The Practicalities of Requirements Testing: Assessment Criteria
Writing by admin on Wednesday, 14 of July, 2010 at 5:16 am
Software testing is an established part of the project lifecycle and nowadays it is generally accepted that there are significant benefits to be gained from testing early in the lifecycle.
Testing early refers to testing the requirements, but how exactly do you test the requirements? Static testing is an analysis technique where, the requirements specification is examined for defects prior to the start of the design phase. It involves the use of reviews, inspections, and walkthroughs and helps in identifying issues that will impact the downstream development.
Early engagement of independent QA resource using static testing can drive in significant cost reductions and quality improvements. It is commonly believed that the earlier a defect is found the cheaper it is to fix it. It is a best practice to prioritize the requirements and logically structure the requirements so that they are easily modifiable. A logical, hierarchical and organizational structure of the requirements will facilitate ease of modification.
The characteristics of refined requirements that lead to fewer defects in the later stages of the development life cycle can be condensed into 5 C’s: Correct, Clear, Concise, Comprehensive, and Cohesive. When reviewing requirements specification using the static testing technique, the criteria grouped by the 5 C’s can be applied. The requirement must correctly and accurately describe the functionality to be delivered, and each requirement should relate to a single piece of functionality, a single entity or a process, while each statement should cover only one requirement.
In addition, the requirement should be direct and to the point and should state exactly what needs to be done. We should also make sure that performance requirements, functional application security requirements, and explanations of requirements derived from legal and regulatory rules are included and all of them are written to the same level of granularity and detail.
Testing early in the lifecycle allows an organization to find and fix the defects at the requirements stage. Applying the assessment criteria to the requirements specification before it is signed-off is a practical way of carrying out early testing.
Category: Software Testing
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