Testing, testing ...

Posted by Karl| 28th May 2010 at 14:42

Well, I've finally returned to writing an article again and I'm going to try to get into a routine of writing for my own sake really, to keep interesting ideas, musing and snippets of code in the one place.  I'll keep these articles on the subjects of testing but ideas related to ruby-on-rails, business analysis, rapid prototyping and running may crop up from time to time.

I came across an old article (2008) which asks a fundamental question in the testing world, what is the purpose of software testing?

As interesting as the above article is, it is based on the knowledge that testing (whether its bug hunting or test scripting) is an integral part of the software development process.  However, I am constantly staggered by the attitude of some IT managers (and some developers) to the whole process of software testing.  

I received my initiation as a software tester in the IT department of a bank and as such, strict development and testing processes were in place to ensure accuracy and quality.  Since moving on to other industries, I have been shocked by the total lack of understanding by management and, more surprisingly, developers of the software development process (whatever methodology is used) and how testing is an integral part of that development. 

I know its not simply an Irish attitude of "ah sure it'll be alright" because I've seen some of the crap that international companies (including large multinationals) consider to be finished product.  And the argument that software testing is a substantial cost is not borne out by the truth.  The cost of fixing defects, winning back lost custom and restoring damaged reputation is hugely more expensive than testing (but more on that later).

I've heard the line "the development is finished and testing will begin next week" too many times to mention and each time I hear it I cringe.  How do you know the development is finished if you haven't checked it?

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