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Electronic Payments Testing:
A Testing Terminology Primer
Waterfall Software Development
Waterfall testing is included in the more traditionally structured Waterfall software development paradigm. In the Waterfall model, software passes linearly and sequentially through several formally documented phases. Its sequential nature, with no iteration or overlap of any phase, is what distinguishes the Waterfall model from others. Typically, phases include requirements analysis, design, coding/implementation, testing, integration, and maintenance.
V-Model Software Development
Like the Waterfall model, the V-Model of software development is sequential, but it differs from the Waterfall model in two significant ways. The V-Model incorporates testing that is specific to each phase of the software development cycle; for example, code design would be followed by unit testing, integration design would be followed by integrated testing, system design would be followed by system testing, and so forth. Also, in the V-Model, each phase (and the testing that accompanies it) is iterative, so typically there will be multiple cycles of coding and testing.
Who is Responsible for Electronic Payments Testing?
In a sense, anyone who uses and evaluates software is a tester. Testers can be categorized into one of the following roles, each responsible for certain types of testing. Note that one person may serve in several testing capacities (that is, a QA tester may also act as an Acceptance tester), based on the available personnel and the structure and needs of the organization.
Quality Assurance (QA) or
Quality Control (QC) Testers
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These testers may be organized as a QA or QC group or may exist as an extension of the development team. Typically, QA testers are employed specifically to test software and document the test results. They may have a professional certification in software testing or have an educational background in a related field. |
| Software Developers |
These individuals are employed primarily to design or write code, and perform software testing as a means of verifying the operability of their code. |
| Business Analysts |
These individuals, typically clients or system users, may not have strong programming or testing backgrounds, but will have in-depth knowledge of the business concerns that the software affects or addresses. |
| Acceptance Testers |
These individuals may be clients or internal users who test an application with support from QA or development prior to delivery. If acceptance testers are not available, testing typically done by acceptance testers may be assigned to QA testers. |
| System Testers |
These individuals are normally frequent system users, but may also be QA testers, business analysts, or acceptance testers. |
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