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Software Testing Assignment

Learning area: Software Testing

Introduction

A software system is a basic necessity for every industry active across the globe. The primary use of the software system is to operate routine activities and accomplish their tasks with precision. However, before including any software system, its evaluation is essential to ensure the software runs with Zero flaws. A minor negligence in software evaluation can impact organizational growth and branding. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of any software system, standards are defined. Standards are the methodology that is used for identification, analysis, validation, and quality check of any software. The report presented hereby is based on Existing Formal Standards and BCS Proto-standards, proposed by B. A. Wichmann. Many other researchers have proposed other software testing standards as well, but here we have discussed one of the two standards proposed by B. A. Wichmann.

Responses to questions

  • What is the standard name?

ANSI/IEEE STD 829 Software Testing Documentation

  • Who holds the copyright for the standard?

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

  • Amongst the acknowledged contributors to the document, which universities were involved (if any)?

NA

  • What is the scope or intent of the standard?

The ANSI/IEEE Standard 829 applies to all software-based systems that are acquired, maintained, operated, or being developed as well. During the testing procedures, it’s crucial to acknowledge the software interaction with every system part and its outcomes. This software testing standard gives you descriptive information about completeness, consistency, accuracy, and testability of the software system alongside delivering detailed information about software correctness.

Sole purpose of using the IEEE 829 Software Testing Standard is to set up a common framework for all Software Life Cycle processes. The common SLC processes include acquisition, supply, development, operation, and maintenance processes. Under this IEEE STD 829 standard, the test processes will involve defining the test tasks, calculating required inputs & outputs.

  • What are key terms and understandings needed for the standard to be understood and applied?

IEEE: IEEE is the acronym of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that is an association for Electronic & Electrical engineering. It is headquartered in New York, whereas its operational center is in Piscataway (New Jersey). In 1963 IEEE came into existence after the amalgamation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the Institute of Radio Engineers.

Informative: This term is used many times in the entire report. The term explains the information associated with every single Standard applied to the software system for testing purposes. It is used for additional information and guidance purpose (Basso & DeBlasio, 2012). 

CIF (Common Industry Format): This is a standard format accepted by the industry to acknowledge the testing results and outcomes of the software testing. 

Component Testing: Software is made of multiple modules/components. So, it’s essential to ensure every component is working correctly and delivering the desired results. Component Testing is the term used for testing every single software component associated with the software system (Cadar & Sen, 2013). 

Quality Assurance: Quality Assurance is the format to avoid mistakes in the software system and overcome problems that cause issues in delivering appropriate services to the industries/customers.

Standards: This entire report is based on the Standard that we are using for Software system testing. Software testing requires different parameters and methodologies to evaluate its effectiveness and quality. Standards are that methodology that tests the software on various aspects and evaluates its effectiveness (Sawant, et al., 2012). 

  • In your own words, what does application of the standard result in? Or, in other words, what does the standard do?

The sole purpose of executing this IEEE Standard 829 is to evaluate the software correctness and ensure the software system is fully functional without having any flaws. This standard includes verification, demonstration, analysis, inspection, and validation of the software (Khersonsky & Sulligoi, 2015). 

Moreover, it will also help us acknowledge whether the software system is legit for use by industries or not.

  • Finally, what specific relevance to software testing is the standard?

The standard is used for software testing provides a low to high integrity level that enables an easy way to acknowledge the software quality as well as its importance (Muccini, et al., 2012). In every integrity level, minimum testing tasks are assigned that are based on the task intensity. The selection of the test document is another smart approach to provide optimal results.

Comparison between research paper and the chosen standard

Starting from the research paper, for software testing, the issue was considered in a narrow sense. It means, for initial testing, the software code is executed to acknowledge the proper functioning of code, flawlessly (Yu, et al., 2013). This way, we get the initial checks and testing outcomes. The entire research paper concentrates on component testing. In majority, research is targeted on the functioning of different aspects of the software. That includes data flow features. At each level, the test is executed to conclude the outcome, often known as test effectively. At last, the effectiveness of our testing is entirely based on three primary factors:

  • Level of testing performed;
  • Test strategy selected; and
  • Test coverage to be achieved.

Now, coming to the IEEE STD 829, we used a common framework for test processes to test through all software life cycle processes. Comparing the research paper with the Standard we proposed, it was found that the IEEE Standard 829 passes the three primary parameters and gives positive results at the end (Schuh, et al., 2013).  However, the outcome in the IEEE 829 testing Standard was entirely based on accuracy, testability, and completeness of the tasks. Above all, this testing Standard applies to all software systems providing a broad scope for the industries and organizations to get assured results.

Conclusion

The report presented hereby includes one standard that is considered on the software systems to get feasible results. The entire information associated with the IEEE STD 829 has been elaborated by answering a few questions related to the Testing Standard. Furthermore, the crisp comparison between Research paper and Chosen Standard has also included in this report. Followed by question & answers, a summary of entire report findings is also included to deliver you the whole process of testing along with the outcomes.

References
  • Basso, T., & DeBlasio, R. (2012). IEEE smart grid series of standards IEEE 2030 (interoperability) and IEEE 1547 (interconnection) status (No. NREL/CP-5500-53028). National Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO (United States).
  • Cadar, C., & Sen, K. (2013). Symbolic execution for software testing: three decades later. Communications of the ACM56(2), 82-90.
  • Khersonsky, Y., & Sulligoi, G. (2015). Standards for Ships and Oil Platforms: A Review of the Latest from the IEEE and IEC. IEEE Industry Applications Magazine22(1), 20-27.
  • Muccini, H., Di Francesco, A., & Esposito, P. (2012, June). Software testing of mobile applications: Challenges and future research directions. In 2012 7th International Workshop on Automation of Software Test (AST) (pp. 29-35). IEEE.
  • Sawant, A. A., Bari, P. H., & Chawan, P. M. (2012). Software testing techniques and strategies. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA)2(3), 980-986.
  • Schuh, M., Sheppard, J., Strasser, S., Angryk, R., & Izurieta, C. (2013). An IEEE standards-based visualization tool for knowledge discovery in maintenance event sequences. IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine28(7), 30-39.
  • Yu, L., Lei, Y., Kacker, R. N., & Kuhn, D. R. (2013, March). Acts: A combinatorial test generation tool. In 2013 IEEE Sixth International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (pp. 370-375). IEEE.