Software Testing Explained: How QA is Done Today

Summary

The video explores the evolution of software testing, beginning with the Y2K problem and its global impact. It discusses the shift from outdated software development methods, like waterfall, to agile practices. Agile principles emphasize collaboration, quick feedback, and adaptability. The video also covers different testing methods, such as functional, black box, white box, and automated testing. While continuous testing is crucial in modern software development, the video highlights the role of automation and poses questions about the future of software testing and its potential for full automation.

Takeaways

• ⚠️ The Y2K problem stemmed from software recording only the last two digits of the year, causing fears of potential catastrophic failures in 2000.
• 👩‍💻 To prevent disaster, millions were spent on programmers to fix the Y2K issue, but in reality, it caused minimal disruption, even in countries that ignored it.
• 🚀 Software testing's origins date back to NASA's Project Mercury in the 1950s, where it was prioritized to ensure the success of critical missions.
• 🧑‍🔧 Historically, testing was not a major focus in software development until increased software complexity highlighted the need for quality control.
• 🖥️ The 1960s saw the rise of complex software development with IBM’s System/360, which required massive engineering efforts and highlighted the limitations of early programming practices.
• ⚙️ The 2001 Agile Manifesto revolutionized software development by promoting shorter cycles, collaboration, and flexible responses to change, influencing modern QA practices.
• 📝 Agile testing incorporates planning, writing test cases, and documenting capabilities, shifting testing from an afterthought to an integrated part of the development process.
• 🔍 Black box testing allows testers to assess software functionality without knowing the code, whereas white box testing evaluates the internal workings of the code itself.
• 🤖 Automated testing, especially vital for regression testing, allows for repeated, efficient testing but requires skilled testers to write scripts, making it a valuable but selective tool.
• ⏳ Emerging long-term challenges like the Y10K bug underscore the importance of software testing in ensuring future-proof technology, particularly as continuous testing evolves in DevOps.

Q & A

What was the Y2K problem and why was it significant?

The Y2K problem, also known as the Year 2000 bug, was a software issue where systems recorded only the last two digits of the year. This caused concern as the transition from 1999 to 2000 could result in unpredictable outcomes like system crashes or miscalculations. It was significant because it could have impacted critical systems worldwide, such as nuclear stations and financial transactions.

How did the Y2K problem influence software development and testing?

The Y2K problem increased awareness of the importance of software testing and quality assurance. It led to a massive global effort to update and fix legacy software systems, and it helped establish testing as a critical component of software development.

What role did Gerry Weinberg and his team play in the evolution of software testing?

Gerry Weinberg led software operations for NASA's Project Mercury and formed one of the first professional testing groups. His team set early standards for software testing, establishing that rigorous testing was essential for mission-critical projects like space exploration.

Why did software quality decline during the rapid expansion of the tech industry in the 1960s?

During the 1960s, companies like IBM introduced complex systems like System/360, which required large teams to develop. The limited pool of qualified programmers and the rapid demand for software led to the hiring of less experienced engineers, resulting in low-quality, bug-ridden software.

What is the Agile methodology, and how did it change software testing?

The Agile methodology emerged as a response to the rigid, linear Waterfall model of development. Agile encourages collaboration, short development cycles, and flexibility, allowing testing and development to occur simultaneously. This approach improved the speed and efficiency of software testing by making it an integral part of the development process.

What are the core elements of a test plan according to James Whittaker's 'ten-minute test plan' method?

James Whittaker's 'ten-minute test plan' includes three core elements: attributes (what the testing is supposed to check), components (the pieces of code or features being tested), and capabilities (what a user should be able to do with the software). This simplified approach helps create quick, focused test plans.

What are black box and white box testing, and how do they differ?

Black box testing evaluates the functionality of software without knowing the internal workings of the system, focusing on inputs and expected outputs. White box testing, on the other hand, examines the code itself, testing its structure and security. It requires deeper knowledge of the system and is often performed by programmers or technical testers.

