: means transfer of software from one system to other.

Platform Independence means it can execute on any type of platform.

Incremental Approach to software development has been formulated by watts Humphrey.

Clean Room Engineering is used to control the quality of incrementally developed software product and to certify the fitness of software products for usage at time of delivery.

CAPABILITY MATURITY MODEL (CMM):

CMM describes software process management maturity relative to five levels. They are: Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed, Optimizing

In the Initial level there is a lack of planning and the development of a clear-cut guide that software development teams can follow. Few details of a software process have been defined at this level. Good results are considered miraculous.

In the Second level i.e., the CMM Repeatable Process is characterized by a commitment to discipline in carrying out a software development project. And is achieved by: Requirements management, software project planning, software project tracking and oversight, software subcontract management, software quality assurance, software configuration management.

In the Third level i.e., the CMM Defined Process is to guide the structuring and evaluation of a software project. And is achieved by: Organizational process focus and definition, training program, software product engineering, inter-group coordination, peer reviews.

In the Fourth level i.e., the CMM Managed Process is for data gathering and analysis and managing software quality. And is achieved by: Quantitative process management, Software quality management.

In the Fifth level i.e., the CMM Optimizing Process is associated with defect prevention, automation of the software process wherever possible, and methods for improving software quality and team productivity and shortening development time.

occurs whenever a system component is evaluated to ensure that it satisfies system requirements.

consists in checking whether the product of a particular phase satisfies the conditions imposed at that phase.

This is characterized by genotypes and phenotypes.

A genotype provides information about a member of a population.

A phenotype characterizes the behavior of a population member.

Evolution pattern = where || why || what || when || how || by-whom.

This is the period of time beginning with a concept for a software product and ending whenever the software is no longer available for use.

          The Software life-cycle typically includes the following: Requirements Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing (Validation), [installation, operation,] maintenance, and retirement.

Several models (waterfall, spiral etc.) have been proposed to describe this process.

It represents the activities, their inputs and outputs and their interactions during the life-cycle.

What is Software Engineering?

“The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software; that is, the application of engineering to software.”

          “Software Engineering is the establishment and use of sound engineering principles in order to obtain economically software that is reliable and works efficiently on real machines.”

“Software Engineering is the specification, development and management of software systems.”

“A discipline whose aim is the production of quality software, delivered on time, within budget, and satisfying users' needs.”

What is a CASE tool?

CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering; it can be used to mean any computer-based tool for software planning, development, and evolution.

What is a Function Point?

Function points and feature points are methods of estimating the "amount of functionality" required for a program, and are thus used to estimate project completion time. The basic idea involves counting inputs, outputs, and other features of a description of functionality.

What is a Spiral Model?

Basically, the idea is evolutionary development, using the waterfall model for each step; it's intended to help manage risks. It doesn't define in detail the entire system at first.

The developers should only define the highest priority features. Define and implement those, then get feedback from users/customers (such feedback distinguishes "evolutionary" from "incremental" development).

With this knowledge, they should then go back to define and implement more features in smaller chunks.

What is a Spec Mark?

SPEC mark refers to the results of the first suite.

What is Hungarian Notation?

It is a naming convention for C code.

What is SEI Capability Maturity Model?

First step in improving the existing situation is to get management buy-in and management action to clean up the software management processes.

Second step (Integration) is to get everyone working together as a team.

Third step (Measurements) is to establish objective ways of understanding status and predict where things are going in your process.

What is a BUG?

A Fault, Failure, Mistake.

What is a Clean Room?

'Clean-room' is a software process based on mathematical verification of components and statistical system-level testing.

What is Personal Software Process?

PSP is a discipline for monitoring, testing, and improving your own Software Engineering works.

What are the two major types of testing?

The following are the two major groups of testing

i)                   Black Box testing (Functional Testing).

ii)                 White box testing (Glass Box Testing).

