, functional testing, regression testing, load testing, stress
testing, system testing and so on.
55. How to write Integration test cases?
Answer: I have never written separate Test Cases Integration
Testing. Since Integration Testing is a test to check whether the
all the modules are integrated together or not (meaning that when
the developers compile all their module and make a build, all
modules should be working when they are combined together and
those modules when combined, should work as expected). If they
are not integrated (combined) in a nice way, then the application
breaks. Basically, when we do the functional testing, the
integration testing is automatically done. This is my experience.
56. How to write Regression test cases? What are the
criteria?
Answer: Regression test cases are also based on the
requirement documents. They are written more into detail and
with every release (build), the testers need to do regression
testing. The criteria for regression testing are; there should be no
major defects while we do our smoke test and functional testing.
57. Is there a format for a test case? Do you follow any
methodology for numbering test cases?
Answer: Yes. It depends upon the company how the company
has followed the numbering of test cases. However, normally, it is
just a simple numbering in most of the time (see question 4 of
qaquestions.com). But some companies may also relate this
numbering to the requirement number. For example, if the
requirement for Login is “REQ-LOG-001”, then we can number
the test cases like REQ-LOG-001-001 and so on.
58. What is Test Harness?
Answer: (Definition from www.wikipedia.org) “In software testing,
a test harness or automated test framework is a collection of
software and test data configured to test a program unit by
running it under varying conditions and monitor its behavior and
outputs. It has two main parts: the test execution engine and the
test script repository.”
59. How to write User Acceptance Test plan & test cases?
Answer: The way of writing Test Plan and Test Cases is the same
in all the test phases. However, specifically for User Acceptance
Testing, the testers use data nearly real data (meaning that the
data is very much similar to the production data or real data). For
the format, please refer to question 3 and 4 in qaquestions.com.
60. What are the different matrices that you follow?
Answer: There are various reports we normally prepare in QA:
· Test summary Report – It is a report that has list of the total test
cases, list of executed test cases, remaining test case to be
executed, executed date, pass/fail
· Defect Report – In this report we normally prepare a list of defect
in spreadsheet e.g. defect # CQ12345 [ if you log a defect in the
application called Rational ClearQuest]
· Traceability Matrix [also called RTM (Requirement Traceability
Matrix)] Report – the document which shows the relationship
between the functionalities or the business rules and the test
cases. So, with the help of Traceability Matrix we make sure that
we includes all the functionalities in our test cases according to
the requirement document.
61. Explain Bug Life Cycle.
Answer: I would describe this as below:
A Tester finds a defect and logs it. (But before you log it, you must
try to recreate it for 3 or 4 times so that you are 100% sure that it
is a bug)
The defect is now approved or disapproved by the Test Lead.
(If it is disapproved, then the test lead will come to you ask for
more details and you have explain to him why it is a bug)
After the Test Lead approves the bug, it is now assigned to a
development Team Lead (or Development Manager). He/she now
assigns that bug to the concerned developer. The developer now
looks into the bug and fixes it. Once the fix is ready, there will be
another build ready to test. The tester now tests the defect. It the
defect is fixed, then the tester closes the defect, if not then the
test will reopen it and same cycle starts.
Defect Life Cycle
62. What will you do if developer does not accept the bug?
Answer: If the developer does not accept the defect, then he will
reject it. Once it is rejected, then it comes back to the tester. Now,
the tester will ask for clarification with the developer why the
defect is rejected. Since everything is based on the requirement
documents, both tester and developer will have to look at the
requirement document, validate it and then reopen it if necessary
or close.
63. What are the different tests that can be done for Client
Server Application and Web-based Application. Give details.
Answer: For both client server and web based applications, the
testing is the same except one thing: We test web based
applications in different browsers, for example, Internet Explorer
(will test in different versions like IE 5.0, IE 6.0, IE 7.0), Firefox,
Safari (for Mac) and so on where as for client server, we don’t
need to test in the browsers.
64. What is an inspection?
Answer: An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than
a walkthrough and typically consists of 3-10 people including a
moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and
a recorder (to make notes in the document). The subject of the
inspection is typically a document, such as a requirements
document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find
problems and see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result
of the meeting should be documented in a written report.
Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading
through the document, before the meeting starts; most problems
are found during this preparation. Preparation for inspections is
difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring
quality, since bug prevention is more cost effective than bug
detection.
65. Give me five common problems that occur during
software development.
Answer: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules,
inadequate testing, adding new features after development is
underway and poor communication. Requirements are poorly
written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general,
or not testable; therefore there will be problems. The schedule is
unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.
Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the
software is any good until customers complain or the system
crashes. It’s extremely common that new features are added after
development is underway.
Miscommunication either means the developers don’t know what
is needed, or customers have unrealistic expectations and
therefore problems are guaranteed
66. What is the role of documentation in QA?
Answer: Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices
should be documented, so that they are repeatable.
Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports,
configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports,
user manuals should all be documented. Ideally, there should be
a system for easily finding and obtaining of documents and
determining what document will have a particular piece of
information. Use documentation change management, if possible.
67. What if the software is so buggy it can’t be tested at all?
Answer: In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go
through the process of reporting whatever bugs or problems
initially show up, with the focus being on critical bugs. Since this
type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates
deeper problems in the software development process, such as
insufficient unit testing, insufficient integration testing, poor
design, improper build or release procedures, managers should
be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of
the problem.
68. How do you know when to stop testing?
Answer: This can be difficult to determine. Many modern software
applications are so complex and run in such an interdependent
environment, that complete testing can never be done. Common
factors in deciding when to stop are…
Deadlines, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines;
Test cases completed with certain percentage passed;
Test budget has been depleted;
Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a
specified point;
Bug rate falls below a certain level; or
Beta or alpha testing period ends.
69. What if there isn’t enough time for thorough testing?
Answer: Since it’s rarely possible to test every possible aspect of
an application, every possible combination of events, every
dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is
appropriate to most software development projects. Use risk
analysis to determine where testing should be focused. This
requires judgment skills, common sense and experience. The
checklist should include answers to the following questions:
· Which functionality is most important to the project’s intended
purpose?
· Which functionality is most visible to the user?
· Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
· Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
· Which aspects of the application are most important to the
customer?
· Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the
development cycle?
· Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most
subject to errors?
· Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic
mode?
· Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused
problems?
· Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large
maintenance expenses?
· Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or
poorly thought out?
· What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the
application?
· What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
· What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service
complaints?
· What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
· Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to
time-required ratio?
70. What can be done if requirements are changing
continuously?
Answer: Work with management early on to understand how
requirements might change, so that alternate test plans and
strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the
application’s initial design allows for some adaptability, so that
later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch.
Additionally, try to… · Ensure the code is well commented and
well documented; this makes changes easier
for the developers.
· Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help
customers feel sure of their
requirements and minimize changes.
· In the project’s initial schedule, allow for some extra time to
commensurate with
probable changes.
· Move new requirements to a ‘Phase 2' version of an application
and use the original
requirements for the ‘Phase 1' version.
· Negotiate to allow only easily implemented new requirements
into the project; move
more difficult, new requirements into future versions of the
application.
· Ensure customers and management understand scheduling
impacts, inherent risks and
costs of significant requirements changes. Then let management
or the customers
decide if the changes are warranted; after all, that’s their job.
· Balance the effort put into setting up automated testing with the
expected effort
required to redo them to deal with changes.
· Design some flexibility into automated test scripts;
· Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are
most likely to remain
unchanged;
· Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes, in order to
minimize regressiontesting
needs;
· Design some flexibility into test cases; this is not easily done; he
best bet is to minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only
higher-level generic-type test plans;
· Focus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on
ad-hoc testing with an understanding of the added risk this
Mostly Asked Questions:
Q1. What is verification?
A: Verification ensures the product is designed to deliver all functionality to the customer; it
typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and
specifications; this can be done with checklists, issues lists, walkthroughs and inspection
meetings.
Q2. What is validation?
A: Validation ensures that functionality, as defined in requirements, is the intended behavior of
the product; validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are
completed.
Q3. What is a walk-through?
A: A walk-through is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes.
Q4. What is an inspection?
A: An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than a walk-through and typically consists
of 3-10 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and a
recorder (to make notes in the document). The subject of the inspection is typically a document,
such as a requirements document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find problems
and see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result of the meeting should be documented in a
written report. Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading through the
document, before the meeting starts; most problems are found during this preparation.
Preparation for inspections is difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring
quality, since bug prevention is more cost effective than bug detection.
Q5. What is quality?
A: Quality software is software that is reasonably bug-free, delivered on time and within budget,
meets requirements and expectations and is maintainable. However, quality is a subjective term.
