IGNOU BCA MCA Testing Viva Question Answer Part 3

SELECTED QUESTION ANSWER FOR VIVA RELATED TO TESTING FOR BCA MCA IT STUDENTS

Question : Are there more defects in the design phase or in the coding phase?

The design phase is more error prone than the execution phase. One of the most frequent defects which occur during design is that the product does not cover the complete requirements of the customer. Second is wrong or bad architecture and technical decisions make the next phase, execution, more prone to defects. Because the design phase drives the execution phase it's the most critical phase to test. The testing of the design phase can be done by good review. On average, 60% of defects occur during design and 40% during the execution phase.

Question : What group of teams can do software testing?

When it comes to testing everyone in the world can be involved right from the developer to the project manager to the customer. But below are different types of team groups which can be present in a project.

·         Isolated test team

·         Outsource - we can hire external testing resources and do testing for our project.

·         Inside test team

·         Developers as testers

·         QA/QC team.

Question - What impact ratings have you used in your projects?

Normally, the impact ratings for defects are classified into three types:

·         Minor: Very low impact but does not affect operations on a large scale.

·         Major: Affects operations on a very large scale.

·         Critical: Brings the system to a halt and stops the show.

Question: Does an increase in testing always improve the project?

No an increase in testing does not always mean improvement of the product, company, or project. In real test scenarios only 20% of test plans are critical from a business angle. Running those critical test plans will assure that the testing is properly done. The following graph explains the impact of under testing and over testing. If you under test a system the number of defects will increase, but if you over test a system your cost of testing will increase. Even if your defects come down your cost of testing has gone up.

Question: What's the relationship between environment reality and test phases?

Environment reality becomes more important as test phases start moving ahead. For instance, during unit testing you need the environment to be partly real, but at the acceptance phase you should have a 100% real environment, or we can say it should be the actual real environment. The following graph shows how with every phase the environment reality should also increase and finally during acceptance it should be 100% real.

Question : What are different types of verifications?

Verification is static type of s/w testing. It means code is not executed. The product is evaluated by going through the code. Types of verification are:

Walkthrough: Walkthroughs are informal, initiated by the author of the s/w product to a colleague for assistance in locating defects or suggestions for improvements. They are usually unplanned. Author explains the product; colleague comes out with observations and author notes down relevant points and takes corrective actions.

Inspection: Inspection is a thorough word-by-word checking of a software product with the intention of Locating defects, Confirming traceability of relevant requirements etc.

Question : How do test documents in a project span across the software development lifecycle?

The following figure shows pictorially how test documents span across the software development lifecycle. The following discusses the specific testing documents in the lifecycle:

·         Central/Project test plan: This is the main test plan which outlines the complete test strategy of the software project. This document should be prepared before the start of the project and is used until the end of the software development lifecycle.

·         Acceptance test plan: This test plan is normally prepared with the end customer. This document commences during the requirement phase and is completed at final delivery.

·         System test plan: This test plan starts during the design phase and proceeds until the end of the project.

·         Integration and unit test plan: Both of these test plans start during the execution phase and continue until the final delivery.

Question : Which test cases are written first: white boxes or black boxes?

Normally black box test cases are written first and white box test cases later. In order to write black box test cases we need the requirement document and, design or project plan. All these documents are easily available at the initial start of the project. White box test cases cannot be started in the initial phase of the project because they need more architecture clarity which is not available at the start of the project. So normally white box test cases are written after black box test cases are written. 

Black box test cases do not require system understanding but white box testing needs more structural understanding. And structural understanding is clearer i00n the later part of project, i.e., while executing or designing. For black box testing you need to only analyze from the functional perspective which is easily available from a simple requirement document.

Question : Explain Unit Testing, Integration Tests, System Testing and Acceptance Testing?

Unit testing - Testing performed on a single, stand-alone module or unit of code.

Integration Tests - Testing performed on groups of modules to ensure that data and control are passed properly between modules.

System testing - Testing a predetermined combination of tests that, when executed successfully meets requirements.

Acceptance testing - Testing to ensure that the system meets the needs of the organization and the end user or customer (i.e., validates that the right system was built).

What is a test log?

The IEEE Std. 829-1998 defines a test log as a chronological record of relevant details about the execution of test cases. It's a detailed view of activity and events given in chronological manner. 

The following figure shows a test log and is followed by a sample test log.