A Group of Testing Techniques and the Software Problems - Essay Example

Software Testing A NEW TESTING STRATEGY MAY Acknowledgement First of all I want to thank GOD who helped me reach at this level. Then I would like to say thanks to my parents, without their support I could not be able to achieve my goals. Next I want to say thanks to my teacher Mr._____ whose valuable and effective assistance helped me a lot complete this research proposal. He helped me always in each difficulty by giving his precious time. I want to mention the name of my friends Mr.___ who also helped me reach at this stage. I will always be thankful to all of them to help me accomplish this difficult task. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Statement of the problem 6 According to David-at-el (1998), software testing is complicated and expensive and sometimes considered as a more time consuming part of overall system development life cycle. In this scenario the most of testing stages and activities are overlooked to deploy the system on time. Additionally, for cost saving and delivering system on due date system development team eliminates the system testing phase by minimizing few testing phases. However, sometime this action leads to problems in overall software working and handling for instance, the developed system has hidden bugs that appear during the system working and create problems for the system user(s). This type of problems leads toward the system failure or even working malfunction (Banks et al., 1998; Taipale & Smolander, 2006). 6 Purpose 6 According to Mihnea & Constantinescu (2008), IT managers and professionals can have different opinions regarding a lot of software development principles, however the majority of them agree on one point that software we deliver has to be correct as well as reliable. In this scenario the successful software development groups have previously recognized that efficient testing is necessary to achieve this goal. In addition, researches have shown that most of software working and operational risks are due to some testing related problems (Mihnea & Constantinescu, 2008; Gelperin & Hetzel, 1988). In this scenario there is a vital need for the effective testing. My research is aimed at offering a group of testing techniques that will effectively manage and handle the software problems. The aim of this research is to offer a comprehensive and effective set of software testing techniques, types and execution framework. 7 Significance of the study 7 Gallagher (2000) stated that testing is not quality assurance. It is examined that effectively tested software that was incompetently designed, poorly conceived as well as unconcernedly programmed will end up a well-tested, bad product. Though, software testing has long been one of the main software development life cycle technical activities that are employed to enhance the quality of software product. Additionally, a lot of organizations spend lots of investment in testing and software development related work such as testers. For instance, the majority of Microsoft projects utilize one tester per programmer. The imperfect testing in majority of the IT organizations is often painfully and haphazard cumbersome (Gallagher, 2000; Mihnea & Constantinescu, 2008). The main significance of this study is to offer a simple and more efficient way of software testing. This software testing strategy will help eliminate system bugs and performance verification through the combination of system testing methodology. 8 Background 10 Analysis plan 12 References 14 CHAPTER I Introduction Software testing is one of the most important activities of the system development lifecycle. In simple words, it refers to monitoring the implementation of a software system to authenticate whether it works as planned as well as discover possible malfunctions. Also, the testing is commonly utilized in industry for quality assurance, definitely by directly analyzing the software system in execution, it offers a sensible view of its actions and performance and as such it remains the unavoidable complement to various analysis methods. Additionally, in the system development life cycle software testing has a really significant position. In addition, the software testing is expensive, complicated and uncertain. However, a system developed through effective system testing offers a lot of benefits such as improved system and code quality (e.g. defect reduction), and minimal impact to cost (e.g. productivity). Moreover, it has been noted that software testing is sometime considered as more cost consuming activity, since it is a broad and complex discipline. It is considered that implementation of a single testing technique is not enough for the effective system functionality and also it is impossible to implement and establish approximately all testing techniques at software testing stage (Bertolino, 2007; Bertolino, 2003; Ciupa et al., 2007). In this scenario I am going to suggest a more innovative and simple testing strategy that will be able to cover approximately all the areas that we need to test in a system. Additionally, this proposal covers the analysis of different testing levels for software testing. In addition, I will recommend a set of testing techniques that will be able to cover approximately all aspects of the system testing. These different testing levels will be composed of unit testing, integration testing and system testing. Statement of the problem According to David-at-el (1998), software testing is complicated and expensive and sometimes considered as a more time consuming part of overall system development life cycle. In this scenario the most of testing stages and activities are overlooked to deploy the system on time. Additionally, for cost saving and delivering