Quality depends on who the customer is and their overall influence in the scheme of things.
Customers of a software development project include end-users, customer acceptance test
engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, the development
organization's management, test engineers, testers, salespeople, software engineers,
stockholders and accountants. Each type of customer will have his or her own slant on quality.
The accounting department might define quality in terms of profits, while an end-user might define
quality as user friendly and bug free.
Q6. What is good code?
A: A good code is code that works, is free of bugs and is readable and maintainable.
Organizations usually have coding standards all developers should adhere to, but every
programmer and software engineer has different ideas about what is best and what are too many
or too few rules. We need to keep in mind that excessive use of rules can stifle both productivity
and creativity. Peer reviews and code analysis tools can be used to check for problems and
enforce standards.
Q7. What is good design?
A: Design could mean to many things, but often refers to functional design or internal design.
Good functional design is indicated by software functionality can be traced back to customer and
end-user requirements. Good internal design is indicated by software code whose overall
structure is clear, understandable, easily modifiable and maintainable; is robust with sufficient
error handling and status logging capability; and works correctly when implemented.
Q8. What is software life cycle?
A: Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no
longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design,
internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration,
testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out.
Q9. Why are there so many software bugs?
A: Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software
complexity, programming errors, changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time
pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in software development.
• There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as
to what the software should or shouldn't do.
• Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in
software and system complexity: Windows interfaces, client-server and
distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases
and the sheer size of applications.
• Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like
everyone else, can make mistakes.
• As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments,
continuously modified requirements are a fact of life. Sometimes customers do
not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them
anyway. And the changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of
resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone or
discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too.
• Bug tracking can result in errors because the complexity of keeping track of
changes can result in errors, too.
• Time pressures can cause problems, because scheduling of software projects is
not easy and it often requires a lot of guesswork and when deadlines loom and
the crunch comes, mistakes will be made.
• Code documentation is tough to maintain and it is also tough to modify code that
is poorly documented. The result is bugs. Sometimes there is no incentive for
programmers and software engineers to document their code and write clearly
documented, understandable code. Sometimes developers get kudos for quickly
turning out code, or programmers and software engineers feel they have job
security if everyone can understand the code they write, or they believe if the
code was hard to write, it should be hard to read.
• Software development tools , including visual tools, class libraries, compilers,
scripting tools, can introduce their own bugs. Other times the tools are poorly
documented, which can create additional bugs.
Q10. How do you introduce a new software QA process?
A: It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large
organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a
formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk
projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is
required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in
order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects,
an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers,
feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers,
managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company,
the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is
requirements that are clear, complete and
testable.
Q11. Give me five common problems that occur during
software development.
A: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new
features after development is underway and poor communication.
1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too
general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems.
2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.
3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any
good until customers complain or the system crashes.
4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is
underway.
5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or
customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed.
Q12. Give me five solutions to problems that occur during
software development.
A: Solid requirements, realistic schedules, adequate testing, firm requirements and good
communication.
1. Ensure the requirements are solid, clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable
and testable. All players should agree to requirements. Use prototypes to help
nail down requirements.
2. Have schedules that are realistic. Allow adequate time for planning, design,
testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes and documentation. Personnel should be
able to complete the project without burning out.
3. Do testing that is adequate. Start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes,
and plan for sufficient time for both testing and bug fixing.
4. Avoid new features. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible. Be
prepared to defend design against changes and additions, once development
has begun and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary,
ensure they're adequately reflected in related schedule changes. Use prototypes
early on so customers' expectations are clarified and customers can see what to
expect; this will minimize changes later on.
5. Communicate. Require walk-throughs and inspections when appropriate; make
extensive use of e-mail, networked bug-tracking tools, tools of change
management. Ensure documentation is available and up-to-date. Use
documentation that is electronic, not paper. Promote teamwork and cooperation.
Q13. Do automated testing tools make testing easier?
A: Yes and no. For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable.
But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not
worthwhile. A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example,
a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices,
buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The
recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing
tool can interpret. If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying
code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back
the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the
change. One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product
being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very timeconsuming
task to continuously update the scripts. Another problem with such tools is the
interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task.
Q14. What makes a good test engineer?
A: Rob Davis is a good test engineer because he
• Has a "test to break" attitude,
• Takes the point of view of the customer,
• Has a strong desire for quality,
• Has an attention to detail, He's also
• Tactful and diplomatic and
• Has good a communication skill, both oral and written. And he
• Has previous software development experience, too.
Good test engineers have a "test to break" attitude, they take the point of view of the
customer, have a strong desire for quality and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy
are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers and an ability to
communicate with both technical and non-technical people. Previous software
development experience is also helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the
software development process, gives the test engineer an appreciation for the
developers' point of view and reduces the learning curve in automated test tool
programming.
Q15. What makes a good QA engineer?
A: The same qualities a good test engineer has are useful for a QA engineer.
Additionally, Rob Davis understands the entire software development process and how it
fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Rob Davis'
communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.
Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits
into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and
the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.
Q16. What makes a good resume?
A: On the subject of resumes, there seems to be an unending discussion of whether you
should or shouldn't have a one-page resume. The followings are some of the comments I
have personally heard: "Well, Joe Blow (car salesman) said I should have a one-page
resume." "Well, I read a book and it said you should have a one page resume." "I can't
really go into what I really did because if I did, it'd take more than one page on my
resume." "Gosh, I wish I could put my job at IBM on my resume but if I did it'd make my
resume more than one page, and I was told to never make the resume more than one
page long." "I'm confused, should my resume be more than one page? I feel like it
should, but I don't want to break the rules." Or, here's another comment, "People just
don't read resumes that are longer than one page." I have heard some more, but we can
start with these. So what's the answer? There is no scientific answer about whether a
one-page resume is right or wrong. It all depends on who you are and how much
experience you have. The first thing to look at here is the purpose of a resume. The
purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. If the resume is getting you interviews,
then it is considered to be a good resume. If the resume isn't getting you interviews, then
you should change it. The biggest mistake you can make on your resume is to make it
hard to read. Why? Because, for one, scanners don't like odd resumes. Small fonts can
make your resume harder to read. Some candidates use a 7-point font so they can get
the resume onto one page. Big mistake. Two, resume readers do not like eye strain
either. If the resume is mechanically challenging, they just throw it aside for one that is
easier on the eyes. Three, there are lots of resumes out there these days, and that is also
part of the problem. Four, in light of the current scanning scenario, more than one page is
not a deterrent because many will scan your resume into their database. Once the
resume is in there and searchable, you have accomplished one of the goals of resume
distribution. Five, resume readers don't like to guess and most won't call you to clarify
what is on your resume. Generally speaking, your resume should tell your story. If you're
a college graduate looking for your first job, a one-page resume is just fine. If you have a
longer story, the resume needs to be longer. Please put your experience on the resume
so resume readers can tell when and for whom you did what. Short resumes -- for people
long on experience -- are not appropriate. The real audience for these short resumes is
people with short attention spans and low IQs. I assure you that when your resume gets
into the right hands, it will be read thoroughly.
Q17. What makes a good QA/Test Manager?
A: QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to
maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote
teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and
Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA
processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say *no* to other managers when
quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to communicate
with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them
focused.
Q18. What is the role of documentation in QA?
A: Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices should be documented, so that
they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports,
configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports, user manuals should all
be documented. Ideally, there should be a system for easily finding and obtaining of
documents and determining what document will have a particular piece of information.
Use documentation change management, if possible.
Q19. What about requirements?
A: Requirement specifications are important and one of the most reliable methods of
insuring problems in a complex software project is to have poorly documented
requirement specifications. Requirements are the details describing an application's
externally perceived functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear,
complete, reasonably detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. A non-testable
requirement would be, for example, "user-friendly", which is too subjective. A testable
requirement would be something such as, "the product shall allow the user to enter their
previously-assigned password to access the application". Care should be taken to involve
all of a project's significant customers in the requirements process. Customers could be
in-house or external and could include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers,
testers, customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance
engineers, salespeople and anyone who could later derail the project. If his/her
expectations aren't met, they should be included as a customer, if possible. In some
organizations, requirements may end up in high-level project plans, functional
specification documents, design documents, or other documents at various levels of
detail. No matter what they are called, some type of documentation with detailed
requirements will be needed by test engineers in order to properly plan and execute
tests. Without such documentation there will be no clear-cut way to determine if a
software application is performing correctly.
Q20. What is a test plan?
A: A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope,
approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a
useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software
product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the
why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so
thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it.
Q21. What is a test case?
A: A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected
result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case
should contain particulars such as a...
