The Art of software Testing (i): the important principles of software testing

Software testing is the process of executing a program in order to find errors, which means that the purpose is to find errors, and the action is to execute the program.

In the process of software testing, to follow a number of principles, the following are several important test principles:

1) A required part of the test case is to define the expected output or result.

For software testing, it is necessary to have a clear definition of input data and conditions, as well as accurate judgment of the output results. This will identify whether the test is valid and whether the current result is correct.

2) Programmers should avoid testing the programs they write.

People will have a fixed thinking, on the one hand is likely to the software requirements specifications of the understanding of the deviation, resulting in the program is also biased, so I did not find. On the other hand, the tendency of people is that the program is correct and will try to avoid finding mistakes.

3) Organizations that write software should not test the software they write.

The principle is similar to the previous one. Will subconsciously avoid the discovery of errors, and difficult to find their own problems.

4) The execution results of each test should be thoroughly examined.

5) The test case should be written not only on the basis of valid or anticipated input, but also on invalid and unanticipated input situations.

Invalid and unanticipated input conditions are often ignored, and many errors are actually occurring here.

6) Check whether the program "did not do what it should do" is only half of the test, the other half of the test is to check whether the program "did what it should not do."

This is also the two sides of the test, do not do is wrong, do not do is also wrong.

7) The test case should be avoided and discarded, unless the software itself is a one-time software.

Writing test cases itself is a complex and time-consuming thing, to consider the subsequent iterations, product replacement, can save a lot of time, second, the test case can be optimized and upgraded in time.

8) You should not acquiesce in the assumption that there will be no errors when planning your test work.

Any errors can occur, and there are many hidden errors that are not found. Must be filled with curiosity and questioning attitude to explore.

9) The possibility of more errors in a part of the program is proportional to the number of errors that have been found in that part.

The more errors that occur, the more unstable this part of the program is, and the more hidden the problem. So focus on testing where more errors have occurred, digging out hidden problems.

10) Software testing is a highly creative and intellectually challenging task.

The Art of software Testing (i): the important principles of software testing