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Software Tester Offers More Than Just Test

上一篇 / 下一篇  2009-01-05 21:11:31 / 个人分类:Testing English

Some people think that software testing is a low skill job, and that just any one can be a tester.  This is definitely not true.  Allow me to explain why.

If we represent the software being tested as a ball, then the aim of the software testing is to cover as much of the space of the ball as possible.

Test cases act together as a net, attempting to cover the ball.  Test cases act individually as a node in that net.  So the most important aspect of a test case is not its amount, but its structure.  The test case should cover the entire surface of the ball, but without too many nodes in any one place.

A well designed test case requires a deep understanding to the software, high ability of abstraction, and skills to balance between the coverage and testability.  The requirements are not that different from other forms of design work.

To continue the previous analogy, the actual test behavīor is like a piece of cloth wrapped around the node; there to fill spare space left by nodes.  How much space your real test behavīor can cover is one key standard to measure the capability of a tester.

Good testers test far more than the test case descrīption.  In fact, it’s an essential requirement.  They will extend the test case descrīption by changing parameters, adjusting preconditions, and using many different means in order to try to wrap more space around a single test case.

One investigation showed that over 3/4 of all bugs found, are not directly related to test case descrīptions.  That is to say, the number of bugs a good tester can find can be 4 times as many as that of a tester who simply follows the test case descrīption.

So the job of software testing may seem simple and straightforward enough, but the truth is, the actual effort expended is much greater than just a simple test case.

(Thanks to Kyle for fixing errors of the original version)

转:http://www.51testing.com/?764


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引用 删除 Villawow   /   2010-12-30 11:15:09
顶~~
安之若素 引用 删除 coffeetea2008   /   2009-01-06 16:15:05
很多行业都如此,越是入门容易的,做起来就很难。测试也是一样吧!它是一门综合的艺术,涵盖得不仅是软件领域,其中还渗透着统计学、社会学、心理和经济学等许多学科。
 

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