• Test case identifier;
• Test case name;
• Objective;
• Test conditions/setup;
• Input data requirements/steps, and
• Expected results.
Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the
requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through
the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in
the development cycle, if possible.
Q22. What should be done after a bug is found?
A: When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that
can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested. Additionally,
determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety
impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems
elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these
determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking/management software tools
are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the
team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its
severity, reproduce it and fix it.
Q23. What is configuration management?
A: Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control,
coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests,
designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the
changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts. Rob
Davis can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs.
Q24. What if the software is so buggy it can't be tested at all?
A: In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process of
reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being on critical
bugs. Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates deeper
problems in the software development process, such as insufficient unit testing,
insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release procedures,
managers should be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of the
problem.
Q25. How do you know when to stop testing?
A: This can be difficult to determine. Many modern software applications are so complex
and run in such an interdependent environment, that complete testing can never be done.
Common factors in deciding when to stop are...
• Deadlines, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines;
• Test cases completed with certain percentage passed;
• Test budget has been depleted;
• Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a specified point;
• Bug rate falls below a certain level; or
• Beta or alpha testing period ends.
Q26. What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?
A: Since it's rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible
combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk
analysis is appropriate to most software development projects. Use risk analysis to
determine where testing should be focused. This requires judgment skills, common sense
and experience. The checklist should include answers to the following questions:
• Which functionality is most important to the project's intended purpose?
• Which functionality is most visible to the user?
• Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
• Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
• Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
• Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?
• Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?
• Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance
expenses?
• Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
• What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
• What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
• What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
• What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
• Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?
Q27. What if the project isn't big enough to justify extensive
testing?
A: Consider the impact of project errors, not the size of the project. However, if extensive
testing is still not justified, risk analysis is again needed and the considerations listed
under "What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?" do apply. The test engineer
then should do "ad hoc" testing, or write up a limited test plan based on the risk analysis.
Q28. What can be done if requirements are changing
continuously?
A: Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so
that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the
application's initial design allows for some adaptability, so that later changes do not
require redoing the application from scratch. Additionally, try to...
• Ensure the code is well commented and well documented; this makes changes
easier for the developers.
• Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure of
their requirements and minimize changes.
• In the project's initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate with
probable changes.
• Move new requirements to a 'Phase 2' version of an application and use the
original requirements for the 'Phase 1' version.
• Negotiate to allow only easily implemented new requirements into the project;
move more difficult, new requirements into future versions of the application.
• Ensure customers and management understand scheduling impacts, inherent
risks and costs of significant requirements changes. Then let management or the
customers decide if the changes are warranted; after all, that's their job.
• Balance the effort put into setting up automated testing with the expected effort
required to redo them to deal with changes.
• Design some flexibility into automated test scripts;
• Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely to
remain unchanged;
• Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes, in order to minimize
regression-testing needs;
• Design some flexibility into test cases; this is not easily done; the best bet is to
minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only higher-level generic-type test
plans;
• Focus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad-hoc testing with
an understanding of the added risk this entails.
Q29. What if the application has functionality that wasn't in
the requirements?
A: It may take serious effort to determine if an application has significant unexpected or
hidden functionality, which it would indicate deeper problems in the software
development process. If the functionality isn't necessary to the purpose of the application,
it should be removed, as it may have unknown impacts or dependencies that were not
taken into account by the designer or the customer.
If not removed, design information will be needed to determine added testing needs or
regression testing needs. Management should be made aware of any significant added
risks as a result of the unexpected functionality. If the functionality only affects areas,
such as minor improvements in the user interface, it may not be a significant risk.
Q30. How can software QA processes be implemented
without stifling productivity?
A: Implement QA processes slowly over time. Use consensus to reach agreement on
processes and adjust and experiment as an organization grows and matures. Productivity
will be improved instead of stifled. Problem prevention will lessen the need for problem
detection. Panics and burnout will decrease and there will be improved focus and less
wasted effort. At the same time, attempts should be made to keep processes simple and
efficient, minimize paperwork, promote computer-based processes and automated
tracking and reporting, minimize time required in meetings and promote training as part of
the QA process. However, no one, especially talented technical types, like bureaucracy
and in the short run things may slow down a bit. A typical scenario would be that more
days of planning and development will be needed, but less time will be required for latenight
bug fixing and calming of irate customers.
Q31. What if organization is growing so fast that fixed QA
processes are impossible?
A: This is a common problem in the software industry, especially in new technology
areas. There is no easy solution in this situation, other than...
• Hire good people (i.e. hire Rob Davis)
• Ruthlessly prioritize quality issues and maintain focus on the customer;
• Everyone in the organization should be clear on what quality means to the
customer.
Q32. How is testing affected by object-oriented designs?
A: A well-engineered object-oriented design can make it easier to trace from code to
internal design to functional design to requirements. While there will be little affect on
black box testing (where an understanding of the internal design of the application is
unnecessary), white-box testing can be oriented to the application's objects. If the
application was well designed this can simplify test design.
Q33. Why do you recommended that we test during the
design phase?
A: Because testing during the design phase can prevent defects later on. We
recommend verifying three things...
1. Verify the design is good, efficient, compact, testable and maintainable.
2. Verify the design meets the requirements and is complete (specifies all
relationships between modules, how to pass data, what happens in exceptional
circumstances, starting state of each module and how to guarantee the state of
each module).
3. Verify the design incorporates enough memory, I/O devices and quick enough
runtime for the final product.
Q34. What is software quality assurance?
A: Software Quality Assurance (SWQA) when Rob Davis does it is oriented to
*prevention*. It involves the entire software development process. Prevention is
monitoring and improving the process, making sure any agreed-upon standards and
procedures are followed and ensuring problems are found and dealt with. Software
Testing, when performed by Rob Davis, is also oriented to *detection*. Testing involves
the operation of a system or application under controlled conditions and evaluating the
results. Organizations vary considerably in how they assign responsibility for QA and
testing. Sometimes they are the combined responsibility of one group or individual. Also
common are project teams, which include a mix of test engineers, testers and developers
who work closely together, with overall QA processes monitored by project managers. It
depends on what best fits your organization's size and business structure. Rob Davis can
provide QA and/or SWQA. This document details some aspects of how he can provide
software testing/QA service. For more information, e-mail rob@robdavispe.com
Q35. What is quality assurance?
A: Quality Assurance ensures all parties concerned with the project adhere to the
process and procedures, standards and templates and test readiness reviews.
Rob Davis' QA service depends on the customers and projects. A lot will depend on team
leads or managers, feedback to developers and communications among customers,
managers, developers' test engineers and testers.
Q36. Process and procedures - why follow them?
A: Detailed and well-written processes and procedures ensure the correct steps are
being executed to facilitate a successful completion of a task. They also ensure a
process is repeatable. Once Rob Davis has learned and reviewed customer's business
processes and procedures, he will follow them. He will also recommend improvements
and/or additions.
Q37. Standards and templates - what is supposed to be in a
document?
A: All documents should be written to a certain standard and template. Standards and
templates maintain document uniformity. It also helps in learning where information is
located, making it easier for a user to find what they want. Lastly, with standards and
templates, information will not be accidentally omitted from a document. Once Rob Davis
has learned and reviewed your standards and templates, he will use them. He will also
recommend improvements and/or additions.
Q38. What are the different levels of testing?
A: Rob Davis has expertise in testing at all testing levels listed below. At each test level,
he documents the results. Each level of testing is either considered black or white box
testing.
Q39. What is black box testing?
A: Black box testing is functional testing, not based on any knowledge of internal
software design or code. Black box testing are based on requirements and functionality.
Q40. What is white box testing?
A: White box testing is based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application's code.
Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths and conditions.
Q41. What is unit testing?
A: Unit testing is the first level of dynamic testing and is first the responsibility of
developers and then that of the test engineers. Unit testing is performed after the
expected test results are met or differences are explainable/acceptable.
Q42. What is parallel/audit testing?
A: Parallel/audit testing is testing where the user reconciles the output of the new system
to the output of the current system to verify the new system performs the operations
correctly.
Q43. What is functional testing?
A: Functional testing is black-box type of testing geared to functional requirements of an
application. Test engineers *should* perform functional testing.
Q44. What is usability testing?
A: Usability testing is testing for 'user-friendliness'. Clearly this is subjective and depends
on the targeted end-user or customer. User interviews, surveys, video recording of user
sessions and other techniques can be used. Programmers and developers are usually
not appropriate as usability testers.
Q45. What is incremental integration testing?
A: Incremental integration testing is continuous testing of an application as new
functionality is recommended. This may require that various aspects of an application's
functionality are independent enough to work separately, before all parts of the program
are completed, or that test drivers are developed as needed. This type of testing may be
performed by programmers, software engineers, or test engineers.
