Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Development

    Industry Seeks Software Testing Breakthrough

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    November 21, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Developers need to test early and often if they want to deliver quality code, according to experts. With that in mind, tool makers and developers are welcoming the idea of a breakthrough in the testing arena.

      ThoughtWorks, a consultancy known for its work in agile computing, told eWEEK of its plans to enter the product business with a functional testing tool named Tide.

      The notion behind Tide comes from the need to manage functional tests independent of the way developers write software, said Neville “Roy” Singham, founder and chairman of ThoughtWorks. That idea is something ThoughtWorks worked on with Ward Cunningham, who invented the concept and created Fit, the Framework for Integrated Testing.

      “On the surface, it sounds excellent,” said Andy Glover, president of Stelligent, another agile development consulting firm. “The hook, of course, is the integration with development. Just like with Fit, developers have to then create the back-end code to actually run the specifications, which oftentimes becomes the bottleneck.”

      Cyndi Mitchell, managing director of ThoughtWorks Studios, the London-based product arm of ThoughtWorks, said the company is applying its more than 10 years of production experience with agile development to Tide, which is expected in February 2008.

      “Were creating a tool geared toward making functional tests long-lived assets,” Mitchell said. The tool will be geared toward “polyskilled” teams where business analysts writing business requirements will work with developers and testers, and new tests will be generated from the requirements.

      Tide will “sit above the functional testing level” and will make tests derived from functional testing tools, she said. As a first phase, Tide will support the open-source Selenium test tool for Web applications.

      Click here to read more about ThoughtWorks “Tide” testing product.

      Targeting early testing is key and is a different approach than companies like Mercury Interactive, now owned by Hewlett-Packard, have traditionally taken, Glover said.

      “Testing early is always a good thing and is one of the central tenets of agile software development, especially lean development. You test in quality,” he said. “It must be built in, and testing up front uncovers those issues. This sort of tool would be excellent in the hands of domain experts, customers, etc., working in conjunction with development. The evolution of the specification is quite helpful in delivering value to stakeholders quickly.”

      Cunningham said ThoughtWorks “has a great deal of experience using Fit and Fit-like acceptance testing frameworks on real projects.” He said independence is important for functional tests.

      “Someday, every successful system migrates to new technology and one must face the question, What exactly does this system do?” he said. However, “enlightened testers have always been asking to be involved throughout every stage of a project. Fit, and, presumably, ThoughtWorks support for Fit, gives them a way to create tangible artifacts with value now and into the future from this collaboration.”

      Carey Schwaber, an analyst with Forrester Research, said using Fit helps pull testing earlier in the life cycle by dividing responsibility for test automation between technical resources like developers and non-technical resources like testers and business analysts.

      “Tech-savvy team members create and maintain the test infrastructure, while business-savvy resources use this infrastructure to define test cases,” Schwaber said. “This results in test scripts that last longer and are easier to maintain when necessary.

      “The division of labor is also crucial to the success of small, cross-functional teams—including but not limited to agile teams—that dont have dedicated test automation engineers, or even dedicated testers,” she said.

      Jerry Rudisin, CEO and president of testing tool maker Agitar Software, said, “Tools like Fit and Concordion are increasingly popular among cutting-edge testers because they allow the QA [quality assurance] engineers to focus on the scenarios that need to be tested and they leave the job of writing the fixtures that implement the tests to the developers.”

      Rudisin added that there are a number of such open-source efforts, “but thus far there hasnt been a sophisticated commercial offering that would offer the rich reporting and management that QA organizations expect and require from their traditional tools. But a bigger obstacle than reporting is that such tools require a change in how the development team operates. Most development teams already say they are stretched trying to make their current schedules. Where will they find the extra time needed to create the fixtures?”

      Joe Ponczak, co-founder of testing tool maker Codign Software, said: “I like Fit. I think it is easy to use, versatile and, like you said, brings the tester closer to the developer. I believe that Fit is unique in the industry, but I dont believe that any tool will, by itself, solve the software-testing dilemma. Its ultimately a process problem—Fit will require assistance from development, take time away from development tasks, and ultimately change as often as requirements and code change.”

      Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis in programming environments and developer tools.

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×