Black Box testing:

Black Box testing focuses on the functional requirements of the software i.e., Black Box testing enables the software engineer to derive sets of input conditions that will fully exercise all functional requirements for a program.

          The challenge in the black box testing is to cause failures in the module by designing test cases that, with an appropriate input and controlled externally conditions can produce an output that will clearly indicate a module failure.

Which Test Cases to Automate?

-Tests that need to be run for every build of the application.

-Tests that use multiple data values for the same actions (data driven tests).

-Tests that require detailed information from application internals.

Manual Testing:        

-Time Consuming, Low Reliability, Human Resources, Inconsistent.

Automated Testing:

-Speed, Repeatability, Reusability, Reliability and Programming Capabilities.

What are Checkpoints?

• Checkpoints enable you to compare the current behavior of your application to its expected behavior.

• check information about GUI objects. For example, you can check that a button is enabled or see which item is selected in a list.

• check the data content in a database.

• read text in GUI objects and in bitmaps, and enable you to check their contents.

• compare a "snapshot" of a window or an area in your application to an image captured in an earlier version.

Software Production Process:-

The process of building, delivering and evolving the software system from the inception of an idea all the way to the delivery and final retirement of the system is called a software production process.

The software production process may follow different methods of software development:

• Water Fall Model
• Prototyping Process
• RAD Model
• Incremental Model
• Spiral Model

Conception:-

SDLC starts with the conception phase. This phase is triggered by a competitor, a problem or an opportunity.

-The problem to be perceived; The goal to be achieved; The benefits from the solution; The scope of the project.

Initiation:-

The Software engineers work with users to carry out a macro level study of the users requirements. The software engineers define the various alternatives possible and the cost-benefit justification  of these alternatives.

Analysis:-

The software Engineers carry our a detailed study of the users requirement .They then arrive at the proposed system to be built .The model of this system is to be used to freeze all requirements before the next phase begins.

Design:-

In this phase the functional specifications are used for translating the model into a design of the desired system like data flow diagrams, decisions tables, databases etc.

Construction:-

This phases produces the actual code that will be delivered to the customer as the running system .Individual modules developed in  this phase are tested before being delivered to the next phase

Testing:-

All the modules that have been developed before are integrated or put together in this phase, and tested as a complete system. A system is tested for online response, volume of transactions, stress, recovery from failure, and usability.

Implementation:-

Implementation means converting a new system design into operation .This involves creating computer compatible files, training the operating staff, installing hardware and any other requirements.

Prototyping Process:-

The basic idea of prototyping model is instead of fixing requirements before design and coding can begin ,a prototype is built  to understand the requirements .the prototype is built with the know requirements  by this the user can be know how the system works 

RAD Model:-

Rapid Application development is high speed adaption of the linear sequential model in which rapid development is achieved by using component based construction, business model and data modeling etc.

Incremental Model: -

Incremental model delivers software in small but usable pieces called increments .In general each increment builds on those that have already been delivered. In this analysis, design, coding and testing are done for every model.

How can u measure the quality of your project?

SDLC models.

Explain Waterfall model and say the output in each phase?

Types of testing

Levels of testing

Unit testing:-

Generally the code which is generated is compiled. The unit test is white box oriented and the steps can be conducted in parallel for multiple components.

1.The module Interface  is tested to ensure that information properly flows into and out of the program unit under test.

2.The local data structure is examined to ensure that data stored temporarily maintains its intergrity during all steps in an algorithm’s execution.

3.Boundary conditions are tested to ensure that the module operates properly at boundaries established to limit and restrict processing

4.All the statements are executed at least once  and error handling paths are tested

Integration testing is a systematic technique for constructing the program structure .In integration test you have like

Top down :-

Top down integration testing with the main routine and one or two immediate subordinate routines in the system structure it is good to have modules are integrated as they are developed, top level interfaces are tested first

Bottom up :-

Bottom up  integration testing is the traditional strategy used to integrate the components of a software system into a functioning whole

Regressive testing :-

Retesting the already test modules and adding new modules .Regressive testing is an important strategy for reducing side effects. 

