5 Best Software Testing Practices

If you are a hardcore software tester, then probably you will be spotting bugs every single second of life. Yes! The experience is absolutely rewarding with respect to delivering a clean copy of your application to your client. When you test an application some bugs are too obvious, they appear crystal clear to the naked eye. Your designer might have misaligned the search box or disturbed the spacing between icons. Finding these is just a cakewalk especially if you have spent quality years of your life testing and looking for bugs. However, the challenge lies in unearthing those treacherous bugs which could mislead users and break the very cause of developing the application.

Be it experienced or newcomers, remembering a few tricks & techniques is all that it takes to be an efficient tester. Do a course in testing or get work experience; there are a few ground protocols which make testing easier than you could probably expect.
We are not going to talk about the technicalities of testing but about a few best practices which will help you be a good & proficient tester no matter how experienced you are!

Positive thinking

And by this we do not mean that you assume there will be no bugs in your application, we are asking you to do just the opposite. Once you have set your mind, you will find even the most difficult bugs within a matter of seconds. You need to bring your focus on to it. Just say to yourself that ‘Yes! There are bugs in this application and I’m going to find it all!’
You will actually feel like you are working on a mission and you will do all that it takes to make it a success.

Go beyond testing

Don’t just be a ‘come-test-submit-leave’ tester! Go beyond the boundaries of testing. That doesn’t mean you have to move on to another domain but just explore things beyond the limits of your very own testing techniques. If your manager says here’s the module go test, then don’t start testing it straightaway. Firstly jot down the scope of testing. Then learn how to analyze test results thoroughly. Maximize the test coverage so that you do not find yourself testing the same module a thousand times!
When you frame test cases categorize testing on the basis of valid and invalid condition testing. Then finally test an application for that which it is not supposed to be doing!

Jot down the new

You might come across various terminologies which might be quite new for you. In such cases pick your pen and jot it down. Who knows noting things might just give you a helping hand when you stuck with a bug for ages!

Do not test!

This may sound a bit contradictory to the topic we are discussing, but we meant that if you are a programmer then don’t test your own code because you will not find one! Every creator will find his work flawless of course. So if you are a tester cum programmer give your code to be tested by someone else. It will help you grow organically in both the domains you are handling.

Smart-work

This mantra is your key to efficiency. Don’t work like a log but like an ax that cuts the log. Keep your test cases ready, refer previous bug graphs, identify and group test cases before plunging into the testing mode.

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax!”

This quote by Abraham Lincoln is probably the best on smart work till date. So the less time you spend on doing unnecessary things the more focused will you be when attending a crucial task.

So all you got to do is to make sure that you are working in sync with your etched out schedule. Stay focused, plan correct, work smart and you will find a bug in no time!