The Holistic Approach to Software Testing is gaining significance in the fast-paced Agile culture given that it is an all-encompassing and exhaustive testing strategy. Holistic testing involves a series of tests that can offer long-term insights into the projected performance of a software product upon release to the potential users.
The holistic approach involves the use of various testing techniques during the software testing process. The test team performing holistic testing is focused on the testing and automation strategy, the test plans, and the overall testing project to enhance the quality of the software. Some of the key benefits of Holistic Approach to Software Testing have been enumerated below:
Enables Inclusive Testing of Software
A software testing company following the holistic approach can ensure inclusive testing of the software, extended throughout the development process. With such an approach, testing is not restricted only to one end of the software development cycle. A holistic approach provides for complete testing of multiple factors, with a professional team of testers carefully considering the best cases for automation, ascertaining the greatest value, assessing the highest risks, and addressing the issues affecting the software quality.
Facilitates the Creation of a Good Test Plan
When software is tested holistically, the Manager of the test team can create a good test plan that clearly outlines the objectives of the testing process. The plan defines the test environment, the use of resources in testing, responsibilities of testers working on the project, the testing methods to be used, test activity schedule, and the expected test coverage. Meticulous planning of the testing process streamlines the testing effort and enables the testers to achieve the pre-determined objectives.
Allows Effective Implementation of the Test Plan
Most of the software testing companies that adopt a holistic method of testing expect the testers to effectively implement the carefully prepared test plan for the successful completion of the testing process. Towards that end, testers take charge of routine tasks such as writing and executing the tests, reporting the test outcomes, and performing root cause analysis. During the process, testers also make sure that all the tests are performed according to the requirements highlighted in the test plan.
Amalgamates Various Testing Methodologies
The holistic testing approach amalgamates different testing methodologies including static testing, dynamic testing, exploratory testing, white-box testing, black-box testing, component interface testing, and visual testing, among others. Therefore, the holistic approach broadens the scope of the testing process, enabling the test teams to derive important information from various tests. This information is shared by the testers with the developers for improving the development process.
Provides Greater Test Coverage
With holistic testing, the coverage of software tests can be increased considerably to lay emphasis on quality. Some of the well-managed QA companies are showing a growing inclination towards a holistic approach that combines the efforts of skilled testers with the crowd-sourced community. This kind of approach can yield greater test coverage and unfold some other advantages such as a continuous testing mechanism and reduction in the costs of the testing project.
Leads to Cost-effective Bug Fixing
Since the holistic approach to software testing covers the entire software development process, it can lead to cost-effectiveness in bug fixing. As software testing services essentially pivot around the detection and fixing of bugs in software code, a holistic testing approach gives the testers the ability to easily fix small errors in the early stages of the software development lifecycle. Such a bug-fixing process substantially cuts the costs for a company since managing and fixing bugs at a later stage can be a long, time-consuming process that can affect the testing budget.
Guarantees Delivery of Quality Software
The main purpose of the testing activity is the assurance of the quality of the software under testing. The use of a holistic testing approach in Agile environments makes the accountability of delivering quality software a ‘shared’ responsibility of the developers and testers. The teams involved in the testing project can therefore, work out a plan for quality and testing at different stages of the development so that testers can verify and validate the software at each stage.
Related Blogs
In Conclusion:
A holistic approach to software testing does not place the responsibility of testing on the testers alone, prior to the release of the software product. Instead, it makes software testing a cooperative endeavour that involves the testing teams as well as the development teams. The adoption of the holistic approach aligns the testing activity with each software development stage so that there is a broad understanding among the teams about what tests have to be performed at a particular stage to eventually ensure the development of a high-quality software product. Work with one such organized and expert team – connect with us.
Comments(0)