Software Engineering

Chapter 4
Contents Part-I
• A strategic approach to software testing
• Testing Strategies
• Black Box and White Box Testing
• Validation Testing
• System Testing
• Art of Debugging
Software Testing
• Software Testing is a method to check
whether the actual software product
matches expected requirements and to
ensure that software product is defect
free.
• It involves execution of software/system
components using manual or automated
tools to evaluate one or more properties of
interest.
A Strategic Approach to Testing
• According to Glenn Myers, The objectives are :
• The process of investigating and checking a
program to find whether there is an error or not
and does it fulfill the requirements or not is
called testing.
• When the number of errors found during the
testing is high, it indicates that the testing was
good and is a sign of good test case.
• Finding an unknown error that’s wasn’t
discovered yet is a sign of a successful and a
good test case.
Various Testing Strategies
Characteristics of Testing
• The developer should conduct the successful
technical reviews.
• Testing starts with the component level and work
from outside toward the integration.
• Different testing techniques are suitable at
different point in time.
• Testing is organized by the developer of the
software and by an independent test group.
• Debugging and testing are different activities,
then also the debugging should be
accommodated in any strategy of testing.
Spiral Testing Strategy
Black Box Testing
• A type of Software Testing where the
functionality of software is not known.
• The Testing is done without internal
knowledge of products.
Syntax Driven Testing
1. Syntax Driven : This type of testing is
applied to systems that can be
syntactically represented by some
language.
Example: Compilers, Language that can be
represented by context free grammar
Each grammar rule is used once.
Equivalence Partitioning
• The idea is to partition the input domain of
the system into a number of equivalence
classes such that each member of class
works in a similar way, i.e.,
• If a test case in one class results in some
error, other members of class would also
result into same error.
• Has Two Steps: Identification of
equivalence classes and generating test
cases. For each class.
Boundary Value Analysis
• Boundaries are very good places for errors
to occur. Hence if test cases are designed
for boundary values of input domain then
the efficiency of testing improves and
probability of finding errors also increase.
• For example – If valid range is 10 to 100
then test for 10,100 also apart from valid
and invalid inputs.
Cause Effect Graphing
• This technique establishes relationship
between logical input called causes with
corresponding actions called effect.
• The causes and effects are represented using
Boolean graphs.
Requirement Based Testing
• This Testing Includes Validating the
requirements given in the Software
Requirement Specification Document for a
particular software system.
• Testing must be carried out in a timely manner.
• Testing process should add value to the
software life cycle, hence it needs to be
effective.
• Testing must provide the overall status of the
project, hence it should be manageable.
Compatibility Testing
• The test case result not only depend on
product but also infrastructure for
delivering functionality. When the
infrastructure parameters are changed it is
still expected to work properly.
• Some of them include processor,
architecture, back-end components and
OS.
White box testing
• White box testing techniques analyze the
internal structures the used data
structures, internal design, code structure
and the working of the software rather
than just the functionality as in black box
testing.
• It is also called glass box testing or clear
box testing or structural testing.
• The Process Steps Include: Input,
Processing , Proper Test Planning and
White Box Testing
White Box Testing Techniques
• Statement Coverage: In this technique,
the aim is to traverse all statement at
least once. Hence, each line of code is
tested. In case of a flowchart, every node
must be traversed at least once
• Branch Coverage In this technique, test
cases are designed so that each branch
from all decision points are traversed at
least once.
• Condition Coverage: In this technique,
White Box Testing Techniques
• Multiple Condition Coverage: In this
technique, all the possible combinations of
the possible outcomes of conditions are
tested at least once.
• Basis Path Testing: In this technique,
control flow graphs are made from code or
flowchart and then Cyclomatic complexity
is calculated which defines the number of
independent paths so that the minimal
number of test cases can be designed for
White Box Testing Techniques
• Flow graph notation: It is a directed graph consisting of nodes
and edges. Each node represents a sequence of statements, or a
decision point.
