Thursday, April 23, 2009

What Do We Test For?

 The first test of a system is to see whether it produces the correct outputs. No other test can be more crucial. Following this step, a variety of other tests are conducted:

1. Online response. Online systems must have a response time that will not cause a hardship to the user. One way to test this is/to input transactions on as many CRT screens as would normally be used in peak hours and time the response to each online function to establish a true- performance level.

2. Volume. In this test, we create as many records as would normally be produced to verify that the hardware and software will function correctly. The user is usually asked to provide test data for volume testing.

3. Stress testing. The purpose of stress testing is to prove that the candidate system does not malfunction under peak loads. Unlike volume testing, where time is not a factor, we subject the system to a high volume of data over a short time period. This simulates an online environment where a high volume of activities occurs in spurts.

4. Recovery and security. A forced system failure is induced to test a backup recovery procedure for file integrity. Inaccurate data are entered to see how the system responds in terms of error direction and protection. Related to file integrity is a test to demonstrate that data and programs are secure from unauthorized access.

5. Usability documentation and procedure. The usability test verifies the user-friendly nature of the system. This relates to normal operating and error-handling procedures, for example. One aspect of user-friendliness is accurate and complete documentation. The user is asked to use only the documentation and procedures as a guide to determine whether the system can be run smoothly.

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