Testing Terms

A 

• abstract test case: See high level test case. 
• acceptance: See acceptance testing.
• acceptance criteria: The exit criteria that a component or system must satisfy in order to be accepted by a user, customer, or other authorized entity
• acceptance testing:  Formal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processes conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies the acceptance criteria and to enable the user, customers or other authorized entity to determine whether or not to accept the system. 
• accessibility testing: Testing to determine the ease by which users with disabilities can use a component or system. 
• accuracy: The capability of the software product to provide the right or agreed results or effects with the needed degree of precision.  See also functionality testing. 
• accuracy testing: The process of testing to determine the accuracy of a software product 
• acting (IDEAL):  The phase within the IDEAL model where the improvements are developed, put into practice, and deployed  across the organization.  The acting phase consists of the activities: create solution, pilot/test solution, refine solution and implement solution. See also IDEAL.
• action word driven testing: See keyword driven testing 
• actual outcome: See actual result.
• actual result: The behavior produced/observed when a component or system is tested. 
• ad hoc review: See informal review. 
• ad hoc testing:  Testing carried out informally; no formal test preparation takes place, no recognized test design technique is used,  there are no expectations for results and arbitrariness guides the test execution activity. 
• adaptability: The capability of the software product  to be adapted for different specified environments without applying actions or means other than those provided for this purpose for the software considered. See also portability. 
• agile manifesto: A statement on the values that underpin agile software development. The values are: 1. individuals and interactions over processes and tools. 2. working software over comprehensive documentation. 3. customer collaboration over contract negotiation. 4. responding to change over following a plan. 
• agile software development:  A group of software development methodologies based on iterative incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams.
• agile testing:  Testing practice for a project using  agile methodologies, such as extreme programming (XP), treating development as the customer of testing and emphasizing the test-first design paradigm. See also test driven development. 
• algorithm test:  See branch testing. 
• alpha testing:  Simulated or actual operational testing  by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers’ site, but outside the development organization. Alpha testing is often employed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing. 
• analyzability: The capability of the software product to be diagnosed for deficiencies or causes of failures in the software, or for the parts to be modified to be identified. See also maintainability. 
• analyzer: See static analyzer. 
• anomaly: Any condition that deviates from expectation based on requirements specifications,design documents, user documents, standards, etc. or from someone’s perception or experience. Anomalies may be found during,  but not limited to, reviewing, testing, analysis, compilation, or use of software products or applicable documentation.  See also bug, defect, deviation, error, fault, failure, incident, problem. 
• arc testing: See branch testing.  
• assessment report: A document summarizing the assessment results, e.g. conclusions,recommendations and findings. See also process assessment.
• assessor: A person who conducts an assessment; any member of an assessment team.
• attack: Directed and focused attempt to evaluate the quality, especially reliability, of a test object by attempting to force specific failures to occur. See also negative testing.
• attractiveness: The capability of the software product to be attractive to the user. See also usability. 
• audit: An independent evaluation of software products or processes to ascertain compliance to standards, guidelines, specifications, and/or procedures based on objective criteria, including documents that specify:  (1) the form or content of the products to be produced, (2) the process by which the products shall be produced , (3) how compliance to standards or guidelines shall be measured.
• audit trail: A path by which the original input to a  process (e.g. data) can be traced back through the process, taking the  process output as a starting point. This facilitates defect analysis and allows a process audit to be carried out. 
• automated testware: Testware used in automated testing, such as tool scripts.
• availability: The degree to which a component or system is operational and accessible when required for use. Often expressed as a percentage. 

B 

• back-to-back testing: Testing in which two or more variants of a component or system are executed with the same inputs, the outputs compared, and analyzed in cases of discrepancies. 
• balanced scorecard: A strategic performance management tool for measuring whether the operational activities of a company are aligned  with its objectives in terms of business vision and strategy. See also corporate dashboard, scorecard. 
• baseline: A specification or software product that has been formally reviewed or agreed upon, that thereafter serves as the basis for further development, and that can be changed only through a formal change control process. 
• basic block:  A sequence of one or more consecutive  executable statements containing no branches. Note: A node in a control flow graph represents a basic block. 
• basis test set:  A set of test cases derived from the internal structure of a component or specification to ensure that 100% of a specified coverage criterion will be achieved. 
