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Research draft

software testing

vr.tr.software-testing · ACT.ACT

Let an agent explain software testing and its levels and types, relay methods, tools and standards from software engineering references, describe how testing fits into development processes, and distinguish testing from debugging, quality assurance in general and formal verification.

Thing Registry Activities and processes

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain software testing and its levels and types, relay methods, tools and standards from software engineering references, describe how testing fits into development processes, and distinguish testing from debugging, quality assurance in general and formal verification.

The process of evaluating software to find defects and verify that it meets requirements, by executing it under controlled conditions and examining its behaviour, at levels from unit and integration to system and acceptance testing, in types such as functional testing, performance and load testing, soak testing over long periods, destructive testing under abnormal inputs, security and usability testing, and experimental methods such as A/B testing of variants with users; testing is manual or automated and integrated into development pipelines.

What it is for: Finding defects and verifying software.

It can be explain levels and types; relay methods and tools; describe process integration; distinguish related activities.

Distinguishing features

Execution-based

Levels and types

Manual and automated

Pipeline integration

What it looks like

Not a visible object; test cases, results and reports.

Physical character

standard: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 note - software testing

common frameworks: JUnit, pytest, Selenium, JMeter list

How it is recognised

Evaluating software by execution

Functional, performance, load, soak, destructive and A/B testing; unit, integration, system and acceptance levels

Debugging fixes defects; quality assurance covers processes; formal verification proves properties

Related models

is a kind of - in registry terms

product testing

is a kind of - in registry terms

test

is part of - and quality assurance

software development process

is contrasted with - which locates and fixes defects

debugging

In practice

Families and kinds

unit, integration, system and acceptance testing

functional and regression testing

performance, load, stress and soak testing

destructive, fuzz and security testing

usability and accessibility testing

A/B testing and experimentation

test automation and continuous testing

Identifiers

ISO 29119 software testing standard

Standards and regulation

ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119

Domain regulations requiring testing such as DO-178C and IEC 62304

ISTQB certification syllabi

Failure modes and hazards

Inadequate coverage

Flaky automated tests

Confusing testing with quality assurance or verification

A/B testing without ethical review

Also called

software performance testingA/B testingload testingdestructive software testingsoak testingfunctional testingnon-functional testingwhite-box testingfuzzingTest Automation PyramidTestdry runmodel-based testingbeta testinstallation testingkeyword-driven testingsmoke testingrandom testingClassification Tree Methodall-pairs testingdata combination testboundary-value analysiscontinuous testingShift left testingMonkey testingAPI testingsoftware testing tacticsscenario testingmutation testingdynamic testingcompatibility testingbuild verification testcharacterization testcloud testingsoftware alpha testinggamma testingdata-driven testingdatabase testingDevelopment TestingExploratory testing

+21

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Understand What software testing is.

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is software testing, and how does it differ from debugging, quality assurance and formal verification? definition
  2. Is the question about testing in general, a level, a type or a tool? boundary

Types

Levels and types.

Types

Types.

  1. How do unit, integration, system and acceptance levels and functional, performance, load, soak, destructive and A/B types differ? definition
  2. Which entry fits the specific type? action
Practice Practice.

Practice.

Design

Test design.

Design

Design.

  1. How are test cases designed using techniques such as equivalence partitioning, boundary analysis and coverage? action
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Automation

Automation.

Automation

Automation.

  1. How are tests automated and run in continuous integration pipelines? action
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance
Process Process and roles.

Regulation.

Process

Testing in development.

Process

Process.

  1. How does testing fit into agile, DevOps and regulated development processes? provenance
  2. Which entry fits continuous integration? action

Standards

Standards and certification.

Standards

Standards.

  1. What do ISO 29119 and domain standards require, and what certifications exist for testers? provenance
  2. Which entry fits ISTQB? action
Context Debates and history.

Context.

Debates

Debates.

Debates

Debates.

  1. What debates exist about testing standards, coverage metrics and A/B testing ethics, with positions attributed? provenance
  2. Is the presentation neutral? boundary

History

History.

History

History.

  1. How did software testing develop from debugging to a discipline? provenance
  2. Which entry fits the history of software engineering? action

What the second pass must settle

  • Should unit testing and A/B testing be separate primary entries?
  • How should software engineering references be linked?
  • The registry entry has merged aliases naming types; should they be split off?