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Software Testing Terms > Glossary
This glossary of software testing terms and conditions is a compilation of knowledge, gathered over time, from many different sources. It is provided "as-is" in good faith, without any warranty as to the accuracy or currency of any definition or other information contained herein. If you have any questions or queries about the contents of this glossary, please contact Original Software directly.
Or 'g nal a. Not derivative or dependant, first-hand, not imitative, novel in character or style, inventive, creative, thinking or acting for oneself. S ft'ware n. Programs etc. For computer, or other interchangeable material for performing operations.
Software Testing Terms > Glossary
Acceptance Testing: Formal testing conducted to enable a user, customer, or other authorized entity to determine whether to accept a system or component. Normally performed to validate the software meets a set of agreed acceptance criteria.
The programmers take the design documents (programming requirements) and then proceed with the iterative process of coding, testing, revising, and testing again, this is the Development Phase.
After the programs have been tested by the programmers, they will be part of a series of formal user and system tests. Accessibility Testing: Verifying a product is accessible to These are used to verify usability and functionality from a the people having disabilities (visually impaired, hard of user point of view, as well as to verify the functions of the application within a larger framework. hearing etc.) Actual Outcome: The actions that are produced when the object is tested under specific conditions. Ad hoc Testing: Testing carried out in an unstructured and improvised fashion. Performed without clear expected results, ad hoc testing is most often used as a compliment to other types of testing. See also Monkey Testing. Alpha Testing: Simulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers' site. Alpha testing is often employed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing, before the software goes to beta testing. Arc Testing: See branch testing. The final phase in the development life cycle is to go to production and become a steady state. As a prerequisite to going to production, the development team needs to provide documentation. This usually consists of user training and operational procedures. The user training familiarizes the users with the new application. The operational procedures documentation enables Operations to take over responsibility for running the application on an ongoing basis. In production, the changes and enhancements are handled by a group (possibly the same programming group) that performs the maintenance. At this point in the life cycle of the application, changes are tightly controlled and must be rigorously tested before being implemented into production Application Programming Interface (API): Provided by operating systems or libraries in response to support requests for services to be made of it by computer programs
Agile Testing: Testing practice for projects using agile methodologies, treating development as the customer of Automated Software Quality (ASQ): The use of software testing and emphasizing a test-first design philosophy. In tools, such as automated testing tools, to improve software agile development testing is integrated throughout the quality. lifecycle, testing the software throughout its development. See also Test Driven Development. Automated Software Testing: The use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual Application Binary Interface (ABI): Describes the low- outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test level interface between an application program and the preconditions, and other test control and test reporting operating system, between an application and its libraries, functions, without manual intervention. or between component parts of the application. An ABI differs from an application programming interface (API) in Automated Testing Tools: Software tools used by that an API defines the interface between source code and development teams to automate and streamline their testlibraries, so that the same source code will compile on any ing and quality assurance process. system supporting that API, whereas an ABI allows compiled object code to function without changes on any system using a compatible ABI. Application Development Lifecycle The process flow during the various phases of the application development life cycle. The Design Phase depicts the design phase up to the point of starting development. Once all of the requirements have been gathered, analyzed, verified, and a design has been produced, we are ready to pass on the programming requirements to the application programmers.
based on a repeatable environment so that the same test run under the same conditions will yield results that you Basis Path Testing: A white box test case design tech. Big-Bang Testing: An inappropriate approach to integration testing in which you take the entire integrated system and test it as a unit. and should be performed against your application in order to determine current performance and improve it. utility performance. additional performance gains might be realized from tuning the database and database manager configuration parameters. If the application code has been written as efficiently as possible. transaction rate characteristics as more users are added. capturing key information during each run. The full specification of a function would normally comprise one or more behaviors. Benchmarking is helpful in understanding how the database manager responds under varying conditions. You can create scenarios that test deadlock handling.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Backus-Naur Form (BNF): A metasyntax used to express context-free grammars: that is. Can work well on small systems but is not favorable for larger systems because it may be difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the defect when a failure occurs. performance problem. . Benchmark Testing Methods: Benchmark tests are executable statements containing no branches. Behavior: The combination of input values and preconditions along with the required response for a function of a system. Sometimes. Versions of the software. An application benchmark tests the same throughput capabilities under conditions that are closer production conditions. simple measurements. The hardware and software used for benchmarking match your production environment. are released to a limited audience outside of the company. As you narrow down a construct any arbitrary path through the computer program. BNF is widely used as a notation for the grammars of computer programming languages. you can develop specialized test cases that limit the scope of the function that you are testing. You run different types of benchmark tests to discover For benchmarking. a formal way to describe formal languages. Start with Path Testing. Known bugs are randomly No other functions or applications are active in added to a program source code and the programmer is the system unless the scenario includes some tasked to find them.can legitimately compare. It is a team effort that involves both application developers and database administrators (DBAs). you create a scenario and then applications in this scenario several times. Benchmark Testing: Benchmark testing is a normal part of the application development life cycle. known as beta versions. Beta Testing: Comes after alpha testing. Basic Block: A sequence of one or more consecutive. Tests are repeatable. and increase the complexity only when necessary. Baseline: The point at which some deliverable produced Characteristics of good benchmarks or measurements during the software engineering process is put under forinclude: mal change control. The percentage of the known bugs not amount of other activity going on in the system. nique that fulfills the requirements of branch testing & also You might begin benchmarking by running the test applicatests all of the independent paths that could be used to tion in a normal environment. You can even tune application parameters to meet the requirements of the application better. The software is released to groups of people so that further testing can ensure the product has few faults or bugs. different methods of loading data. and even the effect on the application of using a new release of the product. as well as a notation for representing parts of natural language grammars. beta versions are made available to the open public to increase the feedback field to a maximal number of future users. The specialized test cases need not emulate an Basis Test Set: A set of test cases derived from Basis entire application to obtain valuable information. Bebugging: A popular software engineering technique used to measure test coverage. Each iteration of a test starts in the same system state. Many textbooks for programming language theory and/or semantics document the programming language in BNF. specific kinds of information: A transaction per second benchmark determines the throughput capabilities of the database manager under certain limited laboratory conditions. Capturing key information after each run is of primary importance in determining the changes that might improve performance of both the application and the database. instruction sets and communication protocols. found gives an indication of the real bugs that remain.
but not how the program actually arrives at those outputs. the tester and the programmer can be independent of one another. Test cases can be designed as soon as the specifications are complete. See fault. Disadvantages of Black Box Testing Only a small number of possible inputs can actually be tested. e. Bottom Up Testing: An approach to integration testing where the lowest level components are tested first. Black Box Testing: Testing without knowledge of the internal workings of the item being tested. . Branch Condition Combination Coverage: The percentage of combinations of all branch condition outcomes in every decision that has been tested.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Binary Portability Testing: Testing an executable application for portability across system platforms and environments. elements to be treated correctly in relation to other elements in the block without the need for special coding. or an incremental distance either side of the boundary. May leave many program paths untested. Tester needs no knowledge of implementation. no other knowledge of the program is necessary. Most testing related research has been directed toward glass box testing. Branch Condition Coverage: The percentage of branch condition outcomes in every decision that has been tested. For example. Tester and programmer are independent of each other. or an unconditional transfer of control from any statement to any other statement in the component except the next statement. This enables repeating tionality of a product but does not test features in detail. Tests are done from a user's point of view. Branch Testing: A test case design technique for a component in which test cases are designed to execute branch outcomes. and error values. There may be unnecessary repetition of test inputs if the tester is not informed of test cases the programmer has already tried. For this testing. Boundary Value Coverage: The percentage of boundary values which have been exercised by a test case suite. For this reason. to test every possible input stream would take nearly forever. typical values. then used to facilitate the testing of higher level components. Boundary Testing: Tests focusing on the boundary or limits of the software being tested.g. Cannot be directed toward specific segments of code which may be very complex (and therefore more error prone). the tester would only know the "legal" inputs and what the expected outputs should be. Advantages of Black Box Testing More effective on larger units of code than glass box testing. a transfer of control to an entry point of the component. when black box testing is applied to software engineering. test cases are hard to design. maximum. Branch Condition Combination Testing: A test case design technique in which test cases are designed to execute combinations of branch condition outcomes. Will help to expose any ambiguities or inconsistencies in the specifications. Bug: A fault in a program which causes the program to See TestDrive-Gold perform in an unintended. Branch Condition Testing: A technique in which test cases are designed to execute branch condition outcomes. Without clear and concise specifications. usually for conformation to an ABI specification. Boundary Value Analysis: In boundary value analysis. avoiding programmer bias toward his own work. Block Matching: Automated matching logic applied to data and transaction driven websites to automatically Breadth Testing: A test suite that exercises the full funcdetect block s of related data. or when a component has more than one entry point. Boundary Value: An input value or output value which is on the boundary between equivalence classes. Branch: A conditional transfer of control from any statement to any other statement in a component. It is because of this that black box testing can be considered testing with respect to the specifications. just inside/outside boundaries. minimum. test cases are generated using the extremes of the input domain. test groups are often used.
