Stakeholders always have high expectations when they request software to run their companies. The tools a company uses greatly impact its efficiency and competitiveness, playing a pivotal role in positioning it successfully against competitors. Falling behind in terms of software can lead to risky scenarios, where a company may be left behind or even replaced. Providing the right software tailored to a company’s specific needs is a complex task, as various factors must be carefully considered. One critical aspect is recognizing that the stakeholders’ approach may not always align with the most effective solution. In some cases, their requests for certain features could inadvertently lead the business to failure or inefficiency. To put it simply, stakeholders might ask for a faster horse when what the company truly needs is a powerful Formula One car. Another factor to consider when meeting a company’s needs is the dynamic nature of data. If the software requires constant updates to support changing data, maintaining quality can become challenging without appropriate triggers to identify collateral effects of updates. This is where Test-Driven Development (TDD) comes into play as a safety method to ensure quality in software updates. By starting with the goal of satisfying customer needs, the development process can be reverse-walked through a technical analysis, leading to a deep dive into the Software Company Culture.

UNIT TESTING: The rise of object-oriented programming has significantly impacted the way software testing is conducted. It is only natural that object-oriented programming aligns well with a testing methodology that emphasizes testing classes. Unit testing involves evaluating a “unit” of code in isolation and comparing the actual results with the expected outcomes. In Java, this unit typically refers to a class. During unit testing, specific methods from a class are invoked to generate observable results, which are then automatically verified. This approach allows developers to ensure the correctness and functionality of individual units of code, leading to more robust and reliable software.

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is advocated by proponents of Extreme Programming (XP) as a highly effective approach to software development. This technique revolves around designing test cases before developing the class behavior that will meet those tests. With a focus on incremental class implementation, tests are carried out whenever changes are introduced.

Validation is a crucial process aimed at boosting confidence in a program’s functionality. This process heavily relies on testing to ensure that a program fulfills its intended purpose. While testing can identify errors, as noted by Edsger Dijkstra, it cannot guarantee their complete absence. However, thorough testing increases the assurance that a program operates as intended and meets its specifications.

In the realm of software development, various roles play essential parts in the creation and success of a software system. These roles include:

• End users: End users are the individuals who will ultimately utilize the developed system. Their primary concerns lie in the usability, reliability, and availability of the system. Being intimately familiar with the specific work procedures addressed by the system, end users hold a significant stake in matters concerning user interfaces and user guide documentation.
• Domain experts: These individuals possess a deep understanding of the system environment or problem domain where the software system will be applied. They provide crucial technical input regarding system interface details and requirements.
• Program management: This group holds responsibility for product sales, marketing, and overall project development oversight. Often, they are the ones who directly engage with the customer.
• Requirements engineers: Typically system engineers, these professionals are tasked with identifying and documenting the software requirements.
• Software engineers: Experts in software design constraints, prototype development, and technical feasibility, software engineers offer vital expertise in the software development process.
• Testers: Testers play a pivotal role in developing and executing necessary test conditions during the development and sell-off phases. This includes module tests, integration tests (as elements of the product are integrated), and system-level functional tests, both stand-alone and integrated with external interfaces. Their goal is to validate and demonstrate the delivered capability in a comprehensive manner. To achieve this, testers must possess a deep understanding of requirements, ensuring that product validation is feasible and thoroughly and accurately documented.
• The software development process is a critical stage where stakeholders have elevated expectations for a high-quality product that meets their company’s needs. Testing plays a crucial role in validating that the software requirements are correctly implemented. It is highly recommended to have dedicated testing engineers who can objectively compare requirements with the specification document. By involving independent QA engineers, interconnection gaps, ambiguous specifications, and software conflicts can be identified, ensuring a more robust and error-free software. Implementing unit testing as the first pieces of code written allows for early gap detection, increasing the chances of delivering high-quality software.
• A reactive-responsive strategy that prioritizes the demands brought on by earlier adjustments might result in complex situations where mistakes are challenging to spot. This reactive strategy wastes time that may be better spent on the creation of new projects. A proactive-adaptive strategy, on the other hand, foresees problems and creates the necessary technology to meet future demands, ensuring a more effective and efficient development process.
• The proactive-adaptive strategy anticipates future issues in addition to the existing situation, which enables the development of more suitable technology to meet future needs.
• As part of a proactive strategy, software developers might begin running all of the tests after unit testing is finished, considering them as checkpoints. As the development process advances, this method assists in identifying gaps and problems. On the other hand, a reactive strategy that is not advised leaves testing as a stand-alone stage at the end of the procedure.

A reactive-responsive approach, focusing on needs created by past changes, can lead to complicated scenarios where errors are difficult to discover. This reactive approach consumes valuable time that could be better used for new project development. On the other hand, a proactive-adaptive approach anticipates challenges and develops appropriate technology to cope with future requirements, ensuring a more efficient and effective development process.

The proactive-adaptive approach not only focuses on the current situation but also anticipates future challenges, allowing for the development of more appropriate technology to address upcoming needs.

Following a proactive approach, once Unit Testing is completed, software developers can start executing all the tests, treating them as checkpoints. This approach helps identify gaps and issues as the development process unfolds. On the other hand, a non-recommended reactive approach involves leaving testing as an isolated stage at the end of the process. Testing at the end is not suggested because addressing issues at that stage may require modifying the entire system, while finding and addressing issues in the initial stages would require making changes to fewer modules.

The step before testing and software development is of utmost importance as it is where the foundation of the program is laid. If there are gaps or inconsistencies in the requirements during this stage, they may not be caught during testing and development, which undermines the entire process. To put it into perspective, imagine the route of an airplane with just a one-degree error; it would end up at a completely different destination not due to technical issues, but because the initial course or business goal was wrong.

The specification stage of software development holds significant weight, as it determines whether the final product will meet the user’s needs during the sell-off phase. The provider company must ensure that the requirements align with the objectives of the requestor company. It is advisable for stakeholders to provide requirements at a higher-level understanding, creating a map of the entire process before diving into the specifics. This prevents the inclusion of nonsensical features that might not align with the main project goal. Additionally, the provider company should carefully review any technology suggestions for the requirements, as it is not the stakeholder’s responsibility to be aware of the latest technologies.

A provider company that prioritizes quality will take a stand and reject any request that does not align with the main objective. It is the responsibility of the provider company to guide the process and not simply assume that the requirements are correct without conducting a thorough analysis.

In a study conducted by Rasmussen, L. B. (2010), a series of structured experiments involved 24 professional pair programmers. One group developed a small Java program using Test-Driven Development (TDD), while the other, acting as the control group, employed traditional programming methods. The results showed that the TDD programmers took 16% more time, but they produced code of higher quality with 18% more functional black-box test cases.

The intention of delivering the product as soon as possible by removing or reducing testing will undoubtedly result in significant issues. These issues will eventually consume the time that was saved by skipping testing or any pre-release stages. In both scenarios, the same amount of time or even more will be spent when testing is underestimated. The key difference is that being proactive in testing increases the customer’s confidence, and if time saving does not offer a significant advantage, choosing shortcuts becomes pointless.

Behind a quality software product and all the technical processes lies a proactive company that applies best practices to achieve the best results. It is essential to follow a proactive approach, as there is no other effective way to ensure the highest quality and reliability of the software product.

References:

• https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/from-reactive-to-proactive-approach-of-interactive-leadership
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584999001019
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584903002040
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42790485_The_Economics_of_Unit_Testing