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Glossary of Software Testing Terms:
P
This glossary of software testing
terms and conditions is a compilation of knowledge, gathered
over time, from many different sources. It is provided “as-is”
in good faith, without any warranty as to the accuracy or
currency of any definition or other information contained
herein. If you have any questions or queries about the contents
of this glossary, please contact
Project Realms directly.
Pacing
This refers to the number of seconds between finishing one
script execution for a VU and starting the next iteration.
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Page Fault
A program interruption that occurs when a page that is marked
'not in real memory' is referred to by an active page.
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Pair Programming
A software development technique that requires two programmers
to participate in a combined development effort at one workstation.
Each member performs the action the other is not currently doing:
for example, while one types in unit tests, the other thinks
about the class that will satisfy the test.
The person who is doing the typing is known as the driver while
the person who is guiding is known as the navigator. It is often
suggested for the two partners to switch roles at least every
half-hour or after a unit test is made. It is also suggested
to switch partners at least once a day.
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Pair Testing
In much the same way as Pair Programming, two testers work together
to find defects. Typically, they share one computer and trade
control of it while testing.
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Pairwise Testing
A combinatorial software testing method that, for each pair
of input parameters to a system (typically, a software algorithm)
tests all possible discrete combinations of those parameters.
Using carefully chosen test vectors, this can be done much
faster than an exhaustive search of all combinations of all
parameters, by "parallelizing" the tests of parameter
pairs. The number of tests is typically O(nm), where n
and m are the number of possibilities for each of the
two parameters with the most choices.
The reasoning behind all-pairs testing is this: the simplest
bugs in a program are
generally triggered by a single input parameter. The next
simplest category of bugs consists of those dependent on interactions
between pairs of parameters, which can be caught with all-pairs
testing. Bugs involving interactions between three or more
parameters are progressively less common, while at the same
time being progressively more expensive to find by exhaustive
testing, which has as its limit the exhaustive testing of
all possible inputs.
Many testing methods regard all-pairs testing of a system
or subsystem as a reasonable cost-benefit compromise between
often computationally infeasible higher-order combinatorial
testing methods, and less exhaustive methods which fail to
exercise all possible pairs of parameters. Because no testing
technique can find all bugs, all-pairs testing is typically
used together with other quality assurance techniques such
as unit testing.
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Partial Test Automation
The process of automating parts but not all of the software
testing process. If, for example, fully automated tests cannot
reasonably be created or would be too difficult to maintain,
then a software tools engineer can instead create testing tools
to help human testers perform their jobs more efficiently. Testing
tools can help automate tasks such as product installation,
test data creation, GUI interaction, problem detection, defect
logging, etc., without necessary automating tests in an end-to-end
fashion.
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Pass
Software has deemed to have passed a test if the actual results
of the test matched the expected results.
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Pass/Fail Criteria
Decision rules used to determine whether an item under test
has passed or failed a test.
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Path
A sequence of executable statements of a component, from an
entry point to an exit point.
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Path Coverage
The percentage of paths in a component exercised by a test case
suite.
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Path Sensitizing
Choosing a set of input values to force the execution of a component
to take a given path.
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Path Testing
Used as either black box or white box testing, the procedure
itself is similar to a walk-through. First, a certain path through
the program is chosen. Possible inputs and the correct result
are written down. Then the program is executed by hand, and
its result is compared to the predefined. Possible faults have
to be written down at once
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Peer Review
A peer review is when others with similar jobs and/or functions
review the work completed to determine if it meets expectations
and requirements. The peers will exchange ideas, tips and techniques
and suggest changes and improvements.
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Performance
The degree to which a system or component accomplishes its designated
functions within given constraints regarding processing time
and throughput.
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Performance Testing
Performance testing is a general term used to describe testing
activities where a simulated user load is directed at a system
and measurements are gathered. It is designed to meet or exceed
a set of system performance goals while maintaining a particular
user load profile. It places variable load - from a minimum
to a maximum - on the system. The variable load demonstrates
what the system can sustain without running out of resource
or having transactions perform in a less-than-optimal fashion.