system on due date system development team eliminates the system testing phase by minimizing few testing phases. However, sometime this action leads to problems in overall software working and handling for instance, the developed system has hidden bugs that appear during the system working and create problems for the system user(s). This type of problems leads toward the system failure or even working malfunction (Banks et al., 1998; Taipale & Smolander, 2006). Purpose According to Mihnea & Constantinescu (2008), IT managers and professionals can have different opinions regarding a lot of software development principles, however the majority of them agree on one point that software we deliver has to be correct as well as reliable. In this scenario the successful software development groups have previously recognized that efficient testing is necessary to achieve this goal. In addition, researches have shown that most of software working and operational risks are due to some testing related problems (Mihnea & Constantinescu, 2008; Gelperin & Hetzel, 1988). In this scenario there is a vital need for the effective testing. My research is aimed at offering a group of testing techniques that will effectively manage and handle the software problems. The aim of this research is to offer a comprehensive and effective set of software testing techniques, types and execution framework. Significance of the study Gallagher (2000) stated that testing is not quality assurance. It is examined that effectively tested software that was incompetently designed, poorly conceived as well as unconcernedly programmed will end up a well-tested, bad product. Though, software testing has long been one of the main software development life cycle technical activities that are employed to enhance the quality of software product. Additionally, a lot of organizations spend lots of investment in testing and software development related work such as testers. For instance, the majority of Microsoft projects utilize one tester per programmer. The imperfect testing in majority of the IT organizations is often painfully and haphazard cumbersome (Gallagher, 2000; Mihnea & Constantinescu, 2008). The main significance of this study is to offer a simple and more efficient way of software testing. This software testing strategy will help eliminate system bugs and performance verification through the combination of system testing methodology. Research questions and/or hypotheses The basic research question or hypothesis for the present research is to cover different testing levels (unit testing, integration testing, system testing) as well as testing techniques to test the system for small to medium software development firms. The main research hypothesis for the present research is to offer simple but compliance testing process development that will be more focused on the testing level as well as testing approach. Below given image outlines a simple overview of the new testing methodology that will offer much better results in testing of system through different testing levels. Figure 1- New testing Procedure –Source [http://www.tol.oulu.fi/projects/wg4/minutes/WG4040506_Test_research.pdf] CHAPTER II – Background There are a lot of testing techniques but we can not implement all of them to test the system because each project has a limited time and there are various constraints such as time and cost. Thus, a lot of testing aspects are overlooked and tried to test the system to check the working of major modules. Though this technique can find out potential system problems, however most of system operational and user related errors/problems remain covered. Thus, there is need for testing at all levels of the system that can ensure effective system performance (Sommerville, 2004; Pressman, 2001). Literature review Testing is a vital need for every system development and implementation. Pressman (2001) stated that without testing we can not achieve an effectively working system. There are a lot of areas of the system testing that are used to access the system best performance and error free working and operations. Additionally, the implementation of different testing techniques at different levels will outline the system working problems that make the system non-functional. For instance, testing the system user interface ensures the best and more user friendly working environment for the system users. In this testing we need to make sure that system does not make the user distracting, because the user’s interest in system gives best system/user performance. In addition, we need to test the system for the quality of working and best performance. This type of testing can comprise the system response time, working delay, speed, resources used, and accuracy of the results. In this way we can ensure the best and appropriate system response. (Pressman, 2001; Sommerville, 2004; Cohen et al., 2006; Hamlet, 1994) Software can be tested for a verity of reasons. Some of the main reasons are outlined below: (Sommerville, 2004; Pressman, 2001; Silva & Someren, 2010) Security: We need security in our application. Like a bank application would not be effective due to some security problems. So we have to tackle this feature. All tests have to exercise apprehension for worst case situations at the maximum expenses. It necessitates the tester to grasp security aspects of the system. Privacy: All tests have to work out to make sure the individual privacy apart from the regional law. Practicality: We have to bring the practicality in our developed product and for this we need testing criteria to make it sure that it is working properly. In addition, all tests have to be engineered for the most negligible complexity, utmost viability, and genuine clarity. Usability: All tests have to stay