What is regression testing, and why is automation useful for it?

Regression testing checks if new changes or updates to software affect existing functionality. Automated testing is useful for regression testing because it can run repetitive tests quickly and efficiently, ensuring that new updates don’t introduce new bugs without requiring manual labor.

What challenges do teams face when implementing test automation?

One of the main challenges with test automation is the need for highly skilled testers to write test scripts. Not all tests can be automated, and teams must carefully decide which tests are worth automating to balance efficiency with accuracy.

What is the Y10K problem, and how does it compare to the Y2K issue?

The Y10K problem refers to software limitations in recognizing dates beyond the year 9999. It poses challenges for long-term calculations, similar to the Y2K issue, though it is not yet an urgent concern. Like Y2K, it highlights the need for forward-thinking in software design.

Outlines

00:00

🚨 The Y2K Problem: A Global Digital Apocalypse Averted

The year 2000, commonly known as Y2K, posed a significant threat due to a software glitch where systems only recorded the last two digits of the date. This could have resulted in severe disruptions, such as planes crashing, life-support failures, and prison malfunctions. The issue sparked mass hysteria with cults predicting the end of the world and marketers selling survival kits. Fortunately, programmers managed to fix the bug in time. Despite minimal actual damage, the global response to Y2K led to a heightened awareness and importance of software testing, setting the stage for future advancements in quality assurance.

05:02

🔄 The Rise of Agile and the Evolution of Software Testing

In the early days of software development, testing wasn't a priority. However, NASA's Project Mercury in the late 1950s set a standard for professional testing. Over time, software development scaled rapidly, leading to low-quality, bug-ridden software, as seen in the Y2K crisis. The shift from traditional waterfall methods to agile practices in 2001 changed the landscape of testing. Agile’s principles emphasize flexibility, shorter development cycles, and closer collaboration between engineers and testers. Testing became integrated into the development process, with feedback loops becoming instant, ensuring faster bug fixes and higher-quality software.

10:03

⚡️ Agile Testing and Modern Software Development Practices

Agile software development introduced a more dynamic approach to testing. Traditional detailed test plans were replaced by simplified, effective strategies like James Whittaker’s ten-minute test plan, which focused on core elements such as testing objectives and product capabilities. Test cases describe specific tasks to ensure software functionality, with black-box testing used for user-facing features and white-box testing for internal code. Ad hoc testing, done without formal test cases, provides human intuition-driven insights. Automation testing also became crucial, particularly in regression testing, where scripts test software after updates. This shift streamlined testing, saving time and enhancing product quality.

⏳ Automation and Long-Term Thinking in Testing: Lessons from the Y10K Bug

Automation testing is now a vital part of agile development, providing scalability and efficiency in testing large, complex systems. Machines handle repetitive tasks, freeing human testers for more analytical work. However, challenges remain, like ensuring the long-term accuracy of systems, illustrated by the Y10K bug that could arise in future systems. As exemplified by Jeff Bezos’ 10,000-year clock project, long-term thinking is becoming essential in software testing. Continuous delivery practices, reliant on test automation, support this future-oriented approach, allowing software to evolve efficiently and sustainably over time. The goal is progress, not perfection, in testing's evolving role.

Keywords

💡Y2K problem

The Y2K problem, also known as the Millennium Bug, referred to the issue where software recorded dates using only the last two digits of the year. As a result, the transition from 1999 to 2000 was expected to cause errors, as systems would interpret the year 2000 as 1900. The video explains how this could have led to catastrophic events, like malfunctioning nuclear stations and life-support systems. However, due to extensive preparation, the crisis was largely avoided.

💡Waterfall method

The Waterfall method is a traditional software development approach that progresses in sequential stages, from design to implementation and testing. In the video, this method is criticized because it is inflexible—if a bug is found late in the process, the project may need to be restarted. It is contrasted with Agile, which embraces change and promotes collaboration between development and testing teams.