namely: Initial. and provide a point of reference for process of test creation. To measure how well a program has been tested. Fig 1. there are a number of coverage criteria – the main ones being: Functional Coverage – has each function in the program been tested? Statement Coverage – has each line of the source code been tested? Condition Coverage – has each evaluation point (i. structural code based testing attempts to test all reachable elements in the software under the cost and time constraints. set process complicated scripting language to learn. or an entire organization. CMMI helps integrate technique from Original Software which does not require traditionally separate organizational functions. provide guidance for point and click interface is used to significantly simplify the quality processes. It is a form of testing that looks at the code directly and as such comes under the heading of white box testing. a true/false decision) been tested? Path coverage – has every possible route through a given part of the code been executed? Entry/exit Coverage – has every possible call and return of the function been tested? Code-Based Testing: The principle of structural code based testing is to have each and every statement in the program executed at least once during the test. Managed and Optimized. the goal of the CMMI project is to improve the usability of maturity models by integrating many different models into one framework. information technology (IT) or personnel management. Capability Maturity Model for Software (CMM): The CMM is a process model based on software best-practices effective in large-scale. Repeatable. Based on the premise that one cannot have confidence in a section of code unless it has been exercised by tests. the essential elements of effective processes. It can be used to guide process improvement across a project. follow by creating additional test cases to increase improvement approach that provides organizations with the coverage. a Code-Free Testing: Next generation software testing division. Automated software testing in one or more phases of the software life-cycle. See also ASQ. multi-person projects. Code Coverage: A measure used in software testing. system engineering. system acquisition. bug fixes are all that are left. Defined. against a scale of five key processes. The testing process begins by first identifying areas in the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Capability program not being exercised by the current set of test Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) is a process cases. It describes the degree to which the source code of a program has been tested. Code Complete: A phase of development where functionality is implemented in its entirety. Code-Free testing with TestDrive-Gold . a simple improvement goals and priorities. Cause-Effect Graph: A graphical representation of inputs or stimuli (causes) with their associated outputs (effects). Instead. which can be used to design test cases. project management. Chow's Coverage Metrics: See N-switch coverage. The input cases stored can then be used to reproduce the test at a later time. Seen by many as the successor to the CMM.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Capture/Playback Tool: A test tool that records test input as it is sent to the software under test. See TestDrive-Gold appraising current processes. Capture/Replay Tool: See capture/playback tool.e. CAST: Acronym for computer-aided software testing. All functions found in the Functional Specifications have been implemented. risk management. The CMM has been used to assess the maturity levels of organization areas as diverse as software engineering. Certification: The process of confirming that a system or component complies with its specified requirements and is acceptable for operational use.
Component: A minimal software item for which a separate specification is available. To aid in this. It directly measures the number of linearly independent paths through a program's source code. Conformance Criterion: Some method of judging whether or not the component's action on a particular specified input value conforms to the specification. e. For instance. Also called C-use. Control Flow Graph: The diagrammatic representation of the possible alternative control flow paths through a component. Complete Path Testing: See exhaustive testing. either by the standard's source code is traced by a group with a small set of test maintainers or external organizations. many test procedures and test Code Walkthrough: A formal testing technique where setups have been developed. Component Specification: A description of a compo. greater guarantees of compliance. determining the effects of accessing the same application code. Control Flow: An abstract representation of all possible sequences of events in a program's execution. Condition: A Boolean expression containing no Boolean operators. Correctness: The degree to which software conforms to Concurrent Testing: Multi-user testing geared towards its specification. . and analyzing its compliance with coding standards.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Code Inspection: A formal testing technique where the programmer reviews source code with a group who ask questions analyzing the program logic. specifically for cases. testing. nent's function in terms of its output values for specified input values under specified preconditions. to analyze the programmer's logic and assump. Component Testing: The testing of individual software components. Context Driven Testing: The context-driven school of software testing is similar to Agile Testing that advocates continuous and creative evaluation of testing opportunities in light of the potential information revealed and the value of that information to the organization right now. browsers. Cyclomatic Complexity: A software metric (measurement). See Load Testing Coverage: The degree. Condition Outcome: The evaluation of a condition to TRUE or FALSE.g. module or database records. It was developed by Thomas McCabe and is used to measure the complexity of a program. monitored. to give Coding: The generation of source code. Computation Data Use: A data use not in a condition.Conformance testing is often performed by external tions. expressed as a percentage. Condition Coverage: See branch condition coverage. Conformance Testing: The process of testing to determine whether a system meets some specified standard. organizations. Products tested in such a manner are then advertised as being certified by that external organization as complying with the standard. or hardware. analyzing the code with respect to a checklist of historically common programming errors. Conversion Testing: Testing of programs or procedures used to convert data from existing systems for use in replacement systems. Operating Systems. while the state of program variables is manually testing conformance to standards.Control Flow Path: See path. A<B is a condition but A and B is Coverage Item: An entity or property used as a basis for not. sometimes the standards body itself. Compatibility Testing: The process of testing to understand if software is compatible with other elements of a system with which it should operate. to which a specified coverage item has been tested.
This is similar to keyword-driven testing in that the test case is contained in the data file and not in the script. the navigation data isn't contained in the table structure. and may put a company at legal risk depending on the type of data execute data definition-use pairs. Data Definition: An executable statement where a variable is assigned a value. though. Navigation through the program.aspects of an application's quality. after tests . Data Definition P-use Coverage: The percentage of da. Examples are data definition-use coverage. security. for the data. the script is just a "driver. Data Flow Testing: Data-flow testing looks at the lifecycle of a particular piece of data (i. use and access of an individual's information. data. Data Definition-use Pair: A data definition and data use. variable is accessed. Data Dictionary: A database that contains definitions of all data items defined during analysis. See TestBench Data Definition P-use Pair: A data definition and predicate data use. Data Definition C-use Coverage: The percentage of data definition C-use pairs in a component that are exercised by a test case suite.This technique also automatically re-sets the database ta definition P-use pairs in a component that is tested. where the data use uses the value defined in the data definition. Data Definition C-use Pair: A data definition and computation data use. variables are used for both input values and output verification values. In data-driven testing. security. reading of the data files. where the data use uses the value defined in the data definition. Data Flow Coverage: Test coverage measure based on variable usage within the code. risky areas of code can be found and more test cases can be applied. a variable) in an application. In this framework. only test data is contained in the data files. and integrity of the database and the data held within.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Data Case: Data relationship model simplified for data Data Flow Diagram: A modeling notation that represents extraction and reduction purposes in order to create test a functional decomposition of a system. Functionality of the database is one of the most critical Data Definition-use Testing: A test case design tech. For more information on database testing see TestBench. Unlike in table-driven testing. Database testing using TestBench for Oracle . Data Definition-use Coverage: The percentage of data definition-use pairs in a component that are exercised by a Data Use: An executable statement where the value of a test case suite." or delivery mechanism. Data Protection: Technique in which the condition of the underlying database is synchronized with the test scenario so that differences can be attributed to logical changes. and logging of test status and information are all coded in the test script. data definition P-use coverage.allowing for a constant data set if a test is re-run. etc. May impact the use of live data used for testing purposes. where the data use uses the value defined Data Protection Act: UK Legislation surrounding the in the data definition. Data Driven Testing: A framework where test input and output values are read from data files and are loaded into variables in captured or manually coded scripts. being stored. By looking for patterns of data usage. data definition C-use coverage. problems with the datanique for a component in which test cases are designed to base could lead to data loss or security breaches. Fig 2.e. Database Testing: The process of testing the functionality.
tests that execute specific invocation paths or probe the worst case behavior of algorithms). Debugging tends to be harder when various subsystems are tightly coupled. a delta release contains only those modules that have changed. Defect: Nonconformance to requirements or functional / program specification Delta Release: A delta. if the release unit is the program. Domain: The set from which values are selected. The basic notion is that you take the huge space of possible tests of an individual variable and subdivide it into subsets that are (in some way) equivalent. Domain Expert: A person who has significant knowledge in a specific domain. Dirty Testing: Testing which demonstrates that the system under test does not work. Design-Based Testing: Designing tests based on objectives derived from the architectural or detail design of the software (e. Desk Checking: The testing of software by the manual simulation of its execution.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Debugging: A methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs. since the last full release of the program or the last delta release of certain modules. Downtime: Total period that a service or component is not Dependency Testing: Examines an application's operational. Decision Outcome: The result of a decision. in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware thus making it behave as expected. Decision Coverage: The percentage of decision outcomes that have been exercised by a test case suite. initial states and configuration in order to maintain proper functionality. Dynamic Analysis: the examination of the physical response from the system to variables that are not constant and change with time. . requirements for pre-existing software. or defects. as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge in another. For example. or are new. Dynamic testing involves working with the software. Dynamic Testing: Testing of the dynamic behavior of code.g. Decision Condition: A condition held within a decision. release is one that includes only those areas within the release unit that have actually changed or are new since the last full or delta release. or partial. Then you test a representative from each subset. (Also known as negative testing) Documentation Testing: Testing concerned with the accuracy of documentation.. expected. Domain Testing: Domain testing is the most frequently described test technique. Depth Testing: A test that exercises a feature of a product giving input values and checking if the output is as in full detail. Decision: A program point at which the control flow has two or more alternative routes.
