Building software can be like creating a work of art sometimes. It requires creativity in design, and plenty of craftsmanship to do well. However, over the years, the methods of testing have evolved greatly, and this short blurb focuses on one of the current favorites, the “𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠” methodology.

As you probably know, Testing is not a phase, but an ongoing activity. all stakeholders including the developers are part of the agile testing method, which results in shortened feedback time. In agile software development in itself driven by testing from the early sprints itself.

“Pair testing” is a notable feature in today’s Agile testing method, where a member of the QA team works closely with a member of the development team to iron out the defects found during each sprint. These informal pairs work together as and when required, speeding up the debugging process effectively. To further strengthen its effectiveness, the team collaborates with the end-user to gather feedback after the completion of each sprint cycle.

Among the key benefits of the “whole-team approach” to product development are the enhanced communication and collaboration within the team, the enabling and best use of the various skillsets that are found within the team for the benefit of the project, and perhaps most importantly, making quality the responsibility of every member of the team.

At the best, Agile development is robust and proactive. Agile testing is robust and energetic the relatively mundane, predictable modules that need testing can easily automated. These include the common regression tests, unit tests, high traffic pages, cross-browser tests, and data-driven tests.

However, it is an important responsibility of the QA team to effectively prioritize the tests that can automated while those such as usability tests, one-off tests, testing the brand new features, and exploratory tests should not automated as they are specific in nature and cannot be reliably carried out by a machine.

These prioritized automated tests, then used by both the development as well as the QA teams. In addition, the QA team enhances the quality of the delivery by implementing performance tests and security tests as they see fit. At times, these tests carried out by specialized members of the QA team.

In the meantime, unit testing generally carried out exclusively by the development team and the responsibility of the entire product does not lie with the developer or the QAE, but with each and every member of the team. Along with their formal expertise, each team member brings in his or her own individual strengths to the table; all of which efficiently used to achieve the common goal of a perfect software product that can implemented at the customer site.

Most importantly, working in collaboration, instead of doing so in rigid isolation, brings about the best in the whole team, in record time. The active participation of a representative from the customer ensures that there are no miscommunications between requirements and products. Good communication among all, from the inception to the completion of the project, ensures that much time and money saved and a great piece of software created.

Authored by Dhara Jayasinghe @ BISTEC Global