Information Technology Reference
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professional except the software architect has a similar need for such a broad range
of technical skills at such a deep level of understanding. Without this breadth of
technical knowledge and advanced skills, a senior-level software tester could not
design, much less execute, the complex testing plans necessary at system completion
time for e-business applications.
What does the accomplished software tester do with this broad technical
knowledge base? The software tester's singular role is that of a verifi er. The tes-
ter takes an objective look at the software in progress that is independent of the
authors of development documents and of program code and determines through
repeated testing whether the software matches its requirements and specifi ca-
tions. The tester is expected to tell the development team which requirements and
specifi cations are met and which requirements and specifi cations are not met. If
the test results are descriptive enough to provide clues to the sources of defects,
the tester then adds value to the developer's effort to diagnose these defects; how-
ever, the full diagnosis and correction of defects remain solely the developer's
responsibility.
What else does a tester do besides validating software? The professional answer
is plan, plan, and plan. Testing activities are always short of time, staff, equipment,
or all three; therefore, the expert tester must identify the critical areas of software to
be tested and the most effi cient ways to complete that testing. As with all technical
projects, these kinds of decisions must be made and cast into a plan and schedule
for testing. Then, the tester must manage the plan and schedule to complete the
testing.
1.5.3 The Role of Test Tool Experts in Software Development
Mature automated test tools began to arise in the marketplace around 1995. The good
news is that these tools enable software testers to do testing more effectively than
by using any manual procedure. In many cases, these tools have enabled software
testers to do testing that is impossible to perform manually. Although manual testing
still has a place in the software tester's folio of approaches, the use of automated test
tools has become the primary strategy.
With over 300 automated test tools in the market, a new testing role emerged
that is responsible for identifying the right tool for the right testing, installing
the tool, and ensuring that the tool is operating correctly for the test team. The
fi rst testing professionals to fi ll this role tended to specialize in certain kinds of
tools from just one or two vendors. As the tool suites grew and matured, the test
tool experts found it necessary to broaden their specialty across more tool types
and tool vendors. The testing paradigms behind these test tools is examined in
Chapter 11.
The impetus behind test tool experts expanding their tool expertise is the
software testing community's recognition that no single test tool can support all
the different kinds of tests that are necessary across the entire development life
cycle.
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