Prerequisite – Types of Software Testing
Development Testing – It is a method of applying testing practices consistently throughout the software development life cycle process. This testing ensures the detection of bugs or errors at the right time which further ensures delay of any kind of risk in terms of time and cost. Development Testing aims to establish a framework to verify whether the requirements of a given project are met in accordance with the rules of the mission to be accomplished. This testing is performed by the software developers or other engineers during the construction phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Development Testing is a continuous or a running process in the development of a product in the entire software development life cycle. This testing is done only once as compared to other testings which can be performed many times. To meet the deadline date, development testing is performed during the development phase of a software product,
In Development Testing, the phases are more tightly integrated so that code that is being written and checked in is automatically tested. In this way, the problems can be more quickly discovered and can be addressed.
Development Testing
When to perform Development Testing?
- When writing new code or building a new software product.
- When development cost is low, the client should perform development Testing so that the client doesn’t have to face the debugging and another testing cost.
Development testing requires some metric depending upon the organization to organization, and these may include the following :
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Static code Analysis : Static code analysis is a technique of debugging by analyzing the source code before running a program. It is carried out by analyzing a set of code against a set or multiple sets of coding rules. This involves analyzing the source code, without actually executing the program.
By performing static code analysis, the developers will know early on if there are any problems in their code and by this, it will be easier to fix those problems.
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Data Flow Analysis : This concept uses the Control flow Graph mechanism to check the flow of the program, at different levels. Data Flow Testing is a type of structural testing. It is a method that is used to find the test paths of a program according to the locations of definitions and uses of variables in the program. It has nothing to do with data flow diagrams. This testing uses the control flow graph to check the anomalies in the code which can interrupt the flow of the program.
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Metric Analysis : Metric is a synonym for measurement. To calculate the efficiency of a program, various software metrics like calculating cyclomatic complexity, counting Lines of code (LOC), function points, etc. are used in that case. In metric analysis, Test metrics are used in taking the decision for the next phase of activities like cost estimating & future projects, recognizing the type of improvement required to succeed the project, or in taking a decision on the process or technology to be modified, etc.
- Code review : The source code is inspected and is checked for any flaws in it. It can be used to find and remove flaws in the code such as memory leaks and buffer overflows. It is very important to do a code review in the early phase like a peer review, carry out this step earlier than you send your code to be tested for development. Also, do some functionality testing of your code so that it becomes easy for code review. There are various approaches to do code reviews such as The Email thread, Pair programming, Over shoulder, and Tool-assisted.
Benefits of Development Testing
- Early Bug Detecting: Early in the development process, faults and bugs can be identified and corrected thanks to development testing, which stops problems from spreading to subsequent phases.
- Savings on costs: Early fault detection and correction is more economical than addressing problems later in the software development life cycle or after it has been deployed.
- Improved Coding Quality: By enforcing coding standards and highlighting areas for improvement, routine testing aids in the maintenance and enhancement of code quality.
- Increased Output: Development testing tools and methods contribute to greater developer productivity by simplifying repetitive testing processes and allowing developers to focus on coding.
- Easy Maintenance: Tested code is simpler to update and alter. Since the current functionality won’t be compromised, developers can make modifications with confidence.
Disadvantages of Development Testing
- Limitations on Time and Resources: Complete testing can take a lot of time, and there might be pressure to finish it by a given date, which could result in partial testing or the removal of some test cases.
- An excessive focus on unit testing: If unit testing is prioritized above other testing stages, such integration or system testing, problems in the way components interact with one another could go unnoticed.
- False Feeling of Safety: If the testing environment is not a true duplicate of the production environment, passing tests in a development environment might lead to a false sense of security.
- Dependence on tools for testing: If automated testing technologies are used excessively, some issues that can only be found by human or exploratory testing may go unnoticed.
- Insufficient User Input: The variety of end-user behaviors and preferences may not be fully captured by development testing, and usability problems that are only revealed by user testing may go unnoticed.
Tools required for Development Testing
For conducting testing of a software product, there are many automated testing tools are available in the market and some of them I have given below. The most commonly used tools for software testing are:
- Selenium
- TestingWhiz
- HPE Unified Functional Testing
- Watir
- Katalon Studio
Conclusion
A crucial and essential part of the software development life cycle is development testing in software engineering. It accomplishes a number of goals, all of which are to guarantee the software’s accuracy, dependability and quality from the beginning to the end. As software development processes advance, the significance of development testing remains vital in providing effective and impactful software solutions.