Q46. What is integration testing?
A: Upon completion of unit testing, integration testing begins. Integration testing is black
box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure distinct components of the
application still work in accordance to customer requirements. Test cases are developed
with the express purpose of exercising the interfaces between the components. This
activity is carried out by the test team.
Integration testing is considered complete, when actual results and expected results are
either in line or differences are explainable/acceptable based on client input.
Q47. What is system testing?
A: System testing is black box testing, performed by the Test Team, and at the start of
the system testing the complete system is configured in a controlled environment. The
purpose of system testing is to validate an application's accuracy and completeness in
performing the functions as designed. System testing simulates real life scenarios that
occur in a "simulated real life" test environment and test all functions of the system that
are required in real life. System testing is deemed complete when actual results and
expected results are either in line or differences are explainable or acceptable, based on
client input. Upon completion of integration testing, system testing is started. Before
system testing, all unit and integration test results are reviewed by SWQA to ensure all
problems have been resolved. For a higher level of testing it is important to understand
unresolved problems that originate at unit and integration test levels.
Q48. What is end-to-end testing?
A: Similar to system testing, the *macro* end of the test scale is testing a complete
application in a situation that mimics real world use, such as interacting with a database,
using network communication, or interacting with other hardware, application, or system.
Q49. What is regression testing?
A: The objective of regression testing is to ensure the software remains intact. A baseline
set of data and scripts is maintained and executed to verify changes introduced during
the release have not "undone" any previous code. Expected results from the baseline are
compared to results of the software under test. All discrepancies are highlighted and
accounted for, before testing proceeds to the next level.
Q50. What is sanity testing?
A: Sanity testing is performed whenever cursory testing is sufficient to prove the
application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is a subset of
regression testing. It normally includes a set of core tests of basic GUI functionality to
demonstrate connectivity to the database, application servers, printers, etc.
Q51. What is performance testing?
A: Although performance testing is described as a part of system testing, it can be
regarded as a distinct level of testing. Performance testing verifies loads, volumes and
response times, as defined by requirements.
Q52. What is load testing?
A: Load testing is testing an application under heavy loads, such as the testing of a web
site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system response time will
degrade or fail.
Q53. What is installation testing?
A: Installation testing is testing full, partial, upgrade, or install/un-install processes. The
installation test for a release is conducted with the objective of demonstrating production
readiness. This test includes the inventory of configuration items, performed by the
application's System Administration, the evaluation of data readiness, and dynamic tests
focused on basic system functionality. When necessary, a sanity test is performed,
following installation testing.
Q54. What is security/penetration testing?
A: Security/penetration testing is testing how well the system is protected against
unauthorized internal or external access, or willful damage. This type of testing usually
requires sophisticated testing techniques.
Q55. What is recovery/error testing?
A: Recovery/error testing is testing how well a system recovers from crashes, hardware
failures, or other catastrophic problems.
Q56. What is compatibility testing?
A: Compatibility testing is testing how well software performs in a particular hardware,
software, operating system, or network environment.
Q57. What is comparison testing?
A: Comparison testing is testing that compares software weaknesses and strengths to
those of competitors' products.
Q58. What is acceptance testing?
A: Acceptance testing is black box testing that gives the client/customer/project manager
the opportunity to verify the system functionality and usability prior to the system being
released to production. The acceptance test is the responsibility of the client/customer or
project manager, however, it is conducted with the full support of the project team. The
test team also works with the client/customer/project manager to develop the acceptance
criteria.
Q59. What is alpha testing?
A: Alpha testing is testing of an application when development is nearing completion.
Minor design changes can still be made as a result of alpha testing. Alpha testing is
typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software engineers, or test
engineers.
Q60. What is beta testing?
A: Beta testing is testing an application when development and testing are essentially
completed and final bugs and problems need to be found before the final release. Beta
testing is typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software
engineers, or test engineers.
Q61. What testing roles are standard on most testing
projects?
A: Depending on the organization, the following roles are more or less standard on most
testing projects: Testers, Test Engineers, Test/QA Team Lead, Test/QA Manager,
System Administrator, Database Administrator, Technical Analyst, Test Build Manager
and Test Configuration Manager. Depending on the project, one person may wear more
than one hat. For instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of Technical Analyst,
Test Build Manager and Test Configuration Manager.
Q62. What is a Test/QA Team Lead?
A: The Test/QA Team Lead coordinates the testing activity, communicates testing status
to management and manages the test team.
Q63. What is a Test Engineer?
A: Test Engineers are engineers who specialize in testing. They create test cases,
procedures, scripts and generate data. They execute test procedures and scripts,
analyze standards of measurements, evaluate results of system/integration/regression
testing. They also...
• Speed up the work of your development staff;
• Reduce your risk of legal liability;
• Give you the evidence that your software is correct and operates properly;
• Improve problem tracking and reporting;
• Maximize the value of your software;
• Maximize the value of the devices that use it;
• Assure the successful launch of your product by discovering bugs and design
flaws, before users get discouraged, before shareholders loose their cool and
before employees get bogged down;
• Help the work of your development staff, so the development team can devote its
time to build up your product;
• Promote continual improvement;
• Provide documentation required by FDA, FAA, other regulatory agencies and
your customers;
• Save money by discovering defects 'early' in the design process, before failures
occur in production, or in the field;
• Save the reputation of your company by discovering bugs and design flaws;
before bugs and design flaws damage the reputation of your company.
Q64. What is a Test Build Manager?
A: Test Build Managers deliver current software versions to the test environment, install
the application's software and apply software patches, to both the application and the
operating system, set-up, maintain and back up test environment hardware. Depending
on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer
may also wear the hat of a Test Build Manager.
Q65. What is a System Administrator?
A: Test Build Managers, System Administrators, Database Administrators deliver current
software versions to the test environment, install the application's software and apply
software patches, to both the application and the operating system, set-up, maintain and
back up test environment hardware. Depending on the project, one person may wear
more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer may also wear the hat of a System
Administrator.
Q66. What is a Database Administrator?
A: Test Build Managers, System Administrators and Database Administrators deliver
current software versions to the test environment, install the application's software and
apply software patches, to both the application and the operating system, set-up,
maintain and back up test environment hardware. Depending on the project, one person
may wear more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer may also wear the hat of a
Database Administrator.
Q67. What is a Technical Analyst?
A: Technical Analysts perform test assessments and validate system/functional test
requirements. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For
instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Technical Analyst.
Q68. What is a Test Configuration Manager?
A: Test Configuration Managers maintain test environments, scripts, software and test
data. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance,
Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Test Configuration Manager.
Q69. What is a test schedule?
A: The test schedule is a schedule that identifies all tasks required for a successful
testing effort, a schedule of all test activities and resource requirements.
Q70. What is software testing methodology?
A: One software testing methodology is the use a three step process of...
1. Creating a test strategy;
2. Creating a test plan/design; and
3. Executing tests.
This methodology can be used and molded to your organization's needs. Rob Davis
believes that using this methodology is important in the development and in ongoing
maintenance of his customers' applications.
Q71. What is the general testing process?
A: The general testing process is the creation of a test strategy (which sometimes
includes the creation of test cases), creation of a test plan/design (which usually includes
test cases and test procedures) and the execution of tests.
Q72. How do you create a test strategy?
A: The test strategy is a formal description of how a software product will be tested. A
test strategy is developed for all levels of testing, as required. The test team analyzes the
requirements, writes the test strategy and reviews the plan with the project team. The test
plan may include test cases, conditions, the test environment, a list of related tasks,
pass/fail criteria and risk assessment.
Inputs for this process:
• A description of the required hardware and software components, including test
tools. This information comes from the test environment, including test tool data.
• A description of roles and responsibilities of the resources required for the test
and schedule constraints. This information comes from man-hours and
schedules.
• Testing methodology. This is based on known standards.
• Functional and technical requirements of the application. This information comes
from requirements, change request, technical and functional design documents.
• Requirements that the system can not provide, e.g. system limitations.
Outputs for this process:
• An approved and signed off test strategy document, test plan, including test
cases.
• Testing issues requiring resolution. Usually this requires additional negotiation at
the project management level.
Q73. How do you create a test plan/design?
A: Test scenarios and/or cases are prepared by reviewing functional requirements of the
release and preparing logical groups of functions that can be further broken into test
procedures. Test procedures define test conditions, data to be used for testing and
expected results, including database updates, file outputs, report results. Generally
speaking...
• Test cases and scenarios are designed to represent both typical and unusual
situations that may occur in the application.
• Test engineers define unit test requirements and unit test cases. Test engineers
also execute unit test cases.
