Software Testing Questions

The Importance of ISEB and ISTQB Software Testing Certifications

2011-12-18T13:45:00.001+05:30

The Importance of ISEB and ISTQB Software Testing Certifications

The Importance of ISEB and ISTQB Software Testing Certifications

By James S Clark

As the name sounds, ISEB and ISTQB certifications are a means to add to one's already given skill set. It could be a software developer trying to get a stamp of approval or a software tester trying to get the global certification on his/her resume. It is a way to bridge the gap between the somewhat ordinary software tester and a good software tester engineer. Usually the trend amongst Information Technology graduates is to focus on their career from the get-go. Whether it is software testing or software development, their focus is to get a reasonable job and to make a mark in that particular company. While that may be a good choice in terms of making a good repute professionally, it does not cover the gap which will exist if the stamp of ISEB or ISTQB certification is missing.

There are some factors to consider, before a test engineer embarks on this certification quest; first of all the career path must be clear. If the person wants to make a switch at some stage of moving from software testing to software project management, or even software development, these certifications will still be of help, but not as much if the person has their mind purely on software testing. Am ISEB or ISTQB certification will help a person get better knowledge of 'what should be' instead of 'Just get it done', which is very essential for personal growth and development. If software testing certifications are obtained, it helps a person understand the right processes and approach, which in turn helps the person in understanding the whole software life cycle. Not only does it help to improve the knowledge, it also helps to enhance the career path adopted by the person.

With ISEB and ISTQB testing certifications the individual is also made to understand the difference between 'poor' or 'below average' practices/methods and 'ideal' or 'regulation' practices/methods. Whether the individual is concerned with web app testing or mobile app testing, or even web service testing, the domain is inconsequential in this matter. The basic rules or the fundamental regulations do not change. And indeed it is the pitfall in which many of the software testers fall into, that whatever practice or method is appropriate for just getting a career going will be sufficient; software testing is a constant learning and improvement domain and you cant be satisfied or complacent at any stage. It is something which is ongoing and constant, and should the individual just lay back and relax over whatever methods he/she is following at work, or if the company is following, then it could lead to career level crisis. Constant learning is just as important, whether it is software testing or software development.

http://www.testing4success.com is a Professional Software Testing Training company providing highly cost-effective ISEB and ISTQB CTFL Distance-Learning Training products.

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What Should You Know About Embedded Software Testing?

2011-12-18T13:44:00.000+05:30

What Should You Know About Embedded Software Testing?

What Should You Know About Embedded Software Testing?

By Jessica N King

There is a wide array of tools, which are exclusively available for embedded software testing purposes. These tools, when employed for a few hours can be highly successful in producing the expected results i.e. the purpose that the software application has been created for. However, there is one thing that the people carrying out the software test should know in order for carrying out this testing. Well, it is nothing but the components, which will consume pretty much time for being tested, will of course require the help of automation. In the case of real environments, you will rarely be able to see the automation being employed. Hence, it all depends on the environment and software requirements, which are the major deciding software tools.

In general, it is to check the functionality of each software application the manual way of embedded software testing will be preferred. In fact, this is the only thing that will be able to decide whether the software created is producing the expected results, or there is any work that to be done with it for getting the expected results. On the other hand, in order for checking how the working of an application and also the codes being used in programming, the automation is pretty much required. The speed of the testing process can be easily enhanced with the help of the testing tools. Automation programming is very much required for getting the large combinations of data tested. Moreover, the automation programming is praised for its accurate results. Hence, although the software errors have been denied by human due to boredom or carelessness, the automation programming can check out for the errors.

Only the software testers, who are very much knowledgeable of testing skills, are selected for the job of software testing. Since software testing is a major phase along with other phases of software development, there is nothing to be surprised when quality staff is chosen for this work.

More information is available on vectorcast.com. They offer information on embedded testing, including the iso 26262 certification.

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Got Software Testing?

2011-12-18T13:43:00.003+05:30

Got Software Testing?

