Are you interested in enhancing the effectiveness and productivity of your test case writing? Here are some vital points that can assist:
Testers aiming for top-notch test case writing should ready themselves both professionally and mentally. This involves understanding the crucial elements necessary for productive software testing in the IT sector. Consider these factors as “Inputs” prior to embarking on the test case writing process.
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Additionally, comprehending the quality metrics involved in the project is crucial. These metrics serve to gauge the tester’s performance across the various stages of the testing life cycle. These parameters should be perceived as “Outputs” following the conclusion of the test case writing process.
Lastly, testers should familiarize themselves with bug reporting norms, issue escalation, and preparation of test reports in accordance with standard procedures. These reports should be decipherable to all project stakeholders with ease.
Here’s What You Will Learn:
Getting Ready for Test Case Writing
1) Test case writing should be viewed as a craft more than a mere job or task. It’s crucial to note that the usefulness of a software piece only emerges if it’s thoroughly tested for all scenarios with an effective testing approach. As such, see yourself as a key contributor to the project and give your testing activity top priority.
2) Tackle test case writing with enthusiasm and positivity. These personal attributes are vital throughout the project life cycle. While passion promotes team bonding, a positive mindset boosts productivity in formulating quality test cases. The amalgamation of professional and personal qualities is a must for successful test writing.
3) Include both positive and negative test cases in your test case writing. However, maintaining a semi-positive mindset for uncovering bugs and breaking the application under test is important. This attitude isn’t pessimistic, but rather a proactive approach to prevent issues or system breakdowns triggered by users after the release.
4). Assess a tester’s efficiency based on their competency to produce successful test cases that contribute to the detection of defects, instead of purely depending on the number of bugs discovered in the system. Test cases should be composed in a manner that optimizes coverage and traceability based on the system’s boundary and scope.
5) Thoroughly comprehend the application’s domain. Testing a typical website is simpler compared to assessing a complex financial software that is used by thousands of people concurrently in stock exchanges. A clear understanding of financial terms and functionalities might necessitate a particular educational background, training, or domain expertise. Evaluate your suitability and competencies prior to beginning a new project to avert future misunderstandings and ensure productive performance.
When confronted with challenging functional requirements, relay them to the project team in advance so as to receive the necessary aid, such as plans and training, to prevent any negative effect on your efficacy and performance. Project and test managers can effectively manage these situations.
6) Be ready to perform any testing required by the project. Don’t confine yourself to particular skills or specialties. Welcome the responsibilities and challenges that come with writing and executing test cases for varying testing types. For instance, be willing to learn performance testing or load testing methods, even if your main focus is on manual or automation testing. Diversify your competencies to thrive in your profession.
A majority of testers categorize themselves as either manual or automation testers. But when it involves performance testing, stress testing, or load testing, only a few testers possess the necessary skills or knowledge. Hence, strive to be a swift learner and actively look for opportunities for training and acquiring new skills.
7) Understand the diverse types of testing needed for the application under test (AUT) and the skills required to carry out them. For example, some projects might demand black-box testing, whereas others might need white-box testing skills. Skills in scripting, SQL, or mark-up languages such as HTML/XML might also be required. Acquire the necessary training or self-study resources to meet these project-specific necessities.
8) Ensure that your test cases cover performance testing, security testing, and regression testing. If you need to test an application’s login functionality, performance testing guarantees stability when thousands of users are logging in simultaneously, security testing confirms that only authorized users have the appropriate access rights, and regression testing verifies if core functionalities function properly in every release.
9) Test Case Review: Give due attention to the review phase, which often goes overlooked in the software development and testing life cycle. Conduct comprehensive reviews at each phase of project development to guarantee quality deliverables. Prior to beginning test case writing, review the requirements specification document and address all review comments. Follow the appropriate review process, including self-review, peer review, and review by other stakeholders, to ensure completeness, test coverage, traceability, and overall testability of the test cases.
10) Comprehend how to estimate and strategize testing tasks. Stick to the scheduled estimated time for your daily tasks by starting and completing tasks punctually. Schedule each day’s tasks before leaving work, instead of staying late or working on weekends. Modern project management approaches, like Agile, provide efficient frameworks for project execution. If milestones aren’t met, concentrate on enhancing project management rather than pointing fingers at the project team for inefficiency.
Note: Even for automated testing, guarantee that your test cases are clearly laid out and reviewed at least once. Automated testing tools can successfully record and execute test cases if the manual test cases are well-drafted and written.
Understanding Quality Metrics
Quality metrics are instrumental in the different phases of software testing. Testing teams should have an in-depth understanding of the various metrics employed to realize project objectives. These metrics, which cover all facets of testing, from requirement analysis and test case writing to execution, defect reporting, and test reporting, should be used to evaluate the tester’s performance.