• bebugging: See fault seeding. 
• behavior: The response of a component or system to a set of input values and preconditions
• benchmark test: (1) A standard against which measurements or comparisons can be made. (2) A test that is be used to compare components or systems to each other or to a standard as in (1).
• bespoke software:  Software developed specifically for a set of users or customers. The opposite is off-the-shelf software. 
• best practice:  A superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of an organization under given context, usually recognized as ‘best’ by other peer organizations. 
• beta testing: Operational testing by potential and/or existing users/customers at an external site not otherwise involved with the developers, to determine whether or not a component or system satisfies the user/customer needs and fits within the business processes. Beta testing is often employed as a form of external acceptance testing for off-the-shelf software in order to acquire feedback from the market. 
• big-bang testing:  A type of integration testing in  which software elements, hardware elements, or both are combined all at once into a component or an overall system, rather than in stages. See also integration testing.
• black box technique: See black box test design technique. 
• black box test design technique: Procedure to derive and/or select test cases based on an analysis of the specification, either functional or non-functional, of a component or system without reference to its internal structure.  
• black box testing:  Testing, either functional or non-functional, without reference to the internal structure of the component or system. 
• blocked test case:  A test case that cannot be executed because the preconditions for its execution are not fulfilled. 
• bottom-up testing:  An incremental approach to integration testing where the lowest level components are tested first, and then used  to facilitate the testing of higher level components. This process is repeated until the component at the top of the hierarchy is tested. See also integration testing.
• boundary value:  An input value or output value which is on the edge of an equivalence partition or at the smallest incremental distance on either side of an edge, for example the minimum or maximum value of a range. 
• boundary value analysis: A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed based on boundary values. See also boundary value.
• boundary value coverage: The percentage of boundary values that have been exercised by a    test suite. 
• boundary value testing: See boundary value analysis. 
• branch: A basic block that can be selected for  execution based on a program construct in which one of two or more alternative program paths is available, e.g. case, jump, go to, if-then-else. 
• branch condition: See condition. 
• branch condition combination coverage: See multiple condition coverage. 
• branch condition combination testing: See multiple condition testing.
• branch condition coverage: See condition coverage. 
• branch coverage: The percentage of branches that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% branch coverage implies both 100% decision coverage and 100% statement coverage. 
• branch testing: A white box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute branches. 
• buffer: A device or storage area used to store data temporarily for differences in rates of data flow, time or occurrence of events, or amounts of data that can be handled by the devices or processes involved in the transfer or use of the data.
• buffer overflow:  A memory access failure due to the attempt by a process to store data beyond the boundaries of a fixed length buffer, resulting in overwriting of adjacent memory areas or the raising of an overflow exception. See also buffer. 
• bug: See defect. 
• bug report: See defect report. 
• bug taxonomy: See defect taxonomy.
• bug tracking tool: See defect management tool. 
• business process-based testing: An approach to testing in  which test cases are designed based on descriptions and/or knowledge of business processes.

C 

• call graph: An abstract representation of calling  relationships between subroutines in a program. 
• Capability Maturity Model (CMM): A five level staged framework that describes the key elements of an effective software process. The Capability Maturity Model covers best practices for planning, engineering and managing software development and maintenance. See also Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).
• Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI):  A framework that describes the key elements of an effective product development and maintenance process. The Capability Maturity Model Integration covers best-practices for planning, engineering and managing product development and maintenance. CMMI is the designated successor of the CMM. See also Capability Maturity Model (CMM).
• capture/playback tool:  A type of test execution tool  where inputs are recorded during manual testing in order to generate automated test scripts that can be executed later (i.e. replayed). These tools are often used to support automated regression testing. 
• capture/replay tool: See capture/playback tool. 
• CASE: Acronym for Computer Aided Software Engineering. 
• CAST: Acronym for Computer Aided Software Testing. See also test automation.  
• causal analysis: The analysis of defects to determine their root cause. 
• cause-effect analysis: See cause-effect graphing.
• cause-effect decision table: See decision table.
• cause-effect diagram: A graphical representation used to organize and display the interrelationships of various possible root causes of a problem. Possible causes of a real or   14 potential defect or failure are organized in categories and subcategories in a horizontal tree-structure, with the (potential) defect or failure as the root node. 
