Do you see changes in Software Testing Approach because of high demand for Rapid Production Process? How will this impact quality of software development and overall cost of product including support.
Industry is focusing to build frameworks which can be used for rapid development to reduce overall production timeline. Most of the frameworks and methodologies are good while defining steps for “Rapid Development” but they are either silent or don’t focus on “Testing Steps”. Do you think these framework really reduce overall cost or they just reduce development cost but increase overall product cost. What about Quality.
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Joe S
Principal Consultant at Doculabs
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Damnish,
I think an important distinction to keep in mind is the difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and testing. "Testing", i.e., executing test scripts, logging defects, verifying fixes, and so on, is what most folks mean when they say "QA". QA, however, is a much broader concept and refers to assuring quality throughout the SDLC, from requirements, through design, build, and test, to go live and beyond.
In general, the rapid application frameworks I've encountered (RUP, DSDM, XP, Crystal, Scrum) all have a lot to say about quality in the "QA" sense I've defined it above. What they don't do is prescribe how exactly to test. In part this is because many agile approaches are frameworks, i.e., they have more to say about what to do than how exactly to do it. But this is also because a key aspect most of agile approaches is assuring quality throughout the SDLC, not just in a final testing phase. This is the thinking behind the encouragement of prototyping, shorter build cycles, and comprehensive unit and integration testing found in many agile methods. The result is that the role of a final testing phase is typically less pronounced in agile development than in more traditional SDLC models, such as waterfall, where the final testing phase is the main place where quality assurance typically happens.
If you're looking for a good book on the subject, I would recommend Steve McConnell's "Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules"--it's the best and most actionable one I've found out there. It's not tied to any one SDLC method and is comprehensive (to say the least)!
I'd be happy to continue this conversation with you if you'd like--please feel free to get in touch with me to do so. I've also recommended Michael Terzis as an expert on this subject--we worked together for a year or so, and he was instrumental in shaping my understanding of QA. He's someone you might want to also contact for information.
Cheers!
Joe
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More Answers (11)
Paul R suggests this expert on this topic:
Rob is PRWD's lead technical architect, responsible for technical architecture, software development and testing. Frameworks such as Symphony, Kohana and Zend are currently being rigorously examined, to run alongside PRWD's User Centered Design process (which ultimately aims to reduce support costs as one of the areas of ROI). Rob may well have some comments on your question regarding the impact (if any) our software development process has on quality, cost and support.
Just picking up the right framework for your product will not guarantee much quality wise. You'll still need testers to do integration and system testing of your product.
Besides, from my own experience, when you take a ready made framework you introduce an unknown factor into your environment. If you would manage to find a bug or some incompatibility in most cases you would have to develop a work around or wait for the framework designers to fix it. That takes time and money. On the other hand, if you were to develop your own framework it would take much more time.
I think it is a question of priority. If you would like your project to take off fast and worry about adaptations later then I would suggest going with adapting ready made framework. If you would like to "make it right" from the start then write your own. It will save you much in the long run.
If you're concerned with quality then you have to first think of a suitable working methodology for your product. Two most widely used today are CMMI and Agile. First is more suited for a large company who already released some product and now need to maintain it and the second is more suited for a small start up in process of releasing.
Since you are talking of RAD I would suggest you read up on Agile.
John R
Media Test and Tools.
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Damnish: Would look for approaches involving commercial off-the-shelf, reusability, built-in tests, test-driven development, advance specifications, experienced developers, and having critical systems introduce risky components in a controlled fashion to allow response, for example. The testing can be there, though it may not be as visible because it is in a complementary phase, incremental across the value chain, in public beta, has many open-source improvers, or is handled by troubleshooting, among other things. Thanks.
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Software testing can be streamlined by focusing on a context-driven exploratory approach that reduces excessive documenting which can reduce time, though not necessarily cost.
James Bach and Cem Kaner introduced this approach in the early nineties.
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James W
Biz Dev, Web, Social Media & Interactive Services @ Enilon
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I foresee more and more companies implementing "extreme programming." See the link below.
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I totally agree with Joe Shepley in his remarks about QA & Testing. Testing is a component piece of the overall QA process. Testing is the verification (quality control) of the process.
And in regards to how well this all works in the new SDLC models I'm just getting into it myself on a project using SCRUM. But I can say for some of the other iterative models (RUP & MSF) the key thing is to get testing involved early on and that all team members work together. The key to any project is communication and task management along with a good dose of risk management (do your milestone reviews) in order to make sure you're still on track and on the right track.
Marcelo L
IT Project Manager at Louis Dreyfus Commodities
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There is no methodology ideal for any scenario in which it applies. The development methodology (and testing) to be selected, whether or not agile, always depend directly from the team, the organizational culture, change and acceptance of the end user.
In particular I am evaluating the Rapid Testing approach (testing faster than you do now, maintaining our standards of quality, so, in a development cycle short and quick, we need that our tests are adapted to the cycle without lowering the quality).
James Bach (Rapid Testing guru), has been done multiple seminars and conferences around the world on this subject. I recommend attending one of these seminars, if is possible. Also, you can strat with an excelent book on this subject: "Introducction to Rapid Software Testing" (Brown, Cobb, and Culbertson).
Scott A
Software Quality Assurance Leadership, currently a VP & Manager of Enterprise Delivery Quality at Wellington Management
This is a great question and an important one for those of us who spend the better part of our days involved in rapid development efforts.
The truth of the matter is that no one model, framework, or rapid process will ensure quality better (or worse) than the next one. There is no one-size-fits-all testing process for every RAD/agile model. It is encumbent on the testing organization to be deliberate in defining the right testing model for the framework at hand given the business demands, budget, resource constraints, mindset of the development team, abilities of the testing engineers, etc...
This is no trivial task and must be thoughtfully executed. A sure way to product quality failure is to avoid defining and executing on this testing mechanism within the scope of RAD, agile, etc. and letting the quality process "play out".
I do see changes to the testing approach and one of them being is that QA professionals have to be involved from when the requirement is being discussed. This and the use of keyword driven automation frameworks are key for the quality of software to be up to speed with the delivery of making the software. Not having QA involved at the beginning of the process will lead to confusion as to what is supposed to be delivered and verified. In an environment where every minute counts, time saved over arguments of what a requirement is supposed to do in cases that are not clearly defined will aid at delivering higher quality software.
Vanessa K
IT Recruiter/ In-House Corporate Recruiter at HSI/ Questcon Technologies
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Vanessa K suggests this expert on this topic:
Shaun recently gave a presentation on the ROI of Testing. You can take a look at it on our web site www.questcon.com
Richard Z
President at ZULTNER & COMPANY
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Yes, software testing is changing, but not just because of rapid production. There are many reasons why QA in general, and testing specifically, needs to be more focused on results, and better aligned with business goals.
Gold Box Testing is one approach to doing this.