💡Agile manifesto

The Agile manifesto was created in 2001 by seventeen software development leaders as a response to the limitations of the Waterfall method. It emphasizes shorter development cycles, collaboration, and adaptability. The video highlights how Agile transformed software testing by integrating testers into development teams from the start, enabling faster feedback and bug fixes.

💡Blackbox testing

Blackbox testing refers to testing software without knowing its internal code structure. Testers focus on inputs and outputs, checking whether the software behaves as expected. The video mentions that this method is suitable for testing functionality, usability, and system stability, as the tester does not need to understand the internal workings of the program.

💡Whitebox testing

Whitebox testing involves examining the internal workings of the software, including its code and architecture. It requires testers who can read and understand the code. The video describes how whitebox testing is used to assess the quality of code and ensure that all components function together correctly, especially for security and performance.

💡Test automation

Test automation refers to the use of scripts and software tools to perform tests automatically. The video explains how this method became popular in the era of Agile and continuous delivery, allowing repetitive tasks like regression testing to be automated. Automation frees up human testers to focus on more complex tasks and ensures faster, more consistent testing across multiple devices and environments.

💡Continuous delivery

Continuous delivery is a development practice where software is built, tested, and released frequently in small increments. In the video, this concept is associated with DevOps and Agile methodologies, which rely on constant testing (including automated tests) to ensure that new features and updates are integrated smoothly without breaking the system.

💡Quality Assurance (QA)

Quality Assurance (QA) encompasses all activities aimed at ensuring that a product meets certain standards of quality, including planning, testing, and monitoring. The video traces the evolution of QA from simple software testing to a broader discipline that includes monitoring and control, particularly in Agile development environments.

💡Regression testing

Regression testing ensures that changes or updates to software do not introduce new bugs or break existing functionality. The video highlights how this type of testing, often repetitive and time-consuming, is well-suited to automation. Automated regression tests help maintain stability in fast-moving Agile projects where frequent updates are common.

💡Ad hoc testing

Ad hoc testing refers to unscripted and informal testing, where the tester improvises to find bugs. The video explains that while automation is key in Agile environments, ad hoc testing still plays a vital role in catching unexpected issues. This method is particularly useful when testers want to explore how the system behaves in unplanned scenarios.

Highlights

The Y2K problem threatened global systems, causing widespread fear of apocalyptic events.

In the 1980s, engineers discovered that software recorded only the last two digits of the date, leading to the Y2K issue.

The engineering effort invested in resolving Y2K popularized software testing.

NASA's Project Mercury in 1958 marked the first serious approach to software testing, led by Gerry Weinberg.

The industry's rapid growth in the 1960s led to low-quality, bug-filled software, contributing to the Y2K crisis.

The IBM System/360 was a groundbreaking but costly modular mainframe that became notorious for its long development time.

Fred Brooks, the architect of System/360, predicted there would be no 'silver bullet' for software productivity improvements.

Agile software development, introduced in 2001, aimed to solve inefficiencies in the traditional 'waterfall' method.

Agile methodology emphasizes collaboration, shorter cycles, and flexibility, changing the role of testers to work closely with engineers.

James Whittaker introduced the 'ten-minute test plan' method, simplifying test documentation at companies like Google and Microsoft.

Functional testing, or black-box testing, can be done without deep knowledge of the system's inner workings.

White-box testing involves examining the internal structure of software and is usually done by engineers familiar with the code.

Automated testing, once underutilized, has become integral to Agile's iterative processes, particularly for regression testing.

The rise of continuous delivery in Agile practices depends heavily on automated testing for rapid software updates.

The Y10K bug, a future issue like Y2K, could affect long-term software calculations, as seen with the 10,000-year clock project.

