From what I've seen, test engineers don't always do a good job of designing software. They just sort of code away until it's done. And if there is any complexity to the design, they code even harder until it's done. Not a lot of real design is done.
There are a lot of simple design methods that can be done for a better test set. Just a simple flow chart to layout the design is good at a minimum. Something like MS Visio or any drawing program can used.
Another design tool is to do what is called swim lane charts. This is where each separate item (i.e. UUT, Test Set, Other Computer) gets a lane and every time something is required of that item, communication to or from that item, some process/decision/operation block is put in that lane. It shows the interaction between each of the different items and the operation each item does.
UML is another design tool, especially when doing object orienting programming. I read about UML but not done design with it so I don't have a good grasp of it. I know it's a way of displaying objects and showing the interaction between them. The software engineers tend to use UML for their designs.
State diagrams are also really useful for showing transitions between states.
My main thought on all of this is don't just code away with little or no fore thought. Use your tools for a better test set software design, it will work better in the long run and be more maintainable.
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2 comments:
Hi,
I think you're referring to UML sequence diagrams?
Here's a good introduction to UML sequence diagrams, should you need it.
If you're looking for an editor to create them, check out Trace Modeler. It's an easy-to-use and smart editor for UML sequence diagrams. Here's a 30 sec demo.
Another diagram type that comes in handy for testing, but is often overlooked, is the object diagram. It shows which objects there are, and how they're interconnected.
I find it ideal to document the test setup, which can sometimes take a while to grasp if you only have setup code to stare at :o)
Best regards,
Yanic
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