Software Testing - Context Driven Testing

Software testing comprises various phases to ensure that the software is working properly as per its requirements, and it is fit to be launched to the market. The software context driven testing is a method adopted to verify the different parameters of the software namely performance, speed, graphical user interface, and features. It also helps to identify various issues in the system, and to fix them.

What is Software Context Driven Testing?

The software context driven testing is a methodology which uses dynamic testing practices under various circumstances. It provides a standard evaluation of test techniques to verify the software with modern actions. It is a practical approach of validating the software by the end users in actual user conditions. By doing so, the developers get an idea of the performance of the software, and they fix the defects encountered at this time.

A software context driven testing is guided by aims and objectives, scopes, schedules, planning, flexibilities, and all the standards. It is adopted to evaluate the software using a set of inputs to find defects and to enhance its quality before being released to production.

Fundamental Principles of Software Context Driven Testing

The fundamental principles of the software context driven testing that are formulated by Brian Marick, Cem Kaner, Bret Pettichord, and James Bach are listed below −

• The worth of any technique is determined by its context.
• There can be acceptable practices in context, but there are no best practices.
• As the time passes, the projects can start functioning in uncertain ways.
• It is difficult to follow all the rules of testing in the proper way.
• The correct measures in the project can be adopted any time by using the experience, skills, and expertise.
• There should be an environment of cooperation, and collaboration among all the members within the team.
• The final software is just the solution to end users problems. It will be of no use, if it fails to solve the issues faced by its users.

Why is Software Context Driven Testing Important?

The software context driven testing is not similar to other types of testing. It verifies if the software is developed as per the requirements, and generates tailored guidelines, and accordingly plans for time to time evaluation. The other standard types of testing only follow the pre-existing rules. Thus the software context driven testing has a contemporary, advanced, and specialized approach which at first evaluates the software, and its specifications for end-to-end assessment with predefined input sets.

The context driven testing can be used to examine the software for the situations listed below −

• It determines if the software is driven by documented or undocumented state of requirements.
• It determines if the testing and development teams belong to the same organization.
• It determines if the project has a fixed or dynamic schedule.
• It determines availability of the testing team at various stages.
• It determines the kind of the project.

By implementing the software context driven testing, testers get a fair idea of various parameters in testing. They get hold of aims and objectives of the project, analysis of the software, potential risks, test strategies to be taken up, challenges, and to configure all types of testing resources.

Best Practices for Software Context Driven Testing

The best practices to be followed for the software context driven testing are listed below −

• The software context driven testing should be driven by appropriate, and good quality queries.
• The software context driven testing queries should be asked from the view point of business analysts, testers, and devops. In the absence of logical queries, it is difficult to understand the context of the project.
• The test plan should be prepared, and finalized in advance after taking the feedback from the project stakeholders.
• There should be flexibility to make adjustments, and changes in the project as per needs.
• There should not be implementation of any test methodologies without any logical reasons. This can lead to wastage of time and resources.
• The project stakeholders should take the decision on the time when the project should be ramped up or down.

Conclusion

This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Context Driven Testing. Weve started with describing what is software context driven testing, what are the fundamental principles of the software context driven testing, why is the software context driven testing important, and what are the best practices for software context driven testing. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Context Driven Testing. It is wise to keep practicing what youve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.