What is Agile Testing?
“Agile testing involves testing from the customer perspective as early as possible, testing early and often as the code becomes available and stable enough from module/unit level testing.” – A Wikipedia definition.
This tutorial will give you simple and easy tips on how to be more innovative in the age of agile testing to survive an economic crisis.
Let’s explore!!
What You Will Learn:
Need for Innovations in the Age of Agile Testing
Global Recession/Economic Downtime Effect
Current Events are not Current Trends
When global downturns hit, there is a certain inevitability to their impact on the information technology and finance sectors. Customers become more reluctant in giving software business. Some customers are withdrawing from their long-term projects and some customers are using the opportunity in quoting low prices.
Many projects that dragged on for much longer than expected and cost more than planned. So, companies have started to explore how “Agile with different flavors” can help their enterprises to more reliably deliver software quickly and iteratively.
The roles and responsibilities of Test Managers/Test Architects become more important in implementing Agile Projects. Innovations are increasingly being fueled by the needs of the testing society at large.
Challenges in Agile Testing
Agile Testers face a lot of challenges when they are working with an Agile development team. Testers should be able to apply Root-Cause Analysis while finding severe bugs so that they are unlikely to reoccur. While Agile has different flavors, Scrum is one process for implementing Agile.
Some of the challenging scrum rules to be followed by every individual are:
- Obtain Number of Hours Commitment Up Front
- Gather Requirements / Estimates Up Front
- Enter your actual hours and estimated hours daily.
- Daily Builds
- Keep the Daily Scrum meetings short
- Code Inspections are Paramount
So, in order to meet the above challenges, an agile tester needs to be innovative with the tools that they have. A great idea happens when what you have (tangible and intangible) meets the world’s deepest hunger.
How Can Testers be More Innovative in the Age of Agile Testing?
Here are the Important Keys to Innovation:
#1) Creative: A good Agile Tester needs to be extremely creative when trying to cope up with the speed of development/release. For a tester, being creative is more important than being critical.
#2) Talented: He must be highly talented and strive for more learning and innovating new ideas. Talented Testers are never satisfied with what they have achieved and always strive to find unimaginable bugs of high value and priority.
#3) Fearless: An Agile Tester should not be afraid to look at a developer’s code and if need arises, hopefully in extreme cases, go in and correct it.
#4) Visionary: He must have a comprehensive vision, which includes the client’s expectations and delivery of a good product.
#5) Empowered: He must be empowered to work in Pairs. He will be involved in Pair Programming to bring shorter scripts, better designs and find more bugs.
#6) Passionate: Passionate Testers always have something unique to contribute – that may be in terms of their innovative ideas, the way they carry day-to-day work, their outputs and improve things around them tirelessly.
#7) Multiple Disciplines: Agile Tester must have multiple skills like Manual, Functional, Performance testing skills and soft skills like Leadership skills, Communication skills, EI, etc. so that agile testing will become a cakewalk.
“Innovation is the process of turning ideas into manufacturable and marketable form”– Watts Humpry
About Author: This is a guest post from J.B.Rajkumar. He has extensive experience in both Academics as well as Software Testing. He was a Trainer, QA Manager, frequent Speaker for Colleges, Universities and International Conferences and currently working with a top MNC
Note: If you have ANY queries on “Agile Testing and its Methods”, please do comment below. We will address each and every comment as a separate post.
Agile tester also should know some usability or HCI techniques. This makes him vital for the role of Agile Tester
Nice article. But, somehow I couldn’t corelate the title of the article and its content. The things that are mentioned here are the required traits for the testers while I was expecting few real practical tips. Further, relation to economic crisis…?
It gives me input about what is agile, can you also provide some more information like which kind of application we can use this type of testing and is there is any Prerequisite?
Hi Vijay, Nice Articale about Agile Testing,
I am looking for Destructive and non-destructive Testing. Can you help me on that..
Thanks …
Can any one provide more details on agile testing and how the scrum & iterations are used in agile testing?
This article in complete useless. What information are trying give out of this.
Nice article with the exception that encouraging testers to look into code and correct it. Looking into code is ok if the tester wants to investigate an issue but correcting it is not a good practice. Under on circumstances should a tester go and change code of a developer.
I also noticed quite a few respondents want to know about scrum. I have a PPT on my LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/shalabhsharma) that explains the process. Any one interested can go through it and feel free to ask me any specific questions regarding the process.
This is a good article not only to those using agile but also to groups/teams who have very short delivery time. Having long term experience in automation testing (in agile environment) using various tools, I took a chance if I could fix a bug sitting next to developer, and could precisely fix it. Testers/QA people can definitely help faster delivery either just pointing to bug or sit beside and get it fixed. The second was possible for me as I had gained good knowledge on both coding and application. Any way if we can deliver quality product in time we get happy customer –> and so $$
Can i say Agile testing in other words “Adhoc testing” ???….
communication on agile process through email
Thanks !
But one daubt is that when I used to perform the agile testing, I thought some mistake may going to happen though I thing no testing is 100%.
I think, agile testing make cause to major side effect in the madule!!!
