How has Software testing evolved over the Years?

Since it came to be known, software testing has gained a lot of importance in the software development life cycle as people are now aware of all the benefits that are accompanied with the process. Initially the process was optional and was done only when the whole development was over. Manual processes were more popular than the automation of the same. Huge amount of documentation was done by the software development team which was supposed to help the development team in future endeavors and a good gap always existed between the two teams. They were not given as much importance as deserved.

In the current day the software testing team has come a long way from the initial days. Advancement of the whole process has lead to the automation of many procedures which helps in saving time and money and increases the scope and coverage of each test.

1.     One of the major jobs of the software testing is to play the role of the advocate on behalf of the customers as they are the intermediate between the development team and the customers, thus helping the former to develop better projects.

2.    The software testing and development team now works hand in hand to deliver better products which satisfy the client more rather than them working separately which created a gap leading to delay in the completion of the work. The communication flows to and fro smoothly so as to make sure that both teams are on the same page.

3.     Rather than the previous customs where the software testing team elaborately recorded every finding of theirs with the hope of helping the development team in the future, they now just take down small notes. It turns out that the elaborate documentation of the procedure doesn’t help the development team in the future projects, as much as the software testing team thought it would be of.

4.   With the advancement of the technology and as people are understanding the fact the software testing is one of the major pillars of success of a software, more and more development of software testing is on the way which leads to the automation of many process. The software testing team is now automating the testing process as and when possible in order to save both time and money. This provides the software testing team with the time to invest in things which are more important or which need personal attention. The software testing team has also realized that manually checking each and every part of the developed software is not worth the trouble and diminishes the test coverage.

5.       Be it integration, functional, or load tests, all the likes are written by the developing team still today. The software testing team just provides them with the input so that the former can produce the right product. The software testing team has limited number of individuals and if they get involved in both writing and performing the tests, the deadline of the project can never be met.

6.   Once the codes are written by the development team, they are reviewed along with the software testing team in order to omit the flaws before running them.

7.   One of the major developments in software testing is the fact that tests are being performed after each stage of development rather than at the end of the total development of software.

This is in short a time lapse of the evolution that has occurred in the software testing industry over the past few years and the change is quite remarkable.