• cause-effect graph: A graphical representation of inputs  and/or stimuli (causes) with their associated outputs (effects), which can be used to design test cases. 
• cause-effect graphing: A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed from cause-effect graphs.
• certification: The process of confirming that a component, system or person complies with its specified requirements, e.g. by passing an exam.
• change control: See configuration control. 
• change control board:  See configuration control board.
• change management: (1) A structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and  organizations from a current state to a desired future state. (2) Controlled way to effect a change, or a proposed change, to a product or service. See also configuration management.
• changeability: The capability of the software product to enable specified modifications to be implemented. See also maintainability. 
• charter: See test charter. 
• checker: See reviewer.
• checklist-based testing: An experience-based test design technique whereby the experienced tester uses a high-level list of items to be noted, checked, or remembered, or a set of rules or criteria against which a product has to be verified. See also experience-based testing.  
• Chow's coverage metrics: See N-switch coverage. 
• classification tree: A tree showing equivalence partitions hierarchically ordered, which is used to design test cases in the  classification tree method. See also  classification tree method.
• classification tree method:  A black box test design technique in which test cases, described by means of a classification tree,  are designed to execute combinations of representatives of input and/or output domains.
• clear-box testing: See white-box testing. 
• code: Computer instructions and data definitions expressed in a programming language or in a form output by an assembler, compiler or other translator. 
• code analyzer: See static code analyzer. 
• code coverage: An analysis method that determines which parts of the software have been executed (covered) by the test suite and which parts have not been executed, e.g. statement coverage, decision coverage or condition coverage.
• code-based testing: See white box testing.  
• codependent behavior: Excessive emotional or psychological dependence on another person, specifically in trying to change that person’s current  (undesirable) behavior while supporting them in continuing that behavior. For example, in software testing, complaining about late delivery to test and yet enjoying the necessary “heroism” working additional hours to make up time when delivery is running late, therefore reinforcing the lateness
• co-existence: The capability of the software product  to co-exist with other independent software in a common environment sharing common resources. See also portability. 
• commercial off-the-shelf software: See off-the-shelf software.
• comparator: See test comparator. 
• compatibility testing: See interoperability testing. 
• compiler: A software tool that translates programs expressed in a high order language into their machine language equivalents.
• complete testing: See exhaustive testing. 
• completion criteria: See exit criteria.  
• complexity: The degree to which a component or  system has a design and/or internal structure that is difficult to understand, maintain and  verify. See also  cyclomatic complexity. 
• compliance: The capability of the software product to adhere to standards, conventions or regulations in laws and similar prescriptions.
• compliance testing: The process of testing to determine the compliance of the component or   system. 
• component: A minimal software item that can be tested in isolation. 
• component integration testing: Testing performed to expose defects in the interfaces and interaction between integrated components. 
• component specification:  A description of a component’s  function in terms of its output values for specified input values under specified conditions, and required non-functional behavior (e.g. resource-utilization). 
• component testing: The testing of individual software components. 
• compound condition: Two or more single conditions joined by means of a logical operator (AND, OR or XOR), e.g. ‘A>B AND C>1000’. 
• concrete test case: See low level test case. 
• concurrency testing: Testing to determine how the occurrence of two or more activities within the same interval of time, achieved either by interleaving the activities or by simultaneous execution, is handled by the component or system. 
• condition: A logical expression that can be evaluated as True or False, e.g. A>B. See also test condition.
• condition combination coverage: See multiple condition coverage. 
• condition combination testing: See multiple condition testing. 
• condition coverage: The percentage of condition outcomes that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% condition coverage requires each single condition in every decision statement to be tested as True and False.  
• condition determination coverage:  The percentage of all single condition outcomes that independently affect a decision outcome that have been exercised by a test case suite. 100% condition determination coverage implies 100% decision condition coverage. 
• condition determination testing: A white box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute single condition outcomes that independently affect a decision outcome.
• condition outcome: The evaluation of a condition to True or False. 
• condition testing:  A white box test design technique in  which test cases are designed to execute condition outcomes. 
• confidence test: See smoke test. 
• configuration: The composition of a component or system as defined by the number, nature, and interconnections of its constituent parts. 