• A predicate node is the one that represents a decision point that
contains a condition after which the graph splits.
• Regions are bounded by nodes and edges.
Advantages of White box
Testing
• White box testing is very thorough as the
entire code and structures are tested.
• It results in the optimization of code
removing error and helps in removing
extra lines of code.
• It can start at an earlier stage as it doesn’t
require any interface as in case of black
box testing.
• Easy to automate.
Disadvantages of White box
testing
• Main disadvantage is that it is very
expensive.
• Redesign of code and rewriting code needs
test cases to be written again.
• Testers are required to have in-depth
knowledge of the code and programming
language as opposed to black box testing.
• Missing functionalities cannot be detected
as the code that exists is tested.
• Very complex and at times not realistic.
Differences Between White box and
Black Box
Validation Testing
• The process of evaluating software during
the development process or at the end of
the development process to determine
whether it satisfies specified business
requirements.
• It answers to the question, Are we building
the right product?
• Validation Testing ensures that the product
actually meets the client's needs.
Validation Testing V-Model
Validation Testing Types
• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• System Testing
• User Accepting Testing
Unit Testing
• It is an important type of validation testing. The
point of the unit testing is to search for bugs in
the product segment. Simultaneously, it
additionally confirms crafted by modules and
articles which can be tried independently.
Integration Testing
• This is a significant piece of the validation
model wherein the interaction between,
where the association between the various
interfaces of the pertaining component is
tried.
System Testing
• System testing is done when the whole
programming framework is prepared. The
principal worry of framework testing is to
confirm the framework against the
predefined necessities.
User Acceptance Testing
• During this testing, the tester actually needs
to think like the customer and test the product
concerning client needs, prerequisites,
business forms and decide if the product can
be given over to the customer or not.
Debugging
• In the context of software engineering,
debugging is the process of fixing a bug in the
software. In other words, it refers to
identifying, analyzing and removing errors.
• This activity begins after the software fails to
execute properly and concludes by solving the
problem and successfully testing the software
• . It is considered to be an extremely complex
and tedious task because errors need to be
resolved at all stages of debugging.
Debugging Process
• Problem identification and report
preparation.
• Assigning the report to software engineer
to the defect to verify that it is genuine.
• Defect Analysis using modeling,
documentations, finding and testing
candidate flaws, etc.
• Defect Resolution by making required
changes to the system.
• Validation of corrections.
Debugging Tools
• Debugging tool is a computer program
that is used to test and debug other
programs. A lot of public domain software
like gdb and dbx are available for
debugging.
• Some of the widely used debuggers are:
• Radare2
• Win Dbg
• Valgrind
Debugging vs Testing
Software Engineering
Part-II
Contents
• Software Quality
• Metrics for Analysis Model
• Metrics for Design Model
• Metrics for Source Code
• Metrics for Testing
• Metrics for Maintenance.
Software Quality
• Software quality is defined as a field of
study and practice that describes the
desirable attributes of software products.
There are two main approaches to
software quality: defect management and
quality attributes.
• Software Quality refers to both functional
quality and structural quality.
Software Functional Quality
• It reflects how well it satisfies a given
design, based on the functional
requirements or specifications.
• SFQ is pertaining to conformance to the
functional requirements.
• The SFQ is measured by the level of end
user satisfaction.
Software Structural Quality
• It deals with the handling of non-functional
requirements that support the delivery of
the functional requirements, such as
robustness or maintainability, and the
degree to which the software was
produced correctly
• Attributes are : Code testability,
Maintainability, understandability,
efficiency , security.
Software Quality Assurance
• Is simply a way to assure quality in the
software. It is the set of activities which
ensure processes, procedures as well as
standards suitable for the project and
implemented correctly.
• Software Quality Assurance is a process
which works parallel to development of a
software
• Software Quality Assurance is a kind of an
Umbrella activity that is applied
Software Quality Control
• Software Quality Control (SQC) is a set of
activities to ensure the quality in software
products.
