TABLE OF CONTENTS The best tester isn t the one who finds the most bugs or who embarrasses the most programmers. The best tester is the one who gets the most bugs fixed.
Kaner et al ([149], p15]
This chapter aims to
Discuss the concept of software testing, looking at why and how it is done.
Look at the key aspects of a software tester s job.
Discuss different types and categories of test.
Look at test plans.
What is testing and why do we do it?
Testing is the examination of a software system in the context of a given specification set. You will find texts that tell you we test in order to verify that a software system conforms to an agreed specification. However, this is wrong. The purpose of testing is to find errors in software systems i.e. to identify ways in which it does not conform to an agreed specification. It may seem pedantic to emphasise the latter purpose over the former. Aren t they the same anyway? At one level perhaps, but there are important differences that we will explore later.
In many ways, testing is analogous to software maintenance as a whole. It is a vital component in the development of software systems; it is required throughout the lifetime of a system; it is rarely budgeted for sufficiently; its status is far below its importance etc.
There is a large body of theory behind testing. As with maintenance as a whole, the theoretical concepts sometimes...