Executable statement: A statement which. when compiled. or interacting with other hardware. which will be executed Equivalence Class: A mathematical concept. Error guessing is more testing art than testing science but can be very effective given a tester familiar with the history of the system. . so that the second system behaves like (and appears to be) the first system. the presumption is that 60% of other defects have been found as well. which can concern an abstract model of the system being simulated. often considering internal state. request for advice.form an action on program data. for example. Entry Point: The first executable statement within a component. Equivalence Partition Testing: A test case design technique for a component in which test cases are designed to Expertise: Specialized domain knowledge. of other possible tests. which bined with an inference engine that processes knowledge encoded in the knowledge base to respond to a user's have been tested. to all the other element. Error: A mistake that produces an incorrect result. rapidly and effectively solve problems in the problem domain. Equivalence Partition Coverage: The percentage of Expert System: A domain specific knowledge base comequivalence classes generated for the component.) Elements of an equivalence class are said to be equiv. (If the given set is empty. and there are no equivalence classes. the test process summarizing all testing activities and results. In other words each instance of a class in a test covers a large set Expected Outcome: See predicted outcome. lence relation on that given set. such as interacting with a database. It also contains an evaluation of the test process and lessons learned.Bebugging. or other structural alent. If.element. elements of the same equivalence class. Equivalence Partitioning: Leverages the concept of "classes" of input conditions. See End-to-End Testing: Testing a complete application envi.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Emulator: A device that duplicates (provides an emulation of) the functions of one system using a different system. 60% of them are found. This focus on exact reproduction of external behavior is in contrast to simulation. an equiva. using network communications. tricks. Error Guessing: Error Guessing involves making an itemized list of the errors expected to occur in a particular area of the system and then designing a set of test cases to check for these expected errors. Exhaustive Testing: Testing which covers all combinations of input values and preconditions for an element of the software under test. under the equivalence relation. otherwise. the equivalence relation Exercised: A program element is exercised by a test and its concomitant equivalence classes are all non-emp.case when the input value causes the execution of that ty. A "class" of input could be Exit Point: The last executable statement within a com"City Name" where testing one or several city names could ponent. branch. ronment in a situation that mimics real-world use.procedurally when the program is running and may perlence class is a subset of given set induced by an equiva. is translated into object code. Equivalence Partition: See equivalence class. Error Seeding: The process of injecting a known number of "dummy" defects into the program and then check how many of them are found by various inspections and testing. shortcuts and rules-of-thumb that provide an ability to execute representatives from equivalence classes. or Evaluation Report: A document produced at the end of systems if appropriate. skills. be deemed equivalent to testing all city names. applications. then the equivalence relation is empty. Endurance Testing: Checks for memory leaks or other problems that may occur with prolonged execution. such as a statement.
In general. Testing that ignores the internal mechanism of a system or component and focuses solely on the outputs generated in response to selected inputs and execution conditions. Full Release: All components of the release unit that are built. onstrate that the delivered system can be used to carry out security. See also delta release. Also know into its constituent parts in such a way that the original as a bug function can be reconstructed (i.e. this process of decomposition is undertaken either for the Feasible Path: A path for which there exists a set of input purpose of gaining insight into the identity of the values and execution conditions which causes it to be constituent components (which may reflect individual executed. data manipulation and processing and other specific functionality that show how the use cases are to be satisfied. planning. . the rule also fires when the "if" part is proven to be false. Testing the features and operational behavior of a product to ensure they correspond to its specifications. creates a functional hierarchy for the software. of them will fire. the calculations. If the rule incorporates an "else" component. the tasks for which it was designed and acquired. independence or non-interaction). or for the purpose of obtaining a compressed representation of the global function. Functional Requirements: Define the internal workings of the software: that is. Functional Specification: A document that describes in Forward Chaining: Applying a set of previously deterdetail the characteristics of the product with regard to its mined facts to the rules in a knowledge base to see if any intended features. for example). Functional Testing: See also Black Box Testing.. (i. technical details. Functional Specification: The document that describes in detail the characteristics of the product with regard to its intended capability.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Failure: Non performance or deviation of the software from Functional Decomposition: A technique used during its expected delivery or service.e. analysis and design. or design constraints). They are supported by non-functional requirements. a task which is feasible only when the Feature Testing: A method of testing which concentrates constituent processes possess a certain level of modularity on testing one feature at a time. Functional Decomposition broadly relates to the process of resolving a functional relationship Fault: A manifestation of an error in software. distributed and implemented together. recomposed) from those parts by function composition. quality standards. Firing a Rule: A rule fires when the "if" part (premise) is proven to be true. physical processes of interest. tested. which impose constraints on the design or Fit For Purpose Testing: Validation carried out to demimplementation (such as performance requirements.
the tester applies a limited number of test cases to the internal workings of the software under test. one takes a black box approach in applying inputs to the software under test and observing the outputs.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Genetic Algorithms: Search procedures that use the mechanics of natural selection and natural genetics. . In the remaining part of the gray box testing. Gray (Grey) Box Testing: A testing technique that uses a combination of black box testing and white box testing. based on function optimization and artificial intelligence. Graphical User Interface (GUI): A type of display format that enables the user to choose commands. and see lists of files and other options by pointing to pictorial representations (icons) and lists of menu items on the screen. Gorilla Testing: An intense round of testing. Goal: The solution that the program or project is trying to Gray box testing is not black box testing because the tester reach. does know some of the internal workings of the software under test. start programs. to develop a solution. It uses evolutionary techniques. as well as observing at run time the steps taken by algorithms and their internal data. quite often redirecting all available resources to the activity. The idea here is to test as much of the application in as short a period of time as possible. Glass box testing involves examining the design documents and the code. In gray box testing. Glass Box Testing: A form of testing in which the tester can examine the design documents and the code as well as analyze and possibly manipulate the internal state of the entity being tested. See structural test case design.
usability. along with other system elements. effectively. and acceptance testing (includes alpha and beta testing). It uses Heuristics: The informal. meets the functional. stress. This depends on the aspects that are important in a particular system from the user perspective. Therefore. how to plan steps in solving a complex problem. High-order testing includes validation testing. system testhow to improve performance. security. software meets customer requirements and that the software. and performance requirements. ing (focusing on aspects such as reliability. The testing strategy specifies the type of high-order testing that the project requires. behavioral. judgmental knowledge of an black-box techniques and requires an outsider perspecapplication area that constitutes the "rules of good tive. etc. organizations often use an Independent judgment" in the field. Heuristics also encompass the Testing Group (ITG) or the users themselves to perform knowledge of how to solve problems efficiently and high-order testing. .Software Testing Terms > Glossary Harness: A test environment comprised of stubs and High Order Tests: High-order testing checks that the drivers needed to conduct a test. and performance).
or powsures the accomplishment of objective evaluation. Such testing focuses on what customers will need to do to Independent Test Group (ITG): A group of people whose install and set up the new software successfully and is primary responsibility is to conduct software testing for typically done by the software testing engineer in conjunction with the configuration manager. Infrastructure: The organizational artifacts needed to perform testing. In a rule based expert system. Events can include shortage Independence: Separation of responsibilities which en. program in order to collect information about program behavior during program execution. . Installation includes both a new installation and an upgrade. product Interface Testing: Integration testing where the interfaces (document itself) improvement and process improvement. Incremental Testing: Partial testing of an incomplete Installability Testing: Testing whether the software or system installation being tested meets predefined installation requirements.Software Testing Terms > Glossary ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library): A consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management. which guides the installer through the installation process. installation wizard. it to be run as required. provide feedback on installation outcomes and prompt for options. product. Inheritance: The ability of a class to pass on characteristics and data to its descendants. It consists of two aspects. The goal of incremental testing is to provide an Installation Testing: Confirms that the application under early feedback to software developers. from which it may or may not progress into production. Inference Engine: Software that provides the reasoning mechanism in an expert system.of disk space. automated Instrumentation: The insertion of additional code into the test tools. test recovers from expected or unexpected events without loss of data or functionality. It shall normally run the installation process. unexpected loss of communication. Installation Guide: Supplied instructions on any suitable media. This may be a manual guide. ITIL consists of a series of books giving guidance on the provision of quality IT services. Installability: The ability of a software component or Isolation Testing: Component testing of individual comsystem to be installed on a defined target platform allowing ponents in isolation from surrounding components. Implementation testing is usually defined as testing which places a compiled version of code into the testing or Infeasible path: A path which cannot be exercised by any pre-production environment. consisting of test environments. step-by-step procedure. Integration Testing: Testing of combined parts of an application to determine if they function together correctly. This generally takes place set of possible input values. between system components are tested. type of testing is especially relevant to client/server and distributed systems. Input: A variable (whether stored within a component or outside it) that is read by the component. Inference: Forming a conclusion from existing facts. Integration: The process of combining components into larger groups or assemblies. Installation Wizard: Supplied software on any suitable media. Inspection: A group review quality improvement process for written material. office environment and procedures. This Input Domain: The set of all possible inputs. er out conditions. other companies. typically implements forward chaining and backward chaining strategies. and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT. or any other similar process description. Implementation Testing: See Installation Testing. which leads the installer through the installation process. Usually performed after unit and functional testing. outside of the software development environment to limit code corruption from other future releases which may reside on the development network.