Got Software Testing?

By George L Bryan

Quality Assurance is present in every industry. Let's talk about how it is included in the Software Development industry. Software Testing is part of the Quality Assurance process. Software testing is the process of testing the functionality and requirements of an application.

As a Quality Assurance Engineer it's your job to test the software application. Testing software is done by executing tests known as test cases to ensure that the product does what it is expected to do. Software is created to serve a purpose. When you go to the store to buy a piece of software you have a purpose in mind. That purpose could be to check and create email, do your taxes, write letters, send a fax, calculate numbers, surf the internet, teach a skill, to play a game, or even to check for viruses in your computer, etc. Your job is to make sure that the software application meets the expectations of the target users, and just as important, runs and works without errors or flaws. Everything runs on software from ATMs, to soda machines, and even household microwaves. Before you can market your software application, you need to know it's free from bugs, glitches and oversights.

A Quality Assurance Tester is responsible for testing the software application to ensure that there are no problems and that it works as designed. Some businesses make customer-designed products on order. The customer brings a detailed specification that describes exactly what he wants and the company agrees to make it. If the customer doesn't like the end result, it doesn't matter if the product meets the specification, even if the customer agreed to the specification. For that customer, it's not good quality if he's not happy with it. Your main contribution as a tester is to improve customer satisfaction by reducing the number of flaws in the program.

Software must also be reliable. The more reliable the program, the less often it fails whiles the customer is trying to use it and the less serious the consequences of any failures. Software testing is performed to check for problems or defects. A defect is a problem or failure observed by tester, user or customer. Software testing is performed to also check for reliability. Can the software run for a 1000 hours without any problems? Testing software ensures that the product can do what it is expected and intended for. You also test software to ensure that there are no flaws or problems. Software is not unlike other physical processes where inputs are received and outputs are produced. Software testing is performing an action (input) and checking the result (output).

For more information go to http://www.qatrainingexperts.com.

George Bryan
Author - What is Software Testing
Owner/QA Training Experts

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What Is the Importance of Software Testing?

2011-12-18T13:43:00.001+05:30

What Is the Importance of Software Testing?

What Is the Importance of Software Testing?

By Greeshma Justin

Software testing is very similar in concept to stress testing. Stress testing is the test conducted to understand the reliability and the performance eon the object/material or machine under extreme pressure. After being subjected to above normal capacity, or a breaking point, the changes and the results are noted. In case of this testing, the software is subjected to heavy load. Its handling and performance ability, its compatibility and ability to handle error is noted and judged.

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Why is software testing important? It is highly important in the present world when the competition is fierce. To be able to out perform is the need of every product out in the market. With such a cut throat competition it is very crucial that one excels in toughest of circumstances and offers optimum service in the most difficult times, to emerge the winner. Those with poor performance, inept and in competency will not be able to meet the customer demands and offer the desired results in hours of stress.

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By stress testing one can easily identify the defect in the software, and its poor configuration. This test also helps minimizing your risk of failure. Bugs and errors are common in the computer field. But this is very discouraging and retards the growth in economy to a large extent. A study reveled that half of the losses incurred can be deal with by improving the investigations done of the software. Testing its parameters and infrastructures will help being competing and relieve to combat circumstances like heavy load, peak traffic etc.

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Recognizing the ability and the accuracy of the system, software testing is a quality assurance. One can achieve the following goals and benefits by stress testing-

Endurance ability- when subjected to heavy load, web applications breakdown. This is common especially during peak traffic hour, when there are too many people round the globe accessing the same site of the same web page. Thus, the software has to be programmed to perform in dire circumstances too.

Improve security- web directories should not be accessed without being asked or requested to open or download.

Software testing is a not an easy process. Everyday some equation is decoded, and new equations have t be formed to be more powerful and secure. To combat the inadequacies, and to work under the toughest times, with tough competitors, one has to be at par if not above the best in withstanding surmount pressures.

