Software Testing Dictionary - 10

Table testing. Test access, security, and data integrity of table entries. [William E. Lewis, 2000]

Test Bed. An environment containing the hardware, instrumentation, simulators, software tools, and other support elements needed to conduct a test [IEEE 610].

Test Case. A set of test inputs, executions, and expected results developed for a particular objective.

Test conditions. The set of circumstances that a test invokes. [Daniel J. Mosley, 2002]

Test Coverage The degree to which a given test or set of tests addresses all specified test cases for a given system or component.

Test Criteria. Decision rules used to determine whether software item or software feature passes or fails a test.

Test data. The actual (set of) values used in the test or that are necessary to execute the test. [Daniel J. Mosley, 2002]

Test Documentation. (IEEE) Documentation describing plans for, or results of, the testing of a system or component, Types include test case specification, test incident report, test log, test plan, test procedure, test report.

Test Driver A software module or application used to invoke a test item and, often, provide test inputs (data), control and monitor execution. A test driver automates the execution of test procedures.

Test Harness A system of test drivers and other tools to support test execution (e.g., stubs, executable test cases, and test drivers). See: test driver.

Test Item. A software item which is the object of testing.[IEEE]

Test Log A chronological record of all relevant details about the execution of a test.[IEEE]

Test Plan.A high-level document that defines a testing project so that it can be properly measured and controlled. It defines the test strategy and organized elements of the test life cycle, including resource requirements, project schedule, and test requirements

Test Procedure. A document, providing detailed instructions for the [manual] execution of one or more test cases. [BS7925-1] Often called - a manual test script.

Test Rig A flexible combination of hardware, software, data, and interconnectivity that can be configured by the Test Team to simulate a variety of different Live Environments on which an AUT can be delivered.[Testing IT: An Off-the-Shelf Software Testing Process by John Watkins ]

Test strategy. Describes the general approach and objectives of the test activities. [Daniel J. Mosley, 2002]

Test Status. The assessment of the result of running tests on software.

Test Stub A dummy software component or object used (during development and testing) to simulate the behaviour of a real component. The stub typically provides test output.

Test Suites A test suite consists of multiple test cases (procedures and data) that are combined and often managed by a test harness.

Test Tree. A physical implementation of Test Suite. [Dorothy Graham, 1999]

Testability. Attributes of software that bear on the effort needed for validating the modified software [ISO 8402]

Testability Hooks. Those functions, integrated in the software that can be invoked through primarily undocumented interfaces to drive specific processing which would otherwise be difficult to exercise. [Scott Loveland, 2005]

Testing. The execution of tests with the intent of providing that the system and application under test does or does not perform according to the requirements specification.

(TPI) Test Process Improvement. A method for baselining testing processes and identifying process improvement opportunities, using a static model developed by Martin Pol and Tim Koomen.

Thread Testing. A testing technique used to test the business functionality or business logic of the AUT in an end-to-end manner, in much the same way a User or an operator might interact with the system during its normal use.[Testing IT: An Off-the-Shelf Software Testing Process by John Watkins ]

Timing and Serialization Problems. A class of software defect, usually in multithreaded code, in which two or more tasks attempt to alter a shared software resource without properly coordinating their actions. Also known as Race Conditions.[Scott Loveland, 2005]