Model-Based Testing Essentials - Guide to the ISTQB Certified Model-Based Tester

1INTRODUCTION TO MODEL-BASED TESTING

This chapter covers the learning objectives of syllabus Section 1.1 – “Objectives and Motivations for MBT.”

1.1 WHY DO WE NEED NEW APPROACHES TO TESTING?

In the earliest days of software testing, developers just made sure the program was running correctly. Debugging and testing were the same. The notion of testing as a separate activity came up in 1957. Unlike debugging, testing assures that the software really solves the problem [5]. Since then, “Software Tester” became a profession along with special qualification schemes such as the ISTQB Certified Tester.

The significance of testing directly correlates with the complexity of software applications and, thus, constantly increases. Software systems become not only larger, but also more interoperable. They support extensive workflows on various platforms. Product variants also add to complexity. Ideal for marketing, because they allow you to target different market segments, they are a hell to test! As a result, we have a huge number of test cases to execute and, rapidly, lack the overview. We are no longer able to answer questions such as “What shall be tested?/What has been tested?” or “Which tests are important?/What may be left out?” “How do you want to check completeness of large document-based test specifications?” Besides, the documentation of the test idea is lost amidst the detailed test instructions. Thus, though being the authors, we later do not remember why we tested something ...