Building the Test Environment

The test environment is comprised of all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the testing of software. The environment includes the organization’s policies, procedures, culture, attitudes, rewards, test processes, test tools, methods for developing and improving test processes, management’s support of software testing, as well as any test labs developed for the purpose of testing software and multiple operating environments.

This category also includes assuring the test environment fairly represents the production environment to enable realistic testing to occur. Specifically this knowledge category will address:

Knowledge of Test Process Selection and Analysis

1. Concepts of Test Processes – the concepts of policies, standards and procedures and their integration into test process.
2. Test Process Selection – selecting test processes that lead to efficient and effective testing activities and products.
3. Acquisition or Development of a Test Bed/Test Lab/Test Processes – designing, developing, and acquiring a test environment that simulates “the real world,” including capability to create and maintain test data.
4. Test Quality Control – test quality control to assure that the test process has been performed correctly.
5. Analysis of the Test Process – the test process should be analyzed to ensure:

1. The effectiveness and efficiency of test processes.
2. The test objectives are applicable, reasonable, adequate, feasible, and affordable.
3. The test program meets the test objectives.
4. The correct test program is being applied to the project.
5. The test methodology, including the processes, infrastructure, tools, methods, and planned work products and reviews, is adequate to ensure that the test program is conducted correctly.
6. The test work products are adequate to meet the test objectives.
7. Test progress, performance, processes, and process adherence are assessed to determine the adequacy of the test program.
8. Adequate, not excessive, testing is performed.

6. Continuous Improvement – identifying and making improvements to the test process using formal process improvement processes.
7. Adapting the Test Environment to Different Software Development Methodologies – the test environment must be established to properly test the methodologies used to build software systems such as waterfall, web-based, object oriented, agile, etc.
8. Competency of the Software Testers – management must provide the training necessary to assure that their software testers are competent in the processes and tools included in the test environment.

Test Tools

1. Tool Development and/or Acquisition – understand the processes for acquiring and using test tools, methods, and understand the skills needed for test development, execution, tracking, and analysis tools. (Both manual and automated tools including test management tools).
2. Tool Usage – understanding of how tools are used for:

1. automated regression testing tools
2. defect management tools
3. performance/load testing tools
4. manual tools such as checklists, test scripts, and decision tables;
   traceability tools
5. code coverage
6. test case management tools
7. common tools to aid in testing such as an excel spreadsheet.

Management Support for Effective Software Testing

1. Management must create a “tone” that encourages software testers to do their work in an efficient and effective manner. This is accomplished through test policies, management support of those policies, open communication between management and testers, and enforcing compliance to policies and processes.
2. Test processes must align with organizational goals, user business objectives, release cycles and different developmental methodologies.

Bibliographic References

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