Software testing: 6 common mistakes that are costing you a fortune

Software Testing,

Software testing: 6 common mistakes that are costing you a fortune –

Software testing is a process that involves the execution of a program or application to discover bugs and verify that the software is suitable to be released and used.

Software testing common mistakes - 6 mistakes that are costing you a fortune

The testing stage also provides crucial information to companies regarding the quality of the software, whether it meets the requirements outlined in the design phase along with the risk associated with implementing the software.

It is an iterative process that requires meticulous strategizing to select the appropriate tests, from an infinite number of possible tests, which are most feasible to conduct according to the available time and resources.

Due to the sensitivity of the testing procedure and the critical information provided by it, even the simplest of mistakes can result in software failure or compromised user experience, causing massive financial losses to the organization that released the software. Following are the most common mistakes made by testers that can be overcome to save reputations and investments.

Failing to communicate (Common mistakes 1)

Communication is an integral part of a software tester’s job description. You have to conduct meetings with system users and product owners to understand the scope of the project and its requirements.

You have to communicate with the developers to outline the discovered defects and errors. You have to collaborate with your team to brainstorm possible test automation systems that need to be executed. Finally, you have to report your progress to the test managers.

If you fail to conduct effective communication with your colleagues, you will not be able to exchange feedback, understand the inherent testing requirements and, deliver to the best of your abilities.

Therefore, apart from being a competent tester, you need to foster two-way communication with all parties involved in the SDLC to avoid problems and deliver a high-quality software.

Missing the testing goal (Common mistakes 2)

Before you begin testing a new feature, you need to understand what you are required to do explicitly and the route you need to take during the planning and testing phase.

To achieve this, you should be forthcoming and always ask relevant questions to your manager or the representative of the developing team to dispel any confusions that you might have about the task at hand. Asking queries and seeking advice helps you learn and grow as a tester. Moreover, if you fail to acknowledge your lack of understanding about the testing procedure that needs to be implemented, you can overlook the bugs in the software, causing irreparable damage to the reputation and financial state of the software vendor.

Oversteping the job description (Common mistakes 3)

Software testing requires thorough scrutiny of the application, feature or product that is being tested to ensure a flawless program that fulfils the developers’ expectations and the customers’ requirement. As a tester, you have your work cut out for you. Therefore, it is recommended to focus all your attention on detecting errors and defects that can be reported to the developer.

Even though it is not uncommon for testers to fix some trivial bugs that repeatedly resurface, the main reason for exercising restraint is that you might fix the apparent bug, but it might cause some regression bugs in another part of the code. In addition, if you fix the bug yourself and do not report it, the developer will not get any feedback about the mistake they made, causing them to repeat the error.

Failing to innovate (Common mistakes 4)

Software testing has seen unprecedented evolution since its inception. From testing with waterfall model to agile testing to integrated quality assurance, the processes have seen continuous improvement. To remain relevant as a tester in this ever-changing technological realm, you need to adapt to the advances and learn the latest testing methods.

New test methods are designed to facilitate testers and expedite their work processes. If you fail to evolve as a software tester, you will not only become a liability to your organization, but also slow down the testing procedure and delay software delivery and release.

Being limited to defined test cases (Common mistakes 5)

Before beginning the testing process, the testing team outlines the test case which includes a fixed set of variables to determine the state of the software under test.

Occasionally, the tester is so busy following the checklist so precisely that they fail to notice the apparent bugs.

While the test case is a highly significant component of testing; as a competent software tester, you need to remain vigilant during the test execution as it can help you discover anomalies in other parts of the software that were not included in a particular test case.

This practice can save you from causing an inadvertent yet catastrophic system failure.

Failure to report an issue to the developers (Common mistakes 6)

Once you have worked as a software tester for a few years and gained some solid work experience, you can intuitively find bugs in the system. Sometimes, the bugs may not be apparent but you may observe a problem in the system, or you may be unsure whether the issue is a bug or malpractice on your part.

In such situations, you should always trust your instincts and report the issue to the developers before it becomes a genuine defect in the product being tested.

The designing stage thrives on continuous feedback so even if the reported issue was not a bug, the developers can gain valuable insights into the software design. Also if the problem was from your end due to misconfigurations of settings, misunderstanding of the test case features, etc.; the developers can notify you of your errors which can help you reevaluate your test case or metrics to deliver high performing software.

To remain abreast with the complex, modern-day software testing methodologies, it is intrinsic for you as a software tester to establish effective communication channels and to evolve with the ongoing innovations in the field of software testing.

AUTHOR BIO

Alycia Gordan
Alycia Gordan is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on Alycia Gordan - Guest Writter at www.automationTalks.com
healthcare technology, fitness and lifestyle. She is a tech junkie and divides
her time between travel and writing.

You can find her on Twitter: @meetalycia

 

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How to Clear ISTQB Foundation level exam?

Software Testing
The Best way to prepare and clear ISTQB foundation level is to read the book “Foundations of Software Testing” by Dorothy Graham. Once you have gone through the book then you can attempt solving various online mock test papers and all.
clear istqb exam
Also, the best part of the book is you can be sure that none of the questions in the exam are out of the book.Tips & Tricks from my side:Try to read the Questions thoroughly and don’t assume anything. While going through the questions do concentrate, and always keep in mind that our mind would like to assume the answers and not what is given as option, most of the time that is the root cause of wrong answers.Also, try to take out the options that is Absurd first and then think of the remaining options if you are not aware.

Even though only one option is correct out of 4, there will be lot of questions where they will ask to arrange in orders, match with choices where you would require thorough understanding.

Keep in mind that out of 40, any average person who is working as QA can answer 25 questions correctly.

