What is Agile and how does it work with Testing
- 1. WHAT IS AGILE AND HOW DOES IT WORK WITH TESTING? WHAT IS AGILE? BASIC PRINCIPLES HOW DOES TESTING FIT?
- 2. WHAT IS AGILE? • AGILE IS A TERM FOR A DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLE USED TO DELIVER CHANGE QUICKLY • IT IS A FLEXIBLE WAY OF WORKING THAT ALLOWS THE CHANGE TO EVOLVE AS IT PROGRESSES • IT CAN RAPIDLY INTRODUCE SMALL INCREMENTAL CHANGES WHICH CAN BE REVISED QUICKLY IF UNSUITABLE • HOWEVER • IT IS RESOURCE INTENSIVE • REQUIRES CONSTANT COMMUNICATION AND DECISION MAKING • DOCUMENTATION STILL NEEDS TO BE PRODUCED AT THE END
- 3. BASIC PRINCIPLES • EVERYONE MUST KNOW WHAT THEIR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES ARE. • EACH DAY EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE CLEAR ON WHAT THEY NEED TO DO, WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES. • DEVELOPMENT SPRINTS MUST BE TIME BOXED. DEVELOPMENT AND DEFECT FIXING WILL OCCUR IN PARALLEL AND MUST BE FACTORED IN • SOMEONE MUST HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CONFIRM IF A CHANGE IS SUITABLE (PRODUCT OWNER). • THE TEAM NEED TO THINK AS MUCH ABOUT HOW A CHANGE CAN BE TESTED AS TO HOW IT CAN BE DEVELOPED • THE VOLUME OF CHANGE NEEDS TO BE REALISTIC
- 4. HOW DOES TESTING FIT? AS WITH ANY CHANGE LIFECYCLE THERE ARE DIFFERENT ASPECTS TO TESTING. THIS COVERS THE GENERAL AREAS; • FUNCTIONAL TESTING OF THE CHANGE • DONE BY TESTERS IN THE TEAM WORKING WITH THE DEVELOPERS AND BUSINESS ANALYSTS • REQUIRES A SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT AND DATA THAT CHANGES CAN BE DEPLOYED QUICKLY TO. • CAN BE COMBINED WITH BUSINESS / USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES
- 5. HOW DOES TESTING FIT? • REGRESSION TESTING • AFTER EACH ITERATION (EXCEPT THE FIRST) REGRESSION TESTING NEEDS TO BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE SUBSEQUENT CHANGES DON’T INTRODUCE NEW DEFECTS • IDEALLY SHOULD BE AUTOMATED TO REDUCE TIME REQUIRED TO UNDERTAKE • ALL PREVIOUS ITERATIONS SHOULD BE REGRESSION TESTED AT THE END OF EACH ITERATION • NON FUNCTIONAL TESTING • SIMILAR TO REGRESSION TESTING NEEDS TO BE UNDERTAKEN AFTER EACH SPRINT, IN PARALLEL TO NEW SPRINTS
- 6. HOW DOES TESTING FIT? • INTEGRATION TESTING • INITIALLY TESTED AS PART OF THE SPRINT, IN TERMS OF ENSURING THE CHANGE INTEGRATES CORRECTLY • SHOULD ALSO BE UNDERTAKEN AFTER A SPRINT TO ENSURE THE CHANGE DOES NOT IMPACT OTHER SYSTEMS • OPERATIONAL ACCEPTANCE TESTING • MUST STILL BE UNDERTAKEN PRIOR TO ANY CHANGES BEING DEPLOYED INTO PRODUCTION. • THIS SHOULD ENSURE THE CHANGES DO NOT BREAK ANYTHING IN PRODUCTION
- 7. OPTIONS? • WHERE POSSIBLE AUTOMATE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. THIS WILL REDUCE ANY EFFORT AROUND REWORK, BUT CAN BE EXPENSIVE • NON FUNCTIONAL TEST SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN ON FROZEN CODE SO ONCE NFT AND OAT HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN NO FURTHER CHANGES SHOULD BE APPLIED TO THAT CODE • YOU DON’T NEED TO COLLOCATE TEAMS BUT THEY MUST HAVE DEDICATED LINES OF COMMUNICATION, SUCH AS INSTANT MESSAGING OR VIDEO CONFERENCE
- 8. CHALLENGES? • SCOPE CREEP CAUSING ITERATIONS TO BECOME LONGER. PRIORITISE THE CHANGES AND DESCOPED FOR LATER ITERATIONS • NOT HAVING DEDICATED RESOURCES CAN RESULT IN DELAYS AND WASTED TIME AND EFFORT • ASSUMING NO DOCUMENTATION. DOCUMENTATION MUST BE PRODUCED SO YOU HAVE A BASELINE FOR ANY FUTURE PROJECTS TO START FROM • JUST FOCUSING ON FUNCTIONAL TESTING AND FORGETTING INTEGRATION, REGRESSION AND NFT