Transcripts

[Applause]

on January 1st of mm the world almost

ended well it did in some places a

nuclear station in Japan sounded an

alarm the Pentagon satellites stopped

processing information and all over the

world people became 100 years older

digitally at least sometime in the 80s

computer engineers discovered that

software had a drawback it recorded only

the last two digits of the date so the

transition from 1999 to 2000 wouldn't

make sense to it the outcome could be

unpredictable from planes falling from

the skies to life-support systems

failing to prisons releasing criminals

the apocalyptic event was called the

year 2000 or y2k problem as cult leaders

were preaching about the world's end

marketers were promoting survival kits

and ordinary people were building

bunkers millions of dollars were spent

on programmers hoping they could fix the

issue and they did most of us didn't

notice any chaos those countries that

decided to ignore the issue didn't

suffer any significant damage either but

all the engineering effort used for y2k

wasn't for nothing the bug had one big

benefit software testing became very

popular software testing basics how QA

is done today

[Music]

to understand how we arrived where we

are today let's travel a few decades

back historically testing hadn't been a

priority probably the only place where

was taken seriously in the old days was

NASA Project Mercury in 1958 signified

the beginning of the space race in its 5

years of existence Mercury launched

America's first satellite and sent Alan

Shepard into space Gerry Weinberg was

leading software operations for the

project and didn't have the typical

attitude to testing in a sense he was

way ahead of his time so we formed as

far as I know that the first real

professional testing group and existed

up to that time programmers were

expected well first of all they were

expected to write programs that didn't

have flaws on them Gerry's testing crew

set the standard an industry caught up

but not in the way it was intended and

so that was picked up by lots and lots

of managers all over the world and it

made it hire people who they didn't feel

were qualified to be programmers they

can hire missed testers in the words of

a computer science pioneer Edsger

Dijkstra the industry scale too quickly

at the dawn of software development back

in the 40s and 50s software was built by

those who would end up using it and on

the machines that would run the program

but that was before engineering was

commercialized in the 1960s IBM

introduced system/360 a legendary

mainframe computer built specifically to

be modular and compatible with any task

the cost and time it took to build or

just as legendary around a thousand

employees worked on the system for 10

years and the initial budget of 25

million dollars was raised to 5 billion

programs took ages to build companies

hired excessive numbers of Engineers to

speed up development but the pool of

qualified programmers was limited and

soon they ended up with low-quality

bug-infested software this was also the

reason why 2k happened in the first

place people were still using legacy

software developed decades ago by people

were unconcerned about the distant

future solving the crisis was on the

minds of developers and researchers

until the 90s in his famous article no

silver bullet IBM system/360 architect

Fred Brooks lamented how the growing

complexity of computer hardware was

disproportionate to engineering

practices not only are there no silver

bullets now in view the very nature of

software makes it unlikely that there

will be any no inventions that will do

for software productivity reliability

and simplicity with electronics

transistors and large scale integration

did for computer hardware we cannot

expect ever to see twofold gains every

two years it was like software

development had nowhere to grow turns

out he was wrong in 2001 seventeen

software development leaders created the

manifesto for agile software development

this new approach was a direct response

to the traditional method known as

waterfall that migrated from the old

manufacturing practices and waterfall

you work in stages that strictly follow

one another which is intuitive but risky

if or more correctly when a tester finds

a bug in the code design or even product

requirements the project has to start

all over again this also means that the

engineering and testing teams don't work

closely together agile is 12 principles

all come down to a few core ideas

embrace change stick to the shorter

cycle and collaborate more yes open

space offices likely became a trend due

to agile recommendations testers are now

the required members of the engineering

team who maintain the product quality

from the very start

now feedback exchanges instant and bug

fixes happen at the time of coding also

automated tests are way more widespread

testing became more than a routine task

of sorting through the code a new

process deserved the title of Quality

Assurance which also covers planning

monitoring and control here's how agile

teams are doing software testing today

planning is something considered anti

agile here's an approximate list of

things that should be recorded in a test

plan a document dictating the testing

strategy for the product but agile test

leaders are looking into simpler

alternatives and test plans were one of

the things that were really annoying me