Software Testing Terms > Glossary KBS (Knowledge Based System): A domain specific Knowledge Engineering: The process of codifying an knowledge base combined with an inference engine that expert's knowledge in a form that can be accessed through processes knowledge encoded in the knowledge base to an expert system. Keyword Driven Testing: An approach to test script writing aimed at code based automation tools that separates much of the programming work from the actual test steps. . Key Performance Indicator: Quantifiable measurements against which specific performance criteria can be set. The results is the test steps can be designed earlier and the code base is often easier to read and maintain. Known Error: An incident or problem for which the root cause is known and for which a temporary Work-around or a permanent alternative has been identified. respond to a user's request for advice.
and content LCSAJ Testing: A test case design technique for a comand region-specific areas ponent in which test cases are designed to execute LCSAJs. Load testing generally refers to the practice of modeling the expected usage of a software program by simulating multiple users accessing the program's services concurrently. Loop Testing: Loop testing is the testing of a resource or resources multiple times under program control. . which verifies the functional support for that particular culture/locale. and the target line to which control flow is transferred at the end of the linear sequence. and Volume Testing. such as web servers. results. As such. often one built using a client/server model. In addition. Localization Testing: This term refers to making software specifically designed for a specific locality. rather than theoretical. consisting of the following three items (conventionally identified by line numbers in a source code listing): the start of the linear sequence of executable statements. For example. Localization testing can be executed only on the localized version of a product. This test is based on the results of globalization testing. logic-coverage testing attempts to expose software defects by exercising a unique combination of the program's statements known as a path. The most accurate load testing occurs with actual. Reliability Testing. Load Testing: The process of creating demand on a system or device and measuring its response.The test effort during localization testing focuses on: ponent which are exercised by a test case suite. localization testing should include: Logic-Coverage Testing: Sometimes referred to as Path Testing. this testing is most relevant for multi-user systems. or a financial package can be forced to generate a report based on several years' worth of data. other types of software systems can be loadtested also. LCSAJ Coverage: The percentage of LCSAJs of a com. Log: A chronological record of relevant details about the execution of tests. See also Concurrent Testing. However.Software Testing Terms > Glossary LCSAJ: A Linear Code Sequence And Jump. ized environment ity tests according to the product's target region. a word processor or graphics editor can be forced to read an extremely large document. Performance Testing. the end of the linear sequence.
Metric: A standard of measurement. A metric should be a real objective measurement of something such as number of bugs per lines of code. and any errors testing is crucial for testing software applications more thoroughly. Using which. testing and black-box testing techniques on the test software. For example. of test suites. or adapted to a changed environment.Multiple Condition Coverage: See Branch Condition though. Al. un-opinionated. Within traditional software testing techniques. it is always advisable to use manual white box decision outcome. speculative. i. The released software often needs to be revised and/or upgraded throughout its lifecycle.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Maintainability: The ease with which the system/software can be modified to correct faults. During manual testing you might discover that on some screen. While performing manual bugs are purposely added to it. In addition. found during re-work and upgrading. Therefore it is essential There is no complete substitute for manual testing. Manual that the software can be easily maintained. script maintenance is often a problem as it can be very complicated and time consuming to ensure correct maintenance of the software as the scripts these tools use need updating every time the application under test changes. tests the software application can be validated whether it meets the various standards defined for effective and efficient usage and accessibility.Mutation Analysis: A method to determine test case suite ancies during program execution. It is recommended that thoroughness by measuring the extent to which a test case one should perform manual testing of the entire product at suite can discriminate the program from slight variants least a couple of times before actually deciding to (mutants) of the program. It is possible to record and playback manual steps and write automated test script(s) using test automation tools. it is not. Such bugs are not detectable using test automation tools. the vast dataset specifications can be divided Maintenance Requirements: A specification of the and converted into a more manageable and achievable set required maintenance needed for the system/software. the fly. scripts written primarily for executing a particular specification and functionality. observant. Manual testing requires a tester to perform manual test operations on the test software without the help of test automation. the standard location of the OK button on a screen is on the left and of CANCEL button on the right. Manual testing can be augmented by test automation. open-minded. Modified Condition/Decision Testing: A test case design technique in which test cases are designed to execute branch condition outcomes that independently affect a As a tester. automate the more mundane activities of the product. innovative. a unit test with no specific end result in mind. Software metrics are the statistics describing the structure or content of a program. there could be many cases where the GUI is not displayed correctly and the basic functionality of the program is correct. Test automation tools lack the ability of decision-making and recording any unscripted discrep. . and skilful. Manual Testing: The oldest type of software testing. modified to make future maintenance easier.Mutation Testing: Testing done on the application where ity testing and GUI testing area. Repetitive manual testing can be difficult to perform on large software applications or applications having very large dataset coverage. Manual testing is a laborious activity that requires the tester to possess a certain set of qualities. modified to meet new requirements. Manual testing helps discover defects related to the usabil. test automation tools will only help execute test Combination Coverage. This is a new defect related to the usability of the screen. to be patient.e. creative. See TestDrive-Assist. See Bebugging. This drawback is compensated for by using manual black-box testing techniques including equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis. See also Error Seeding. Manual testing helps discover and record any software bugs or discrepancies related to the functionality Monkey Testing: Testing a system or an application on of the product. resourceful. See CodeFree Testing and Self Healing Scripts. Modified Condition/Decision Coverage: The percentage of all branch condition outcomes that independently affect a decision outcome that have been exercised by a test case suite.
usability. The cycles are typically repeated until the requirements that do not relate to functionality. understand and generate natural human in so doing. i. perforsolution reaches a steady state and there are no errors. N+1 Testing: A variation of regression testing.Software Testing Terms > Glossary N-switch Coverage: The percentage of sequences of Negative Testing: Testing a system or application using N-transitions that have been tested. each with a limited number of inputs and outputs. Testing conducted with multiple cycles in which errors found in test cycle N are resolved and the solution is retested in test Non-functional Requirements Testing: Testing of those cycle N+1. . N-switch Testing: A form of state transition testing in which test cases are designed to execute all valid sequences of N-transitions. etc.database tables to minimize duplication of information and. to safeguard the database against certain languages. (For example testing a password field that requires a minimum of 9 characters by entering a password of 6). mance. Rather than being programmed. negative data. types of logical or structural problems. tem to analyze. cessing elements.e. A neural network is designed as an interconnected system of proN-transitions: A sequence of N+ transitions. Neural Network: A system modeled after the neurons (nerve cells) in a biological nervous system. See also Regression Testing. these systems learn to recognize patterns. Normalization: A technique for designing relational Natural Language Processing (NLP): A computer sys. namely data anomalies.
Oracle: A mechanism to produce the predicted outcomes able item that has a well-defined role in a problem domain. Outcome: The result or visible effect of a test. Object Orientated: An adjective applied to any system or language that supports the use of objects. Operational Testing: Testing performed by the end-user Output Domain: The set of all possible outputs. Objective: The purpose of the specific test being under. .Output: A variable (whether stored within a component or taken. outside it) that is written to by the component. Output Value: An instance of an output.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Object: A software structure which represents an identifi. to compare with the actual outcomes of the software under test. on software in its normal operating environment.
