Process

This session presents a robust design method based on the Taguchi Approach. A new and powerful way to improve reliability and productivity, this method has been applied in diverse areas such as network optimization, audio and video compression, error correction, engine control, safety systems, calibration, and operating system optimization. Learn the basics of the robust design method for software testing, and experience the principles through case studies like Unix system performance tuning.

In testing utopia, all software products submitted for testing have thorough and comprehensive documentation describing how every program function should work. On planet Earth, however, test engineers usually have to make do under less-than-ideal circumstances. It's not uncommon for test engineers to be asked to verify the functionality of a critical legacy system which has no documented requirements whatsoever. While there are many reasons this can happen, the result is the same: You assume the role of an archeologist sifting through the layers of clues to reconstruct the specifications. Patricia Ensworth gives you instructions and tools so you'll be ready to roll up your sleeves and dig.

Several jokes about consultants revolve around the idea that they answer most questions by saying "It depends." The context-driven school of testing accepts the "It depends" reality but then asks, "Depends on what?" Rather than talking about best practices, this approach asks when and why a given practice would be beneficial; what risks and benefits are associated with it; what skills, documents, development processes, and other resources are required to enable the process; and so on. Rather than dismissing an unpopular testing technique or test documentation method as useless, you should ask these questions to determine possible uses. The appropriate context might be narrow, but you'll learn a lot more about the technique and its alternatives by becoming aware of the context variables rather than ignoring them.

Basis path testing is a structural testing technique that identifies test cases based on the flows or logical paths that can be taken through the software. A basis path is a unique path through the software where no iterations are allowed; they're atomic level paths, and all possible paths through the system are linear combinations of them. Basis path testing uses a Cyclomatic metric that measures the complexity of a source code unit by examining the control flow structure. Basis path testing can also be applied to integration testing when software units/components are integrated together. You'll see how the use of the technique quantifies the integration effort involved as well as the design-level complexity.