Testing Glossary - Testing Definitions Q-S

quality
The degree of excellence that a thing possesses. The degree of conformance to a standard.

quality assurance
According to the British Standard 4778, this standard cites all those planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality.

quality control
According to the British Standard 4778, the operational techniques and activities that are used to fulfill requirements for quality.

random
Without specific order.

rank
An orderly arrangement; a relative position, usually in a scale classifying persons or things.
rapid application development (RAD)
A development process that evolves a product through multiple trial-and-error cycles.

regions
Any area that is completely surrounded by edges and processes.

regression test
Retesting something that has been tested previously. Usually conducted after some part of the system has been changed. Regressing; going back, returning.

review
To look at or go over again.

science
1. Systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, and experimentation carried on in order to determine the nature and principles of what is being studied. 2. A branch of knowledge or study, especially one concerned with establishing and systematizing facts, principles, and methods, as by experiments and hypotheses. 3. (a) The systematized knowledge of nature and the physical world. (b) Any branch of this. 4. Skill or technique based upon systematized training. (Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, Prentice Hall, 1984)

scientific method
The systematic attempt to construct theories that correlate wide groups of observed facts and are capable of predicting the results of future observations. Such theories are tested by controlled experimentation and are accepted only so long as they are consistent with all observed facts.

severity
The quality or condition of being severe; strictness; harshness.

software application
A computer program that performs some set of functions.

Software Capability Maturity Model (SW-CMM)
A scheme for measuring the levels of process maturity in a company. Developed at Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute. The Capability Maturity Model uses a conceptual framework based on industry best practices to assess the process maturity, capability, and performance of a software development organization.

source code
In programming, the actual statements of programming language in a program.

spaghetti code
Referring to poorly constructed, disorganized, and unstructured source code.

statement
The thing stated; account; declaration. In programming, a single line of program code, a single program action.

statement coverage
A method of path counting that counts the minimum number of paths required to walk through each statement in the source code.

statement test
Testing statements in a software program at the source code level.

static code analyzer
A software tool that analyzes the program source code, in an uncompiled state. As opposed to dynamic code analyzers, which analyze the activity of code while it is being run.

structural test
A test that verifies the structural integrity of a set or system of program elements.

structured system
A system or subsystem that has only one entry point and one exit point.

system
A set or arrangement of things so related or connected so as to form a unity or organic whole. A set of decisions and processes that as a group have one entry point and one exit point. A group of units that can interact, as well as act independently.

system test
This term is often used interchangeably with integration test, but it really refers to testing a system that is built. The functions of the complete system are verified