Path Testing: Used as either black box or white box testing. product. Portability: The ease with which the system/software can be transferred from one hardware or software environment to another. Pass/Fail Criteria: Decision rules used to determine Pair Testing: In much the same way as Pair whether an item under test has passed or failed a test. Pair Programming: A software development technique that requires two programmers to participate in a combined development effort at one workstation. Each member performs the action the other is not currently doing: for example. where n and m are the number of possibilities for each of the two parameters with the most choices. this can be done much faster than an exhaustive search of all combinations of all parameters. Also quality assurance techniques such as unit testing. for example. emphasis is bugs. First. The number of tests is typically O(nm). a certain path through the program is chosen. Partial Test Automation: The process of automating parts but not all of the software testing process. Because no testing technique can find all material or component specifications: Rather. problem detection (consider parsing or polling agents equipped with oracles). or if fully automated tests would be too difficult to maintain. Using carefully chosen test vectors. the procedure itself is similar to a walk-through. Typically. then a software tools engineer can instead create testing tools to help human testers perform their jobs more efficiently.. etc. and less exhaustive broad range of engineering or functional evaluations where methods which fail to exercise all possible pairs of a material. If. defect logging. without necessarily automating tests in an end-to-end fashion.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Page Fault: A program interruption that occurs when a page that is marked 'not in real memory' is referred to by an active page. Path Sensitizing: Choosing a set of input values to force the execution of a component to take a given path. from an entry point to an exit point. Many testing methods regard all-pairs testing of a system or subsystem as a reasonable cost-benefit compromise between often computationally infeasible higher-order Performance Testing: A test procedure that covers a combinatorial testing methods. a software algorithm) tests all possible discrete combinations of those parameters. Possible faults have to be written down at once. Programming. Bugs involving interactions between three or more parameters are progressively less common. suggested to switch partners at least once a day. all-pairs testing is typically used together with other on the final measurable performance characteristics. The next simplest category of bugs consists of those dependent on interactions between pairs of parameters. The person who is doing the typing is known as the driver while the person who is guiding is known as the navigator. or system is not specified by detailed parameters. It is also actual results of the test matched the expected results. an oracle cannot reasonably be created. which can be caught with all-pairs testing. which has as its limit the exhaustive component accomplishes its designated functions within given constraints regarding processing time and testing of all possible inputs. GUI interaction. The reasoning behind all-pairs testing is this: the simplest bugs in a program are generally triggered by a single input parameter. whilst at the same time being progressively more expensive to find by Performance: The degree to which a system or exhaustive testing. Then the program is executed by hand. test data creation. two testers work together to find defects. they share one computer and trade control of it Path: A sequence of executable statements of a compowhile testing. Path Coverage: The percentage of paths in a component exercised by a test case suite. for each pair of input parameters to a system (typically. throughput rate. . and its result is compared to the predefined. the other thinks about the class that will satisfy the test. Testing tools can help automate tasks such as product installation. Possible inputs and the correct result are written down. See known as Load Testing. nent. TestDrive-Gold. by "parallelizing" the tests of parameter pairs. while one types in unit tests. It is often suggested for the two partners to switch roles at Pass: Software has deemed to have passed a test if the least every half-hour or after a unit test is made. Pairwise Testing: A combinatorial software testing method that.
normally to direct the execution path in code. Portability Testing: The process of testing the ease with which a software component can be moved from one environment to another. Results are expressed in terms of the time required to move the software and complete data conversion and documentation updates. ification of an object under specified conditions.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Portability Requirements: A specification of the required Predication: The choice to execute or not to execute a portability for the system/software. scaled down system or portion of a system is constructed in a short time. Predicate: A logical expression which evaluates to TRUE Prototyping: A strategy in system development in which a or FALSE. must be fulfilled after the execution of a test or test procedure. Predicted Outcome: The behavior expected by the specification of an object under specified conditions. This is typically measured in terms of the maximum amount of effort permitted. Process Cycle Test: A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute business procePositive Testing: Testing aimed at showing whether the dures and processes. Pseudo-Random: A series which appears to be random Predicted Outcome: The behavior expected by the spec. . Process: A course of action which turns inputs into outPostcondition: Environmental and state conditions that puts or results. Predication: The choice to execute or not to execute a given instruction. software works in the way intended. given instruction. Progressive Testing: Testing of new features after regression testing of previous features. Precondition: Environmental and state conditions which must be fulfilled before the component can be executed Project: A planned undertaking for presentation of results with a particular input value. Priority: The level of business importance assigned to an individual item or test. See also Negative Testing. at a specified time in the future.but is in fact generated according to some prearranged sequence. Priority: The level of business importance assigned to an individual item or test. then tested and improved upon over several iterations.
risk and appliaction timeto-market are often in conflict as IS teams strive to deliver quality applications within their budgetary constraints. Fig. Quality Management: That aspect of the overall management function that determines and implements the quality policy. quality control. These standards can be divided in to 5 steps. procedures. is already busy. which a program wishes to use. processes. Quality Conundrum: Resource. Quality System: The organizational structure.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Quality Assurance: The activity of providing evidence needed to establish confidence among all concerned. that quality-related activities are being performed effectively. Queuing Time: Incurred when the device. responsibilities. and resources for implementQuality Control: The operational techniques and the ing quality management. Direction and control with regard to quality generally includes the establishment of the quality policy and quality objectives. activities used to fulfill and verify requirements of quality. This is the quality conundrum. quality assurance and quality improvement. matters related to the quality of outputs of a process and to the correction of problems or to the improvement of quality. Often associated with an SQL query of values in a database. All those planned or systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality. For software development organizations. 4 The Quality Conundrum Quality Policy: The overall intentions and direction of an Quality Circle: A group of individuals with related interests organization as regards quality as formally expressed by that meet at regular intervals to consider problems or other top management. Query: A question. TMM (Testing Maturity Model) standards are widely used to measure the Quality Assurance. The program therefore has to wait in a queue to obtain service from that device. Quality Audit: A systematic and independent examination to determine whether quality activities and related results comply with planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable to achieve objectives. quality planning. . which a software development company can achieve by performing different quality improvement activities within the organization. Quality Attribute: A feature or characteristic that affects an item's quality.
Although this may be done through manual testing procedures using programming techniques. Typically regression bugs occur as an unintended consequence of program changes. retested after subsequent changes to the program. or once a week. A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. that it is able to recover all of them. recovery is properly performed. it is often done Recoverability: The capability of the software product to using automated testing tools. the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment. Sometimes it occurs because a fix gets lost through poor revision Ramp Testing: Continuously raising an input signal until control practices (or simple human error in revision the system breaks down. Random testing helps to avoid the mistakes will be made in the redesign that were made in problem of only testing what you know will work.Software Testing Terms > Glossary ROI: Return on Investment. but often a fix for a problem will be "fragile" in that it fixes the problem in the narrow case where it was first observed but not in more general cases which may arise Random Testing: A black-box testing approach in which over the lifetime of the software. a test that exposes the bug is recorded and regularly tive actions. Examples of recovery testing: While the application running. this kind of reemergence of faults is quite common. testing environment to execute all the regression test cases automatically. Common methods of regression testing include re-running previously run tests and checking whether previously fixed faults have re-emerged. when network connection disappeared. Regression bugs occur whenever software functionality that previously worked as desired.fixed. some projects even set up automated Recovery Testing: The activity of testing how well the systems to automatically re-run all regression tests at software is able to recover from crashes. Finally. stops working or no longer works in the same way that was previously planned. Recovery testing is the forced strategies are to run such a system after every successful failure of the software in a variety of ways to verify that compile (for small projects). Regression Testing: Any type of software testing which seeks to uncover regression bugs. Therefore. the original implementation of the feature. Experience has shown that as software is developed. control). and analyze the application ability to continue receiving of data from that point. such as TestDrive-Gold from Original Software. unplug and then in some time plug-in the cable. hardware failures specified intervals and report any regressions. re-establish a specified level of performance and recover Such a 'test suite' contains software tools that allow the the data directly affected in case of failure. Common and other similar problems. To restart the system while the browser will have definite number of sessions and after rebooting check. Recreation Materials: A script or set of results containing the steps required to reproduce a desired outcome. every night. To calculate ROI. in order to verify the success of correc. the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. suddenly restart the computer and after that check the validness of application's data integrity. it has often been software is tested by choosing an arbitrary subset of all the case that when some feature is redesigned. in most software development situations it is Re-testing: Testing that runs test cases that failed the last considered good practice that when a bug is located and time they were run. Those strategies can be automated by an external tool. 2 A regression test performed in TestDrive-Gold . the same possible input values. Fig. While application receives data from the network.
part is the rule premise. . their Risk Management: Systematic application of procedures configuration. The rule fires when the if part is determined to be true or false. removed before the final version is released). and controlling risk. through process improvement. is presented to project personnel. Robustness: The degree to which a component or system Reliability: The ability of the system/software to perform can function correctly in the presence of invalid inputs or its required functions under stated conditions for a speci. fied period of time. Reliability Testing: Testing to determine whether the Rule: A statement of the form: if X then Y else Z. or set of work products. a knowledge base typically incorporates definitions of attributes and rules along with Requirements-based Testing: An approach to testing in control information. The "if" system/software meets the specified reliability require. In a rule-based expert system. contains the desired functionality of the final version. The "else" component of the consequent is optional. Requirement: A capability that must be met or possessed by the system/software (requirements may be functional or non-functional). which test cases are designed based on test objectives and test conditions derived from requirements. or for a specified number of operations. Rule Base: The encoded knowledge for an expert system. users or other interested parties for Release Candidate: A pre-release version. and the "then" part is the ments. For example: tests that exercise specific functions or probe nonfunctional attributes such as reliability or usability. stakeholders. consequent. but which needs to be tested for bugs (which ideally should be Risk: A chance of negative consequences. prioritizdelivered by development to testing. Release Note: A document identifying test items. managers. uct.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Relational Operator: Conditions such as "is equal to" or Result: The consequence or outcome of a test. at the start of a test execution phase. Root Cause: An underlying factor that caused a non-conReliability Requirements: A specification of the required formance and possibly should be permanently eliminated reliability for the system/software. "is less than" that link an attribute name with an attribute value in a rule's premise to form logical expressions that Review: A process or meeting during which a work prodcan be evaluated true or false. analyzing. and possibly other ing. current status and other delivery information and practices to the tasks of identifying.stressful environmental conditions. which comment or approval.
