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10.4 TESTING ENVIRONMENTS
The third approach to testing is to set up a separate computing environment very similar
to the target or production computing environment for testing the new software. Then,
testers plan and execute tests against the software in operation to validate the software's
behavior by direct observation and measurement in a copy of its intended operating
environment. This special computing environment is called the “testing environment.”
Questions about the composition of the testing environment should arise very
early in the development project. The documentation during the developers' Prelimi-
nary investigation and Analysis lifecycle stages should contain a moderately detailed
description of the target production environment for the new software application or
system. Referring to the bathtub diagram in Figure 5.1, the draft test plan developed
from Preliminary investigation and Analysis should adopt the targeted production en-
vironment as its fi rst draft testing environment. This will enable the test team to nar-
row its strategic plan questions to just those platforms and software layers in Figure 4.4
that are actually needed to support the new application or system in production.
10.5 THE GOAL OF A TESTING ENVIRONMENT
The goal of a testing environment is to cause the application under test to exhibit
true production behavior while being observed and measured outside of its produc-
tion environment. Achieving this goal can be just as challenging as designing and
executing the tests themselves.
As previously stated, the test team becomes aware of the application's target pro-
duction environment very early in the software development lifecycle. Because it takes
time to design and code software to be tested, the test team has a built-in window of
opportunity to plan the test environment, acquire the needed hardware and software,
and set up the test environment well in advance of the fi rst scheduled test executions.
This test environment setup should include activities that validate the viability and
correctness of the test environment for running tests. If the decision is made to use au-
tomated test tools, then the test environment setup must include installing the test tool
in the testing environment, validating that the test tool is operational and, if necessary,
calibrating the tool. We will examine automated test tools in the next chapter.
You may need to enlist the help of several different kinds of systems experts to
acquire and set up the test environment components. Out-of-the-box default operat-
ing system installations rarely refl ect the way they are used in business. If the test
environment operating system is very complex, you will need to fi nd an operating
systems expert to set it up correctly in the testing environment. Here is a more com-
plete list of test environment components for which you may need to seek expert
systems assistance for testing setup.
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Operating systems
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