Preventive Testing

Preventive testing uses the philosophy that testing can actually improve the quality of the software being tested if it occurs early enough in the lifecycle. Specifically, preventive testing requires the creation of test cases to validate the requirements before the code is written

Testware is any document or product created as part of the testing effort (e.g., test cases, test plans, etc.). Testware is to testing what software is to development.

An added benefit of creating the test cases before the code is that the test cases themselves help document the software.

Software Test Documentation Template for Test Documents

1.	Test Plan Used for the master test plan and level-specific test plans.
2.	Test Design Specification Used at each test level to specify the test set architecture and coverage traces.
3.	Test Case Specification Used as needed to describe test cases or automated scripts.
4.	Test Procedure Specification Used to specify the steps for executing a set of test cases.
5.	Test Log Used as needed to record the execution of test procedures.
6.	Test Incident Report Used to describe anomalies that occur during testing or in production. These anomalies may be in the requirements, design, code, documentation, or the test cases themselves. Incidents may later be classified as defects or enhancements.
7.	Test Summary Report Used to report completion of testing at a level or a major test objective within a level.

Role	Description of Responsibilities
Manager	Communicate, plan, and coordinate.
Analyst	Plan, inventory, design, and evaluate.
Technician	Implement, execute, and check.
Reviewer	Examine and evaluate.

Test planning is one of the keys to successful software testing, yet it's frequently omitted due to time constraints, lack of training, or cultural bias.

Test planning CAN'T be separated from project planning.

All important test planning issues are also important project planning issues.