Script: See Test Script. Information must be kept available to authorized persons when they need it. ments of the Data Protection Act and other legislation. tioned and any suggestions for improvement during a review meeting.receive a service or perform an operation. but they usually involve adding additional information to a communication to form the basis of an algorithmic check rather than the Schedule: A scheme for the execution of test procedures. See TestBench. availability and non-repudiation. or a communication that took place etc. authentication. Confidentiality A security measure which protects against the disclosure of information to parties other than the intended Fig 3. Security Testing: Process to determine that an IS (Information System) protects data and maintains functionality as intended. intelligently modernize itself to reflect the changes in the application – all through a point-and-click interface. or originator. a piece of software to determine if it's basically operational. on a logging form. required.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Safety Testing: The process of testing to determine the recipient(s). suring the application under test gracefully handles Integrity schemes often use some of the same underlying increases in work load. Integrity A measure intended to allow the receiver to determine that the information which it receives has not been altered in Scalability Testing: Performance testing focused on en. Security Requirements: A specification of the required security for the system or software. The scribe has to make Availability Assuring information and communications services will be ensure that the logging form is understandable. The test procedures are included in the test execution schedule in the order in which they are to be executed. See also Smoke Testing. technologies as confidentiality schemes. Authentication A measure designed to establish the validity of a transmission. Scrambling: Data obfuscation routine to de-identify sensiAllows a receiver to have confidence that information it tive data in test data environments to meet the requirereceives originated from a specific known source. Self-Healing Scripts: A next generation technique pioneered by Original Software which enables an existing test to be run over an updated or changed application. . adefined algorithm and some secret information known only to the originator of the information and the intended recipient(s) (a process known as cryptography) but that is Sanity Testing: Brief test of major functional elements of by no means the only way of ensuring confidentiality. ready for use when expected. integrity.transit or by other than the originator of the information. integrity and confi. Non-repudiation Security: Preservation of availability. and accessible only to those authorized to have access. The six basic concepts that need to be covered by security testing are: confidentiality. authorization. Often ensured by means of encoding using safety of a software product. pleteness of information and processing methods. Authorization The process of determining that a requester is allowed to Scribe: The person who has to record each defect men. Self Healing Scripts.A measure intended to prevent the later denial that an action happened. message. encoding all of the communication. dentiality of information: In communication terms this often involves the interchange of authentication information combined with some form of access to information and associated assets when provable time stamp.
which behaves or operates like a given system when provided with a set of controlled inputs. a system may behave and following routine procedure. but can also include more technical requirements as described under the ISO standard ISO 9126. which should reveal simple failures severe enough to reject a prospective software release. completeness. An important point is that software testing should be Simulation: The representation of selected behavioral distinguished from the separate discipline of Software characteristics of one physical or abstract system by Quality Assurance (SQA). With that in mind. computer program or system used during software verification. where the "questions" are operations the tester attempts to execute with the product. which encompasses all another system.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Simple Subpath: A subpath of the control flow graph in the correctness of arbitrary computer software. Simulator: A device. whereas actually running the program with a given set of test cases Software Requirements Specification: A deliverable that in a given development stage is often referred to as describes all data. the word testing is also used to connote the dynamic Observations made during the soak test are used to analysis of the product—putting the product through its improve the characteristics of the subject under test further. in software testing. Today. in any suitable form. reliability. furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behaviour of the product against a specification. answers with its behavior in reaction to the probing of the Soak tests are used primarily to check the reaction of a tester. not just testing. One definition of testing is exactly as expected when tested for 1 hour. In the software world. Specification testing: An approach to testing wherein the testing is restricted to verifying the system/software meets an agreed specification. walkthroughs or inspections as "static testing". Smoke Testing: A preliminary to further testing. and the product leaks cause the system to fail or behave randomly. However. State Transition: A transition between two allowable states of a system or component. efficiency. The software product developed by a developer is according to the System Requirement Specification. performed on behalf of stakeholders. it is value to some person. Software testing is not merely finding defects or bugs in the software. Soak Testing: Involves testing a system with a significant There are many approaches to software testing. Software Testing: The process used to measure the quality of developed computer software. for a given duration and for a given threshold. "the process of questioning a product in order to evaluate when it is tested for 3 hours. business process areas. a video game software has its audience completely different from banking software. testing can never completely establish Specification: A description. paces. portability. problems such as memory it". security. quality is constrained to such topics as correctness. Originated in the hardware testing practice of turning on a new piece of hardware for the first time and considering it a success if it does not catch on fire. Although most of the intellectual processes of subject under test under a possible simulated environment testing are nearly identical to that of review or inspection. but is not limited to. Specified input: An input for which the specification predicts an outcome. compatibility. but load extended over a significant period of time. the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding errors. and all validation requirements for software. such as capability. and usability. For example. of requirements. software has grown in complexity and size. "dynamic testing". Every software product has a target audience. to discover effective testing of complex products is essentially a how the system behaves under sustained use. functional and behavioral requirements. Therefore. testing which no program part is executed more than necessary. not merely a matter of creating For example. maintainability. it must ensure that the software product must be acceptable to the end users or its target audience. Quality is not an absolute. This includes. This is where Software Testing comes into play. that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. processes form part of the overall testing scope. to emphasize the fact that formal review all constraints. Usually. process of investigation. Sometimes one therefore refers to reviews. the smoke is metaphorical. when an organization invests large sums in making a software product. it is the completely dedicated discipline of evaluating the quality of the software. Testing is a process of technical investigation. .
In most cases the analysis is performed on some version of the source code and in the other cases some form of the object code. used to develop or test a component that calls or is otherwise dependent on it. in isolation. Suspension Criteria: The criteria used to (temporarily) stop all or a portion of the testing activities on the test items. Stub: A skeletal or special-purpose implementation of a software module. but checks mainly for the sanity of the code. The term is usually applied to the analysis performed by an automated tool. Stress Testing: Testing conducted to evaluate a system or component at or beyond the limits of its specified requirements to determine the load under which it fails and how. inspections and walkthroughs are also used. where each branch is tested. Static Testing: A form of software testing where the software isn't actually used. static testing involves review of requirements or specifications. a model is used of the statistical distribution of the input to construct representative test cases. This is done with an eye toward completeness or appropriateness for the task at hand. Static Code Analysis: The analysis of computer software that is performed without actually executing programs built from that software. Subpath: A sequence of executable statements within a component. with human analysis being called program understanding or program comprehension. Statement Testing: A test case design technique for a component in which test cases are designed to execute statements. or document. Code reviews. Compare this to Branch Testing. Statement: An entity in a programming language which is typically the smallest indivisible unit of execution. Often this is performance testing using a very high level of simulated load. See TestBench test case suite. algorithm. Suitability: The capability of the software product to provide an appropriate set of functions for specified tasks and user objectives. Statement testing comes under Dynamic Analysis. because it is conducted with reference to the code. It is generally not detailed testing. Static Analyzer: A tool that carries out static analysis. whether it encounters a statement or not. This is the verification portion of Verification and Validation. It is primarily syntax checking of the code or and manually reading of the code or document to find errors. Structural Test Case Design: Test case selection that is based on an analysis of the internal structure of the component. This is external storage statements in a component that have been exercised by a as opposed to internal storage. Storage Testing: Testing that verifies the program under test stores data files in the correct directories and that it reserves sufficient space to prevent unexpected terminaStatement Coverage: The percentage of executable tion resulting from lack of space. in the real world this hardly ever happens. This is in contrast to Dynamic testing.Software Testing Terms > Glossary State Transition Testing: A test case design technique in Statistical Testing: A test case design technique in which which test cases are designed to execute state transitions. to check that it can be traversed. Statement Testing is a structural or white box technique. Structured Walkthrough: See walkthrough. Subgoal: An attribute which becomes a temporary intermediate goal for the inference engine. Static Analysis: Analysis of a program carried out without executing the program. However. Structural Testing: See structural test case design. This type of testing can be used by the developer who wrote the code. Subgoal values need to be determined because they are used in the premise of rules that can determine higher level goals. In statement testing every possible statement is tested. Structural Coverage: Coverage measures based on the internal structure of the component. Bugs discovered at this stage of development are normally less expensive to fix than later in the development cycle. From the black box testing point of view. Structured Basis Testing: A test case design technique in which test cases are derived from the code logic to achieve % branch coverage. In an ideal world every statement of every component would be fully tested. .
in integrated together (called assemblages) or between any of the assemblages and the hardware. System Testing: Testing that attempts to discover defects that are properties of the entire system rather than of its individual components. it seeks to detect defects both within the "inter-assemblages" and also within the system Syntax Testing: A test case design technique for a com. as its input. should require no analyse if and when errors in the code may occur. itself integrated with any applicable hardware system(s). combined with rules-of-thumb (or heuristics). It can be knowledge of the inner design of the code or logic.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Symbolic Evaluation: See symbolic execution. It struggles when dealing with statements which "integrated" software components that have successfully passed integration testing and also the software system are not purely mathematical. System testing falls within the Symbolic Execution: A static analysis technique used to scope of black box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to detect any Symbolic Processing: Use of symbols. all of the traversal. It is also important for considering path As a rule. . rather than inconsistencies between the software units that are numbers. more limiting type of testing. and as such. system testing takes. ponent or system in which test case design is based upon the syntax of the input.as a whole. used to predict what code statements do to specified inputs and outputs. System testing is a order to process information and solve problems.
