Agile testing begins at the onset of a development project and involves the ongoing integration between testing and development.
Traditionally, testing was a separate activity that came after the coding phase. In an agile test the testing is continuous, putting testers between product owners and developers. This creates an ongoing feedback loop which helps developers improve code.
Some feel agile testing and evaluation can be simplified by using a system of quadrants, which provide a taxonomy for tests that help testers answer important questions like which tests to run and how to run tests.
These quadrants typically look like this:
- Quadrant 1—tests that relate to code quality, including automated tests like unit and component tests.
- Quadrant 2—tests that focus on the business-related aspect of the product, typically manual and automated functional tests. These includes prototypes, functional tests and testing examples of scenarios.
- Quadrant 3—this quadrant provides feedback for tests in quadrants 1 and 2. The team, business owners and even customers use the product in a realistic way to test the user experience and measure business results.
- Quadrant 4—tests of nonfunctional requirements, including security, compatibility and stability. Tests used in quadrant 4 include stress, performance and infrastructure testing.
The benefits of agile testing are considerable. Besides saving time and money, agile testing reduces documentation and is flexible and highly adaptable to changes. It also provides a way for receiving regular feedback from the end user and provides better determination of issues through daily meetings.
An agile test plan should include:
- The scope of the testing
- Consolidating new functionalities to be tested
- Types of testing/Levels of testing
- Performance & load testing
- Consideration of infrastructure
- Risks Plan
- Planning of resources
- Deliverables & Milestones
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