• It is the test team who, with assistance of developers and clients, develops test
cases and scenarios for integration and system testing.
• Test scenarios are executed through the use of test procedures or scripts.
• Test procedures or scripts define a series of steps necessary to perform one or
more test scenarios.
• Test procedures or scripts include the specific data that will be used for testing
the process or transaction.
• Test procedures or scripts may cover multiple test scenarios.
• Test scripts are mapped back to the requirements and traceability matrices are
used to ensure each test is within scope.
• Test data is captured and base lined, prior to testing. This data serves as the
foundation for unit and system testing and used to exercise system functionality
in a controlled environment.
• Some output data is also base-lined for future comparison. Base-lined data is
used to support future application maintenance via regression testing.
• A pre-test meeting is held to assess the readiness of the application and the
environment and data to be tested. A test readiness document is created to
indicate the status of the entrance criteria of the release.
Inputs for this process:
• Approved Test Strategy Document.
• Test tools, or automated test tools, if applicable.
• Previously developed scripts, if applicable.
• Test documentation problems uncovered as a result of testing.
• A good understanding of software complexity and module path coverage, derived
from general and detailed design documents, e.g. software design document,
source code and software complexity data.
Outputs for this process:
• Approved documents of test scenarios, test cases, test conditions and test data.
• Reports of software design issues, given to software developers for correction.
Q74. How do you execute tests?
A: Execution of tests is completed by following the test documents in a methodical
manner. As each test procedure is performed, an entry is recorded in a test execution log
to note the execution of the procedure and whether or not the test procedure uncovered
any defects. Checkpoint meetings are held throughout the execution phase. Checkpoint
meetings are held daily, if required, to address and discuss testing issues, status and
activities.
• The output from the execution of test procedures is known as test results. Test
results are evaluated by test engineers to determine whether the expected
results have been obtained. All discrepancies/anomalies are logged and
discussed with the software team lead, hardware test lead, programmers,
software engineers and documented for further investigation and resolution.
Every company has a different process for logging and reporting bugs/defects
uncovered during testing.
• A pass/fail criteria is used to determine the severity of a problem, and results are
recorded in a test summary report. The severity of a problem, found during
system testing, is defined in accordance to the customer's risk assessment and
recorded in their selected tracking tool.
• Proposed fixes are delivered to the testing environment, based on the severity of
the problem. Fixes are regression tested and flawless fixes are migrated to a new
baseline. Following completion of the test, members of the test team prepare a
summary report. The summary report is reviewed by the Project Manager,
Software QA (SWQA) Manager and/or Test Team Lead.
• After a particular level of testing has been certified, it is the responsibility of the
Configuration Manager to coordinate the migration of the release software
components to the next test level, as documented in the Configuration
Management Plan. The software is only migrated to the production environment
after the Project Manager's formal acceptance.
• The test team reviews test document problems identified during testing, and
update documents where appropriate.
Inputs for this process:
• Approved test documents, e.g. Test Plan, Test Cases, Test Procedures.
• Test tools, including automated test tools, if applicable.
• Developed scripts.
• Changes to the design, i.e. Change Request Documents.
• Test data.
• Availability of the test team and project team.
• General and Detailed Design Documents, i.e. Requirements Document, Software
Design Document.
• A software that has been migrated to the test environment, i.e. unit tested code,
via the Configuration/Build Manager.
• Test Readiness Document.
• Document Updates.
Outputs for this process:
• Log and summary of the test results. Usually this is part of the Test Report. This
needs to be approved and signed-off with revised testing deliverables.
• Changes to the code, also known as test fixes.
• Test document problems uncovered as a result of testing. Examples are
Requirements document and Design Document problems.
• Reports on software design issues, given to software developers for correction.
Examples are bug reports on code issues.
• Formal record of test incidents, usually part of problem tracking.
• Base-lined package, also known as tested source and object code, ready for
migration to the next level.
Mostly Asked Questions:
Q1. What is verification?
A: Verification ensures the product is designed to deliver all functionality to the customer; it
typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and
specifications; this can be done with checklists, issues lists, walkthroughs and inspection
meetings.
Q2. What is validation?
A: Validation ensures that functionality, as defined in requirements, is the intended behavior of
the product; validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are
completed.
Q3. What is a walk-through?
A: A walk-through is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes.
Q4. What is an inspection?
A: An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than a walk-through and typically consists
of 3-10 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and a
recorder (to make notes in the document). The subject of the inspection is typically a document,
such as a requirements document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find problems
and see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result of the meeting should be documented in a
written report. Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading through the
document, before the meeting starts; most problems are found during this preparation.
Preparation for inspections is difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring
quality, since bug prevention is more cost effective than bug detection.
Q5. What is quality?
A: Quality software is software that is reasonably bug-free, delivered on time and within budget,
meets requirements and expectations and is maintainable. However, quality is a subjective term.
Quality depends on who the customer is and their overall influence in the scheme of things.
Customers of a software development project include end-users, customer acceptance test
engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, the development
organization's management, test engineers, testers, salespeople, software engineers,
stockholders and accountants. Each type of customer will have his or her own slant on quality.
The accounting department might define quality in terms of profits, while an end-user might define
quality as user friendly and bug free.
Q6. What is good code?
A: A good code is code that works, is free of bugs and is readable and maintainable.
Organizations usually have coding standards all developers should adhere to, but every
programmer and software engineer has different ideas about what is best and what are too many
or too few rules. We need to keep in mind that excessive use of rules can stifle both productivity
and creativity. Peer reviews and code analysis tools can be used to check for problems and
enforce standards.
Q7. What is good design?
A: Design could mean to many things, but often refers to functional design or internal design.
Good functional design is indicated by software functionality can be traced back to customer and
end-user requirements. Good internal design is indicated by software code whose overall
structure is clear, understandable, easily modifiable and maintainable; is robust with sufficient
error handling and status logging capability; and works correctly when implemented.
Q8. What is software life cycle?
A: Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no
longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design,
internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration,
testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out.
Q9. Why are there so many software bugs?
A: Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software
complexity, programming errors, changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time
pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in software development.
• There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as
to what the software should or shouldn't do.
• Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in
software and system complexity: Windows interfaces, client-server and
distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases
and the sheer size of applications.
• Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like
everyone else, can make mistakes.
• As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments,
continuously modified requirements are a fact of life. Sometimes customers do
not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them
anyway. And the changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of
resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone or
discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too.
• Bug tracking can result in errors because the complexity of keeping track of
changes can result in errors, too.
• Time pressures can cause problems, because scheduling of software projects is
not easy and it often requires a lot of guesswork and when deadlines loom and
the crunch comes, mistakes will be made.
• Code documentation is tough to maintain and it is also tough to modify code that
is poorly documented. The result is bugs. Sometimes there is no incentive for
programmers and software engineers to document their code and write clearly
documented, understandable code. Sometimes developers get kudos for quickly
turning out code, or programmers and software engineers feel they have job
security if everyone can understand the code they write, or they believe if the
code was hard to write, it should be hard to read.
• Software development tools , including visual tools, class libraries, compilers,
scripting tools, can introduce their own bugs. Other times the tools are poorly
documented, which can create additional bugs.
Q10. How do you introduce a new software QA process?
A: It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large
organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a
formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk
projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is
required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in
order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects,
an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers,
feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers,
managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company,
the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is
requirements that are clear, complete and
testable.
Q11. Give me five common problems that occur during
software development.
A: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new
features after development is underway and poor communication.
1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too
general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems.
2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.
3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any
good until customers complain or the system crashes.
4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is
underway.
5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or
customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed.
Q12. Give me five solutions to problems that occur during
software development.
A: Solid requirements, realistic schedules, adequate testing, firm requirements and good
communication.
1. Ensure the requirements are solid, clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable
and testable. All players should agree to requirements. Use prototypes to help
nail down requirements.
2. Have schedules that are realistic. Allow adequate time for planning, design,
testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes and documentation. Personnel should be
able to complete the project without burning out.
3. Do testing that is adequate. Start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes,
and plan for sufficient time for both testing and bug fixing.
4. Avoid new features. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible. Be
prepared to defend design against changes and additions, once development
has begun and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary,
ensure they're adequately reflected in related schedule changes. Use prototypes
early on so customers' expectations are clarified and customers can see what to
expect; this will minimize changes later on.
5. Communicate. Require walk-throughs and inspections when appropriate; make
extensive use of e-mail, networked bug-tracking tools, tools of change
management. Ensure documentation is available and up-to-date. Use
documentation that is electronic, not paper. Promote teamwork and cooperation.
Q13. Do automated testing tools make testing easier?
A: Yes and no. For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable.