System Level Testing Performance testing:-

Performance testing is designed  to test the run time performance of software or hardware 

is a system test forces the software to fail in a variety of ways and verifies that recovery is properly performed .if recovery is automatic, re initialization , check pointing ,data recovery and restart are evaluated for correctness.

Security testing attempts to verify that protection mechanisms built into a system will in fact ,protect it from improper penetration.

when customer software is built for one customer ,a series of acceptance tests are conducted to enable the customer to validate all requirements. conducted by the end user rather than software engineers, an acceptance test can range from an informal test drive to a planned and systematically executed series of tests.

if software is developed as a product to be used by many customers ,it is impractical to perform acceptance tests with each one.Most software product builders use a process called alpha and beta testing to uncover errors that only the end user seems able to find

Test Case Design

A product can be tested in one of two ways

Knowing the specified function that a product has been designed to perform, tests can be conducted that demonstrate each function is fully operational. This is know as black box testing.

Knowing the internal workings of a product , tests can be conducted to ensure that the internal operation of the product performs according to specification and all internal components have been exercised. This is know as white box testing 

Using white box  testing methods,the software engineer can derive test cases that do the following:-

Guarantee that all independent paths with in a module have been executive once at least.

Exercise all logical decisions on their true and false sides

Exercise all loops ,data flow,conditional testing  are working         

Black box testing methods focus on the functional requirements of the software. It enables the software engineer to derive sets of input conditions that will fully exercise all functional requirements for a program .Black box testing is not an alternative to white box testing techniques .Rather it is a complementary approach that is likely to uncover a different class of errors than white box methods.  

Software Testing Fundamentals

Testing objectives include

1.    Testing is a process of executing a program with the intent of finding an error.

2.    A good test case is one that has a high probability of finding an as yet undiscovered error.

3.    A successful test is one that uncovers an as yet undiscovered error.

Testing should systematically uncover different classes of errors in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of effort. A secondary benefit of testing is that it demonstrates that the software appears to be working as stated in the specifications. The data collected through testing can also provide an indication of the software's reliability and quality. But, testing cannot show the absence of defect -- it can only show that software defects are present.

White Box Testing

White box testing is a test case design method that uses the control structure of the procedural design to derive test cases. Test cases can be derived that

1. guarantee that all independent paths within a module have been exercised at least once,
2. exercise all logical decisions on their true and false sides,
3. execute all loops at their boundaries and within their operational bounds, and
4. exercise internal data structures to ensure their validity.

The Nature of Software Defects

Logic errors and incorrect assumptions are inversely proportional to the probability that a program path will be executed. General processing tends to be well understood while special case processing tends to be prone to errors.

We often believe that a logical path is not likely to be executed when it may be executed on a regular basis. Our unconscious assumptions about control flow and data lead to design errors that can only be detected by path testing. Typographical errors are random.

Basis Path Testing

This method enables the designer to derive a logical complexity measure of a procedural design and use it as a guide for defining a basis set of execution paths. Test cases that exercise the basis set are guaranteed to execute every statement in the program at least once during testing.

Flow Graphs

Flow graphs can be used to represent control flow in a program and can help in the derivation of the basis set. Each flow graph node represents one or more procedural statements. The edges between nodes represent flow of control. An edge must terminate at a node, even if the node does not represent any useful procedural statements. A region in a flow graph is an area bounded by edges and nodes. Each node that contains a condition is called a predicate node. Cyclomatic complexity is a metric that provides a quantitative measure of the logical complexity of a program. It defines the number of independent paths in the basis set and thus provides an upper bound for the number of tests that must be performed.