• configuration auditing: The function to check on the contents of libraries of configuration items, e.g. for standards compliance. 
• configuration control:  An element of configuration  management, consisting of the evaluation, co-ordination, approval or disapproval, and implementation of changes to configuration items after formal establishment of their configuration identification. 
• configuration control board (CCB):  A group of people responsible for evaluating and approving or disapproving proposed changes to configuration items, and for ensuring implementation of approved changes.
• configuration identification:  An element of configuration management, consisting of selecting the configuration items for a system and recording their functional and physical characteristics in technical documentation.
• configuration item:  An aggregation of hardware, software or both, that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management process.
• configuration management: A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, control changes to those  characteristics, record and report change processing and implementation status, and verify compliance with specified requirements. 
• configuration management tool:  A tool that provides support for the identification and control of configuration items, their status over changes and versions, and the release of baselines consisting of configuration items. 
• configuration testing: See portability testing. 
• confirmation testing: See re-testing. 
• conformance testing: See compliance testing. 
• consistency:  The degree of uniformity, standardization, and freedom from contradiction among the documents or parts of a component or system. 
• content-based model: A process model providing a detailed description of good engineering practices, e.g. test practices. 
• continuous representation: A capability maturity model structure wherein capability levels provide a recommended order for approaching process improvement within specified process areas. 
• control flow: A sequence of events (paths) in the execution through a component or system. 
• control flow analysis: A form of static analysis based  on a representation of unique paths (sequences of events) in the execution through a component or system. Control flow analysis evaluates the integrity of control flow structures, looking for possible control flow anomalies such as closed loops or logically unreachable process steps. 
• control flow graph: An abstract representation of all possible sequences of events (paths) in the execution through a component or system. 
• control flow path: See path. 
• conversion testing: Testing of software used to convert data from existing systems for use in replacement systems. 
• corporate dashboard:  A dashboard-style representation  of the status of corporate performance data. See also balanced scorecard, dashboard.
• cost of quality: The total costs incurred on quality activities and issues and often split into prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs and external failure costs.  
• COTS: Acronym for Commercial Off-The-Shelf software. See off-the-shelf software. 
• coverage: The degree, expressed as a percentage, to which a specified coverage item has been exercised by a test suite. 
• coverage analysis: Measurement of achieved coverage to a specified coverage item during test execution referring to predetermined criteria to determine whether additional testing is required and if so, which test cases are needed.  
• coverage item:  An entity or property used as a basis for test coverage, e.g. equivalence partitions or code statements. 
• coverage measurement tool: See coverage tool.
• coverage tool:  A tool that provides objective measures  of what structural elements, e.g.statements, branches have been exercised by a test suite.  
• critical success factor: An element which is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. They are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success. See also content-based model. 
• Critical Testing Processes:  A content-based model for test process improvement built around twelve critical processes. These include highly visible processes, by which peers and management judge competence and mission-critical processes in which performance affects the company's profits and reputation. 
• CTP: See Critical Testing Processes. 
• custom software: See bespoke software. 
• cyclomatic complexity: The number of independent paths through a program. Cyclomatic complexity is defined as: L – N + 2P, where  L = the number of edges/links in a graph , N = the number of nodes in a graph, P = the number of disconnected parts of the graph (e.g. a called graph or subroutine) 
• cyclomatic number: See cyclomatic complexity. 

D 

• daily build: a development activity where a complete system is compiled and linked everyday (usually overnight), so that a consistent system is available at any time including all latest changes. 
• dashboard: A representation of dynamic measurements of operational performance for some organization or activity, using metrics represented via metaphores such as  visual “dials”, “counters”, and other devices resembling those on the dashboard of an automobile, so that the effects of events or activities can be easily understood and related to operational goals. See also corporate dashboard, scorecard. 
• data definition: An executable statement where a variable is assigned a value.
• data driven testing: A scripting technique that stores test input and expected results in a table  or spreadsheet, so that a single control script can execute all of the tests in the table. Data driven testing is often used to support the  application of test execution tools such as capture/playback tools.  See also keyword driven testing. 
• data flow: An abstract representation of the sequence and possible changes of the state of data objects, where the state of an object is any of: creation, usage, or destruction.  
• data flow analysis: A form of static analysis based on the definition and usage of variables.  
