wtst schroeder

Involving Testing Students in Software Projects: 

Involving Testing Students in Software Projects Patrick J. Schroeder University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

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… choice of tester was seen to be a larger factor in the resulting effectiveness of the testing than was choice of test technique. “Experimental Evaluation of Six Test Techniques” - L. Lauterbach, W. Randal A conclusion of the study:

What Skills Does a Tester Need to Succeed?: 

What Skills Does a Tester Need to Succeed? Communications Skills – persuade, influence, educate managers, developers, customers Interpersonal Skills – remain sensitive and constructive in complex, political, stressful situations Creative, Intuitive, Critical Thinking Skills – understanding the possibilities of the product and how it can fail

Approach: Learn by Doing: 

Approach: Learn by Doing CS536 Intro to Software Engineering (SE) – Grad/Undergrad CS790 Software Testing and Quality Assurance – Grad, w/CS536 Pre-req. CS536 SE teams paired with CS790 test teams in execution of a software project

Application: 

Application Shari Pfleeger’s Loan Arranger System Mortgage-backed security business Data Repository Architecture Multi-user system Complex calculations – accrued interest

SE’s Assignment: 

SE’s Assignment Complete the requirements specification (use cases, high-level class diagram) Design, implement and deliver software on an incremental delivery schedule Negotiate the scope of the project Provide software releases, release notes, installation instructions to the testers Respond in a timely fashion to bug reports

Tester’s Assignment: 

Tester’s Assignment Find a way to help the your SE team deliver a better product, by: NOT demoralizing them Finding important bugs quickly Writing good bug reports Helping them understand the product Understanding their software capabilities Generating a light-weight test plan and test logs

Tester’s Journey: 

Tester’s Journey “Damaged Goods” First Person on the Airplane

Fallback Plan: 

Fallback Plan Incremental deliveries made of the TA-Prof version of the software Allowed testers to execute tests even if their SE team was not delivering

Project Execution: 

Project Execution Much excitement generated! Fewer than expected flame wars in the bug tracker/email Many software deliveries late or missed Good, and really bad, software delivered Some requests by testers to abandon their SE teams Improvement of deliveries as the semester progressed

Bug Reports: 

Bug Reports Over 250 bug reports generated Initial bug reports poor Reviews of bug reports in class caught tester’s attention SE’s and testers learned to recognize good bug reports

Final Project Evaluation: 

Final Project Evaluation SE teams filled out evaluations of their test teams Test teams filled out evaluations of their SE teams Each software project was tested with the help of the TA

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Do you think that working on the LAS project gave you insight into the challenges of software testing? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| No Yes

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Do you think your testing team’s effort contributed to the quality of the final LAS product? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| No Contribution Full Contribution

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Do you think your testing team over tested or under tested the LAS software? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| Under Tested Over Tested

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The number of tests I personally executed was (roughly): ______

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A different approach to teaching software testing is to use a smaller, controlled, previously completed program. This approach omits interaction with software developers.  I would prefer testing an existing program in a controlled environment  I prefer working with on a “live” project with software developers, despite the chaos

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How did you communicate with the SE team? (Check all that apply)  Bug tracker  Email  Face-to-face meetings (other than requirements review)

Conclusion: 

Conclusion Great project experience for the SE teams SE students short-changed on testing Good testing experience for the test teams, in the context of a chaotic project Good exposure to a wide variety of challenges that testers face Problem: not enough time Problem: evaluating projects costly Problem: application too complex

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Thank you! Pat Schroeder University of Wisconsin Milwaukee pats@uwm.edu