Testing in Agile Projects: Where Things Stand Today

By : Apex TG India Pvt Ltd

What Are Agile Projects?

• An attitude toward change

• An attitude toward software

• Some attitudes toward people

Changing Requirements Are Swell

Oh! Let’s add this!

Sure!Now that I see my

feature, I don’t like it. How should wechange it?

Software Can Be Soft

• Programs can become better, cleaner, and more capable

• They become changeable by being successfully changed

– not mainly by planning for change

• Frequent new requirements “train” the code and the coders

People

• Written documentation is a poor substitute for continuous conversation• Generalists trump specialists• Teams can self-organize• Trust

– “… if you ask for help, someone has to help you” - Lisa Crispin

Agile Methodologies

• Extreme Programming

• Scrum

• DSDM

• Evolutionary delivery and staged delivery share many characteristics

The Import

These attitudes toward change, software, and people are the context for testing in Agile projects

Four Types of Testing

Programmer Testing

I need an object that records eachtime segment

Test-driven designUnit testing

Programmer Testing

The test comes first

Programmer Testing

Code is written topass the test

Programmer TestingNot done?

Write another test…

Programmer Testing

And the code to pass it.All earlier tests continue to pass

Programmer Testing

Code awkward? Fix it now.Tests continue to pass

(Refactoring)

Programmer Testing

Eventually, the jelly is cooked, nailed down,and ready for further change

Status

Why was this decision made?

I need an object that records eachtime segment

Because of a Customer Representative

…I want to scribble notes aboutwhat I’m doing…

FIT Tests

Makes senseto the

customerrepresentative

Reminder,not

requirement

Easy to run

fit.c2.com

Test Results

Browser-Friendly

TestsFirst

Tests Make Change Smooth

smallchange

smallchange

smallchange

Has anythingbroken?

Has anythingbroken?

Has anythingbroken?

Tests Inform Programmers

• There are no explicit requirements or specifications

– so tests cannot check code against them

• Tests serve same goal as requirements or specifications

– they provoke programmers to write the right program

No way!

Requirements for Test Notation

• Provoking the right code

• Improving product conversation

– tests are something to talk about

– ground conversation in the concrete

– forging a common vocabulary

• Making possibilities more noticeable

– explaining to someone else supplements trying out working software

– concreteness sparks ideas