Work Product: Developer Test
This artifact encompasses the work traditionally thought of under the following categories: Unit Testing, much of Integration Testing, and some aspects of what is most often referred to as System Testing.
Purpose

The purpose of the Developer Test is to provide the implementation of a subset of required tests in an efficient and effective manner.

Relationships
RolesResponsible: Modified By:
Input ToMandatory: Optional:
  • None
External:
  • None
Output From
Description
Brief Outline

Each Developer Test should consider various aspects including the following:

  • The basic computer hardware requirements; for example, Processors, Memory Storage, Hard-disk Storage, Input/ Output Interface Devices
  • The basic underlying software environment; for example, Operating System and basic productivity tools such as e-mail or a calendar system
  • Additional specialized input/output peripheral hardware; for example, Bar-code scanners, receipt printers, cash draws, and sensor devices
  • The required software for the specialized input/ output peripheral hardware; for example, drivers, interface and gateway software
  • The minimal set of software tools necessary to facilitate test, evaluation and diagnostic activities; for example,  memory diagnostics, automated test execution, and so forth
  • The required configuration settings of both hardware and software options; for example, video-display resolution, resource allocation, environment variables, and so on
  • The required "preexisting" consumables; for example, populated data sets, receipt printer dockets, and the like.
Properties
Optional
PlannedYes
Key Considerations
Most of the Developer Tests are created in the same timeframe as the software components that need to be tested. The tests driven by Change Requests are developed after the components have been developed, and most of the times are short-lived if their goal is only to reproduce a defect in a more controllable environment.
Tailoring
Representation Options

Developer Tests may have the properties listed in the table below. The level of formality for Developer Tests varies, so some of the following information might be missing or embedded in the implementation. In general, the larger and more critical the component under test is, the more effort needs to be put into maintaining the developer tests.

Property Name 

Brief Description 

Name  An unique name used to identify this Developer Test. 
Description  A short description of the contents of the Developer Test, typically giving some high-level indication of complexity and scope. 
Purpose  An explanation of what this Developer Test represents and why it is important. 
Dependent Test and Evaluation Items  Some form of traceability or dependency mapping to specific elements such as individual Requirements that need to be referenced. 
Preconditions  The starting state that must be achieved prior to the Developer Test being executed. 
Instructions   Either the step-by-step instructions for executing the manual test, or the machine readable instructions that, when executed, stimulate the software in a similar manner to the actions that would be undertaken by the appropriate Actor, human or otherwise. 
Observation Points  One or more locations in the Developer Test instructions where some aspect of the system state will be observed, and usually compared with an expected result. 
Control Points  One or more locations in the Developer Test instructions where some condition or event in the system may occur and needs to be considered in regard to determining the next instruction to be followed. 
Log Points  One or more locations in the Developer Test instructions where some aspect of the executing test script state is recorded for the purpose of future reference. 
Postconditions  The resulting state that the system must be left in after the Developer Test has been executed. 


The overall goal is to implement a simple and efficient developer testing framework. For the "one time only" tests, most of the documentation overhead should be avoided. Special attention should be given to the tests that will be used as regression tests for subsystems or the more "volatile" components, in terms of documentation, maintainability, efficiency, effectiveness and robustness.

More Information
Concepts
Guidelines