Basic elements of software test management
Author: Alan
Keywords: software testing, software test management, software test plan
Summary:
Efficient software test management is an indispensable human factor in project success. The test is a technical-oriented professional work, but because of its special position during software development, it is necessary to effectively communicate, coordinate as a guarantee. We usually refer to these communication, coordination and planning work as software test management. This article will be introduced one by one on the basic elements in software test management.
1. Software Test Plan for Software Development Plan Time Framework
The software test plan is a problem with the forever, and the different people's understanding of the plan is often large. Here, let's review what plans, generally planning the purpose of identifying tasks, analyzing risks, planning resources, and determination. From the definition of the plan, the plan is not a time schedule, but a dynamic process, and finally determines the form of a series of documents. The proposed software test plan requires the active participation of the project management personnel, because the primary project plan has determined a time framework of the overall project, software testing as a phase work must obey time and resources.
2. A complete test plan should include the following aspects:
1 Definition of the scope of the test, simply, the test activity needs to be covered. In the case of time constraint, the work product quality constraint, the only adjustment is the scope. In actual work, we always don't consciously adjust the scope of software testing, such as in the case of time, usually tested the test of important functions. This is the adjustment of the test range. Therefore, as a test manager receives a task, it is necessary to determine the test range according to the time of the primary project plan. If a deviation occurs on the determination range, it will cause a negative impact on the test implementation, such as overtime. The management personnel need to be divided into tasks before determining the scope, and it is to decompose the test task. Decomposition tasks have two objectives, one is an identification sub-task, and the other is to facilitate estimating the needs of resources. After completing the above tasks, managers need to estimate the time and resources that consume for consumption according to the historical data of the project. It is generally in the sense that the implementation of a complete comprehensive test is almost impossible, and we always have to make a strategy compromise above the scope of the test.
2 The risk is determined, and there is always an uncertain factor in the project. Once these factors have occurred, they record a considerable negative impact on the smooth implementation of the project. Therefore, in the project, you first need to identify the risk of existence. There are many principles of risk identification, and one of the common is that if one thing will have a big effect on the progress of the project, then the event can be a risk. After risk recognition, managers need to develop a method of avoiding risks in accordance with these risks. In a small project, identifying risks and forming a circumvention method can be omitted.
3 resource planning, determine human resources and material resources that completed the task. These are the material elements that guarantee the implementation of the project. Material resources is an issue where managers is easy to ignore. In fact, materials resources are tools to work, and meticulous planning can make people more effectively to execute projects. Common materials resources include computer hardware, software, test environment.
4 Timetable Formulation, after identifying bile tasks and resources, we can associate tasks, resources, and time to form a time schedule. In essence, the timetable is a summary of the top three tasks. There is no previous three steps, and the time schedule is meaningless.
3. Communication
Communication test management must have the necessary skills. Although we have developed a detailed project plan, when this does not mean that there is this contract, the various characters in the project do not need to communicate. As a test, you need to give the test discovery to developers in time to develop people, but also to learn about the changes in the outside world. There is a common phenomenon in the project, and as a manager is to manage the changes here, a timely amendment plan. Strictly said that if there is no such changes, you don't have much value for test managers. Some people think that once there is a planning contract, as long as the requirements are required, the project itself is a dynamic process, the plan is that the project is at a moment, the segment is static, so to treat the plan according to the development of the eye. . Communication is a positive means of understanding the changes in external changes, so the test managers are concerned. Its planning communication skills is higher than the requirements of test skills. 4. Executive
Last year, a book is popular in China, name is executed. The author in the book believes that most items have no success since the implementation. Software test also has an execution capability problem, some people say that I have done the requirements of the request, can you still have done it? Indeed, in accordance with the expectation to perform the task is positive solution, but here is a question is how to ensure that the executor's expectation is exactly the same as the expectations of the requirements of the requirements? So behind the execution is also a communication problem, and the communication here is the communication between the test managers and executors. Therefore, as a test manager must clarify the intentions, premise and results of the task before the test engineer starts working.
5. Version control
The previous few points have the requirements of the process, personal skills. Here we have to discuss pure engineering activities - version control. For version control, everyone is unfamiliar, it is the initial expression of software configuration management to test the requirements for stable environments. The test version control is simple to say that the test version has a clear identification, description. And the delivery of the test version is under the control of the project management personnel.
The test version is identified to identify the version used. The version number is used, for example, the version of the discovery error is often required when filling in the error report. When making defect analysis, we can use the version number to distinguish the development trend of defects and judgment defects.
The test version of the test version is an effective form of communication between developers and testers. Tests can learn from this document that there are significant changes in the current test versions. After that, after these, testers can more efficiently and targeted.
Test versions are delivered, the control version of the test must be under the control of the test management personnel. Common forms are the update and release of test versors to control the test version. After seeing the error report, the developer always tends to correct these errors immediately and issued a verification to the test engineer. Considering that most developers are typical perfectionists, this approach is uncommon, but it is too frequent version update to be lower test. Imagine if you are a test engineer, when the test case just implemented halfway, suddenly released a new test version, in which case the test case has been executed, does it need to be executed again? In order to avoid the side effects of the modified code, we need to perform the regression test. Quality is guaranteed, but the efficiency is low. Test is forced to delay in progress. So the test version control helps to ensure the efficiency of progress and testing.
The above is a few points that need to pay attention to the test management. It constitutes a successful software test project, there are many other important factors, such as the personal abilities of the tester, managers' comprehensive quality, the company's development process, etc. It will be different from it.
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[About the Author]
Nette: Alan Liang
Working hours: 6 years of professional expertise: unit test, regression test automation
Hobbies: bicycle photography tennis
Mail: cyber_lover_cn@163.com
