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.NET interview questions: -Show us with explanation of V-model in testing?

By Shiv Prasad Koirala in .Net
Jan 5th, 2012
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If you are senior software professional this .NET interview questions may come across to check your skills on testing. If you new to this question then just go through it before the interview and if you are aware of it just revise it.

This type of model was developed by testers to emphasis the importance of early testing. In this model testers are involved from requirement stage itself. So below is the diagram which shows how for every stage some testing activity is done to ensure that the project is moving as planned.

For instance,

In requirement stage we have acceptance test documents created by the testers. Acceptance test document outlines that if these test pass then customer will accept the software.

In specification stage testers create the system test document. In the coming section system testing is explained in more elaborate fashion.

In design stage we have integration documents created by the testers. Integration test documents define testing steps of how the components should work when integrated. For instance you develop a customer class and product class. You have tested the customer class and the product class individually. But in practical scenario the customer class will interact with the product class. So you also need to test is the customer class interacting with product class properly.

In implement stage we have unit documents created by the programmers or testers.

Lets try to understand every of this testing phase in more detail.

Unit Testing

Starting from the bottom the first test level is "Unit Testing". It involves checking that each feature specified in the "Component Design" has been implemented in the component. In theory an independent tester should do this, but in practice the developer usually does it, as they are the only people who understand how a component works. The problem with a component is that it performs only a small part of the functionality of a system, and it relies on co-operating with other parts of the system, which may not have been built yet. To overcome this, the developer either builds, or uses special software to trick the component into believe it is working in a fully functional system.

Integration Testing

As the components are constructed and tested they are then linked together to check if they work with each other. It is a fact that two components that have passed all their tests, when connected to each other produce one new component full of faults. These tests can be done by specialists, or by the developers.

Integration Testing is not focused on what the components are doing but on how they communicate with each other, as specified in the "System Design". The "System Design" defines relationships between components.

The tests are organized to check all the interfaces, until all the components have been built and interfaced to each other producing the whole system.

System Testing

Once the entire system has been built then it has to be tested against the "System Specification" to check if it delivers the features required. It is still developer focused, although specialist developers known as systems testers are normally employed to do it.

In essence System Testing is not about checking the individual parts of the design, but about checking the system as a whole. In fact it is one giant component.

System testing can involve a number of specialist types of test to see if all the functional and non-functional requirements have been met. In addition to functional requirements these may include the following types of testing for the non-functional requirements:

Performance - Are the performance criteria met?

Volume - Can large volumes of information be handled?

Stress - Can peak volumes of information be handled?

Documentation - Is the documentation usable for the system?

Robustness - Does the system remain stable under adverse circumstances?

There are many others, the need for which is dictated by how the system is supposed to perform.

Acceptance Testing

Acceptance Testing checks the system against the "Requirements". It is similar to systems testing in that the whole system is checked but the important difference is the change in focus:

Systems testing checks that the system that was specified has been delivered. Acceptance Testing checks that the system will deliver what was requested.

The customer should always do acceptance testing and not the developer. The customer knows what is required from the system to achieve value in the business and is the only person qualified to make that judgment. This testing is more of getting the answer for whether is the software delivered as defined by the customer. It's like getting a green flag from the customer that the software is up to the expectation and ready to be used.