Top 10 Burning issues in Software testing ….
While thinking about asking a thought provoking question to make James Bach - write about it, I got this idea. Here is a post that lists top 7 (want to reach 10) burning issues in software testing today. I solicit other issues and thoughts about how to address them … Write to me, I will consolidate them post back on this blog …
1. External Issues
a. Business pressure (cost reduction, quick time to market, proliferation of computers –hence growing complexity of software systems hence growing complexity in Testing)
b. Tester’s place in overall Software Engineering eco-system (conflicting roles and responsibilities)
i. Developers
ii. Business analysts
iii. Sales and Marketing
iv. Stakeholders
v. End users
2. Project management
a. Predictability - questions like - when you will be done? How far to go? How much time it will take and how much does it cost?
b. Dependency on Business Analysts (specs) and Developers (code delivery) and Project manager expectations (deadlines)
c. Accountability issue – What if a bug is missed from testing?
d. Impossibility of 100% Testing
e. Testing resources are limited, added late in the project cycle
f. When development delays – Testing time gets chopped – Deadline remains – when the testing misses a bug – heads are rolled in testing.
3. Justification for Existence issue
a. Objective of testing
b. “Anyone can do” Notion
c. Testing as quality Gatekeeper
d. Awareness issue – how make others especially stakeholders understand value of testing.
e. Outsourcing
4. Hiring and Managing testers (Performance monitoring)
a. Skill issue: what is important skill to look for in a good tester – Technical knowledge, business domain knowledge, Test process knowledge (all folklore and legacy), Formal Techniques and methodologies in testing, Good learning and thinking capabilities and so …
b. Objective goals – How do you know tester has done a good job
c. Measuring the performance of testers by # of bugs logged
d. Notion of “Tester needs to have deep technical knowledge (not mere process stuff) so that he can get respect from development
e. Notion of “Testers needs to be a business domain expert “– Modern day interview question – “What all domains you have worked on “? Do you have any experience on “Telecom (that too billing) domain, health care, Do you have knowledge in Capital Markets? And so on…
f. Notion of “We need testers who can code”
5. Tools and mechanical Part of testing
a. Automated Testing (not Automated Test execution)
b. Regression Testing ( Repeatability Argument)
c. Testing is a branch of Computer science (yes or no?)
6. Philosophy of Testing Issue – what do you think a tester should do?
a. Handling Process and Metrics fanatics
b. Testing as Factor assembly line (test cases IN, Results/metrics OUT)
c. Find bugs – more bugs – better Testing
d. Prove that software works
e. Quality Assurance/Quality
7. Lack of Education and Skill development programs
a. General Awareness among the community
b. Problems with certifications
c. Formal university Programs
d. Research
Shrini
4 comments:
I would love to have a long discussion on just about any of those points. There are a lot of highly controversial statements in there, but you will undoubtedly find proponents on both sides of nearly every comment.
I think as you talk about these you will easily find 3 or more additional topics to discuss.
Can read how this happens in startup here:
Code Inspections
Is coding skill required to test an application ?. Moreover we can form a group to force the education board to add S/W testing in BE MCA syllabus
Certainly. I agree with told all above. We can communicate on this theme. Here or in PM.
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