Month: December 2017

Heuristics and Oracles

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These terms are being thrown around a lot lately in the testing community, and they can cause some confusion the first time you hear them being used in this context. They definitely confused me the first time I heard them, so I will attempt to provide some clarification in this post.

What are heuristics and oracles, and why should you learn more about them?

I have found that heuristics and oracles provide a great starting point for testing, especially when little is known about the product, and they frequently result in more thorough tests. They also help to label methods and processes that would otherwise be difficult to explain. Labeling these processes makes it easier to improve them. But what are they…?  Continue reading →

Quality Basics

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Excerpt taken from the Software Testing Body of Knowledge for CSTE

The “basics” of software testing are represented by the vocabulary of testing, testing approaches, methods and techniques, as well as the materials used by testers in performing their test activities.

Quality Assurance versus Quality Control

There is often confusion regarding the difference between quality control and quality assurance. Many “quality assurance” groups, in fact, practice quality control. Quality methods can be segmented into two categories: preventive methods and detective methods. This distinction serves as the mechanism to distinguish quality assurance activities from quality control activities. This discussion explains the critical difference between control and assurance, and how to recognize a Quality Control practice from a Quality Assurance practice.

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Software Testing Schools of Thought

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Just as there are various models for the SDLC, there are different “schools of thought” within the testing community. A school of thought is simply defined as “a belief (or system of beliefs) shared by a group.” Dr. Cem Kaner, Bret Pettichord, and James Bach are most often cited in regard to the “software testing schools.” They are also responsible for creating the Context-Driven approach to testing. The first real discussion about these schools was by Bret Pettichord (2003) who described the following four schools. Since that time, Agile and the Test-Driven school were added to the list.

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7 Questions To Ask About Your Project Scope

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This month’s article comes from the PMTIPS blog, and focuses on some key questions your team should ask when defining the scope of your project.

One of the first things to do when you start a new project is to work out what it actually involves. As well as all the workshops about requirements and the documentation that results, there are some other things to investigate as part of your project scope.

Sit down with your project sponsor or other key users on the project and go through this checklist of 7 questions you should be asking about your project scope. They’ll appreciate that you have taken the time to ask and you’ll get a much better understanding of what they are expecting the project to deliver on their behalf.

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