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Running head: Preparing a White Paper
System Testing
Draft
Figure 1: https://www.indicatorwarehouse.com/the-importance-of-testing-your-day-trading-system/
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PREPARING A WHITE PAPER
Lama Alshuaibi
IT 335
February 3, 2016
Word Count: 1330
“On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.”
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School of Business Administration
PREPARING A WHITE PAPER
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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 4
The Challenge System Testing Method:............................................................................. 5
System Testing Method: ..................................................................................................... 6
How The System Testing Method Solve The Challenge: ................................................... 9
Conclusion: ....................................................................................................................... 10
References………………………………………………………………………………..11
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Abstract
Testing is a very precarious aspect in software products. As customers become more and
more urbane due to technology complexity, the software business on the other hand has become
tremendously competitive. The quality or standard of software may seem like a less complex
concept in literature level, though it is not straightforward in practice. Due to rapid changes of
the software requirements, projects are increasingly becoming undermanned and behind the
calendar. This document gives the reader an understanding of system testing. It also allows
readers to understand the challenges that businesses could face if they do not have an efficient
integrated system. The purpose of the system testing is to assess the compliance of the system
with the specified requirements. System testing will test if the system is integrated by testing the
software groupings and whether they are working consistently. It will also test hardware
components and whether they are compatible to the software units. Also, it will provide solutions
to the challenges that the system or application may face.
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The Challenge:
Generally, any network seeks to increase volume of users into its network to increase
business in its platform. The challenge that needs to be addressed by this test is system capacity
and system overload risks. Additionally, the superiority and efficiency of such a software testing
is largely dependent on quality of testing procedures applied. Practically, it may be difficult to
test software entirely. It is important for system developers to test the capacity that the system
can comfortably handle and provide efficient services as required. System developers must also
evaluate the volume of traffic that the system can handle before it reaching the breaking point
and safe usage points. System overload will also lead to system failure and stability of the system
(Wallen 2016, p. 56).
The most common problem with testing of the system is that most of the attempts to test
the system do not recognize that people who "use" the system have a different expectation of the
system, and will differently use the "integrations" according to these expectations and their
business needs (Wallen 2016, p. 72).
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Four key challenges to efficient system testing
i)
Completing the test is impossible
ii)
Testers misallocate resources because they fall from processes of the company myths
iii)
Groups of tests operate under multiple missions, often conflicting, rarely articulated
iv)
Groups of tests often lack skilled programmers and a vision of good projects, which
would maintain the testers of contested programming.
System Testing Method:
System testing is the type of test that checks the behavior of a complete and fully
integrated software product based on the software requirement specifications document (SRS).
The primary objective of this test is stress testing of the system. This is meant to evaluate the
amount of load that the system can handle in case of excess user traffic and provide ways to
increase volume and boost system handling. This test is performed only after the test of
integration of the system is complete when both functional & non-functional requirements are
checked. In the System Stress Testing the capacity of the system is measured to evaluate the
maximum amount of traffic it can effectively handle at any given time.
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The software testing is done after the production of the code (Cem 2013, p. 35). The
definition of the term testing is a crucial factor to consider. However, this stage seems trivial to
some people. Testing entails an execution of system software with the intention of getting the
fact whether the software is functional. However, the process of testing may be cumbersome and
expensive in some instances. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to test multiple
software systems and get the correct specifications. As a result, the testing procedures ought to
be well set in order to easily identify when things go wrong within the software system. Software
system is tested using two major components:
i) Integration Testing- This is done to ensure that the system and all the programs perform
as per the intended specifications of the design
ii) Functional Testing- It is done to ascertain whether the system functions according to the
required specifications
During the testing procedure, the integration test is done in a top- down method. This
approach is helpful in getting the errors that arises due to module interactions. The test cases are
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formed by applying the design description as the input text. Several errors noticed during
integration are as a result of inaccurate interfaces among the modules. This is because the
modules are already unit tested. Therefore, the test cases should be focused ion highlighting
these error types (Wallen 2016, p. 47).
