TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL TESTING

As a software engineer, your role in testing may range anywhere from basic unit testing responsibility to complete management of an automated test system. Because testing roles and styles vary so much, we have assembled several tips from our experiences that may help you in various testing situations:

• Spend some time designing your automated test system. A system that runs constantly throughout the day will detect failures quickly. A system that sends emails to engineers automatically, or sits in the middle of the room loudly playing show tunes when a failure occurs, will result in increased visibility of problems.
• Don’t forget about stress testing. Even though a full suite of unit tests passes for your database access class, it could still fall down when used by several dozen threads simultaneously. You should test your product under the most extreme conditions it could face in the real world.