Kapil Saxena
There are really two sides to testing Verification
and Validation. Unfortunately the meaning of these terms has been defined
differently by several governing / regulatory bodies. To put it more succinctly
there is testing that can be performed before the product is constructed /
built and there are types of testing that can be performed after the product
has been constructed / built.
Preventing defects from occurring involves testing
before the product is constructed / built. There are several methods for
accomplishing this goal. The most powerful and cost effective being Reviews.
Reviews can be either formal / technical reviews or peer reviews. Formal
product development life cycles will provide the testing team with useful
materials / deliverables for the review process. When properly implemented any
effective development paradigm should supply these deliverables. For example:
- Cascade
- Requirements
- Functional Specifications
- Agile or Extreme
- High level Requirements
- Storyboards
Testing needs to be involved in this Review process
and any defects need to be recorded and managed.
