How to design test cases without any requirements specification (or any additional documentation for that matter)?

May 5, 2010

It makes for a great discussion. You have been handed an application with no requirements specification. You are supposed to create test cases. Can you do it? Sure, you can. Just look at the following test ideas.

Does the application launch?

Does the application have a help/ demo file? You can find abundant information in the help/ [...]

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YouTube gets a new look

May 4, 2010

After a long phase of testing and planning, YouTube comes up with a new look. This has generated mixed reviews about the #1 video-sharing website. The millions of users around the world will be welcomed on the site with several changes in the video playback page.

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What is the most important thing in test process?

May 4, 2010

Recently, I was interviewed for the role of Senior QA Manager by a sizeable organization. By QA, the organization means testing. They have another position (for which I was NOT interviewed) for Quality Manager. Anyway, I was interviewed by a very senior and distinguished gentleman. Don’t ask me, I am not going to name the [...]

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How to set up a new testing department?

May 1, 2010

Many companies choose to set up a testing department instead of (or in addition to) allocating testers permanently to projects. The rationale to do so include:

A. Availability of a more comprehensive skill set
You may have access to a larger skill set (e.g. manual as well as automated testing, functional as well as performance testing and [...]

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It Is Not Whether You Should Unit Test But How Much

April 29, 2010

It is often tempting to skip unit testing for ad-hoc testing. However when done in the appropriate amount unit testing will increase productivity and reliability. It is also a great diagnostic tool. Unit testing is a skill that can get you to the next level as a programmer as well as an organization. It takes [...]

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Automated test data generation

April 29, 2010

Among other things1, you need test data to execute tests. You are required to design the test data to drive your test cases. If the test data is not already listed with your test cases or you run tests in an exploratory manner, you need to design the test data on the fly. Generating your [...]

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How to create a powerful test strategy?

April 29, 2010

Before I begin this post, let me talk about an email that I received from Natalya in Ukraine. She said that she found STS interesting and educational. She tries to read it every day. Natalya, let me say that I am grateful and honored to be of help. Since you are a regular reader of [...]

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Is your testing saturated?

April 25, 2010

There are many names for software testing strategies/activities/ approaches/processes; they can be risk-based, coverage-focused, exploratory, requirements-based, Super-TPI, TMM 5 et.al.
The names generally come from how the testing is performed or initiated, so I thought we should look at it from another angle, from the end of testing, from the results that we might know about [...]

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What features you should consider when you design your Automation Framework?

April 25, 2010

Vivek Joglekar, who is a regular reader and subscriber of STS, mailed me asking me to add more stuff in framework and test process. As desired by him, here is a post on the Test Automation Framework. Look out for more posts on the same.
If you are interested in test automation, you have probably come [...]

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Growing test teams: Uncertain team composition

April 25, 2010

This is a follow up from previous articles on Growing test teams based on the ideas from Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister.
Uncertain team composition
If you are newly assigned to be a team leader there is a big chance that you also have a team, but that is not always the case. Just as you [...]

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