Understanding the Software Tester’s Job

In 2013, the global software testing services market was valued at US$41.84 billion. Estimates have now come in, and according to the Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB), the market’s value will have reached US$70.98 billion by 2018, nearly double the 2013 value. MSTB projects the annual growth rate at an average of 11.15%.

A Cyberattack to Protect From Cyberattacks

If companies want to protect their systems from a hacker, they have to think like one. Nothing puts a company’s IT infrastructure to the test more intensively than a simulated attack. Find vulnerabilities, fix them, launch an attack, and repeat. It’s the learning curve for basically every existing IT infrastructure today.

The Dilemma of Bug-Free Software

Resolving software bugs is arguably the most important task of a software developer. Only by adequate software testing can developers find bugs in the system and fix these errors. However, with one fix often comes another bug, and the linear process becomes a cycle. It's possible that these seemingly new bugs weren't caught during the pre-release phase.

Research shows that a well-equipped software developer can catch 95 percent of known bugs prior to a code's release. The catch rate has remained somewhat stagnant over the past two decades despite advancements in software development. While a bug-free release is achievable, it has proven to be as rare as a blue moon.

Your App and the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things—no, it’s not a random phrase—is a scenario in which people, animals, and even objects are provided with unique tools and the ability to transfer data over a network without the need for human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is something that app creators should constantly be aware of. With sensors and identifiers embedded practically everywhere, the world is becoming increasingly connected, and if your app isn’t able to keep up, well, that’s ultimately your fault.

The Code-Driven Approach to Automated Testing

Automated testing saves software developers the trouble of looking for bugs manually. Think of it as a bug zapper that does a better job of killing bugs than a fly swatter. However, the zapper is only one in a set of other common bug control solutions. The same can be said of automated testing with three well-known approaches.

First is the code-driven test (CDT). As far as the workflow goes, CDT is a "cycle of cycles" where the tester undertakes several processes and backtracks if the test fails or passes in one of the processes. The cycle can only be broken if the development stops. Here's a more convenient way to view CDT.

Automated Software Testing: Questions to Ask

For software developers, choosing between automated software testing and manual software testing to assess their program’s quality is an easy one, especially when they are under strict deadlines. After all, automated software testing gives software developers a clear picture of all the bugs or defects in the program in an efficient manner. Before any testing commences, however, it would be appropriate to ask these questions.

Who will perform the tests?

Before anything else, the party responsible for performing the automated tests should be identified. While software developers are technically capable of testing their own programs, they may not always have an objective point of view. For this reason, it is best to relegate the task to a third-party automated testing solutions provider.

What Part of Your Test System Should You Automate?

Choosing the right sections to automate in your test system will display the biggest benefits to your results and costs. In addition, know that the automation tools you decide to implement will rely heavily on what you choose to automate. With that in mind, here are three key thoughts for you to consider:

Tester skills

Automation requires an immense talent for writing scripts. Thus, a person with extensive software development and programming skills is an absolute necessity if you want to automate processes. Look for an individual or third-party company with plenty of experience in a specific development language and strong object-oriented programming (OOP) knowledge.