Model-Based Testing is an innotative approach to software testing. The fact that the application behaviour testing model can be changed much easier than test automation testing script can making it an excellent alternative to the traditional test automation approach.
Check out my recent 3-part article on Model-Based Testing and Its Tools:
part1 – http://www.qaguild.com/weekly_article.php?id=70
part2 – http://www.qaguild.com/weekly_article.php?id=71
part3 – http://www.qaguild.com/weekly_article.php?id=72
Good one man.. With agile testing, the testers job is safe!!
Nice article and comments !!
Great article and comments, could solve number of lacking areas in agile testing.
Agile testing is used for testing the module as early as popssible which neeed how the effective tsting is done with intention to find bug.
Nice article with the exception that encouraging testers to look into code and correct it. Looking into code is ok if the tester wants to investigate an issue but correcting it is not a good practice. Under on circumstances should a tester go and change code of a developer.
I also noticed quite a few respondents want to know about scrum. I have a PPT on my LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/shalabhsharma) that explains the process. Any one interested can go through it and feel free to ask me any specific questions regarding the process.
Fearless
An Agile Tester should not be afraid to look at a developer’s code and if need be, hopefully in extreme cases, go in and correct it.
We can be fearless to look at the code and log the defects explaining the cause. But I don’t think we can correct it. This is new thing to me, please explain if there is such possibility.
@Anju
In Agile/Scrum Team, there is no difference between Testers and Developers. Its only dynamic team members, working towards the sprint. If tester has capability of solving the problem, yes, he can help the developer and vice versa.
Except being “Fearless”, all other qualities are desirable in any Tester following any testing methodology. Just remove the word Agile from this article and you will find it relevant.
I’m also finding it really hard to relate how a tester can be innovative or be Modern or be ahead of times
by being
Creative / fearless / Talented etc…
Thanks
Madan
An Introduction to Scrum Scrum is an agile process that allows us to focus on delivering the highest business value in the shortest time. It allows us to rapidly and repeatedly inspect actual working software (every two weeks to one month). The business sets the priorities. Teams self-organize to determine the best…
Hi friends, I am looking for job change. Any openings please tell me. Exp 3.10yrs Manual I am in Bangalore
We are a very tiny small team of two resources in QA team.Our company is not ready to get more resources to meet the QA needs. I have several questions that if somebody can address or suggest based on their experience :
1. We want to implement Agile methodology ,this will be huge impact for QA team with limited resources.We have automation scripts that can be ran over Regression suite .Please suggest some best practises that we can adopt for aligning with Agile testing methods.
2. Two resources working on different projects will need regression tests ran across multiple environments.This will impact our scripts because one environment will use new functionality changes that of other env will use old functionality.I hope I gave clear description of the scenario.
3. What are the best practises that we can adopt for being Agile and suggest our upper management.
4. Is automation in our scenario a good candidate for Agility ?Any thoughts?
Please share your experiences and suggestions.
Thanks
Agile quester
Qualities mentioned for Agile tester mentioned by Raj are very much correct in today’s scenario. I also request all don’t take lieral meaning on fearless and argue on it.
Qualities mentioned by Raj for Agile tester are very much correct in today’s scenario. I also request all don’t take lieral meaning on fearless and argue on it.
It is indeed nice article.
Thanks.
Peace be upon you
@ J.B.Rajkumar
3. Fearless
An Agile Tester should not be afraid to look at a developer’s code and if need be, hopefully in extreme cases, go in and correct it.
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I like this point very much. Nice and good article…
If we are capable of correcting the mistake in the code means, (if we have access) we can do that.
Thank you JBR.
The Article is very nice.Can anybody explain the difference between “Load” and “Performance ” testing.
DISAGREE!
This is not just required on Agile testing but also a key requirement for any type of software testing. If QC does not have these capabilities then it is better for him to find another job.
Nothing very specific to Agile. To be successful you need to be competitive or else you are not qualified enough to do a job.
Waterfall or Agile – Competency is the key for testing.
In Agile testing it is very important not to forget to have a frequent communication with the customer inorder to make sure the product is inaccordance to the customer request.
About Looking at the code and correcting it….it is complete upsurd..
In real time if the company size is big then it is not adviced to look at the code and correct it.
If a company size is small even then it varies depending on what terms a Tester got hired, if he got hired saying in typical situations a Tester should have the ability to test and code if needed then it is possible to correct code where a developer intervene is not necessary to correct it and make sure to check the code with the developer before checkin.
Hi Vijay,
it is realy good article, do have any other information related to the agile tech. please send me urls
Thanks & Regards,
Chetan
Hi All,
Please help in understanding wat is different test artifacts.
Thanks and Regds,
Swetha
Hi,
Could you please sugeest some innovative methodology/process in agile software testing?
The regular 3 Dev and 1 IAT is not working out.
Thanks,
Harish
I am just fresher in software testing .i wand to know some new ideas of software testing and also i have to take a seminar in new innovations of testing topic.please help me to suggest a topic.
Hi,
When Regression testing takes place in Agile-scrum.
@malleesh regression testing happens in the next sprint, when the completed stories are integrated & form a basis of the product.
Thank you so much.