“Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today”- goes the popular saying. It is easy to understand the relevance of this idiom in today’s competitive global market. ‘Start Testing Early’ is one of the ground rules in the Software Development Life Cycle that needs to be followed in order to keep procrastination at an arm’s length. In this article, I will introduce you to the advantages and the logic behind starting the testing process early in SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). My aim is to tell you how it helps identify the defects in the code, before the production/coding phase.
In the booming era of software, the Testing domain experts think of ‘Testing’ as a ‘skill’, which catalyzes speedy delivery along with a quality software. The time period to complete a task depends on the requirements and the challenges in the project. Nowadays, the professionals advise to start the testing process at the onset of the development stage, which can help you to identify the defects early.
SDLC Process
The standard SDLC process, which is based on the Waterfall model, includes the following-
- In the ‘Planning’ phase, requirements are collected and assessed accordingly
- In the ‘Requirements’ phase, requirements are fixed according to the project need.
- In the third stage, a rudimentary structure is created, which is the diagrammatic representation of the project.
- Actual Implementation of the project begins in the Coding phase.
- In the Testing phase, as the name implies, testing of the products gets started.
This process may differ from project to project. If the project is not well planned, it takes more time to complete the overall project. This happens when the project has to be delivered within stringent deadlines. In those cases where the release date is fixed, the testing and software quality often gets compromised due to the immense pressure of delivery on time. Before the commencement of the project, the customers are promised a valued application, which determines the commercial success of the project.
The best solution is to align the Testing and Development processes parallely. This way, the organizations will be able to bring Agile Development Methodology and DevOps together. DevOps bridges the gaps between IT Operations and Development, while Agile works on planning and development progressively. Moreover, it focuses on a flexible approach towards change. Through this process, Testing gets embedded into the system.
Strategies That Help You Achieve Goals
The following strategies can help achieve the above goals-
- Analyze the test results to understand the root cause of failure, if any.
- Expand the test coverage to maximize the testing process.
- Segment the AUT (Application Under Test) to derive maximum potentiality out of the testing process.
- Write the test cases for valid and invalid conditions, to obtain better functionality.
- Share the test cases with the developers, before the actual coding phase starts. This will enable the coders to reduce duplicity in work in the next stage.
- Performance testing, conducted at the beginning, for the applications that demand major response
Benefits of Early Testing
- It enables the teams to understand the work limit and the testing needs. For example, a few things can be skipped in the testing phase, considering they don’t impact the things.
- If Testing is carried out in the requirement phase, it makes the process cost-effective and logical.
- Writing the test cases results in quicker problem solving
- It helps to define the scope of the problem.
- It provides sufficient time to the testing team, to enhance the quality of the end product
- The early testing process should be an integral part of every project development phase, which helps detect the defects or issues at an early stage.
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Conclusion
It is always better to fix the bugs at an initial stage. It can be done when the testing process starts early, as it is cost-effective and an easy method to identify the bugs. For instance, if any issue is found in the beginning, it is advisable to resolve it at that point only. On the contrary, if the defect is found at the deployment phase, the stage where the product is all set, it becomes more difficult to handle these changes, and results in higher costs.