The Basis Set

An independent path is any path through a program that introduces at least one new set of processing statements (must move along at least one new edge in the path). The basis set is not unique. Any number of different basis sets can be derived for a given procedural design. Cyclomatic complexity, V(G), for a flow graph G is equal to

1. The number of regions in the flow graph.
2. V(G) = E - N + 2 where E is the number of edges and N is the number of nodes.
3. V(G) = P + 1 where P is the number of predicate nodes.

Deriving Test Cases

1. From the design or source code, derive a flow graph.
2. Determine the cyclomatic complexity of this flow graph.
   • Even without a flow graph, V(G) can be determined by counting the number of conditional statements in the code.
3. Determine a basis set of linearly independent paths.
   • Predicate nodes are useful for determining the necessary paths.
4. Prepare test cases that will force execution of each path in the basis set.
   • Each test case is executed and compared to the expected results.

Automating Basis Set Derivation

The derivation of the flow graph and the set of basis paths is amenable to automation. A software tool to do this can be developed using a data structure called a graph matrix. A graph matrix is a square matrix whose size is equivalent to the number of nodes in the flow graph. Each row and column correspond to a particular node and the matrix corresponds to the connections (edges) between nodes. By adding a link weight to each matrix entry, more information about the control flow can be captured. In its simplest form, the link weight is 1 if an edge exists and 0 if it does not. But other types of link weights can be represented:

• the probability that an edge will be executed,
• the processing time expended during link traversal,
• the memory required during link traversal, or
• the resources required during link traversal.

Graph theory algorithms can be applied to these graph matrices to help in the analysis necessary to produce the basis set.

Loop Testing

This white box technique focuses exclusively on the validity of loop constructs. Four different classes of loops can be defined:

1.    simple loops,

2.    nested loops,

3.    concatenated loops, and

4.    unstructured loops.

Simple Loops

The following tests should be applied to simple loops where n is the maximum number of allowable passes through the loop:

1. skip the loop entirely,
2. only pass once through the loop,
3. m passes through the loop where m < n,
4. n - 1, n, n + 1 passes through the loop.

Nested Loops

The testing of nested loops cannot simply extend the technique of simple loops since this would result in a geometrically increasing number of test cases. One approach for nested loops:

1. Start at the innermost loop. Set all other loops to minimum values.
2. Conduct simple loop tests for the innermost loop while holding the outer loops at their minimums. Add tests for out-of-range or excluded values.
3. Work outward, conducting tests for the next loop while keeping all other outer loops at minimums and other nested loops to typical values.
4. Continue until all loops have been tested.

Concatenated Loops

Concatenated loops can be tested as simple loops if each loop is independent of the others. If they are not independent (e.g. the loop counter for one is the loop counter for the other), then the nested approach can be used.

Unstructured Loops

This type of loop should be redesigned not tested!!!

Other White Box Techniques

Other white box testing techniques include:

1. Condition testing
   • exercises the logical conditions in a program.
2. Data flow testing
   • selects test paths according to the locations of definitions and uses of variables in the program.

Black Box Testing

Black box testing attempts to derive sets of inputs that will fully exercise all the functional requirements of a system. It is not an alternative to white box testing. This type of testing attempts to find errors in the following categories:

1. incorrect or missing functions,
2. interface errors,
3. errors in data structures or external database access,
4. performance errors, and
5. initialization and termination errors.

Tests are designed to answer the following questions:

1. How is the function's validity tested?
2. What classes of input will make good test cases?
3. Is the system particularly sensitive to certain input values?
4. How are the boundaries of a data class isolated?
5. What data rates and data volume can the system tolerate?
6. What effect will specific combinations of data have on system operation?

White box testing should be performed early in the testing process, while black box testing tends to be applied during later stages. Test cases should be derived which

1. reduce the number of additional test cases that must be designed to achieve reasonable testing, and
2. tell us something about the presence or absence of classes of errors, rather than an error associated only with the specific test at hand.

Equivalence Partitioning

This method divides t