Posted by
Amit Kulkarni [Admin]
| Posted in
application
,
approach
,
completely
,
interpretation
,
user
| Posted on
11/27/2009 12:30:00 AM
I know guys this is been after a long time I am again writing a blog. Not so long though! =)
There is been so much said about testing but it is always learning - and I'm still learning. There is a long way to go.
I was working on a project for a past month and the work is not completed from my side. The day I finished the work my client asked me - Is testing completed? I answered them back in affirmative - as I interpret the question as they meant to ask me whether I've finished my work. They laughed at me and re-phrase the question - Have you tested the application completely?
I said to myself ....huh!!!! What I interpreted was totally different from the re-phrased question they asked me.
I tried to explain them it is not possible for tester to completely test the application. Even if they spend all their life there will be some scenarios that they might miss out. As a tester it is not possible for you try out all the possible permutations/combinations as there are so many. We can decide a phase in testing cycle where we can say that the application can now be deployed. The client decides when to stop as the costing is their territory and that is not a thing that a tester has to worry about. The look on my client seems to be satisfactory so I said to myself time to move on.
I thought of this question so many times and it is just not possible to cover all the scenarios wherein you can say that this application is bug free. A user and tester have altogether different mindset so their approach towards using the application is obviously different. A tester can think more or less like an end user but vice-versa is not possible.IMO.
In a testing life cycle there are so many iterations takes place and even after completing all these iterations can you say that you have completely tested the application? Can you?
Best Regards,
Amit
testing is my passion!!!
http://bugteaser.blogspot.com
Hi,
Yes, this is a typical question and completely understandable.
If a doctor was prescribing an experimental new drug you might well ask about the extent of the "testing" of the product. The concern that the customer has is more about "does it do what it's supposed to do and will it harm me".
So if you can talk about the testing (scope/planning and results/findings) in these terms that it will make the customer feel more comfortable.
The level of "harm" that something may or may not do can be thought of as the risk associated with the product - this risk level is something to agree with the customer.
If you're testing a life-critical system then the customer wants much less risk that if you're testing a game, for example...
Is the word complete is contextual?
Say you can have maximum of 4 roti's to make your stomach full and nothing there afters goes into your stomach. Your friend gets you 2 more roti's which you cannot have for now.
Is your stomach full completely? If no for how long? If yes for how long?