You can get more information about various Software Testing. Click here to know more about Software Testing Life Cycle.

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How to Win Job Interview in Software Testing

2011-12-18T13:41:00.001+05:30

How to Win Job Interview in Software Testing

How to Win Job Interview in Software Testing

By Patrick S Rusli

Going for an interview is always an exciting experience and good opportunity to revise what I know about software testing. This year I have been lucky enough to get 100% success rate that I got interview and job offer for every application I applied for. Here I am going to share with you the type of questions and hopefully will help you winning the software testing jobs you are applying for.

I usually go through several books just to remind myself what type of software testing questions might be asked. I must admit that even though I understand the overall software testing life cycle but it is also important to be able to explain the theoretical aspects such as the benefit of adopting V model as opposed to waterfall methodology. The following is a list of most commonly asked questions:

knowledge of test level mostly unit testing, component testing, integration testing, system testing and user acceptance testing (UAT)

test types for each level can be functional, non functional, negative testing, performance, usability, compatibility testing, etc.

V model is all about testing as early as possible as opposed to waterfall model at the end of project life cycle

how to relate your experience to the position you are applying for. It is very important to do this right by following STAR method (Situation, Task, Action and Result) to explain your potential employer that you have relevant experience for the position.

what test approach you have done in the past. As for me risk based analysis is the preferred approach in requirement driven testing.

how and when to start automation testing. To me this comes down to how much time is spent on developing and maintaining the automated scripts versus time saved if the test cases done manually for a period of time. It is usually good idea to wait until closer to the end of complete system where changes are minimum.

In summary, career in software testing is similar to other professions requires specific knowledge and experience. You are expected to be able to explain the areas listed above during the interview in addition to your practical experience and communication skill.

In recent years, Patrick has worked as a Test Manager and Business Analyst providing organizations with software testing services for different project methodologies such as Agile and Waterfall. Discover 7 simple steps to find more defects and become efficient tester at http://www.requirementdriventesting.com and increase your earning as QA consultant.

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Software-Testing

2007-12-01T14:52:00.000+05:30

Software Testing Questions and Answers for Job Interviews consists of topics on Manual and Automated Software Testing, Test Director, WinRunner, QuickTestPro (QTP), LoadRunner, SilkTest, Bug Tracking, Black Box Testing, White Box Testing, Test Cases & Scenarios, Web Testing, & more.

Software Testing Questions & Answers for Job Interviews

Hey guys n gals,
I am Tanya Cooper, a Computer Science graduate, from AIT, Ma. I worked in 2 of the worlds leading software companies after my graduation, where the last 3 years I spent teaching my colleagues about software testing. I really excelled in teaching with my interactive methods. During this time I realized the absence of proper training material, both for learning as well as preparing for interviews. That is when I decided to compile a periodic list of my Top10 Questions and Answers, which I could post once in every few days.

Here is my first top 10 list of Q+A. Hope this provides good knowledge to all those who seek it.

Q1. What is Software Testing?
A1. Software testing is the process used to measure the quality of developed computer software. Testing is a process of technical investigation, that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. This includes, but is not limited to, the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding errors.

Q2. What is the purpose of Testing?
A2. The purpose of testing can be quality assurance, verification and validation, or reliability estimation. Testing can be used as a generic metric as well. Correctness testing and reliability testing are two major areas of testing. Software testing is a trade-off between budget, time and quality.

Q3. What types of testing do testers perform?
A3. Regression Testing is carried out both manually and through automation. It is mostly done using automation tools, as repeated testing of the same applications is required. It is done to note the changes the application goes through for new functionality, after fixing previous bugs and whether any changes in the design is required. Whenever any change takes place in the Application we should make sure, the previous functionality is still available.

Q4. What is the difference between load testing and intersystem testing?
A4. Inter System Testing: This type of testing is also called end-to-end testing. In this testing, test engineer validates application build co-existence with other software applications.Load Testing: Is also called scalability testing. In this testing, we run the application under customer expected load and customer expected configuration to estimate the load performance
That is, how many users can simultaneously access the application, be it a popular website or a software application.