inside the frame of working usability means that developed system needs to offer better usability features for whom it has developed. CHAPTER III - Methodology Research Methodology This research will be done by using different research methodologies. In the present research I will use quantitative research metrology. Here I will also use some aspects of the qualitative research methodology. Both the qualitative and quantitative analyses are required because the data need to be gathered for appropriate and rational segregation which in turn needs judgmental and qualitative techniques for foolproof analysis. This research study will critically evaluate the actual change initiative through the use of additional research and interviews with professional system developers. Time frame This research will be completed within six months, which will involve all the activities such as research, analysis, synthesis, documentation and presentation stages. Analysis plan In the analysis plan for the research I will use the different analysis technique. For instance, I will use survey, interviews, and observation based methods to analyze the techniques of software testing. Validity and reliability For the validity and reliability of the research I will use the authenticated research papers, Journal articles and periodicals in addition to software engineering books. The research style will be similar to IEEE format. Assumptions In scenario of present research I have assumed that this research will offer us greater opportunity to know the real software engineering market for system development. Another assumption is that software development firms will help us provide information on their software testing techniques. Scope This research will offer/suggest a testing methodology that is more effective for the small and medium size firms. The basic aim of this new testing method is to use a variety of testing techniques on a software system at the same time and within budget. In this way small/medium businesses will be able to test the system with less delay in testing or expanding more cost on this software development lifecycle stage. CHAPTER V Conclusions and recommendations This proposal has presented a detailed analysis of the new testing strategy that I am going to recommend to small and medium software development firms for saving time and cost. In this proposal I have outlined a basic idea of the research that I am going to perform. This proposal suggests that we need to establish a group of testing techniques. These can include the system testing at different testing levels and will be composed of unit testing, integration testing and system testing. In this way we will be able to test the system through effective testing methodology. This technique will also outline potential system problems and difficulties that can lead towards unsuccessful system or overall system failure. In addition, the new testing methodology can be used for any type of system to test the system’s working and performance. This new testing technique that is based on a set of testing techniques at different levels will offer much better system performance. References Banks, D. et al., 1998. Software Testing by Statistical Methods. Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA: National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Laboratory. Bertolino, A., 2003. Software testing research and practice. In Lecture Notes In Computer Science, Proceedings of the abstract state machines 10th international conference on Advances in theory and practice. Taormina, Italy, 2003. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg. Bertolino, A., 2007. Software Testing Research: Achievements, Challenges, Dreams. In International Conference on Software Engineering, 2007 Future of Software Engineering., 2007. IEEE Computer Society Washington, DC, USA. Ciupa, I., Leitner, A., Oriol, M. & Meyer, B., 2007. Experimental assessment of random testing for object-oriented software. In International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis, Proceedings of the 2007 international symposium on Software testing and analysis. London, United Kingdom, 2007. ACM New York, USA. Cohen, M.B., Dwyer, M.B. & Shi, J., 2006. Coverage and adequacy in software product line testing. In International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis, Proceedings of the ISSTA 2006 workshop on Role of software architecture for testing and analysis. Portland, Maine, 2006. ACM New York, USA. Gallagher, L., 2000. Conformance Testing of Object-Oriented Components Specified by State/Transition Classes. Information Technology Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg MD 20899-8970, USA. Gelperin, D. & Hetzel, B., 1988. The growth of software testing. Communications of the ACM, 31(6), pp.687-95. Hamlet, D., 1994. Foundations of software testing: dependability theory. In Foundations of Software Engineering, Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGSOFT symposium on Foundations of software engineering. New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 1994. ACM New York, USA. Mihnea, I. & Constantinescu, R., 2008. Testing: First Step Towards Software Quality. Journal of Applied Quantitative methods, 3(3), pp.241-53. Pressman, R.S., 2001. Software Engineering: A Practicioners Approach, 5th Edition. London: McGraw Hill. Sommerville, I., 2004. Software Engineering. 7th ed. New York: Pearson Education (Addison Wesley). Taipale, O. & Smolander, K., 2006. Improving software testing by observing practice. In International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering, Proceedings of the 2006 ACM/IEEE international symposium on Empirical software engineering. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2006. ACM New York, USA. Read More