Re: [TenTec] Software Testing

[Charles Greene <W1CG@QSL.NET>]

Hi,

Although software testing, Quality Assurance that is, has come a long in 
recent years, there is no substitute for an independent QA department that 
does it's own testing, using it's own software developed independently of 
the developers and free from management and other influence.  Although the 
developers are or should be required to do their own testing before 
releasing the product, the same mentality that put the bug may possibly 
overlook it if he develops the test software.  Sorta like the fox watching 
the hen house.

Chas,

20 years experience as QA software tester.

At 08:30 AM 9/20/2004, you wrote:
> > Has the art of software testing made any progress
> > since Dijkstra's conjecture (almost 40 years ago)
> > that it can only prove the presence of errors,
> > but not their absence?
>
> Software testing still can't (except in very trivial cases) prove the
> absence of errors, but there have been vast improvements in recent years.
> Techniques such as test driven development all the developers to thoroughly
> test (again, the thoroughness of the test is up to the skill of the
> developer) the software under development and more importantly, verify that
> code written to add a new feature or fix a problem doesn't break a
> previously working feature.
>
> When a new version is ready for release to end users, automated test
> programs can simulate the testing of many users and can test the code more
> thoroughly.  For example, if it takes a complex series of steps to test a
> particular feature of a program, users are less likely to test all the
> possibilities at that stage than they are to test the features that are more
> easily accessible. An automated test program doesn't care how complex a step
> is.
>
> 73,
> Mark
>
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