Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Requirement
Design
Build
Te sting
Deployment
Figure 11.1
Traditional approach to software testing.
service provider is contracted to offshore testing projects first on a pilot basis and then
under a thorough program over a period of 3 years. Cost analysis, schedule analysis,
and other factors are discussed in detail in the process of dissecting this approach.
11. 2 .1
Traditional Approach to Testing
Software testing always used to be considered as an afterthought in most software
development projects due to the fact that software developers used to operate in
sellers markets. There were always eager buyers available who were willing to buy
substandard software products. So quality control was never a priority area dur-
ing software development. As a result, software testing used to happen at the fag
end of software development projects just before deployment. As you can see in
Figure 11.1, it was just a phase in the entire process.
But with an increasing number of players in the market, things started chang-
ing. Now buyers had more options. This necessitated the software vendors to
improve the quality of their products. So slowly software testing started gaining
prominence. Now, more and more, software testing aspects were getting integrated
into the entire software life cycle.
In the traditional software development model, testing teams got involved too
late in the software life cycle. This limited their ability to provide accurate and
comprehensive test coverage. This also used to result in inadequate effort estima-
tion, which used to result in delayed delivery and budget overruns. Software testing
was mostly an ad hoc exercise, and no formal processes or metrics were established.
This used to result in a limited ability to measure and improve efficiency and effort.
There was a problem that quality assurance and testing were not considered special-
ized skills or career path but rather peripheral activities in software development.
Due to this, developers used to test their own code and top talent used to move out
of software quality roles. This led to a situation in which unqualified resources were
recruited who used to perform and manage testing activities.
11.2.2
Cost of Late Detection of Defects
In
Chapter 1
we discussed that the later a defect is detected in the software life
cycle, the costlier it gets to fix. This is why it is very important that quality assur-
ance and software testing should start as early in the project as possible. Software
testing should not only find defects after the software coding is done and the sys-
tem build is made but also contribute to all phases of the software life cycle.
