The Role of Checklists in Effective Application Testing

Description:

• Keep in mind that there is no golden rule that fit your Testing. If one rule is suitable for testing of one website, it is not true for another website. In this blog I’ve listed the Testing Checklist for Web Application.

What is a check list and what is it for?

• The checklist is an important component of software testing. It contains of a set of tests, after which you can create a judgment: prepared to release the product or not. And if it is not ready, say: what accurately wants to be improved.

Why cannot you be sure of the quality of the product without having a check list?

• You can test the software for a markedly long time, but never make sure that the whole thing is verified. To avoid this, you must adhere to a fixed set of tests that cover all the functionality.
• It cannot be concluded that the product is prepared for publication. Only on the basis of the check-list you can see in fraction, which part of the general functional works properly.
• Due to the boundaries of human memory and attention without a check list, it is practically not possible to say with 100 percent certainty which components of the product have already been checked and which still needs to be checked.
• Without a fixed set of tests, you cannot estimate the time required for testing.

The checklist is created based on the Software Necessities Specifications. Defining a set of necessary tests, you should follow three basic rules:

• The checklist should cover all the functionality of the product being developed. None of the claimed requirements in the specification should not be left without attention.
• The number of tests should be minimized. The more requirements are checked by one test - the better.
• A set of tests should not repeat the requirements, but check them.

When should I start creating a checklist?

• At the final stage of creating Specifications. The QA-expert's comments need to be discussed and made into requirements before the development process begins. Otherwise, the risk increases to spend incommensurably more resources on remaking already implemented modules or to issue a product that does not meet the customer's expectations.

How do we create and maintain checklists?

1. When a document with primary specifications is ready, a QA specialist is connected to the project. He gets acquainted with the document, makes suggestions, and asks clarifying questions.
2. After the specification is approved by the client, the tester begins to determine the set of tests needed to verify the product being developed. There are several ways to record tests. The most convenient form is a table containing 3 columns: Test ID - Steps of the test - Expected result.
3. Someone uses Excel to check-lists, someone Google Drive tables (more convenient option, the document is dynamically updated; all project participants have access to the current version). A special tool for creating and maintaining checklists. It allows all team members to not only see the current state of the check-list at any time, but also generate different types of reports on the results of passing the check-list in different configurations.
4. As soon as the product being developed is submitted for testing, the specialist proceeds to pass the check-list sequentially in all supported configurations. As a result of the examination, there is sometimes a need to supplement the check-list with tests, and then the tester extends it.
5. After all tests are completed, a bug report and a status report are prepared.
6. After eliminating / correcting the problems found during the testing, the specialist starts verification and regression testing, also fixing the results in the checklist.
7. The passed check-lists are stored. At any point in time, you can view a history that includes all the iterations of the test and reports on the results at each stage.