about about Google they annoyed me at

Microsoft who they've annoyed me they've

always annoyed me this is James

Whittaker former engineering director at

Google and Microsoft and author of how

Google tests software he came up with a

hugely popular technique for writing

test documentation called the ten minute

test plan

James defined three core elements that a

test plan needs first are the attributes

these are the adjectives describing the

main purpose of testing what is testing

supposed to check then the components

what are we testing these are the nouns

describing pieces of code or features

finally we document capabilities here

you use verbs to explain what a user

should be able to do then we never built

a test plan in ten minutes but we did do

we did discover the things that are

absolutely important in a test plan and

we threw away the rest even the

minimalistic version of a test plan will

be enough to start a second stage which

is writing test cases and test scripts a

test case is a detailed description of

the task that would allow you to perform

the test and then determine if the

program passed or failed say your task

is to check what happens when a logged

user tries to book a hotel room the test

case will have information about the

steps you'll need to take conditions

that must be followed before you do the

test and the expected outcome this would

actually be an example of functional

testing a type of test performed when we

want to check how the software works in

terms of features there are a few types

of tests to know about functional

testing usually has an input what to do

and an output what we should expect this

testing can be done even by people who

have minimal knowledge about how the

system works from the inside which is

why it's also called blackbox testing

what else could you test using a black

box approach usability for example you

don't have to read code to understand if

the system is easy to use there's also

use case testing when you have to check

if the software will be

used as intended this would verify the

work of UX designers blackbox testing

will also be enough to check the system

stability and performance basically the

conditions under which it would or

wouldn't crash but often you need to

test the quality of the code itself and

its security how its smallest parts work

and how these parts work together this

is called white box testing and it's

either done by programmers who develop

this particular software or test

engineers who know how to code not all

tests need written cases sometimes tests

are done sporadically to save time or

simply to see what will happen if we

improvise this is called ad hoc testing

like a fire drill obviously this should

be done by a human tester because the

machine can't improvise like a human but

what can a machine do the hits and

misses of automated testing before the

agile manifesto emerged test automation

was a badly underused technique but it

makes perfect sense in the logic of

continuous iterative improvement you

write a test script once and run it

simultaneously on as many devices or

browsers as you want as many times as

you want and for as long as you can

leave your computer on here's an example

of an automated test checking system

response to invalid logins

and here are the reports it made using

it however can be challenging only

highly skilled testers can write test

scripts so project managers have to be

smart when distributing testing efforts

while a machine can't be trusted with

all tests in some situations it's a real

lifesaver in regression testing for

example regression testing aims to check

how the system works after changes it's

ineffective and totally unfair to make

people perform dozens of the same tests

every time you want to ship an update

automation testing is also one of the

pillars of continuous delivery the new

stage in the evolution of agile devops

practices are also dependent on

continuous testing embracing the long

term thinking there's a monumental

mechanical clock being built in the

Sandy habló mountain range of West Texas

right now sponsored by Jeff Bezos and

designed by American inventor danny

hills the so called 10,000 year clock

will chime every thousand years as a

symbol of long-term thinking and

optimism while making calculations for

the clock the design team was met with

some software limitations Microsoft

Excel didn't recognize the five digit

number as the date among computer

scientists the problem is called the Y

10k bug it's been an issue for many long

term analyses like the ones concerning

nuclear waste if people living in the

deck of millennium will still be using

Windows 10 this may cause a great

problem but most likely people won't

have to worry about that test automation

is the fastest growing area in QA today

and a long term investment for a

software project if we managed to

replace most routine testing tasks with

machines we can allocate more resources

to making software more user-friendly or

accessible or simply satisfying we can

also ensure quality in earlier stages

and go beyond classic QA towards more

analytical approaches like quality

engineering if there's anything we know

about testing is that the progress

matters not perfection what shape will

software testing take in the coming

years is complete automation even

possible let us know your thoughts in

the comments below

[Music]