• These activities focus on determining the
defects in the actual products produced.
• It involves product-focused action.
• Software Quality Control is commonly
referred to as Testing.
Software Quality Challenge
• In the software industry, the developers
will never declare that the software is free
of defects, unlike other industrial product
manufacturers usually do.
• The Key Reasons are :
 Product Complexity
 Product Visibility
 Product Development and Production
Process.
Metrics for Analysis Model
• Technical work in software engineering begins
with the creation of the analysis model. It is at
this stage that requirements are derived and
that a foundation for design is established.
• Therefore, technical metrics that provide
insight into the quality of the analysis model
are desirable.
• These Metrics are used to analyze the analysis
model with the objective of increased coding,
integration and testing effort.
• Ex: Function Point(FP ) and Lines of Code(LOC)
Metrics for Design Model
• The success of a software project depends largely
on the quality and effectiveness of the software
design.
• Hence, it is important to develop software metrics
from which meaningful indicators can be derived.
• Various design metrics such as architectural
design metrics, component-level design metrics,
user-interface design metrics, and metrics for
object-oriented design are used to indicate the
complexity, quality, and so on of the software
design.
Metrics for Source Code
• Halstead proposed the first analytic laws
for Computer science by using a set of primitive measures,
which can be derived once the design phase is complete
and code is generated. These measures are listed below.
• nl = number of distinct operators in a program
• n2 = number of distinct operands in a program
• N1 = total number of operators
• N2= total number of operands.
The Halstead Equation denotes the Coding metric for
software quality.
N = n1log2nl + n2 log2n2. [Program Length]
• V = N log2 (n1+n2). [Program Volume ]
Metrics for Testing
• Majority of the metrics used for testing focus on
testing process rather than the technical
characteristics of test. Generally, testers use
metrics for analysis, design, and coding to guide
them in design and execution of test cases.
• Halstead measures can be used to derive metrics
for testing effort. By using program volume (V)
and program level (PL),Halstead effort (e)can be
calculated by the following equations.
• e = V/ PL
• Percentage of testing effort (z) = e(z)/∑e(i)
Metrics for Maintenance
• For the maintenance activities, metrics have been designed
explicitly. IEEE have proposed Software Maturity Index (SMI),
which provides indications relating to the stability of software
product. For calculating SMI, following parameters are considered.
• Number of modules in current release (MT)
• Number of modules that have been changed in the current
release (Fe)
• Number of modules that have been added in the current release
(Fa)
• Number of modules that have been deleted from the current
release (Fd)
• Once all the parameters are known, SMI can be calculated by
using the following equation.
• SMI = [MT– (Fa+ Fe + Fd)]/MT.
Process Metrics
• To improve any process, it is necessary to measure its specified
attributes, develop a set of meaningful metrics based on these
attributes, and then use these metrics to obtain indicators in
order to derive a strategy for process improvement.
• Using software process metrics, software engineers are able to
assess the efficiency of the software process that is performed
using the process as a framework
Product Metrics
• Product metrics are software product measures at
any stage of their development, from
requirements to established systems. Product
metrics are related to software features only.
• Metrics are of 2 types :
▫ Dynamic metrics that are collected by
measurements made from a program in execution.
▫ Static metrics that are collected by measurements
made from system representations such as design,
programs, or documentation.
Dynamic Product Metrics
• Dynamic metrics are usually quite
closely related to software quality
attributes. It is relatively easy to measure
the execution time required for particular
tasks and to estimate the time required to
start the system. These are directly
related to the efficiency of the system
failures and the type of failure can be
logged and directly related to the
reliability of the software.
Static Product Metrics
• Static metrics have an indirect
relationship with quality attributes. A large
number of these matrices have been
proposed to try to derive and validate the
relationship between the complexity,
understandability, and maintainability.