In this article, I introduce the acronym PURIFF as a concept containing all test categories to be conducted during the sprint. The Scrum team can use the PURIFF acronym as a checklist to determine which categories of tests are relevant in the given context.

The techniques I describe in this column apply to a fairly narrow range of problems and do not apply strictly to quantitative scenarios where a best choice is clearly defined. As you'll see, when a group of people select a "best" alternative, the meaning of best is defined by the technique used. Also, the techniques I describe here do not apply to collaboration scenarios where a group of people use discussion and negotiation to arrive at a consensus decision.

This article discusses the benefits that are available when you replicate parts of production databases for software development and software testing.

In the days of DevOps supported by approaches like continuous deployment, the concepts of continuous testing and test automation are essential to support the speed needed for delivering quickly solutions (and hopefully value) to the users. Some of the big questions in the software testing community are “How much should we automate our tests?” and “What tests should we run?”. The technique of Test Impact Analysis helps to answer to this question.

Distributed systems, both large and small, can be extremely challenging to test and debug, as they are spread over a network, run on computers that can be quite different from each other, and might even be physically located in different continents altogether.

The debate is always active in the software testing community about the usage of manual or automated testing. In this article, Art Trevethan explains that both have their value. He guides you on how to choose the test items to automate and proposes an approach to integrate test automation smoothly in your test plans.

An important part of software testing or coding effort is the ability to measure the progress. One technique for doing this is a technique called Earned Value Management, and we'll show you how easy it is to apply EVM to your own projects.

As software testers, it is very important to be able to understand your emotions. They can be a great heuristic which can guide your testing. But it is more than just that; understanding your emotions and the effect that they can have on others who you work with in your team is a key skill for all team members. One’s position within a team is often dictated by how well one can interact with others in the team. People who express extreme emotional reactions to events, particularly in cultures where this is not normal behaviour, risk becoming isolated and ineffective. This can be a particular problem for testers who are typically fewer in number, and frequently perceived to be the bearers of bad news. Paul’s behaviour above is not the best way for anyone to act.

In a perfect software development world, you have all the time and the resources available to test every aspect of your mobile apps. In reality, the time and resources for software testing are limited. In his book “Tap Into Mobile Application Testing“, Jonathan Kohl discusses how to define a strategy for mobile testing projects.