• data flow coverage: The percentage of definition-use pairs that have been exercised by a test  suite. 
• data flow testing:  A white box test design technique in  which test cases are designed to execute definition and use pairs of variables. 
• data integrity testing: See database integrity testing. 
• database integrity testing: Testing the methods and processes used to access and manage the data(base), to ensure access methods, processes and data rules function as expected and that during access to the database, data is not corrupted or unexpectedly deleted, updated or created. 
• dd-path:  A path of execution (usually through a graph representing a program, such as a flow-chart) that does not include any conditional nodes such  as the path of execution between two decisions.
• dead code: See unreachable code. 
• debugger: See debugging tool. 
• debugging:  The process of finding, analyzing and  removing the causes of failures in software. 
• debugging tool: A tool used by programmers to reproduce failures, investigate the state of programs and find the corresponding defect.  Debuggers enable programmers to execute programs step by step, to halt a program at any program statement and to set and examine program variables. 
• decision: A program point at which the control flow has two or more alternative routes. A node with two or more links to separate branches.
• decision condition coverage:  The percentage of all condition outcomes and decision outcomes that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% decision condition coverage implies both 100% condition coverage and 100% decision coverage. 
• decision condition testing: A white box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute condition outcomes and decision outcomes.
• decision coverage: The percentage of decision outcomes that have been exercised by a test suite. 100% decision coverage implies both 100% branch coverage and 100% statement coverage.
• decision outcome: The result of a decision (which therefore determines the branches to be taken).
• decision table: A table showing combinations of inputs and/or stimuli (causes) with their associated outputs and/or actions (effects), which can be used to design test cases.
• decision table testing: A black box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute the combinations of inputs and/or stimuli (causes) shown in a decision table. See also decision table.
• decision testing: A white box test design technique in which test cases are designed to execute decision outcomes.
• defect: A flaw in a component or system that can cause the component or system to fail to perform its required function, e.g. an incorrect statement or data definition. A defect, if encountered during execution, may cause a failure of the component or system.
• defect based technique: See defect based test design technique.
• defect based test design technique: A procedure to derive and/or select test cases targeted at one or more defect categories, with tests being developed from what is known about the specific defect category. See also defect taxonomy.
• defect density: The number of defects identified in a component or system divided by the size of the component or system (expressed in standard measurement terms, e.g. lines-of-code, number of classes or function points).
• Defect Detection Percentage (DDP): The number of defects found by a test phase, divided by the number found by that test phase and any other means afterwards.
• defect management: The process of recognizing, investigating, taking action and disposing of defects. It involves recording defects, classifying them and identifying the impact.
• defect management tool: A tool that facilitates the recording and status tracking of defects and changes. They often have workflow-oriented facilities to track and control the allocation, correction and re-testing of defects and provide reporting facilities. See also incident management tool.
• defect masking: An occurrence in which one defect prevents the detection of another.
• defect report: A document reporting on any flaw in a component or system that can cause the component or system to fail to perform its required function. 
• defect taxonomy: A system of (hierarchical) categories designed to be a useful aid for reproducible classifying defects.
• defect tracking tool: See defect management tool.
• definition-use pair: The association of the definition of a variable with the use of that variable. Variable uses include computational (e.g. multiplication) or to direct the execution of a path
• deliverable: Any (work) product that must be delivered to someone other than the (work) product’s author.
• Deming cycle: An iterative four-step problem-solving process, (plan-do-check-act), typically used in process improvement.
• design-based testing: An approach to testing in which test cases are designed based on the architecture and/or detailed design of a component or system (e.g. tests of interfaces between components or systems).
• desk checking: Testing of software or a specification by manual simulation of its execution. See also static testing.
• development testing: Formal or informal testing conducted during the implementation of a component or system, usually in the development environment by developers.
• deviation: See incident.
• deviation report: See incident report.
• diagnosing (IDEAL): The phase within the IDEAL model where it is determined where one is, relative to where one wants to be. The diagnosing phase consists of the activities: characterize current and desired states and develop recommendations. See also IDEAL.
• dirty testing: See negative testing.
• documentation testing: Testing the quality of the documentation, e.g. user guide or installation guide.
• domain: The set from which valid input and/or output values can be selected.