Are my Tests Good Enough? Other Metrics

Understanding Key Testing Metrics

Defects Escaped Metric

• The "defects escaped" metric aims to identify the percentage of defects not caught by testing, providing insight into the effectiveness of the test suite.

• A high percentage of defects detected during testing indicates a robust test suite that prevents failures from reaching end users.

• For example, if 90 errors are found before release and only 10 after, this suggests a retention rate of 90%, indicating effective testing practices.

• This metric is crucial as it directly relates to reducing user-facing failures; however, it can only be evaluated post-release when defects are observed in production.

Duplicate Requests Metric

• The duplicate requests metric tracks repeated change requests for bugs identified either by users or through internal testing processes.

• High duplication rates suggest redundancy in tests that may lead to wasted effort in both reporting and analyzing similar issues multiple times.

• Redundant tests create inefficiencies, as developers may spend unnecessary time investigating identical problems reported separately.

• This redundancy highlights the need for streamlined testing processes to avoid duplicative efforts and improve overall efficiency.

False Positives Metric

• The false positives metric assesses instances where apparent failures do not correspond to actual defects due to incorrect test cases or execution issues.

• Such situations waste resources as developers investigate non-existent issues, which could have been avoided with better test design or execution protocols.

• Additionally, previously resolved defects might reappear under different circumstances, complicating maintenance efforts and further contributing to inefficiency.

Return on Investment (ROI)

• The final critical metric discussed is ROI (Return on Investment), which evaluates the total investment made in testing against its outcomes.

Investment in Testing: Understanding Returns

The Importance of Testing in Software Development

• Organizations invest in testing to prevent issues by identifying and fixing bugs before they affect users, ultimately avoiding potential damage.

• Testing not only detects bugs but also enhances system quality and improves the productivity of the bug-fixing process, making it more efficient.

• The return on investment (ROI) from testing is approximately 10%, highlighting that financial benefits are significant, though ethical considerations must also be taken into account.

• Developers have a responsibility to correct errors regardless of their financial impact on the company; ethical obligations extend beyond mere profit loss.