Software Testing Strategy

Software engineering is the systematic approach to the development of software. Conventional software development standards follow a defined and formalized process referred to as the software development lifecycle. The software plan documentation provides detailed project details about the intended scope of the software as delineated by the project stakeholders. Software engineers are involved in the production and interpretation of this document to design the software, develop the software, test the software and maintain the software. Each stage of the software engineering process will be expanded on below.

The software design phase is where the software engineer interprets system and functional requirements to create a working model for how the software will be created. This will encompass interpreting the requirements and analysis that have been scoped and bounded during stakeholder discussion and formalized in the project plan. This will also include any database design requirements. Any estimation of resource requirements is part of completing this phase of the software engineering process.

The construction or software development phase involves the assembly of the development team to start the coding process. If the software engineer is the hands on type, he/she may participate in this process. The functional specification is interpreted to provide the guidelines for the interface design and the coding functional and procedures that will comprise the logic behind the application. Initial testing takes place at the developer level to ascertain that the build is functionally robust to commence the testing phase.

During the testing phase the software testing team subjects the software to a range of requirements tests outlined in the project plan, The software engineer may have helped to design the test cases which will be used to test the program. Functionality and usability are at the forefront of testers minds during this stage. If beta testing is involved, feedback will be sourced from contributing parties and used as the basis for improving the program.

After the initial build is released commercially to the end users or public, software maintenance forms part of the follow up process. This can be an ongoing process in response to an agreement with the client or as part of supporting the commercial application. The software engineer is often involved in assembling maintenance resources or providing the guidelines to developers or individuals involved in support activities.

Software engineers fulfill an important role in software development houses. The specialized skill sets they posses often mean they are in high demand.

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