The Crucial Role of Application Testing in Software Development
Article by: By James F. York from TechNewsWorld
Application testing is often relegated to the fringes of software product development. Testers aren’t fully integrated into the team, and they’re often given too little information and support to achieve the high expectations placed on them. Meeting customer needs is what testing is all about — not just putting out code.
During the software development life cycle (SDLC), time and resources need to be committed to application testing. This is the testing that is done by the testing group, (i.e., the black box testers.) The allocation of time and resources is always a problem, as some organizations aren’t quite sure how much should be assigned.
Where does testing belong? Some say at the beginning, others say at the end. Some even say nowhere, as it doesn’t really add anything to the product’s reliability or success. After all, the developers have done the white box testing, so no additional testing needs to be done. Nothing could be further from the truth. Applications testing is one of the most misunderstood contributions to the success of the project and corporation.
Application testers are not always a part of the project team; they are not invited to the meetings to ensure everyone understands what the expectations and deliverables will be. Yet without this involvement, how can the test group effectively perform its job?
