Role of Software Tester

Test Engineer Roles and Responsibilities:

In an IT Industry there is a designated role for each employee based on what part he is about to play in software development life cycle, here is the list of Roles and Responsibilities of a Test Engineer or Independent Validation and Verification Engineer or Tester. Some of the Roles and Responsibilities are collectively done with non testing resources. Most of the Roles are common but there are slight difference from organization to organization or from project to project.

In an agile or in waterfall model responsibility and roles are same but the time of accomplishing the task or timing of start and end may vary. Here is an exhaustive list of Testing Resource duty to be carried out in an IT Industry based on my experience and knowledge, if you these traits then you will be able to fulfill the Roles and Responsibilities of a Tester, Test lead in any project or organization:

1. Understanding the requirement - Generally done with Development team in the presence of Business Analyst
2. Get the query clarification done either technical or functional - Prepare query tracker and get it answered from Developer or Architect, Test Manager, Business Analyst
3. Understanding the Test Plan and Test Strategy document available for the project - Test Plan and Test Strategy is prepared by test manager or test co-ordinator or test lead in discussion with Architect, Dev Project Lead and Project Manager, in some cases BA is included for review
4. Knowing different teams like Development Lead, Project/Module Lead, Project Manager, Test Manager, Onsite Co-ordinator, Off-shore team, Non-functional testing team, Configuration Management Team, Respective developer
5. Understanding basic Non Functional Requirements is added plus
6. Test Scenario preparation and getting it reviewed by Peers, Test Lead
7. Test Case design and Maintenance
8. Getting Test case Reviewed by Peers, Test Lead and BA- Business Analyst
9. Doing peer test case review
10. Requirement to Test Case Mapping - TL (Test Leads) do in some project and getting it reviewed
11. Defect Logging , Defect verification, Defect closure
12. Either TL or Tester generally do defect assigning task which is called as defect triage
13. Test Lead or Sr.Tester prepares defects list based on sevirity, priority, status based report
14. Test Execution and results capturing like logs, screen shots, request response, event/state transition details and attaching to each test case
15. Regression testing during each new build after new deployment
16. Smoke testing during start of test Execution
17. Sanity testing before starting function or non functional through testing
18. TL to publish Regression/Smoke/Sanity report and test execution report based on test status, maintenance different test suit for each phase of testing and also each level of testing should have different test suits (To verify at later stage what cases were tested at each phase and each level)
19. TL along with Testers prepare for internal/pre demo after testing is completed and met the exit criteria, get review from BA, PL, PM
20. Actual Demo with client or stake holders along with BA and Dev team
21. Backlog to be published and participate in retrospective or feedback (usually in agile)
22. Aid Automation and NFT-Non Functional Testing team by sharing relevent data, explaining scenarios to be considered (TL to play this role)
23. Once each build is tested, TL should ensure providing sign-off
24. TL or Sr. Tester to initiate DP-Defect prevention meeting at regular intervals with Technical, Functional, Architect and Leads
25. RCA to be done generally by TL and BA, PL, Architect
26. Maintenance and publishing DP and RCA outcome
27. Automation result publishing and NFT report publishing
28. Attending and doing active participation in weekly or daily status meeting
29. TL generally performs regular CPR(Check Point Review) Meeting with Test Manager, Project Manager
30. Frequent Test Data, Automation Result Review from Functional team
31. Additionally some of the Sr. Testers do white box testing before smoke testing
32. Aid development team during defect fixing, help to recreate issue in their environment or system, coordinate with them on the scenarios which had issue
33. For Test Automation lead, it's necessary to conduct Framework review meeting (DAR-Design Analysis Review) when designing or moving to New Framework or while doing major update to existing framework
34. Tester and TL should proactively do mentoring, knowledge sharing and give sessions and also involve or nominate themselves for new testing related training
35. TL and Sr.Tester should have basic knowledge of build and deployment
36. Tester, Sr. Tester, TL has to play equal role in maintenance and enhancement of testing artifacts , mapping documents, environment list publishing
37. Every tester should be aware of different testing levels like functional acceptance testing, quality assurance testing or customer acceptance testing, system testing
38. Testers had played a vital role in doing Impact Analysis which was missed if in case through the value chain of software life cycle by Functional and Development teams
39. Sr.Tester, TL do have a role during Gap Analysis
40. Tester , Sr. Tester, TL should know the estimation techinques based on complexity, impact considering overall time needed to complete test life cycle for that module
41. Testers should have basic knowledge on defect life cycle and also clear idea on severity , priority
42. Tester should demand and understand the major milestone set for testing and as a project overall, should be aware of goal of the project and time frame, they should know the testing life cycle in detail before starting any module. Tester should be aware of project methodology like it's Agile or Waterfall

This is a detailed checklist and some of which aren't sorted based on execution or delivery but it's worth to make note of these when you are going to an interview or when you update your CV or it helps when you are newly beginning your career in testing either as TL, IVV Engineer or as a Sr.Tester. Make note that, not all these activities are performed all the time in every project (organization) by a Tester.

#InfotainmentGuru blog by #PMH

Traditional Values in your Culture & Ritual

Why we should still follow our diminishing Tradition, Culture and Rituals in today's world?