and procedures. At maturity level 4. At level 2. software development successes are are only qualitatively predictable. continually revised to reflect changing management at defined points (for example. Process improvements to address common causes of process variation and measurably improve the . at major business objectives. abandon processes in the time process and software maintenance. process descriptions. using statistical and other quantitative techniques. the predictability of process performance.Quantitatively Managed organization. processes are usually ad hoc. Quantitative processto their documented plans. for judging the maturity of the software testing processes of an organization and for identifying the key practices that are required to increase the maturity of these processes. At level 3.Initial Effective project management is implemented with the help of good project management software such as TestPlan At maturity level 1. The effects of deployed process Basic project management processes are established to improvements are measured and evaluated against the track cost. process descriptions. estimates. Sub processes are of crisis. on each particular project). Success in these organizations depends on the competence and heroics of the people in the Level 4 . The model describes the maturity of the company based upon the project the company is handling and the related clients. Organizations at Maturity level 1 organizations are characterized by a this level set quantitative quality goals for both software tendency to over commit. still a significant risk of exceeding cost and time activities. A critical Level 1 software project success depends on having high distinction between maturity level 3 and maturity level 4 is quality people. A maturity model can be used as a benchmark for assessing different organizations for equivalent comparison. and ensures that these objectives are appropriately addressed. projects are performed and managed according performance through both incremental and innovative technological improvements. When these practices are Maturity level 5 focuses on continually improving process in place. and procedures may be quite different in each specific instance of the process (for example. the standards. repeatable and the organization may use some basic project management to track costs and schedule. chaotic environment. and is Level 2 . they frequently exceed the budget and process to particular projects without measurable losses of schedule of their projects. These standard processes are used to establish consistency across the organization. and the from Original Software. and procedures for a project are tailored from the organization's set of standard processes to suit a particular project or organizational unit.Optimizing Process discipline helps ensure that existing practices are retained during times of stress. processes At maturity level 2. management can effectively spite of this ad hoc. maturity level 1 control the software development effort. and not on the use of proven processes. Level 5 . Both the process discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes defined processes and the organization's set of standard on projects with similar applications and scope. The minimum quantitative process-improvement objectives.Software Testing Terms > Glossary TMM (Testing Maturity Model): A model developed by Dr Ilene Bernstein of the Illinois Institute of Technology. These selected sub processes are controlled again. Such a maturity model provides: Level 3 . organizations often produce products and services that management can identify ways to adjust and adapt the work. process descriptions. quality or deviations from specifications. Level 1 . A critical distinction between level 2 and level 3 is the scope of standards. In Using precise measurements. At maturity level 3. organization usually does not provide a stable environment. organization. however. improvement objectives for the organization are Project status and the delivery of services are visible to established.Repeatable [Managed] quantitatively predictable. In particular. and not be able to repeat their past successes selected that significantly contribute to overall process performance. the performance of processes is controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques. The organization's management establishes process objectives for the organization's set of standard processes. There is processes are targets of measurable improvement however. which are the basis for level 3. and used as criteria in managing milestones and at the completion of major tasks). process improvement.Defined The organization's set of standard processes. the standards. and functionality. schedule. are established and improved over time.
May consist of specific hardware. execution of tests. the new Test Comparator: A test tool that compares the actual features will have to be tested manually time and again. now there are tools available that help the testers in expected outputs for that test case. verification steps. processes are concerned with addressing Test Bed: An execution environment configured for testspecial causes of process variation and providing ing. However.Software Testing Terms > Glossary organization's processes are identified. At maturity level 4. other may produce predictable results. Test automation is one way to do this. tools that help programmers for the software under test. processes are concerned with addressing common causes of process variation and changing the process (that is. such as to exercise a particular program path or to verify compliance with a Test Automation: The use of software to control the specific requirement. disk space. As and when different versions of software are released. features that allow users to record interactively user Optimizing processes that are nimble. and expected outcomes develtest process and the test design techniques to be applied. prerequisites. etc. OS. Though processes gy. It typically includes the decisions ronment. or select test cases. experience. control of test data ensures that every test starts with a consistent data state. configuration of the product under test. In addition. The organization's ability to rapidly problems. focuses on achieving consensus on the technical approach to be taken. A technical review is also known as a Test Case: A commonly used term for a specific test. Test charters are amongst other used in explorproducts. maturity level 5. starting points regarding the execution preconditions. established quantitative process-improvement objectives. etc. A Test Case will consist of information such as requirements testing. and possibly perceived as bottlenecks to the delivery of software test ideas. reliance on workforce aligned with the business values and objectives these features poses major reliability and maintainability of the organization. At project should enumerate the test beds(s) to be used. made that follow based on the (test) project's goal and the An alternate definition for Test Case is a set of inputs. and as such most serious test automation is undertaken by people with development finding ways to accelerate and share learning. Technical Review: A peer group discussion activity that essential if the data is to be predictable at the end of testing. risk assessment carried out. code in less and less time. A critical distinction between maturity level 4 and maturity level 5 is the type of process variation addressed. who are often Test Charter: A statement of test objectives. the automation of the GUI which reduce the test time as well as the cost. See Partial Test Automation. and Many test automation tools provide record and playback deployed. This peer review. test automation involves automating a manual process already in place that uses a formalized testing process. adaptable and actions and replay it back any number of times. the results may be application or system software. Test Case Design Technique: A method used to derive and other test control and test reporting functions. Most successful automators use a software respond to changes and opportunities is enhanced by engineering approach. the setting up of test preconditions. outputs. Commonly. evaluated. and data confidentiality issues. other test automation tools support execution of performance tests. . network topolostatistical predictability of the results. is usually the smallest unit of testing. the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes. quickly create applications with graphical user interfaces have dramatically improved programmer productivity. outputs produced by the software under test with the But. TestBench addresses test verification. Testers are being asked to test more and more atory testing. shifting the mean of the process TestBench: A suite of test automation solutions from performance) to improve process performance (while Original Software that facilitate the management and mamaintaining statistical probability) to achieve the nipulation of the database and visual layer components. oped for a particular objective. test Test Approach: The implementation of the test strategy steps. as manual testing is time consuming. comparing innovative depends on the participation of an empowered actual results to those expected. test envifor a specific project. This has increased the pressure on testers. Test Case Suite: A collection of one or more test cases Over the past few years. The Test Plan for a insufficient to achieve the established objectives.
etc. and that affects or is affected by the component or system under test.tool. Test Execution Schedule: A scheme for the execution of test procedures. Test Driven Development: Testing methodology associated with Agile Programming in which every chunk of code is covered by unit tests which must all pass all the time. other software with which the software under test interacts when under test including stubs and test drivers. making it easy to recreate and isolate software defects. Test Execution Technique: The method used to perform the actual test execution.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Test Comparison: The process of identifying differences between the actual results produced by the component or system under test and the expected results for a test.e. e. capture/playback Test Execution: The process of carrying out a test. The test procedures are included in the Test Environment: A description of the hardware and test execution schedule in their context and in the order in software environment in which the tests will be run and any which they are to be executed. Test Data Management: The management of test data during tests to ensure complete data integrity and legitimacy from the beginning to the end of test. Test Driver: A program or test tool used to execute software against a test case suite. Those screens with a red cross contain errors. This means defects can simply be re-created at a touch of a button. Test Completion Criterion: A criterion for determining when planned testing is complete. Test Execution Phase: The period of time in the applicaan equal number of lines of test code to the size of the tion development life cycle during which the components of a software product are executed. . See TestBench Test-Drive Assist: A new concept in testing from Original Software that delivers active support for manual testing by compiling history on recent testing. and the software production code. whilst the results can eventually be used to build fully automated tests. Test comparison can be performed during test execution (dynamic comparison) or after test execution. Test Data: Data that exists (for example. without being hindered by complex programming languages. wheth. State of the art self updating technology automatically adapts tests to new software releases and upgrades.g. With powerful tracking functions that operate in a non intrusive and natural fashion. Fig 3. Practitioners of TDD write a lot of tests. testers can detect and highlight defects more quickly and effectively resulting in developers correcting these defects fast and efficiently. Test-Drive: Next Generation automated testing solution from Original Software that allows technicians to define and execute sophisticated tests. Main view in TestDrive-Assist showing screens and input. er it be manually or using automated test software. in a database) before a test is executed. manual. product is evaluated to determine whether or not requirements have been satisfied. defined in terms of a test measurement technique. i. in an effort to eliminate unit-level and regression bugs during development.
