Agile Testing is a type of incremental testing model used for software testing. It comprises of several stages of testing that are incremental in nature and have rapid cycles. Each test result is built upon the previous functionality.
Before given a green light, each test goes through a rigorous quality control process. Commonly, the agile testing model is used for apps that are time critical. Several different types of agile testing models are being used around the world. Here, you will find all the relevant information on agile testing models and its types:
Agile Testing Methodology
In case you are wondering what Agile Testing is, it is an ideal way to wrap a software before delivery. In other words, the developers play, run, evaluate and improve a software before delivering it to the client. In simple words, the Agile is a concept where software development and testing occur simultaneously. The software is presented as a packaged product to buyers just as any other commodity would. The roots of Agile testing can be found in the Waterfall method. During the 80s, the IT industry decided to initiate the software coding and testing phase in a sequence. For instance, the development will be a step by step approach that’d lead to implementation, verification and eventually improvement to the final product.
In Agile testing, developers also act as testers as they need to ensure that efficient production doesn’t get hampered. It will if developers keep refining the code before the forwarding it to the testing team. This team will then try to break it in as many ways as possible before they send the damage report back to the division team. Essentially, this two-step process requires money and time and often results in a division between both teams. To eradicate this, testers must think like developers and vice versa. This process is known as the unified vision for delivering the final product. As such, the more a product is tested, the better the chances of it getting approved.
Product Backlog
The second step is the direct result of the initial step i.e. the discovery. The product backlog is nothing more than a wish list of useful features that you intend to include in the testing process. The owner of the product will work with the client to make a priority list and will determine the list of expected features. These will then be elaborated, tested, developed and finally delivered. While your team is at it, it will remain focused on delivering the features offering best value before moving on to the lesser valuable features. Maintaining a proper sequence often works well in this approach.
Repetition.
Once you’ve ensured that your team has understood the vision, and a high-value backlog is ready, the team will move on to the next level that is the time boxed repetitions called the Sprints. Primarily, Sprint is a set of fixed product backlogs delivered between one or more week time. Keep in mind that the delivery schedule of sprint depends on the size of the overall project.
The Continuum Cycle
Though, your team should continue delivering the sprints to keep the customer satisfied. Based on customer demands and requirements, each sprint should contain improvements based on the client feedback. Essentially, these are user reviews that your customer provided for the previous iterations. It also includes beta testing of the said program. Simply put, the continuum cycle is the continuation of delivering the sprints with each package covering improvements over the previous models.
There is little doubt that incorporating Agile testing model into your software development will have a huge impact on the overall success margin of your program. It will also have an equal impact on your team’s ability to look into the software, remove various bugs and fixes. Overall, it’ll help them improve the product in the following sprint during the development process.
Best Practices For Agile Testing
To make the most of agile testing, the following best practices will become handy.
- Firstly, you should develop a strong Quality Assurance process. Conduct regular workshops on QA to allow your testers to improve their technical skills and coordination with developers.
- Organize and implement proper testing techniques, leverage technical diagrams, mind map and application models.
- No matter how much testing you do, 100% testing of any software is not possible. Introduce a risk-based approach where you’ll determine what tests should be automated. Just automate the most urgent business cases.
- Lastly, always utilize visualization for scaling your agile testing process to get the most out of it.