Performance testing is a suite of testing that can consists
of, but is not limited to, Benchmark
Testing, Load
Testing, Durability
Testing, Volume
Testing, Stress
Testing, and Scalability
Testing. In some cases a separate Performance Test Plan
will be created to explain the details of the Performance
Testing effort.
- Benchmark Testing: Benchmark testing is a performance
test which subjects the system to varying workloads to measure
and evaluate the performance behaviors and ability of the
system to continue to function properly under these different
workloads.
- Durability Testing: Durability testing is designed
to determine the characteristics of a system under load
conditions, over time. This is an excellent test to identify
memory leaks in a system.
- Load Testing: Load testing is a performance test
which subjects the system to varying workloads to measure
and evaluate the performance behaviors and ability of the
system to continue to function properly under these different
workloads. The goal of load testing is to determine and
ensure that the system functions properly beyond the expected
maximum workload. Additionally, load testing evaluates the
performance characteristics (response times, transaction
rates, and other time sensitive issues).
- Scalability Testing: Scalability Testing determines
the ability of a system to expand as the usage increases.
It measures individual components of the system to determine
their performance characteristics under increasing user
loads. It also examines inter-component and multiple component
behavior.
- Stress Testing: Stress Testing determines the ability
of the application to perform under low and/or excessive
loads to ensure that critical information and services are
available when and how the end-user expects it. In addition,
it is also a way to identify and document conditions under
which the system fails to continue functioning properly.
- Volume Testing: Volume Testing subjects the target-of-test
to large amounts of data to determine if limits are reached
that cause the software to fail. Volume testing also identifies
the continuous maximum load or volume the target-of-test
can handle for a given period.
NOTE: Transactions above refer to "logical business
transactions." These transactions are defined as specific
functions that an end user of the system is expected to perform
using the application, such as add or modify a given contract.
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Portability
The ease with which the system/software can be transferred from
one hardware or software environment to another.
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Portability Requirements
A specification of the required portability for the system /software.
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Portability Testing
The process of testing the ease with which a software component
can be moved from one environment to another. This is typically
measured in terms of the maximum amount of effort permitted.
Results are expressed in terms of the time required to move
the software and complete data conversion and documentation
updates.
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Postcondition
Environmental and state conditions that must be fulfilled after
the execution of a test or test procedure.
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Positive Testing
Testing aimed at showing whether the software works in the way
intended.
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Precondition
Environmental and state conditions which must be fulfilled before
the component can be executed with a particular input value.
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Predicate
A logical expression which evaluated to TRUE or FALSE, normally
to direct the execution path in code.
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Predication
The choice to execute or not to execute a given instruction.
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Predicated Outcome
The behavior expected by the specification of an object under
specified conditions.
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Priority
The level of business importance assigned to an individual item
or test.
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Process
A course of action that turns inputs into outputs or results.
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Process Cycle Test
A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed
to execute business procedures and processes.
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Production Environment
The Production environment provides users access to stable and
fully functional application and operating system.
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Progressive Testing
Testing of new features after regression testing of previous
features.
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Project
A planned undertaking for presentation of results at a specified
time in the future.
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Project Test Plan
The test plan is created for each project in order to expand
on the test strategy and define the workflow. It will describe
in greater detail how to test the business requirements, assess
any specific risks, contain system configurations, establish
entrance and exit criteria to testing phase, state data needs,
and contain any other system specific information needed. It
describes the objectives, scope, approach and focus of a software
testing effort.
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Promotion Recommendation Report
Promotion Recommendations are completed prior to the migration
of code from one environment to the next. Recommendations are
based on information compiled during Test Readiness Assessments
and Test Execution. The Test Team's Promotion Recommendation
is a contributing factor in the Project Team's decision of whether
or not the system should promote to the next environment.
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Prototyping
A strategy in system development in which a scaled down system
or potion of a system is constructed in a short time, then tested
and improved upon over several iterations.
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Pseudo-Random
A series which appears to be random but is in fact generated
according to some prearranged sequence.
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