But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not
worthwhile. A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example,
a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices,
buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The
recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing
tool can interpret. If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying
code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back
the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the
change. One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product
being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very timeconsuming
task to continuously update the scripts. Another problem with such tools is the
interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task.
Q14. What makes a good test engineer?
A: Rob Davis is a good test engineer because he
• Has a "test to break" attitude,
• Takes the point of view of the customer,
• Has a strong desire for quality,
• Has an attention to detail, He's also
• Tactful and diplomatic and
• Has good a communication skill, both oral and written. And he
• Has previous software development experience, too.
Good test engineers have a "test to break" attitude, they take the point of view of the
customer, have a strong desire for quality and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy
are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers and an ability to
communicate with both technical and non-technical people. Previous software
development experience is also helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the
software development process, gives the test engineer an appreciation for the
developers' point of view and reduces the learning curve in automated test tool
programming.
Q15. What makes a good QA engineer?
A: The same qualities a good test engineer has are useful for a QA engineer.
Additionally, Rob Davis understands the entire software development process and how it
fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Rob Davis'
communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.
Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits
into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and
the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.
Q16. What makes a good resume?
A: On the subject of resumes, there seems to be an unending discussion of whether you
should or shouldn't have a one-page resume. The followings are some of the comments I
have personally heard: "Well, Joe Blow (car salesman) said I should have a one-page
resume." "Well, I read a book and it said you should have a one page resume." "I can't
really go into what I really did because if I did, it'd take more than one page on my
resume." "Gosh, I wish I could put my job at IBM on my resume but if I did it'd make my
resume more than one page, and I was told to never make the resume more than one
page long." "I'm confused, should my resume be more than one page? I feel like it
should, but I don't want to break the rules." Or, here's another comment, "People just
don't read resumes that are longer than one page." I have heard some more, but we can
start with these. So what's the answer? There is no scientific answer about whether a
one-page resume is right or wrong. It all depends on who you are and how much
experience you have. The first thing to look at here is the purpose of a resume. The
purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. If the resume is getting you interviews,
then it is considered to be a good resume. If the resume isn't getting you interviews, then
you should change it. The biggest mistake you can make on your resume is to make it
hard to read. Why? Because, for one, scanners don't like odd resumes. Small fonts can
make your resume harder to read. Some candidates use a 7-point font so they can get
the resume onto one page. Big mistake. Two, resume readers do not like eye strain
either. If the resume is mechanically challenging, they just throw it aside for one that is
easier on the eyes. Three, there are lots of resumes out there these days, and that is also
part of the problem. Four, in light of the current scanning scenario, more than one page is
not a deterrent because many will scan your resume into their database. Once the
resume is in there and searchable, you have accomplished one of the goals of resume
distribution. Five, resume readers don't like to guess and most won't call you to clarify
what is on your resume. Generally speaking, your resume should tell your story. If you're
a college graduate looking for your first job, a one-page resume is just fine. If you have a
longer story, the resume needs to be longer. Please put your experience on the resume
so resume readers can tell when and for whom you did what. Short resumes -- for people
long on experience -- are not appropriate. The real audience for these short resumes is
people with short attention spans and low IQs. I assure you that when your resume gets
into the right hands, it will be read thoroughly.
Q17. What makes a good QA/Test Manager?
A: QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to
maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote
teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and
Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA
processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say *no* to other managers when
quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to communicate
with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them
focused.
Q18. What is the role of documentation in QA?
A: Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices should be documented, so that
they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports,
configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports, user manuals should all
be documented. Ideally, there should be a system for easily finding and obtaining of
documents and determining what document will have a particular piece of information.
Use documentation change management, if possible.
Q19. What about requirements?
A: Requirement specifications are important and one of the most reliable methods of
insuring problems in a complex software project is to have poorly documented
requirement specifications. Requirements are the details describing an application's
externally perceived functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear,
complete, reasonably detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. A non-testable
requirement would be, for example, "user-friendly", which is too subjective. A testable
requirement would be something such as, "the product shall allow the user to enter their
previously-assigned password to access the application". Care should be taken to involve
all of a project's significant customers in the requirements process. Customers could be
in-house or external and could include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers,
testers, customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance
engineers, salespeople and anyone who could later derail the project. If his/her
expectations aren't met, they should be included as a customer, if possible. In some
organizations, requirements may end up in high-level project plans, functional
specification documents, design documents, or other documents at various levels of
detail. No matter what they are called, some type of documentation with detailed
requirements will be needed by test engineers in order to properly plan and execute
tests. Without such documentation there will be no clear-cut way to determine if a
software application is performing correctly.
Q20. What is a test plan?
A: A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope,
approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a
useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software
product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the
why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so
thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it.
Q21. What is a test case?
A: A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected
result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case
should contain particulars such as a...
• Test case identifier;
• Test case name;
• Objective;
• Test conditions/setup;
• Input data requirements/steps, and
• Expected results.
Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the
requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through
the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in
the development cycle, if possible.
Q22. What should be done after a bug is found?
A: When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that
can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested. Additionally,
determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety
impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems
elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these
determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking/management software tools
are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the
team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its
severity, reproduce it and fix it.
Q23. What is configuration management?
A: Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control,
coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests,
designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the
changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts. Rob
Davis can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs.
Q24. What if the software is so buggy it can't be tested at all?
A: In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process of
reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being on critical
bugs. Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates deeper
problems in the software development process, such as insufficient unit testing,
insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release procedures,
managers should be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of the
problem.
Q25. How do you know when to stop testing?
A: This can be difficult to determine. Many modern software applications are so complex
and run in such an interdependent environment, that complete testing can never be done.
Common factors in deciding when to stop are...
• Deadlines, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines;
• Test cases completed with certain percentage passed;
• Test budget has been depleted;
• Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a specified point;
• Bug rate falls below a certain level; or
• Beta or alpha testing period ends.
Q26. What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?
A: Since it's rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible
combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk
analysis is appropriate to most software development projects. Use risk analysis to
determine where testing should be focused. This requires judgment skills, common sense
and experience. The checklist should include answers to the following questions:
• Which functionality is most important to the project's intended purpose?
• Which functionality is most visible to the user?
• Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
• Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
• Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
• Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?
• Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?
• Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance
expenses?
• Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
• What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
• What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
• What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
• What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
• Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?
Q27. What if the project isn't big enough to justify extensive
testing?
A: Consider the impact of project errors, not the size of the project. However, if extensive
testing is still not justified, risk analysis is again needed and the considerations listed
under "What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?" do apply. The test engineer
then should do "ad hoc" testing, or write up a limited test plan based on the risk analysis.
Q28. What can be done if requirements are changing
continuously?
A: Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so
that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the
application's initial design allows for some adaptability, so that later changes do not
require redoing the application from scratch. Additionally, try to...
• Ensure the code is well commented and well documented; this makes changes
easier for the developers.
• Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure of
their requirements and minimize changes.
• In the project's initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate with
probable changes.
• Move new requirements to a 'Phase 2' version of an application and use the
original requirements for the 'Phase 1' version.
• Negotiate to allow only easily implemented new requirements into the project;
move more difficult, new requirements into future versions of the application.
• Ensure customers and management understand scheduling impacts, inherent
risks and costs of significant requirements changes. Then let management or the
customers decide if the changes are warranted; after all, that's their job.
• Balance the effort put into setting up automated testing with the expected effort
required to redo them to deal with changes.
• Design some flexibility into automated test scripts;
• Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely to
remain unchanged;
• Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes, in order to minimize
regression-testing needs;
• Design some flexibility into test cases; this is not easily done; the best bet is to
minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only higher-level generic-type test
plans;
• Focus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad-hoc testing with
an understanding of the added risk this entails.
Q29. What if the application has functionality that wasn't in
the requirements?
A: It may take serious effort to determine if an application has significant unexpected or
hidden functionality, which it would indicate deeper problems in the software
development process. If the functionality isn't necessary to the purpose of the application,
it should be removed, as it may have unknown impacts or dependencies that were not
taken into account by the designer or the customer.
If not removed, design information will be needed to determine added testing needs or
regression testing needs. Management should be made aware of any significant added
risks as a result of the unexpected functionality. If the functionality only affects areas,
such as minor improvements in the user interface, it may not be a significant risk.
Q30. How can software QA processes be implemented
without stifling productivity?
