Quality Assurance Testing Tools–Varying your Methods of Checking
Software quality assurance tools allow you to test the reliability of the software as well as boost efficiency of your staff and cut down on costs. Those are quite a mouthful, so to simplify: when you run the commercial anti-virus software to check for malware or bugs in your computer system, that's actually part of quality assurance. When you run a test on your software, you check whether it is operating according to its own specifications, works without any hitches, and satisfies your requirements.
Growing industry
Software QA industry has grown over the past decade as more vendors adopt more state-of-the-art technologies to enhance testing. However, it's important to note that these tools are just automated objects that can't function on their own. No matter how sophisticated your testing tools are but the procedure is flawed, you are still going to arrive at the wrong conclusion. The most common problems arise from companies using commercially available test kits and checking the problems on their own. Rushing the process may not be sufficient for your needs instead of bringing in a professional with quality assurance testing tools customized for your needs.
Static test against dynamic test
A dynamic test refers to the process of checking the software even before it is rolled out. Once the software is 100% completed, it will be tested once again to see if it's working outside of the controlled environment. This can also be referred to as dynamic testing. In contrast, a static test refers to the series of inspections or reviews on the software. This process, however, is often omitted by the companies as well as IT solutions experts.
Black box testing and white box testing
Another variation is the black box testing which checks for functionality and capability without knowing the internal codes and modules of the software, as long the tester knows what the software is all about. Among the common processes under this method are exploratory and specific-based tests, equivalence partitioning, state transition tables, etc. The objective is to check whether the software if functional according to the programmed specifics. Although it will check for bugs or glitches and ensure the software is doing what it is supposed to do, this type of test could not do something about external factors that could affect the software such as viruses, for example, or any other service management integration.
White box testing, meanwhile, will examine the program of the software itself. The tester will need extensive programming background in order to conduct thorough checks. Among the methods used are application programming interface testing, code coverage and paths, mutation checks, static tests, etc. In order to ensure that your software quality assurance testing tools are working up to par, you and your software vendor have to consider all the above steps.
Growing industry
Software QA industry has grown over the past decade as more vendors adopt more state-of-the-art technologies to enhance testing. However, it's important to note that these tools are just automated objects that can't function on their own. No matter how sophisticated your testing tools are but the procedure is flawed, you are still going to arrive at the wrong conclusion. The most common problems arise from companies using commercially available test kits and checking the problems on their own. Rushing the process may not be sufficient for your needs instead of bringing in a professional with quality assurance testing tools customized for your needs.
Static test against dynamic test
A dynamic test refers to the process of checking the software even before it is rolled out. Once the software is 100% completed, it will be tested once again to see if it's working outside of the controlled environment. This can also be referred to as dynamic testing. In contrast, a static test refers to the series of inspections or reviews on the software. This process, however, is often omitted by the companies as well as IT solutions experts.
Black box testing and white box testing
Another variation is the black box testing which checks for functionality and capability without knowing the internal codes and modules of the software, as long the tester knows what the software is all about. Among the common processes under this method are exploratory and specific-based tests, equivalence partitioning, state transition tables, etc. The objective is to check whether the software if functional according to the programmed specifics. Although it will check for bugs or glitches and ensure the software is doing what it is supposed to do, this type of test could not do something about external factors that could affect the software such as viruses, for example, or any other service management integration.
White box testing, meanwhile, will examine the program of the software itself. The tester will need extensive programming background in order to conduct thorough checks. Among the methods used are application programming interface testing, code coverage and paths, mutation checks, static tests, etc. In order to ensure that your software quality assurance testing tools are working up to par, you and your software vendor have to consider all the above steps.
