Objectives:

• to cover all the key issues in order to get started on software testing, what testing is, why testing is needed, how testing is done, when testing should be done, who should be involved, what are the cost issues, how tests are documented and what standards apply
• to provide a formal start for those who wish to take the topics further

• Why test?
• Definitions and the testing model, the general test and a test case. The generic test process, entry and exit criteria. The types of test including acceptance test, system test and unit test.
• Verification, validation and the testing and assurance process
• Setting test objectives, the iterative nature of testing
• Change management and control
• The project stages
• The propagation of errors down the life cycle
• The analysis of errors
• Cost escalation
• The all-important review process in its various forms
• Overcoming the communications problem
• The V model and the development process from the testing view point
• General list of test and test creation techniques
• Methods, function based, component based and structure based
• Roles and responsibilities, especially who does what testing
• The system development plan
• The revised development plan including both test creation and test execution
• Examples using the techniques, equivalence classes and boundary values.
• Running tests and the essential traceability of test to business requirement
• Structural coverage, and tools to support testing, tools and the V Model
• Simple traceability and the thread table
• The incremental approach
• Documentation of tests
• The test report
• The four views of the system and the implications for testing