[ Software Testing Club Blog | January 23, 2012 ]
Here are some quotes from actual test mission statements from the last 10 years. Test always is changing. Come to think of it, it’s only dead if it stands still.
2003
We discover and measure the quality of the system:
– to test everything is utopia,
– we should test something, something new, something old (and something blue?)
2006
The primary objective for testing is to reveal the quality of the delivery. The revealed quality is documented in test reports, that serves as suggestions for decisions on approval or rejection of the delivery. Key principles: early involvement, structured testing, based on V-model, documented, COTS tools (TestDirector)
2008
Testing is the structured activity of identifying the quality and improving the quality of the an IT-supported product or project
– Identification of quality = Preparing and executing a test activity
– Improving the quality = Evaluation, fixing and retesting of raised incidentTest provides information about the quality of IT-supported product or project, with that information:
– Quality of products can be improved
– Project decisions can be based on facts
– Processes can be investigated for improvement
2011
Testing has the mission of providing information to the project about the quality of the business features of the solution.
Testing is about learning about the quality solution, not about confirming, verifying or assuring.
Test is about adjusting, not about following a strict script and knowing everything up front.
Originally at my SoftwareTestingClub blog – more from my STC Blog here: All oracles are failable, Testing decommissioning of ICBMs and software and Testing a new version.
Wow, I don’t much care for any of those “missions”. They are all myopic (IMHO). I’m starting to wonder what the big deal is… testing is testing, the rest is context. Is it, maybe, that it’s a bunch of folks who haven’t thought much about testing outside of software that causes the problems?
What I am pretty sure of is that we ain’t figured it out yet, the propensity of testing in software today can be characterized as “The underinformed leading the undertrained to do the irrelevant” regardless of “mission statement.
Too bad I can’t get my Let’s Test Keynote on CNN or something. I think it might actually make a difference. http://www.letstest.com for the conference, scott-barber.blogspot.com/2012/04/lets-test-2012.html for my preview
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The “folks” behind the above is me :-).. over the last 10 years.
They where the best fit – in context…
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Not what I was trying to say… you aren’t the original author of those missions — or at least not the initial inspiration. I recognize several of them and personally know the people who composed and coined the originals…
… and I’m not even talking about them. I’m talking about the influential folks in the development industry & in corporations that did whatever they did to inspire a *need* for such missions to be necessary improvements to what was in place.
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