Software Test Professionals Community Articles
Articles written by the STP community of professionals.
A Discussion on How To Do Estimates
Estimates are important to test leads and test managers for a number of reasons. As test lead or a test manager, I would want to know, How many test cases do we need to write? Can we use any of the existing test cases? How many existing test cases do we need to...
How to Modernize Testing for the Instant-On Enterprise
In today’s world of continuous connectivity and instant information, products and services must work with unprecedented speed and reliability. The key to success for businesses is to become Instant-On Enterprises that embed technology into everything they do in order...
The Shift, From Stereotypical to Effective Tester
A stereotypical description of an application tester’s role is usually about being given specifications, reporting bugs, verifying and closing bugs. This stereotypical tester will have a part to play in a testing organization, but will always be considered an outsider...
Advanced Software Testing: Integration Testing
Integration testing is one of the least-understood and oft-forgotten test levels, but proper integration testing is essential to ensuring that later levels of testing such as system testing and acceptance testing go smoothly. Join this webinar, illustrated with examples throughout, to learn a way to ensure that integration testing is effective and efficient in your organization.
Thoughts on Calls to Reduce the Cost of Testing
Some time ago I was confronted with an assertion made by a project manager that testing was costing the project far too much. I asked what she meant by that. The response was along the lines of, “We have all these test cases and test sets, time has been spent building...
Trading Money for Time: When Saving Money Doesn’t (And When it Does)
In any endeavor I participate in, I have choices. In many of life’s transactions, I can spend money to have something done, or I can spend the time to do that same thing. For some things, it is worth it to invest the time to make up or offset the amount of money to be...
Session Based Test Management: How Even a Little Can Go a Long Way
Imagine a CMMI Level 3 government project with big-name enterprise tools for requirements management and testing. Does that sound familiar? Have you worked on that project? It was one of the past stops in my testing career. In that environment, the test team had to...
Preparing for the Online Holiday Season
If you’re a software tester or quality assurance (QA) professional for any business with a heavy stake in the holiday season – i.e. a retail, hotel, airline, car rental or parcel shipping company – you know that early, thorough planning is essential to ensuring your...
Reducing the Cost of Testing by Avoiding Automation Pitfalls
Ah, the wonders of automation. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this beautiful world where machines can work for or even replace humans. Some people believe that automation can take the job of manual testers, whereas others are more rational and know that an...
Cost of Unbalanced Teams
The obvious and completely correct answer is that it depends on what you’re building; who your users are; and a whole host of other factors. The less obvious factor is who cares? If you have the wrong number of testers, what does that cost? There are certainly costs...