Q5. How do you do Performance Testing manually?
A5. Performance testing is done to determine the response time for each transaction. So, to do it manually, identify the number of users you want to determine the response time, for a set of actions in the AUT(Application Under Test).
For example, if you want to determine the response for Login, Inbox, Sent Folder and Sign out of an Email application, then provide team of users performing the test manually with the following details:
1. Login Page to Home Page = 2. Home Page to Inbox page =3. Inbox Page to Sent Page =4. Sent Page to Sign out =
Then ask them all to start at the same time and start the stopwatch when they click (when they send request to the server). Now at this point, one should know that they should only start the timer after they enter login credentials and click on "Login" and stop timer only after the response is completely posted on to the browser (status should say "Done" at the bottom of the browser).
These steps should be repeated and start and stop times be noted accurately to arrive at a conclusion.

Q6. What is the difference between load and stress testing?
In Load testing, we actually test the behavior /performance of the software by varying the load on the same from minimum to maximum as specified in the 'Technical Specifications' document.
In Stress Testing, our main intention is to test the software's behavior once it reaches the point where it actually breaks. Here we gradually increase the load while denying more resources (eg. RAM) which are needed to run the same, and test how the application behaves under stressed condition.
Both Load and Stress testing are performed between minimum and maximum specified limits of the application as per the Technical Requirements document.

Q7. What do we analyze in load testing?
A7. We analyze a number of things in load testing, to name a few:1. Response times - Do they appear consistent, is there any degrade over a period of time, or are they higher than what is expected?2. Performance of the hardware components – mid-tier server or the application server, http server, and the database server. The CPU utilization, JVM memory heap of the application server, and the CPU of database server are important for assessing the performance.

Q8. What is the difference between Load testing and Performance Testing?
A8. Performance testing verifies loads, volume and response time as defined by requirements while load testing is testing an application under heavy loads to determine at what point the system response time degrades.

Q9. What are the uses of load testing? What are deferred graphs? And what are the different components in Loadrunner?
Load testing is used to find the minimum and maximum load the application can handle. It ensures the usage of the fixed number of users using the application frequently or concurrently. This exercise is done and ensured using a Load testing tool.
Deferred Graphs give information CPU time usage, Throughput & Response time and the load against the varying number of users.
The components are Generator, Controller & Load Runner Analysis.

Q10. What is the difference between Scalability testing & Load Testing?
A10. Load Testing - Testing an application under heavy loads, such as testing of a web site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system’s response time degrades or fails.
Scalability Testing - Scalability testing focuses on the performance of your Web site, hardware and software products, and internal applications at all the stages from minimum to maximum load.

This does not mean that other questions are not important. I compiled this list as per my own reasoning. I am compiling my next list which should be out in a few days.
Software Testing Topics on WinRunner, QuickTestPro (QTP), LoadRunner, Manual Testing for Job Interviews

Software-testing-2

2007-11-24T11:55:00.000+05:30

Software Testing Questions & Answers for Job Interviews

Q1. What’s the difference b/w Software Quality Assurance and Software Testing?
A1. Software Quality Assurance involves the entire software development process to ensure the quality of the final product. This can include processes such as requirements gathering and documentation, source code control, code review, change management, configuration management, release management and the actual testing of the software. Software QA is often confused with Software Testing but should not be. Testing is a big part of Software Quality Assurance, but it is not, by any means, the only part of it.

Q2. What is merits and demerits of White box and Black box testing?
A2. Merits:In Black box testing you test for the functionality of the program, components or application against its specification without knowledge of internal logic.In White box testing path of logic in unit or component is known, it consists of testing paths, branches, decisions, conditions to produce predictable results. This technique is usually used during tests executed by the development team, such as Unit or Component testing,
Demerits:In Black box testing you cannot test for hidden functions for e.g. if in a code there is a function that calculates x=a=B/n-1 In White box testing you cannot test for missing functions for e.g.: while doing white box testing you cannot test if the tool tip is shown when a cursor moves over a button.

