Lecture 1st: the nature of testing-essence of the trial

******** Statement: this series of course is the Notes version of the software black box testing basics of CEM Kanner **************

What's a computer program?

Textbooks often define a "computer program" like this: a program is a set of instructions (command) for a computer.

That's like defining a house like this:

• A house is a set of construction materials assembled (Building Material set) According to house-design patterns.

I 'd rather define it:

• A house is something built for people to live in.

The second definition focuses on the stakeholders (for people) and purpose (to live in), rather than on its materials.

Stakeholder (project related person): any person affected by (subject ...... Impact): success or failure of a project, or, actions or inactions of a product, or effects of a service.

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A different definition

• A computer program is:
• A communication
• Among several humans and computers
• Who are distributed over space and time,
• That contains instructions that can be executed by a computer

The point of the program is to provide value to the stakeholders.

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What are we really testing?

Quality is value to some person ---- Jerry weberger

Quality is inherently subjective (quality is inherently subjective). Different stakeholders will perceive the same product as having different levels of quality.

Testers look for different things for different stakeholders.

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Software Error

An attribute (attribute, quality) of a software product

• That reduces its value to a favored stakeholder
• Increases its value to a disfavored stakeholder
• Without a sufficiently large countervailing benefit

An error:

May or may not be a coding error, or a functional error. design errors are bugs too.

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Software Testing

• Is an empirical (experience)
• Technical (technology)
• Investigation (Review)
• Conducting CTED to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test (to provide quality information for the products or services to the project stakeholders)

We design and run tests in order to gain useful information about the product's quality.

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Testing is always a search for information-role Test

• Find important bugs (locate serious defects)
• Assess the quality of the product (evaluate product quality)
• Help managers assess the progress of the project (help managers evaluate the project progress)
• Help managers make release decisions (help managers decide whether to publish release)
• Block premature product releases (to prevent the publication of hasty release)
• Help predict and control product support costs (Estimate and control the cost of Product Support)
• Check interoperability with other products (check collaboration capability with other products)
• Find safe scenarios for use of the product (identify security scenarios during product use)
• Assess conformance to specifications (evaluate whether the product is consistent with the specification)
• Cerrentthe product meets a participant standard (ensure that the product complies with common standards)
• Ensure the testing process meets accountability standards (ensure that the testing process meets measurable standards)
• Minimize the risk of safety-related lawsuits (reduces security-related litigation risks)
• Help clients improve product quality & testability (helping customers improve product quality and availability)
• Help clients improve their processes (helping customers improve their processes)
• Evaluate the product for a third party (with third-party evaluation products)

Lecture 1st: the nature of testing-essence of the trial