CH05. L04. Test monitoring and control

Summary

This script delves into the crucial aspects of test progress monitoring and control within a project. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of a test team and leader, emphasizing the importance of test planning and its implementation. The video discusses various monitoring methods, from manual to automated tools, and the significance of test metrics to gauge progress. It also covers test control actions, including reactive and preventive measures, and concludes with the creation of a test summary report, adhering to IEEE829 standards, to communicate comprehensive findings and recommendations to stakeholders.

Takeaways

• 📈 **Test Progress Monitoring**: The test manager observes and compares the actual progress of test activities against the planned results.
• 🔍 **Monitoring Methods**: The choice between manual and automated tools for monitoring depends on the team size and project scale.
• 📊 **Test Metrics**: Eight key metrics are used for monitoring, including test case preparation, execution, defect density, and test coverage.
• 🔎 **Defect Information**: Monitoring helps in understanding the number of defects found, fixed, and the failure rate, which is crucial for quality assessment.
• 📝 **Test Environment**: The preparation of the test environment and its impact on the overall testing process is a monitored aspect.
• 📉 **Defect Density**: A metric that measures the number of bugs found relative to the lines of code, indicating software quality.
• 📚 **Test Coverage**: The extent to which test cases cover requirements, risks, or code is a critical metric for comprehensive testing.
• 🤔 **Subjective Confidence**: The level of confidence a tester has in the testing process, which can be an indicator of test quality.
• 🗓 **Test Milestones**: Monitoring includes tracking the dates of test milestones to ensure the project stays on schedule.
• 💰 **Test Costs**: Understanding the costs associated with testing can help in decision-making regarding further defect searching or test execution.
• 🛠 **Test Control**: After monitoring, identifying deviations from the test plan and implementing corrective or preventive measures is essential.
• 📋 **Test Summary Report**: A comprehensive report submitted to stakeholders, analyzing results, metrics, and providing recommendations for future actions.
• 📘 **IEEE829 Standard**: The test summary report follows the IEEE829 standard, ensuring a structured and standardized format.
• 📝 **Report Components**: The report is divided into eight parts, including identification, summary, variations, assessment, evaluation, activities summary, and approvals.

Q & A

What is the primary role of a test manager in the context of test planning?

The test manager is responsible for setting the test planning to be followed during the project and overseeing the activities related to it.

Why is monitoring test progress important?

Monitoring test progress is crucial for providing feedback on test activities, observing the progress of test planning activities, and comparing it to the actual plan results.

How does the choice of monitoring method depend on the team size?

For smaller teams, manual monitoring through documents, spreadsheets, or databases is feasible. However, larger teams working on larger projects require automated tools for efficient data gathering and monitoring.

What are the eight important points that test metrics measure during monitoring?

Test metrics measure the percentage of work done in test case preparation and execution, test environment preparation, defect information, defects density, defects found and fixed, failure rate and retest results, test coverage of requirements, risks, or code, subjective confidence level of testers, and test costs.

How does monitoring help in understanding the test cases' status?

Monitoring helps clarify the percentage of test cases that have been run, which ones have passed and failed, and provides an estimate of the work done in test environment preparation.

What is meant by defects density in the context of software testing?

Defects density refers to the number of found bugs in proportion to the number of lines of code in the software being tested.

What is the purpose of the test control stage after monitoring?

The test control stage involves identifying deviations from the test plan, deciding on recovery or preventive actions, and determining whether to correct issues or skip them based on their impact.

What are some common test control actions a manager can take?

Common test control actions include rescheduling testing, increasing the number of testers, re-ordering test priorities, and deciding which parts can be skipped without testing.

What is the significance of the test summary report?

The test summary report is important for submitting comprehensive reports to stakeholders, analyzing results and metrics, and setting recommendations for future actions.

What standard is commonly followed for the format of the test summary report?

The IEEE829 standard is commonly followed for the format of the test summary report.

Can you describe the eight parts of the test summary report as per IEEE829 standards?

The eight parts are: 1) Summary report identification, 2) Summary, 3) Variations, 4) Comprehensive assessment, 5) Overall status of incidents, 6) Evaluation, 7) Summary of activities, and 8) Approvals.