Read On To Know More About The Software Testing Cycle
All software that is developed needs to go through a rigorous testing process. This testing process also follows a systematic route or cycle. The software testing cycle is divided into five main stages and each stage is very important and needs to be complete in all respects before moving on to the next one. Unless the entire cycle is complete, the software cannot be released into the market as a complete product. This is very similar to the medical field, where extensive tests are run on either guinea pigs or rats before the same is tried out on humans. Since there could be some damages caused to the body, no medical scientist will release a drug into the market, without finding out whether or not it is a safe one.
The five stages that form the software testing cycle are: Pre-alpha, Alpha, Beta, Release candidate and Stable/Unstable. When the software that is developed crosses all five stages, it can be called a successful product. However, crossing all the five testing stages is by no means an achievement that comes easy.
The first two steps in the software testing cycle, namely the Pre-Alpha or Alpha are usually done in-house and are not available for public view or reviewing. Most of the bugs or problems that might arise in the software are sorted out and the programmer tries to move on to the next stage which is the Beta stage. This is a relatively more advanced stage of the software development. Here, most of the features of the software work properly. If at all this does not happen, corrective action that needs to be taken is first listed out; next this action is put into place and the program continues to be run. This is probably the most crucial phase of the software.
The next stage is reached when all the glitches are sorted out and the product is considered for release; this is why it is called the Release Candidate stage. Once this stage of the cycle is reached, there are probably little or no problems that can happen. If by some remote chance there are problems that are discovered at this stage, it only proves that the testing procedure that was followed was not as professional as it should have been. Hence this stage of the software testing cycle is entered into, only when all possible tests have been run to eliminate any possible bugs. The last stage of the software testing cycle is the one where the software is recognized as a proper product; in most cases, one recognizes it as a commercially viable product. When a product is considered stable, it means that it has gone through a proper process of testing and has been found to be worthy. The assessment and evaluation of the software is therefore a staged process of testing, documentation and further necessary action.
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