The functional testing is usually done after the integration tests. The major emphasis in
this form of testing is to ensure that the system functions according to the Functional
Specification. In short, functional testing purposes to identify input combinations as well as
faulty conditions. Since this is not practicable, the testing must be done under minimal cost
consideration. Therefore, any form of testing must be done with proper risk management
procedures (Cem 2013, p. 38).
There exists some indispensable software system testing questions. Some of the questions
include, quality of the product (software), management of the risk, criterion for releasing, and the
surety or correctness of the testing approach. The other challenge is the decision on when to
terminate the testing processes. However, measurement may provide a solution to some of these
challenges (Cem 2013, p. 54). Nonetheless, we could get overwhelmed once we start thinking
about what is measurable. This is because anything can actually be measured. Therefore, we
have to create measurement priorities since measuring anything is not practical.
Testing Method: Stress Testing
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Stress testing is an extreme and intense testing on the system to determine stability and
capacity of the system i.e. how many users it can handle effectively without breaking. It tests the
system beyond normal operational capacity of the system and results are recorded.
This will enable the system developers to determine the breaking points. The system
hardware is tested under extreme levels of stress to ensure the system is stable under normal
operations. This will include tests on workload, types of tasks, memory use, thermal load, time
speed and voltages.
The software stress test will test the system for robustness, availability under heavy
network load. This is meant to ensure the system can handle extreme traffic and determine
breaking points where the software components are likely to crash.
How The System Testing Method Solve The Challenge:
The stress testing will enable developers identify the breaking points in order to
determine safe limits. The stress testing will be able to determine system capacity overload
points. The stress test will enable the organization IT department to mathematically compute
accurate breaking point and safe level operation limits to enable administrators handle system
overloads before they cause system failure (Dempster 2014, p. 74).
It will also assist administrators to evaluate whether the system is meeting its intended
specifications. The stress test will also help administrators identify the modes of failure that are
likely to happen due to system overload. The test will also establish the stable operation level of
the whole system or part of the system outside normal operating conditions (Fuchs 2013, p. 200).
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Conclusion:
The software development world remains an area with less focus from the experts, which
presents plenty of risks for organizations seeking to develop a system network or application.
This is may be attributed to less software achievement processes in several companies. The
existing approaches to testing are insufficient compared to the rise in demand for quality
software. Therefore, the place in software testing or development must be expanded (Wallen
2016, p. 98).
The most successful companies in the world use system testing methodology. There are
some challenges that affect system testing, which are mentioned in this document. Also, there are
some techniques that can solve these problems and ensure that there is a successful integrated
system in the company.
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References
Cem Kaner, (April, 2013). “Fundamental Challenges in Software Testing.” Pdf. (2013).
Retrieved from http://kaner.com/pdfs/FundamentalChallenges.pdf
The source discusses on evaluated system test techniques and the challenges that may be
experienced from using these techniques.
Dempster, F. N. (2014). Synthesis of Research on Reviews and Tests. Journal of Software
Research and Testing, 48 (7), 71–76.
The journal provides information on organizations that have tested various system test
techniques and recommends the best practices.
Fuchs, L. S. (2013) Effects of Systematic Formative Evaluation: A Meta- analysis. Exceptional
Software, 53, 199–208.
The document discusses the various advantages and challenges that organizations can benefit
from by testing the system, identification of errors and updates before system launch. This
enables administrators to be prepared for any eventualities and also make the system more
efficient.
How to write a good white paper. (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2016,
http://www.slideshare.net/slidale/how-towriteagoodwhitepaper
The document I used as a sample of how to write a white paper with the steps.
Walen Peter, (2016). “Integration testing: What are the Challenges?” Tech Target. Retrieved
from http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/answer/Integration-testing-What-arethe-challenges
The file provides information on integration testing methods and how to determine the best
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model depending on type of system.
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