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Risk-Based Testing

Risk-based testing (RBT) is a type of software testing that prioritizes the features and functions to be tested based on priority/importance and likelihood or impact or failure.Risk-based testing  focuses on the ways the program can fail--imagine how the program can fail and design tests to trigger those failures.

Nature of Risk

Risk consists of two components:

Nature of Risk : Impact

Depth

– Severity of the damage

Breadth

– Number of people affected

– Cost of time and effort (not to fix it, but the “damages”)

Nature of Risk: Likelihood

Likelihood based on size or complexity

Likelihood based on new technology

Likelihood based on prior error  history

Likelihood based on other factors –    lack of skill, lack of motivation,    inadequate processes

A Typical Checklist for Likelihood

-   Which functions are the most complex?

-   Which functions are new?

-   Which functions were transferred from one developer to another?

-   Which functions were created by inexperienced developers?

-   Which functions weren’t Unit Tested?

-   Which efforts used large development teams?

Project Management Risks

Most frequently encountered risks:

– Creeping user  requirements/incomplete user requirements

– Excessive schedule pressure

– Low quality

– Cost overruns

– Inadequate configuration control

Conventional Approach to Risk-Based Testing

Identify and assess the risk per feature/function

–What’s most likely to fail?

–What will trigger that failure?

–What’s the damage?

Test the highest-risk things the most

–What things are done most frequently?

–What things are most likely to fail?

–What things will have the biggest impact if they do fail?

Pro-active Approach to Risk-Based Testing

Testing is our primary means of reducing risk

Design and prioritize tests based on
     What can go wrong? and What must go right?

Test earlier in the  development cycle.

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