There was a question in Quora recently on what are the latest advances in Software Testing, for which there was an answer by Jason Hamilton, which I liked very much.
In his answer, Jason mentioned that in the name of advances in Software Testing,
- There is too much of senseless, wasteful automation
- Testing is done only at surface level to make sure software is operational
- There are Inefficient development and testing processes
- There are Insufficient testing practices
Most of the advances in Software Testing claimed are just hype using generally seen keywords. There are many websites claiming to be providing advancements in Software Testing but don’t mention how these are ‘advances’ and on what basis they are measured, and what are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ scenarios – not even any storytelling.
That brings about the question as to what can really be done for effective Software Testing.
Attention
Attentive verification and validation is the essence. Any method/process/tool that enables this would be a plus and an advancement. When I say attentive, human involvement in testing and supervising the automated checks play an important role. Carefully selecting the automated checks to run based on the context, inspection of the results of an automation run and validating it, thinking about scenarios and combinations that need to be tested which are not directly done by automation, are all part of a Software Tester’s work.
Thorough Testing
While automation helps in straight-forward checks for functionality, for example, API end-points testing, additional tests done with various combinations of scenarios that could happen along with considerations like performance, security, etc. would also be a Software Tester’s work.
Getting Efficient in Automation
Cutting down unnecessary automation scripts saves execution time as well as maintenance efforts. Software Testers need to be wary of the temptation to add more and more automation scripts in the name of coverage. They should not forget the diminishing-returns problem attributed to automation.
For the approach on automation, and to devise a strategy for your organisation’s testing, feel free to setup an initial free consultation with me. Happy Testing!