Software Testing Standards

Standards can be defined as a set of obligatory requirements established by a general agreement and maintained by a recognized body to impose a uniform disciplined practice.

Standards provide mutually agreed guidelines and instructions to people and organizations with a basis for mutual comprehension and are used as tools to facilitate measurement.

We have five standards within the ISO/IEC 29119 international software testing standard:

• ISO/IEC 29119-1: This was published in Sep 2013 and deals with concepts and definitions of software.
• ISO/IEC 29119-2: This Standard deals with test processes in a product and was published in Sep 2013.
• ISO/IEC 29119-3: This was published in Sep 2013 and deals with test documentation of the product.
• ISO/IEC 29119-4: This Standard was published one year later in 2014 and deals with testing techniques and strategies used in software testing.
• ISO/IEC 29119-5: This Standard was published in the year 2015 and deals with keyword-based software testing

“Standards play a vital role in bringing new ideas to market faster. They are the priceless ingredients that underpin the dissemination of all emerging technologies. They are a form of knowledge – setting out a way forward for new technologies as they are being developed.” (Heseltine, 2012).