Listed below are a few significant test metrics commonly used to boost tester productivity:
1) Average Testing Efficiency:
- Calculates bugs per man-month of testing effort.
- Determined as the average of total bugs identified during testing effort in man-months.
- Calculate after every internal release and after test completion.
- Acceptance Limit: Should be less than 50.
2) Average Customer Defect Density:
- Calculates bugs reported by the client after delivery relative to total testing efforts in man-months.
- Determined as the average of total bugs after delivery in man-months.
- Calculate after external release and project completion.
- Acceptance Limit: Should be less than 1.
3) Functional Test Failures:
- Total number of failed functional test cases divided by the total number of executed functional test cases.
- Calculate monthly or fortnightly.
4) Bugs with Severity Level 1:
- Total number of bugs identified with severity level 1 (blocker).
- Indicates issues that halt testing from proceeding.
- Calculate weekly.
5) Bugs with Severity Level 2:
- Total number of bugs identified with severity level 2 (major bugs).
- Indicates issues that halt testing of specific features but allow testing of other parts of the system.
- Calculate weekly.
6) Bugs with Severity Level 3:
- Total number of bugs identified with severity level 3 (minor bugs).
- Indicates issues that don’t hinder testing and allow testing to proceed.
- Calculate weekly.
7) Bugs with Severity Level 4:
- Total number of bugs identified with severity level 4 (cosmetic issues).
- Indicates aesthetic-related issues that don’t hamper testing and can be corrected in future releases.
- Calculate weekly.
Bug Reporting
Bug reporting should be controlled using a mature test process to maintain application quality. Establish a proper escalation process to notify authorized individuals about bug status, severity, and priority. Various free and commercial bug reporting tools, such as Bugzilla and Mantis, are available for effective issue tracking and integration with test management tools.
In every testing project, standard procedures must be adhered to for online status reporting on a daily basis. Whenever a bug or issue is reported in the bug tracking system, an email notification should be sent to the relevant authorities, enabling them to plan and take appropriate action in a timely manner.
If you’re interested in learning more about bug reporting, consider these useful articles:
=> Writing a Good Bug Report: Tips and Tricks
=> Sample Bug Report
=> Why Every Tester Should Learn the Art of Bug Reporting
=> Bug Life Cycle
=> Sample bug reports for web and product applications
Test Reports
In addition to bug reports, test reports are key documents for understanding the current status of testing and important metrics. These reports capture and present critical information gathered throughout the testing phase.
Here is a demo of a simple test report:
For more details on effective test reporting, consider reading these insightful tutorials:
=> Guide to Composing an Effective Test Summary Report
=> How to Smartly Report Test Execution [Download Status Report Template]
Conclusion
Preparing for test case writing encompasses more than just allocating resources. Contemplate the crucial requirements, including both professional and personal aspects, for fruitful test case writing. Understand the quality metrics that are monitored throughout the testing life cycle and even after the release.
By adhering to the outlined processes, standards, and procedures, and exhibiting a love for testing, you can achieve impressive testing efficiency, productivity, and emerge as a quality tester. Incorporate these quality elements into your everyday habits.
Self-analysis or group analysis can be achieved by asking yourself questions to ensure you’re on the correct path for self-improvement and process enhancement. Ponder over questions such as:
- Have the functional requirements, user requirements, or business use case papers been thoroughly reviewed by you?
- Has the requirements specification document been properly examined and updated?
- Are screen prototypes available for all the features to be tested?
- Can you produce test cases that maintain testability and traceability throughout the testing life cycle?
- Do you possess the necessary skills and domain knowledge for testing the application under test?
- Do you require any additional training or technical knowledge for running the test cases?
- Have you scheduled time for writing, examining, and running test cases that includes time for preparing high-quality documents?
- Do you have colleagues who can review your test cases and subject matter experts who can guarantee the completeness, coverage, and testability of the features to be tested?
- Have you developed sufficient test cases to cover all functional requirements?
- Do you have enough test cases for performance, load testing, and security testing?
- Did you create enough test cases for installation and regression testing?
- Is there a contact point for escalating issues or reporting bugs?
- Has the bug tracking tool been set up correctly with adequate permissions?
- Are you abiding by all the defined procedures in the test plan?
- Are you taking an active part in review meetings and communication with the development or management team?
- Have you noticed improvements in your productivity and efficiency? Do you need to adopt any steps for further enhancement?
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As a tester, it’s crucial to pose these or similar questions to yourself for self-assessment and continuous improvement. Integrate these habits to become an effective and efficient tester in pursuit of achieving a masterful approach to test case writing and execution.