and the inputs. grouping tested. and schedule of intended testing activities. There may be several Test Suites for a particular product for example. Test Measurement Technique: A method used to mea. team communications. resources. Also known as a Test Driver. approach. phases.Test Suite: A collection of tests used to validate the behavsure test coverage items. In most cases Test Object: The component/system/application to be however a Test Suite is a high level concept. A short program Test Harness: A program or test tool used to execute a written in a programming language is used to test part of test. reliability test. an unambiguous record of the identities and versions of the component under test.for the tests. Test Specification: A document specifying the test apTest Level: A group of test activities that are organized proach for a software feature or combination or features and managed together. consisting of test environments. Test Plan: A document describing the scope. together hundreds or thousands of tests related by what they are intended to test. Examples of test levels are compo.It requires that test object. Test Point Analysis: A formula based test estimation Testability: The degree to which a system or component method based on function point analysis. office environment and procedures. The scope of a Test Suite varies from organization to organization. the test specification. Test Type: A group of test activities aimed at testing a component or system regarding one or more interrelated quality attributes.. Test Strategy: A high-level document defining the test Test Log: A chronological record of relevant details about levels to be performed and the testing within those levels the execution of tests. A test type is focused on a specific test TestPlan: A planning solution from Original Software that objective. . Test Records: For each test. and actual outcome. for a program (one or more projects). and any risks requiring contingency planning. who will do each task. Tester: A person (either a professional tester or a user) who is involved in the testing of a component or system. regression test enables effective planning. programmers do not write any production code until they have first written a unit test. facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met. Test Procedure: A document providing detailed instructions for the execution of one or more test cases. Such scripts underpin the basis of all of the older type automation tools. Test Generator: A program that generates test cases in accordance to a specified strategy. ior of a product. identifies test items. See Code-Free Testing. usability test. the functionality of a software system. i. Test Script: A test script is the traditional but somewhat outdates way of building test cases. nent test. system test and acceptance test. and may take place on one or more test levels or test accurate tracking of every testing activity. integration test. Test Scenario: Definition of a set of test cases or test scripts and the sequence in which they are to be executed. tools. It Test Target: A set of test completion criteria for the test.e. predicted results and execution conditions sibilities in a project. test them. and the scripts themselves often have errors in to perform testing.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Test First Design: Test-first design is one of the mandato. and etc.Test Run: Execution of a test on a specific version of the ry practices of Extreme Programming (XP). however these are cumbersome and difficult to use and Test Infrastructure: The organizational artifacts needed update. the testing tasks. A test level is linked to the respon. the features to be tested.
with lower level components being automated test process and retained for use at a later stage. such as requirements with testing where the progressive integration of components associated tests. observing or recording the results. From unit testing to UAT). bugs). under specified conditions.Tracked Field: A value captured in one part of an chy is tested first. between Test Requirements and Test Cases. the differences between existing and required conditions (that is. Top Down Testing: An approach to integration testing where the component at the top of the component hierar. .g. not merely a method of testing. a result set. See TestBench. Total Testing: A complete approach to testing from Original Software describing the desire to optimize all the steps in the testing process (e. such as visual.g. and making an evaluation of some aspect of the system or component. then the production code necessary to pass the tests is implemented. as opposed to the integration of components by levels of a Traceability Matrix: A document showing the relationship hierarchy. as well as the different layers of the application's architecture. and to evaluate the features of the software item. and finally the software is re factored to accommodate the changes. The availability of tests before actual development ensures rapid feedback after any change. (e. (i. messages and linked programs.e. Test Driven Development: A software development technique consisting of short iterations where new test cases covering the desired improvement or new functionality are written first.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Testing: satisfies specified requirements and to detect errors. or its documentation. Traceability: The ability to identify related items in docuThread Testing: A version of component integration mentation and software. simulated by stubs. Practitioners emphasize that test-driven development is a method of designing software. From the user interface to the database). a component of the system. avoid designing software that is difficult to test). follows the implementation of subsets of the requirements. Total Quality Management: A company commitment to develop a process that achieves high quality product and Test Tools: Computer programs used in the testing of a customer satisfaction. combining different areas of test analysis. The process is repeated until Timeline: A chronological representation of components in the lowest level components have been tested. system. database. Tested components are then used to test lower level components.
used and attractive to the user when used under specified conditions. Unit testing is typically done by developers and not by end-users. testing a module in isolation. abstract class or day-to-day activities. derived/child class. end user testing. acceptance testing performed by the Unstructured Decisions: This type of decision situation is customer is known as beta testing. In most environments. each test case is independent from the others. the smallest unit is a method. Ideally. In such environments. ill-defined or unknown. or situation. suitable.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Understandability: The capability of the software product Usability requirements: A specification of the required to enable the user to understand whether the software is usability for the system/software. User Acceptance Testing: Black-box testing performed on a system prior to its delivery. site (acceptance) testing. decision situation are undefined. Use cases tend to focus on programming. Use Case: The specification of tests that are conducted function. and how it can be used for particular tasks and conditions of use. units of source code are working properly. A unit is the smallest testable part of an application.. Usability: The capability of the software to be understood. learned. Some or all of the structural elements of the acceptance testing. procedure. . user acceptance testing complex and no standard solutions exist for resolving the (UAT). In procedural programming a unit may be an individual program. from acceptance testing by the customer (the user or client) prior to accepting transfer of ownership. while in object-oriented from the end-user perspective. Unit Testing: Testing of individual software components. Use Case Testing: A black box test design technique in mock objects and test harnesses can be used to assist which test cases are designed to execute user scenarios. etc. which may operating software as an end-user would conduct their belong to a base/super class. Usability Testing: Testing to determine whether the system/software meets the specified usability requireUnit Testing: A procedure used to validate that individual ments. Unreachable Code: Code that cannot be reached and acceptance testing by the system provider is distinguished therefore is impossible to execute.
. logs. and data files). or the products of software development with respect to the version date and time stamp. Validation Testing: Determination of the correctness of Version Identifier: A version number. Volume Testing: Testing which confirms that any values that may become large over time (such as accumulated counts. Variable Data: A repository for multiple scenario values which can be used to drive repeatable automated processes through a number of iterations when used in conjunction with an automation solution such as TestDrive. user needs and requirements. version date. component to determine its completeness.Software Testing Terms > Glossary V Model: Describes how inspection and testing activities Verification: The process of evaluating a system or can occur in parallel with other activities. can be accommodated by the program and will not cause the program to stop working or degrade its operation in any manner.
it can also test paths between units during integration. Found in TestBench software projects. Uses an internal perspective duplicates specific workflows which are expected to be of the system to design test cases based on internal utilized by the end-user. such as unknown manipulation of a group and silencing of minorites in order to see a preset outcome Waterline: The lowest level of detail relevant to the of a meeting. ranging from statistical data collection Warping: The capability to manipulate dates in data to results to sales and marketing forecasts. White Box Testing: (a. service that is known to have a problem. It has since been adapted across many industries to estimate many kinds of tasks. Workaround: Method of avoiding an incident or problem.a. Though this method of test design can uncover an overwhelming number of test cases. structure. It has proven to simulate data of different ages in support of testing date. designs or code Wide Band Delphi: A consensus-based estimation techcharacterized by the author of the material under review nique for estimating effort. So while it normally tests paths within a unit. It requires programming skills to identify all paths through the software. it's typically applied to the unit. What If Analysis: The capability of "asking" the software either from a temporary fix or from a technique that means package what the effect will be of changing some of the the Customer is not reliant on a particular aspect of a input data or independent variables. and it lends itself well to driven systems. glass box Workflow Testing: Scripted end-to-end testing which testing or structural testing). But you can be sure that all paths through the test object are executed. Customer. While white box testing is applicable at the unit. at the RAND Corporation as a forecasting tool. it might not detect unimplemented parts of the specification or missing requirements.k. It was developed in the 1940s guiding the progression of the review. and between subsystems during a system level test. clear box testing. The tester chooses test case inputs to exercise paths through the code and determines the appropriate outputs.be a very effective estimation tool.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Walkthrough: A review of requirements. many see great problems with the technique. integration and system levels of the software testing process. However. .
. read data. and ensure that the data structure is unambiguous. and it supports internationalization and localization. platform-independent. XML avoids common pitfalls in language design: it is extensible. XML makes it easy for a computer to generate data.Software Testing Terms > Glossary XML: Extensible Markup Language. XML is a set of rules for designing text formats that let you structure your data.
aptest.org) IEEE (www.org) .ieee.testingstandards.com) The Software Testing Glossary (www.Software Testing Terms > Glossary Bibliography: The Software Test Management Guide (www.ruleworks.istqb.org) The Testing Standards Working Party (www.com) The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (www.co.uk) Wikipedia (wikipedia.
com www. All descriptions.origsoft. OSG-GST-10/07 . All rights reserved.com Copyright Original Software 2007.EMEA OFFICE Original Software Ltd Grove House Chineham Court Basingstoke Hampshire RG24 8AG Phone: +44 (0) 1256 338666 Fax: +44 (0) 1256 338678 USA OFFICE Original Software Inc 601 Oakmont Lane Suite 170 Westmont IL 60559 USA Phone: 630-321-0092 Fax: 630-321-0223 solutions@origsoft. specifications and prices are intended for general information only and are subject to change without notice.
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