Its been a trend in today's world that most of the people follow others style without knowing why they are doing it. People in East looks at West and those who are in West turns to East.. Slowly we are seeing steady change in things we wear, things we do, food we eat and things we follow. I think, its common now that we fall in love blindly with others way of living and we questions those practices laid by our ancestors. Its human nature that only few will see what they have rather than looking at what others have, hardly few will try to know why these practices were given by our ancestors and the essence of it.

I felt that" whatever we do or follow is 'OK' if we are in love with it but I wish to quote at-least follow your ancestral Tradition, Beliefs, Values, their Culture and Ritual to the best possible way you can, so that you can save your ancestral uniqueness for the future generation to come else things will be monotonous". Lets not stop doing good things even in the smallest possible way rather than not doing it, if everyone is busy, if all of us are tired and if we think its 'OK' others are there to do some good and it's need not to be done by me, then there won't be any GOOD left in the world..!

Hmm.. Here is an incident where there was an accident in the mid of busy street, the guy was badly injured and bleeding, looks like he has missed the track and hit the lamppost. I saw many people in the busy street stood seeing the victim with great surprise, few were sad for him, few didn't bother to stop and help even after knowing that there needs some aid for the injured person, they were least bothered to see what went wrong. Others were making video for whats-app/face-book, some of them couldn't even notice there was something fishy as they were wearing headset listening to music or seeing mobile or on call/texting.
Even though most of them are sad or surprised, hardly few people readily came to aid the need. May be because they may have felt that they need to pay for the victim, if he is hospitalized or they need to be present in Police station/Court if called as witness in case of any issue/death. There were few people who felt this as a common scene and a death of people aren't something new to worry about. Few didn't find their loved ones in the eyes of suffering man, some people who knew the victim in person were about to help but didn't as they just followed those who passed by the victim as unseen. There were few crooked minds who helped the victim and in mean time snatched his wallet/money too.. Hmm variety of people aren't we?!

Among these different hearted, different mind-set people only handful of people were little kind to the victim or had the sense of humanity or kindness working to whatever extent that they had cultivated in them. Only those who see the suffering in others are real humans and not those who wear a Polo-T with a quote "Being Human". I saw one guy rushed to the victim and tried to lift him up and to ensure the injured person is 'OK', the other one rushed to give some water, as these two are about to leave there was one more person in the crowd aided the injured to breath easy by removing his bag-pack, shoes and a lady came buying some sort of anti-septic liquid, bandage and a generic ointment for applying the injured. As they left there was one strong guy who informed the police and other nice girl called the emergency helpline and couple more joined to assist the victim & stood with the victim till he was hospitalized and stood still their family/friends were available for the victim's help.

Even though you may not get a direct credit in helping the needy or the victim may not realize the amount of aid you gave him during his critical stage of life, but still few showed the amount of kindness, humanity to the best possible way that is left in them. Here victim may not give you any return gift but still few stood to help by not thinking like other hundreds of people. We can't judge those who helped were good and those who didn't were wrong but still... Hmm! May be there is a saying "What goes around, comes around in same way. What you do for others, you reap the same someday".. Yes, may be it's true..
Now, what was 'I' doing?! Who am 'I' when other played their role in the scene?!

Consider your ancestral culture, values, traditions and ritual as a victim (the person laid in the street suffering) and you are the person seeing the sufferings of your ancestral values or diminishing unique traditional cultural heritage of your Nation/State/Religion/Family, what you do, after seeing its gradual decaying phenomenon?!

'I' was the victim, 'I' am your "Traditional Values in your Culture & Ritual" ...!!

Now, just ask yourself...

• Would you stay as if you don't know about injury or you find a reason/a chance to escape from aiding me?
• Will you stay so occupied in your own world that you can't notice the suffering in me?
• Will you think this decaying of one value is the rise of something new and you can't be sad for any sort of loss and don't make any effort to save your ancestral uniqueness?
• Is it more important to capture the decaying process in an Instagram/Twitter and create a buzz about my endanger rather than saving me?
• Are you one among those who just feel sad and stood surprised seeing the fatal incident of mine?
• Are you among those who were willing to help but blindly copied others who didn't bother to aid?
• Are you that person who couldn't find himself in the place of victim and failed to feel the pain even after knowing the impact of it?
• Will you pretend to help and ill utilize the scenario to your benefit?

OR

• Will you be the one, who rush to aid by feeling the pain of mine even when you can't completely heal my condition?
• Will you be the one, who helps to ease situation even if its not in your control?
• Would you be the one who comes at-least with a small help even when he cant aid in big ways to save the culture?
• Will you assist by practicing the right protocol and intimating right people in time of need and show courtesy to protect the 'decaying national heritage'?
• Are you that one person who stays till the end holding on to good practice, principles after knowing the intensity of pain and feel it as yours?

Its left to each one of us to decide whether to pass on the baton given to us by our elders to the next generation to come in the same way (or with a slightly polished way) or its worth to just run behind others baton and create a prototype of others by leaving your own baton (a unique one).



#InfotainmentGuru #MyLastLines

- By #PMH