A: Implement QA processes slowly over time. Use consensus to reach agreement on
processes and adjust and experiment as an organization grows and matures. Productivity
will be improved instead of stifled. Problem prevention will lessen the need for problem
detection. Panics and burnout will decrease and there will be improved focus and less
wasted effort. At the same time, attempts should be made to keep processes simple and
efficient, minimize paperwork, promote computer-based processes and automated
tracking and reporting, minimize time required in meetings and promote training as part of
the QA process. However, no one, especially talented technical types, like bureaucracy
and in the short run things may slow down a bit. A typical scenario would be that more
days of planning and development will be needed, but less time will be required for latenight
bug fixing and calming of irate customers.
Q31. What if organization is growing so fast that fixed QA
processes are impossible?
A: This is a common problem in the software industry, especially in new technology
areas. There is no easy solution in this situation, other than...
• Hire good people (i.e. hire Rob Davis)
• Ruthlessly prioritize quality issues and maintain focus on the customer;
• Everyone in the organization should be clear on what quality means to the
customer.
Q32. How is testing affected by object-oriented designs?
A: A well-engineered object-oriented design can make it easier to trace from code to
internal design to functional design to requirements. While there will be little affect on
black box testing (where an understanding of the internal design of the application is
unnecessary), white-box testing can be oriented to the application's objects. If the
application was well designed this can simplify test design.
Q33. Why do you recommended that we test during the
design phase?
A: Because testing during the design phase can prevent defects later on. We
recommend verifying three things...
1. Verify the design is good, efficient, compact, testable and maintainable.
2. Verify the design meets the requirements and is complete (specifies all
relationships between modules, how to pass data, what happens in exceptional
circumstances, starting state of each module and how to guarantee the state of
each module).
3. Verify the design incorporates enough memory, I/O devices and quick enough
runtime for the final product.
Q34. What is software quality assurance?
A: Software Quality Assurance (SWQA) when Rob Davis does it is oriented to
*prevention*. It involves the entire software development process. Prevention is
monitoring and improving the process, making sure any agreed-upon standards and
procedures are followed and ensuring problems are found and dealt with. Software
Testing, when performed by Rob Davis, is also oriented to *detection*. Testing involves
the operation of a system or application under controlled conditions and evaluating the
results. Organizations vary considerably in how they assign responsibility for QA and
testing. Sometimes they are the combined responsibility of one group or individual. Also
common are project teams, which include a mix of test engineers, testers and developers
who work closely together, with overall QA processes monitored by project managers. It
depends on what best fits your organization's size and business structure. Rob Davis can
provide QA and/or SWQA. This document details some aspects of how he can provide
software testing/QA service. For more information, e-mail rob@robdavispe.com
Q35. What is quality assurance?
A: Quality Assurance ensures all parties concerned with the project adhere to the
process and procedures, standards and templates and test readiness reviews.
Rob Davis' QA service depends on the customers and projects. A lot will depend on team
leads or managers, feedback to developers and communications among customers,
managers, developers' test engineers and testers.
Q36. Process and procedures - why follow them?
A: Detailed and well-written processes and procedures ensure the correct steps are
being executed to facilitate a successful completion of a task. They also ensure a
process is repeatable. Once Rob Davis has learned and reviewed customer's business
processes and procedures, he will follow them. He will also recommend improvements
and/or additions.
Q37. Standards and templates - what is supposed to be in a
document?
A: All documents should be written to a certain standard and template. Standards and
templates maintain document uniformity. It also helps in learning where information is
located, making it easier for a user to find what they want. Lastly, with standards and
templates, information will not be accidentally omitted from a document. Once Rob Davis
has learned and reviewed your standards and templates, he will use them. He will also
recommend improvements and/or additions.
Q38. What are the different levels of testing?
A: Rob Davis has expertise in testing at all testing levels listed below. At each test level,
he documents the results. Each level of testing is either considered black or white box
testing.
Q39. What is black box testing?
A: Black box testing is functional testing, not based on any knowledge of internal
software design or code. Black box testing are based on requirements and functionality.
Q40. What is white box testing?
A: White box testing is based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application's code.
Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths and conditions.
Q41. What is unit testing?
A: Unit testing is the first level of dynamic testing and is first the responsibility of
developers and then that of the test engineers. Unit testing is performed after the
expected test results are met or differences are explainable/acceptable.
Q42. What is parallel/audit testing?
A: Parallel/audit testing is testing where the user reconciles the output of the new system
to the output of the current system to verify the new system performs the operations
correctly.
Q43. What is functional testing?
A: Functional testing is black-box type of testing geared to functional requirements of an
application. Test engineers *should* perform functional testing.
Q44. What is usability testing?
A: Usability testing is testing for 'user-friendliness'. Clearly this is subjective and depends
on the targeted end-user or customer. User interviews, surveys, video recording of user
sessions and other techniques can be used. Programmers and developers are usually
not appropriate as usability testers.
Q45. What is incremental integration testing?
A: Incremental integration testing is continuous testing of an application as new
functionality is recommended. This may require that various aspects of an application's
functionality are independent enough to work separately, before all parts of the program
are completed, or that test drivers are developed as needed. This type of testing may be
performed by programmers, software engineers, or test engineers.
Q46. What is integration testing?
A: Upon completion of unit testing, integration testing begins. Integration testing is black
box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure distinct components of the
application still work in accordance to customer requirements. Test cases are developed
with the express purpose of exercising the interfaces between the components. This
activity is carried out by the test team.
Integration testing is considered complete, when actual results and expected results are
either in line or differences are explainable/acceptable based on client input.
Q47. What is system testing?
A: System testing is black box testing, performed by the Test Team, and at the start of
the system testing the complete system is configured in a controlled environment. The
purpose of system testing is to validate an application's accuracy and completeness in
performing the functions as designed. System testing simulates real life scenarios that
occur in a "simulated real life" test environment and test all functions of the system that
are required in real life. System testing is deemed complete when actual results and
expected results are either in line or differences are explainable or acceptable, based on
client input. Upon completion of integration testing, system testing is started. Before
system testing, all unit and integration test results are reviewed by SWQA to ensure all
problems have been resolved. For a higher level of testing it is important to understand
unresolved problems that originate at unit and integration test levels.
Q48. What is end-to-end testing?
A: Similar to system testing, the *macro* end of the test scale is testing a complete
application in a situation that mimics real world use, such as interacting with a database,
using network communication, or interacting with other hardware, application, or system.
Q49. What is regression testing?
A: The objective of regression testing is to ensure the software remains intact. A baseline
set of data and scripts is maintained and executed to verify changes introduced during
the release have not "undone" any previous code. Expected results from the baseline are
compared to results of the software under test. All discrepancies are highlighted and
accounted for, before testing proceeds to the next level.
Q50. What is sanity testing?
A: Sanity testing is performed whenever cursory testing is sufficient to prove the
application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is a subset of
regression testing. It normally includes a set of core tests of basic GUI functionality to
demonstrate connectivity to the database, application servers, printers, etc.
Q51. What is performance testing?
A: Although performance testing is described as a part of system testing, it can be
regarded as a distinct level of testing. Performance testing verifies loads, volumes and
response times, as defined by requirements.
Q52. What is load testing?
A: Load testing is testing an application under heavy loads, such as the testing of a web
site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system response time will
degrade or fail.
Q53. What is installation testing?
A: Installation testing is testing full, partial, upgrade, or install/un-install processes. The
installation test for a release is conducted with the objective of demonstrating production
readiness. This test includes the inventory of configuration items, performed by the
application's System Administration, the evaluation of data readiness, and dynamic tests
focused on basic system functionality. When necessary, a sanity test is performed,
following installation testing.
Q54. What is security/penetration testing?
A: Security/penetration testing is testing how well the system is protected against
unauthorized internal or external access, or willful damage. This type of testing usually
requires sophisticated testing techniques.
Q55. What is recovery/error testing?
A: Recovery/error testing is testing how well a system recovers from crashes, hardware
failures, or other catastrophic problems.
Q56. What is compatibility testing?
A: Compatibility testing is testing how well software performs in a particular hardware,
software, operating system, or network environment.
Q57. What is comparison testing?
A: Comparison testing is testing that compares software weaknesses and strengths to
those of competitors' products.
Q58. What is acceptance testing?
A: Acceptance testing is black box testing that gives the client/customer/project manager
the opportunity to verify the system functionality and usability prior to the system being
released to production. The acceptance test is the responsibility of the client/customer or
project manager, however, it is conducted with the full support of the project team. The
test team also works with the client/customer/project manager to develop the acceptance
criteria.
Q59. What is alpha testing?
A: Alpha testing is testing of an application when development is nearing completion.
Minor design changes can still be made as a result of alpha testing. Alpha testing is
typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software engineers, or test
engineers.
Q60. What is beta testing?
A: Beta testing is testing an application when development and testing are essentially
completed and final bugs and problems need to be found before the final release. Beta
testing is typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software
engineers, or test engineers.