Q3. What are test case techniques?
Low Level:-
Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)
Equivalence Partitioning (EP)
Special Value (SV)
Error Based (EB)
I/O Domain
High Level:-
Decision Table (DT)
Flow Chart (FC)

Q4. What are the advantages of using load runner?
A4. The advantages are: -
1. Loadrunner reduces the personnel requirement by replacing the human users with vusers (virtual users).
2. Numerous vusers can run on a single computer. Loadrunner reduces the hardware requirements.
3. It allows you to effectively control all vusers from single point of control

Q5. How do you copy and move objects between different GUI map files?
A5. We can copy and move objects between different GUI Map files using the GUI Map Editor. The steps to be followed are:i. Choose Tools > GUI Map Editor to open the GUI Map Editor.ii. Choose View > GUI Files.iii. Click Expand in the GUI Map Editor. The dialog box expands to display two GUI map files simultaneously.iv. View a different GUI map file on each side of the dialog box by clicking the file names in the GUI File lists.v. In one file, select the objects you want to copy or move. Use the Shift key and/or Control key to select multiple objects. To select all objects in a GUI map file, choose Edit > Select All.vi. Click Copy or Move.vii. To restore the GUI Map Editor to its original size, click Collapse.

Q6. What is parameterization?
A6. Instead of passing different inputs to the same operation again and again the parameterization was used in which you can add different parameters in the test scripts and also the input given is shown in the data table (Excel sheet), such that when the application runs it takes the input by itself in different iterations.
In order for WinRunner to use data to drive the test, replace fixed values in the check point statement and in recorded statement with parameters and creating a data table containing values for parameters. This is known as parameterizing the test.

Q7. How do you handle unexpected events and errors?
WinRunner uses exception handling to detect an unexpected event when it occurs and act to recover the test run. WinRunner enables you to handle the following types of exceptions: Pop-up exceptions: Instruct WinRunner to detect and handle the appearance of a specific window.TSL exceptions: Instruct WinRunner to detect and handle TSL functions that return a specific error code.Object exceptions: Instruct WinRunner to detect and handle a change in a property for a specific GUI object.Web exceptions: When the Web Test add-in is loaded, you can instruct WinRunner to handle unexpected events and errors that occur in your Web site during a test run.

Q8. What is Database Checkpoint?
A8. GUI check point and Bitmap are applicable on front-end objects only. To conduct back end and database testing test engineers use database checkpoints in Win Runner.
During database testing test engineers validate the impact of front screen operation on back end table context in terms of Data Validation and Data Integrity.
Data validation checks that the data are valid and sensible/reasonable before they are processed.
Data Integrity is the assurance that data are consistent, correct, and accessible.
Data base checkpoints consists of three options:
Default check: To conduct data base testing depending on content of data. Here complete database is checked.
Custom check: To conduct data base testing depending on Row count & column count.
Run Time Record check: To conduct database testing at run-time.

Q9. What is a test bed?
A9. A testbed is a platform for experimentation for large development projects. Testbeds allow for rigorous, transparent and replicable testing of web applications & software solutions.

Q10. Which are the different types of GUI Checkpoints?
A10. There are 3 types of GUI checkpoints:
For Single Property: To verify one property of one object [GUI].
For Object/Window: To verify one or more properties of one object [GUI].
For Multiple Object: To verify one or more properties of 2 or more objects [GUI].

I am compiling my next list which should be out in a few days.

Software Testing Topics on WinRunner, QuickTestPro (QTP), LoadRunner, Manual Testing for Job Interviews

Contact

2007-10-21T10:30:00.000+05:30

Queries: Software Testing

If you have any queries re software testing
please contact me.

My personal email address is

tanyacpr@yahoo.com

Software Testing Topics on WinRunner, QuickTestPro (QTP), LoadRunner for Job Interviews.