Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman by Dave Hoover and Adewale Oshineye is a book covering a comprehensive overview of software testing meant to prepare the reader with the knowledge and skills necessary for working as a quality assurance tester.
In the beginning of the book, Hoover and Oshineye answer the important questions of “what” is software testing and “why” it is necessary in software development.
At the highest and most general level, software testing is a way by which a software’s quality is evaluated, estimated, and shared with stakeholders, providing an independent view of the software product. Furthermore, it is the goal of software testers to ensure that this quality meets and maintains the requirements. I found it interesting that the book mentioned the primary function of software testing to be for the stakeholders; however, it makes sense as software testing not only is needed to ensure that the program runs, but also that it runs smoothly for the user, and most definitely for its stakeholders. The best way to assure stakeholders of the product’s success is through software testing.
Chapter two of the book gives further reasoning for software testing stating that the U.S. government lost 60 billion dollars due to software defects in 2002, equating to 0.6% of the country’s gross domestic product. In a world that is so heavily dependent on technology, it becomes evident how important it is to ensure that this backbone of society remains reliably working.
So with the question of “what” and “why” out of the way, the book shifts gears into the essence of software testing. The fundamentals of software testing is split into three parts: testing basics, requirements, and test plans.
The most basic form of testing is checking expected output with the observed output based on a controlled input allowing for a clear comparison and analysis of the program’s behavior. Most patterns of software quality assurance are based on this fundamental strategy.
Before testing software, it is necessary to know what it is that needs to be tested. This is given by the software requirements. These specify exactly what it is a specific piece of software should do under certain conditions ensuring that developers know what to build and that testers know what to test. Requirements are laid out in a test plan, a collection of test cases ensuring that every requirement of a software is met.
Software testing is complex field with many moving parts. However, it all boils down to ensuring that the program works as intended, meeting all the requirements and expectations shared by stakeholders and users, which saves time and money for companies that use it effectively. It is a field of software development that I am very interested in and am excited to learn about more.
From the blog Stories by Namson Nguyen on Medium by Namson Nguyen and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.