Q61. What testing roles are standard on most testing
projects?
A: Depending on the organization, the following roles are more or less standard on most
testing projects: Testers, Test Engineers, Test/QA Team Lead, Test/QA Manager,
System Administrator, Database Administrator, Technical Analyst, Test Build Manager
and Test Configuration Manager. Depending on the project, one person may wear more
than one hat. For instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of Technical Analyst,
Test Build Manager and Test Configuration Manager.
Q62. What is a Test/QA Team Lead?
A: The Test/QA Team Lead coordinates the testing activity, communicates testing status
to management and manages the test team.
Q63. What is a Test Engineer?
A: Test Engineers are engineers who specialize in testing. They create test cases,
procedures, scripts and generate data. They execute test procedures and scripts,
analyze standards of measurements, evaluate results of system/integration/regression
testing. They also...
• Speed up the work of your development staff;
• Reduce your risk of legal liability;
• Give you the evidence that your software is correct and operates properly;
• Improve problem tracking and reporting;
• Maximize the value of your software;
• Maximize the value of the devices that use it;
• Assure the successful launch of your product by discovering bugs and design
flaws, before users get discouraged, before shareholders loose their cool and
before employees get bogged down;
• Help the work of your development staff, so the development team can devote its
time to build up your product;
• Promote continual improvement;
• Provide documentation required by FDA, FAA, other regulatory agencies and
your customers;
• Save money by discovering defects 'early' in the design process, before failures
occur in production, or in the field;
• Save the reputation of your company by discovering bugs and design flaws;
before bugs and design flaws damage the reputation of your company.
Q64. What is a Test Build Manager?
A: Test Build Managers deliver current software versions to the test environment, install
the application's software and apply software patches, to both the application and the
operating system, set-up, maintain and back up test environment hardware. Depending
on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer
may also wear the hat of a Test Build Manager.
Q65. What is a System Administrator?
A: Test Build Managers, System Administrators, Database Administrators deliver current
software versions to the test environment, install the application's software and apply
software patches, to both the application and the operating system, set-up, maintain and
back up test environment hardware. Depending on the project, one person may wear
more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer may also wear the hat of a System
Administrator.
Q66. What is a Database Administrator?
A: Test Build Managers, System Administrators and Database Administrators deliver
current software versions to the test environment, install the application's software and
apply software patches, to both the application and the operating system, set-up,
maintain and back up test environment hardware. Depending on the project, one person
may wear more than one hat. For instance, a Test Engineer may also wear the hat of a
Database Administrator.
Q67. What is a Technical Analyst?
A: Technical Analysts perform test assessments and validate system/functional test
requirements. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For
instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Technical Analyst.
Q68. What is a Test Configuration Manager?
A: Test Configuration Managers maintain test environments, scripts, software and test
data. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance,
Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Test Configuration Manager.
Q69. What is a test schedule?
A: The test schedule is a schedule that identifies all tasks required for a successful
testing effort, a schedule of all test activities and resource requirements.
Q70. What is software testing methodology?
A: One software testing methodology is the use a three step process of...
1. Creating a test strategy;
2. Creating a test plan/design; and
3. Executing tests.
This methodology can be used and molded to your organization's needs. Rob Davis
believes that using this methodology is important in the development and in ongoing
maintenance of his customers' applications.
Q71. What is the general testing process?
A: The general testing process is the creation of a test strategy (which sometimes
includes the creation of test cases), creation of a test plan/design (which usually includes
test cases and test procedures) and the execution of tests.
Q72. How do you create a test strategy?
A: The test strategy is a formal description of how a software product will be tested. A
test strategy is developed for all levels of testing, as required. The test team analyzes the
requirements, writes the test strategy and reviews the plan with the project team. The test
plan may include test cases, conditions, the test environment, a list of related tasks,
pass/fail criteria and risk assessment.
Inputs for this process:
• A description of the required hardware and software components, including test
tools. This information comes from the test environment, including test tool data.
• A description of roles and responsibilities of the resources required for the test
and schedule constraints. This information comes from man-hours and
schedules.
• Testing methodology. This is based on known standards.
• Functional and technical requirements of the application. This information comes
from requirements, change request, technical and functional design documents.
• Requirements that the system can not provide, e.g. system limitations.
Outputs for this process:
• An approved and signed off test strategy document, test plan, including test
cases.
• Testing issues requiring resolution. Usually this requires additional negotiation at
the project management level.
Q73. How do you create a test plan/design?
A: Test scenarios and/or cases are prepared by reviewing functional requirements of the
release and preparing logical groups of functions that can be further broken into test
procedures. Test procedures define test conditions, data to be used for testing and
expected results, including database updates, file outputs, report results. Generally
speaking...
• Test cases and scenarios are designed to represent both typical and unusual
situations that may occur in the application.
• Test engineers define unit test requirements and unit test cases. Test engineers
also execute unit test cases.
• It is the test team who, with assistance of developers and clients, develops test
cases and scenarios for integration and system testing.
• Test scenarios are executed through the use of test procedures or scripts.
• Test procedures or scripts define a series of steps necessary to perform one or
more test scenarios.
• Test procedures or scripts include the specific data that will be used for testing
the process or transaction.
• Test procedures or scripts may cover multiple test scenarios.
• Test scripts are mapped back to the requirements and traceability matrices are
used to ensure each test is within scope.
• Test data is captured and base lined, prior to testing. This data serves as the
foundation for unit and system testing and used to exercise system functionality
in a controlled environment.
• Some output data is also base-lined for future comparison. Base-lined data is
used to support future application maintenance via regression testing.
• A pre-test meeting is held to assess the readiness of the application and the
environment and data to be tested. A test readiness document is created to
indicate the status of the entrance criteria of the release.
Inputs for this process:
• Approved Test Strategy Document.
• Test tools, or automated test tools, if applicable.
• Previously developed scripts, if applicable.
• Test documentation problems uncovered as a result of testing.
• A good understanding of software complexity and module path coverage, derived
from general and detailed design documents, e.g. software design document,
source code and software complexity data.
Outputs for this process:
• Approved documents of test scenarios, test cases, test conditions and test data.
• Reports of software design issues, given to software developers for correction.
Q74. How do you execute tests?
A: Execution of tests is completed by following the test documents in a methodical
manner. As each test procedure is performed, an entry is recorded in a test execution log
to note the execution of the procedure and whether or not the test procedure uncovered
any defects. Checkpoint meetings are held throughout the execution phase. Checkpoint
meetings are held daily, if required, to address and discuss testing issues, status and
activities.
• The output from the execution of test procedures is known as test results. Test
results are evaluated by test engineers to determine whether the expected
results have been obtained. All discrepancies/anomalies are logged and
discussed with the software team lead, hardware test lead, programmers,
software engineers and documented for further investigation and resolution.
Every company has a different process for logging and reporting bugs/defects
uncovered during testing.
• A pass/fail criteria is used to determine the severity of a problem, and results are
recorded in a test summary report. The severity of a problem, found during
system testing, is defined in accordance to the customer's risk assessment and
recorded in their selected tracking tool.
• Proposed fixes are delivered to the testing environment, based on the severity of
the problem. Fixes are regression tested and flawless fixes are migrated to a new
baseline. Following completion of the test, members of the test team prepare a
summary report. The summary report is reviewed by the Project Manager,
Software QA (SWQA) Manager and/or Test Team Lead.
• After a particular level of testing has been certified, it is the responsibility of the
Configuration Manager to coordinate the migration of the release software
components to the next test level, as documented in the Configuration
Management Plan. The software is only migrated to the production environment
after the Project Manager's formal acceptance.
• The test team reviews test document problems identified during testing, and
update documents where appropriate.
Inputs for this process:
• Approved test documents, e.g. Test Plan, Test Cases, Test Procedures.
• Test tools, including automated test tools, if applicable.
• Developed scripts.
• Changes to the design, i.e. Change Request Documents.
• Test data.
• Availability of the test team and project team.
• General and Detailed Design Documents, i.e. Requirements Document, Software
Design Document.
• A software that has been migrated to the test environment, i.e. unit tested code,
via the Configuration/Build Manager.
• Test Readiness Document.
• Document Updates.
Outputs for this process:
• Log and summary of the test results. Usually this is part of the Test Report. This
needs to be approved and signed-off with revised testing deliverables.
• Changes to the code, also known as test fixes.
• Test document problems uncovered as a result of testing. Examples are
Requirements document and Design Document problems.
• Reports on software design issues, given to software developers for correction.
Examples are bug reports on code issues.
• Formal record of test incidents, usually part of problem tracking.
• Base-lined package, also known as tested source and object code, ready for
migration to the next level.
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