The Psychology and Economics of Software Testing
Glenford J. Myers, Tom Badgett, Corey Sandler · 2012
Software testing is a technical task, but it also involves some important considerations of economics and human psychology. The most important considerations in software testing are issues of psychology. One of the primary causes of poor application testing is the fact that most programmers begin with a false definition of the term; these definitions are upside down. Understanding the true definition of software testing can make a profound difference in the success of your efforts. Human beings tend to be highly goal-oriented, and establishing the proper goal has an important psychological effect on them. The myriad implications related to the varied distorted definitions of software testing give rise to psychology problems. It is often impractical, often impossible, to find all the errors in a program. This fundamental problem causes implications for the economics of testing. To combat the challenges associated with testing economics, there are particular strategies: black-box testing and white-box testing. Apart from discussing the psychology problems of testing, this chapter explores the testing economics strategies. It also introduces a set of vital testing principles or guidelines. Most of these principles may seem obvious, yet they are all too often overlooked.