Evolution of Software Testing

Evolution of Software Testing

1. In the early days of software development, software testing was considered only a debugging process for removing errors after the development of software

2. Debugging oriented phase(Before 1957)

   • early period of testing
   • basics were unknown
   • term used for testing was checkout
   • Debugging was a more general term
   • Till 1956, no clear distinction between software development, testing, and debugging.
   • Programmers test the program until they were sure that all bugs were removed

3. Demonstration oriented phase (1957–78)

   • term ‘debugging’ continued in this phase
   • Charles Baker pointed out that the purpose of checkout is to demonstrate the correctness according to the mentioned requirements.
   • scope of checkout of a program increased from program runs to program correctness
   • purpose of checkout was to show the absence of errors.
   • no stress on the test case design

4. Destruction oriented phase (1979–82)

   • described as the revolutionary turning point in the history of software testing.
   • Myers changed view as - ‘testing is to show the absence of errors’ to ‘testing is to fi nd more and more errors.’
   • separated debugging from testing
   • importance to effective testing in comparison to exhaustive testing
   • importance of early testing was also realized in this phase

5. Evaluation oriented phase (1983–87)

   • if the bugs were identified at an early stage of development, it was cheaper than to debug them in later stages
   • stresses on the quality of software products such that it can be evaluated at every stage of development
   • early testing concept was established in the form of verifi cation and validation activities
   • In 1983, guidelines by the National Bureau of Standards were released to choose a set of verifi cation and validation techniques

6. Prevention oriented phase (1996 onwards)

   • early detection of bugs in earlier phases, we can prevent the bugs in implementation or further phases.
   • bugs can also be prevented in other projects with the experience gained in similar software projects
   • The prevention model includes test planning, test analysis, and test design activities playing a major role,

7. Process oriented phase (1988–95)

   • testing was established as a complete process rather than a single phase in SDLC
   • testing process starts as soon as the requirements for a project are specified and it runs parallel to SDLC
   • The model for measuring the testing process is known as Testing Maturity Model (TMM) like (Capability Maturity Model)CMM
   • The evolution of software testing was also discussed in three phases, namely Software Testing 1.0, Software Testing 2.0, and Software Testing 3.0

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