Proactive Testing™ Risk-Based Test Design:

Overview:

Testing is our primary means of reducing risks that systems and software fail to do what they are supposed to and/or do what they are not supposed to do. Test design involves first identifying what tests are needed to give confidence the product/system/software works and then how to carry out those tests. Risks are prioritized to determine which of many potential tests will be performed in limited available time. Traditional testing, which is reactive, tends to miss many potential risks, so that not only does testing not control them but also they in fact are more likely to occur. This course introduces well-known traditional test design methods as well as powerful Proactive Testing™ techniques that identify many ordinarily-overlooked risks, while enabling testing the higher risks earlier as well as more. Exercises aid learning.

Detailed Course Content

Introduction, Course Topics and Value (Free)

Role and need for testing

Why so many defects occur and fail to be caught

Developer vs. independent tester

Opportunities and rewards

Proactive Test Design Benefits (Free)

Traditional reactive testing limitations

Proactive Testing™ Life Cycle, advantages

Keys to effective testing

Proactive vs. Reactive Test Design (Free)

IEEE Standard for Test Documentation

Often-overlooked key to proper prioritizing

Master and detailed test plans

Test design specifications

Test case specifications

Structuring's added benefits when Proactive

Identifying Needed Test Designs

Functional (black box) testing

Three-level approach to functional testing

Keys for thoroughness

Breaking down to manageable pieces

Functionality Matrix technique

Use case perspective

Technical software actions

Test design specifications that are needed

Designing Tests More Thoroughly

How designing adds thoroughness

Traditional test design still misses a lot

Focused brainstorming for a better start

Checklists and guidelines to fill the gaps

Tests based on data formats

Coverage of data and process models

Identifying More Overlooked Test Conditions

Decision trees and tables

Concerns common to all types of testing

Equivalence classes and partitioning

Ranges and boundary testing

GUI and navigation issues

Often-overlooked other dimensions to test

Making Test Designs Reusable

Formal/informal test design specifications

Wordsmithing to make more reusable

Extracting the reusable elements

Atomic (simple) reusable test designs

Business (complex) reusable test designs

Enhancing with system-specific tests

Specifying (Reusable) Test Cases

Translating test designs into test cases

Selecting scaled subset based on risk

Reusable test case specifications

Other essential test case component

Finding and creating test data

Test script and matrix formats

Adding execution consideration refinements

Link to driving effective automated tests