Usually if you already have testing experience, the foundation level exam should be easy. With little bit of preparation and good study materials, you will not require any kind of costly training – online or offline.

Depending on your experience level, you decide what to do.

1. Read a book
2. Browse online study material
3. Solve the mock tests online or offline.
For more information, go through below article –

ISTQB Dumps – Help guide to clear ISTQB exam

Below is the Book Which i was talking about, you can purchase this, which will be more than sufficient to crack ISTQB Foundation Level. Click on the Image below –


ISTQB Dumps – Help guide to clear ISTQB exam

Software Testing

There are no ISTQB dumps as such, One need to prepare deeply, because frequency of repeated questions is very very low in ISTQB Exam & many are scenario based. I have cleared the ISTQB exam. Below words are from my real time exp.

READ BOTH THE TEXT BOOK AND SYLLABUS – NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, THRICE.

“Foundation of Software Testing: ISTQB Certification” by Rex Black, Dorothy Graham is the recommended text book. You need not have to read any other text book.

All you need to do is prepare for the exam of the prescribed ISTQB Foundation book.

If anyone is looking for soft-copy of this book, let me know, I can share.

This is the book for the exam. It Contains 6 chapters. Won’t take much time as the testers will be familiar with the concepts. Take a week or 2 to brush up the concepts.

ISTQB syllabus is your bible. Text book explains every concept in detail with elaborated examples. The ISTQB syllabus is like a notes made by summarizing the text book. You might not understand several concepts if you directly read the syllabus. So read the text book first and then the syllabus.

You can download the syllabus here –http://www.istqb.org/downloads/syllabi/foundation-level-syllabus.htmlDo go through the testing GLOSSARY. There are several terminologies used in the text book and syllabus which requires you to go through the glossary.

DO NOT RELY ON DUMPS!

Several ISTQB aspirants are mislead with the concept that they can clear the exam just by solving few dumps that are available online without any preparations.

SOLVE the questions that are available online. They help you to understand the nature of questions that will appear in the exam, it might also boost your confidence a bit but NEVER rely only on question paper dumps! You cannot clear the exams by only solving the question dumps. There are several dumps available online with incorrect answers which might confuse you.

For taking mock tutorials, various sites are having data over internet, I used to prefer:  testpot

A word of caution as far as dumps are concerned, the dumps which are freely available on internet does not contains the actual question which are asked in exam so be careful. It contains much more standard scenarios. This was my personal experience; others may vary on my opinion.

Comments & Suggestions are welcome on ISTQB dumps.

Below is the Book Which i was talking about, you can purchase this, which will be more than sufficient to crack ISTQB Foundation Level. Click on the Image below –

What is the need of Software Testing?

Software Testing
What is the need of software Testing?
Software Testing is important as it may cause mission failure, impact on operational performance and reliability if not done properly.
        Effective software testing delivers quality software products satisfying user’s requirements, needs and expectations.
Now, why to test the software?
       1.    To make sure that intended product is created (As per requirement document)
       2.    To make sure that, something that work for single person should also work for hundreds, when logged in simultaneously.
       3.    To make sure that, the product work on various browser / OS as per requirement.
       4.    To Ensure Best Quality.
       5.    Coder is a human being, so may lead with many error,
      Most common software problems are
  • Incorrect calculation
  • Incorrect data edits & ineffective data edits
  • Incorrect matching and merging of data
  • Data searches that yields incorrect results
  • Incorrect processing of data relationship
  • Incorrect coding / implementation of business rules
  • Inadequate software performance
  • Confusing or misleading data
  • Software usability by end users & Obsolete Software
  • Inconsistent processing
  • Unreliable results or performance
  • Inadequate support of business needs
  • Incorrect or inadequate interfaces with other systems
  • Inadequate performance and security controls
  • Incorrect file handling.

 

To overcome all above problem & many more, Software Testing is needed.

Suggestions & comments are welcome

Next Topic: What is Manual Testing?

How is software testing career in future?

Software Testing
        Well, Software Testing Career is quite good , it depends on how you develop your skills and knowledge in testing , if you are good at both automation and manual testing it will a boon to your career growth , so start testing different applications with different levels, learn new tools like Selenium, QTP, Appium and so on and make your software testing career better.
        If you are good in observing & can think as a decoder, then Software Testing is really a good scope to excel in career. Moreover, Software Testing has many dimensions as in different types testing & multiple tools to enhance quality of the product or application.
Apart from Functional Testing; Performance & Security Testing are also important aspect which you can aim to excel in.

Just as an advice, do not restrict yourself to only Manual efforts as quality in less time & cost effective – is always preferred. Automation is the future if you are into Testing domain. With basic coding knowledge, you can write your own scripts and automate the test cases. Core Java, Shell scripting, VB scripting are most commonly used to write automation code among test engineers.

Apart from costly automation tool (like, HP QTP..) companies are inclining towards open-source tools (Selenium is most favorite) which are scalable and comes with zero cost. So, try to get the good hands on the automation tools after you get the good exposure & experience in Software Testing.
        One last point I feel is, it depends on the domain you are working for. I am also a tester in Banking domain. Here, the banking domain knowledge is very important and the testing engineer contributes to the requirement specification of the product also. If you have good scope, you can be in testing. Moreover, you will be promoted easily if you are in testing, as many people choose development.
Talking about compensation –
      I don’t see much difference in salary of developer or tester, in some cases developer get more where as in some cases testers get more. Depend on you always. Well, I have seen, people with 5 years of experience is getting 10+ (LPA) which is not less paid at all.
So, Finally, decision is up to you, how & where you want to start your career.
Comments & suggestions are welcome.