Important Test Manager Interview Preparation Guide

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Effective software test managers not only understand the discipline of testing, but they are also able to manage and implement a testing process in their organizations. That requires team leading skills, communication skills, and being able to measure the testing team's return on investment.

System Testing follows much the same course (Design, Implement, execute and defect) but the intent or focus is very different. While Functional Testing focuses on discrete functional requirements System Testing focuses on the flow through the system and the connectivity between related systems. For example testing to ensure the application allows the entry, activation, and recovery of a new forum member . in this case we are testing to ensure the system supports the business. There are several types of System Testing, what is required for any given release should be determined by the Scope.
★ Security
★ Performance
★ Integration

Testing the features and operational behavior of a product to ensure they correspond to its specifications. Testing that ignores the internal mechanism of a system or component and focuses solely on the outputs generated in response to selected inputs and execution conditions. or Black Box Testing.

Retesting a previously tested program following modification to ensure that faults have not been introduced or uncovered as a result of the changes made.

Test which focus on the boundary or limit conditions of the software being tested. (Some of these tests are stress tests).

Performance testing focused on ensuring the application under test gracefully handles increases in work load.

Black-box tests conducted once the software has been integrated.

Checks for memory leaks or other problems that may occur with prolonged execution.

An approach to integration testing where the component at the top of the component hierarchy is tested first, with lower level components being simulated by stubs. Tested components are then used to test lower level components. The process is repeated until the lowest level components have been tested.

The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met.

A standard of measurement. Software metrics are the statistics describing the structure or content of a program. A metric should be a real objective measurement of something such as number of bugs per lines of code.

A fault in a program which causes the program to perform in an unintended or unanticipated manner.

The generation of source code.

The point at which some deliverable produced during the software engineering process is put under formal change control.

Good code is code that works, is bug free, and is readable and maintainable. Some organizations have coding 'standards' that all developers are supposed to adhere to, but everyone has different ideas about what's best, or what is too many or too few rules. There are also various theories and metrics, such as Maccabees Complexity metrics. It should be kept in mind that excessive use of standards and rules can stifle productivity and creativity. 'Peer reviews', 'buddy checks' code analysis tools, etc. can be used to check for problems and enforce standards.
For C and C++ coding, here are some typical ideas to consider in setting rules/standards; these may or may not apply to a particular situation:
- minimize or eliminate use of global variables.

The process of finding and removing the causes of software failures.

A measure of the logical complexity of an algorithm, used in white-box testing.

Testing employing software tools which execute tests without manual intervention. Can be applied in GUI, performance, API, etc. testing. The use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions.

Multi-user testing geared towards determining the effects of accessing the same application code, module or database records. Identifies and measures the level of locking, deadlocking and use of single-threaded code and locking semaphores.

A technique used during planning, analysis and design; creates a functional hierarchy for the software.

A document providing detailed instructions for the execution of one or more test cases.

★ Miscommunication or no communication - as to specifics of what an application should or shouldn't do (the application's requirements).
★ Software complexity - the complexity of current software applications can be difficult to comprehend for anyone without experience in modern-day software development. Multi-tiered applications, client-server and distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases, and sheer size of applications have all contributed to the exponential growth in software/system complexity. programming errors - programmers, like anyone else, can make mistakes.

A white box test case design technique that uses the algorithmic flow of the program to design tests.

Testing that verifies the program under test stores data files in the correct directories and that it reserves sufficient space to prevent unexpected termination resulting from lack of space. This is external storage as opposed to internal storage.

Black box testing - not based on any knowledge of internal design or code. Tests are based on requirements and functionality.
White box testing - based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application's code. Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths, conditions.
unit testing - the most 'micro' scale of testing; to test particular functions or code modules. Typically done by the programmer and not by testers, as it requires detailed knowledge of the internal program design and code. Not always easily done unless the application has a well-designed architecture with tight code; may require developing test driver modules or test harnesses.