Module 1 – Foundations of Testing, V&V & Test Design

Build a structured foundation in software testing and verification, connecting Verification & Validation (V&V) and V-Model thinking with practical test design, planning, risk prioritisation, defect management and measurable test progress.

This four-hour module introduces the methods engineers use to design effective tests, organise testing across different levels, prioritise effort according to risk and document meaningful verification evidence. Participants apply these concepts through two practical labs before bringing them together in a Test Strategy & Case Design Dossier.

This is the first module in Alpinum's Software Testing & Verification Training Programme, the companion programme to the Software Development Programme Using Python, C/C++ and Rust.

What You Will Learn

This module establishes the testing and V&V foundation for the wider programme. Participants work with structured black-box test design methods, understand core white-box coverage concepts, build risk-based test plans, manage defects and analyse basic testing metrics.

The module also introduces the relationship between testing and regulated engineering environments before later modules develop deeper capability in static analysis, unit testing, structural coverage, MC/DC, traceability and specialised verification domains.

Topics

• Verification & Validation (V&V) and the V-Model of development and testing
• Test levels: unit, integration, system and acceptance testing
• Black-box techniques: equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, decision tables, state transition testing, pairwise testing
• White-box coverage: statement, branch, condition and path coverage; mutation testing
• Ad hoc testing, error guessing and exploratory testing
• Test planning, entry/exit criteria and test strategy
• ISO/IEC 25010 software quality attributes and testability
• Risk-based testing and risk prioritisation
• Introduction to regulated industries: DO-178C, EN 50128, IEC 61508, ISO 26262, IEC 60880
• Defect tracking, severity vs priority, and root cause analysis
• Test metrics: defect density and test execution progress

Lab 1: Test Design Technique Workshop

Learning Objectives: Equivalence partitioning, Boundary value analysis, Decision table testing, State transition testing, Pairwise testing

Description: Derive a complete test case set for a sample input-validation function using multiple black-box techniques.

Tasks

• Analyse a sample function's input domain and define equivalence classes.
• Derive boundary value test cases for each partition.
• Build a decision table for a multi-condition business rule.
• Model a simple state machine and derive state transition tests.
• Reduce a multi-parameter configuration to a pairwise test set.
• Document each test case using a Test ID, steps and expected result structure.

Extension Tasks

• Apply mutation testing concepts to assess whether the derived suite would catch injected faults.
• Add error-guessing based exploratory test charters.

Topics Covered

Equivalence Partitioning, Boundary Value Analysis, Decision Tables, State Transition Testing, Pairwise Testing, Test Oracles

Open Source Recommendation

No specific tool is required for this design exercise; test cases can be documented in a spreadsheet or a lightweight open-source test-case tool such as TestLink.

Lab 2: Risk-Based Test Plan and Defect Triage

Learning Objectives: Test planning, Risk-based testing, Defect tracking, Root cause analysis, Test metrics

Description: Produce a test plan and risk-prioritised schedule for a sample feature set, then triage a batch of sample defects.

Tasks

• Draft a test plan section covering scope, entry/exit criteria and resourcing.
• Score a sample feature list by likelihood and impact.
• Sequence test execution based on the resulting risk ranking.
• Log a batch of sample defects with severity and priority.
• Perform root cause analysis on one logged defect.
• Compute defect density and test execution progress metrics.

Extension Tasks

• Map two ISO/IEC 25010 quality attributes to specific test cases.
• Draft entry/exit criteria for a regulated-context release.

Topics Covered

Test Planning, Risk-Based Testing, Defect Lifecycle, Root Cause Analysis, Test Metrics

Open Source Recommendation

Bugzilla or Redmine (open-source defect trackers) for logging and triaging the sample defects.

Module 1 Coverage Matrix

Module Project: Test Strategy & Case Design Dossier

Test Strategy & Case Design Dossier : apply V-Model thinking, derive black-box and white-box test cases, and produce a risk-prioritised test plan with a defect log for a single sample feature, traced across all four test levels.

This project brings the Module 1 activities together into a single verification deliverable and creates a practical foundation for the more specialised testing and verification work developed in later modules.

How Module 1 Fits Into the Software Testing & Verification Programme

Module 1 establishes the common testing language and decision framework used throughout the wider programme. Participants start with test design, V&V, planning, risk and defect management before progressing into deeper technical verification activities.

The next stage is Module 2 : Static Analysis & Code Quality, which moves into practical multi-language static analysis across C/C++, Python and Rust together with security scanning and quality gates.

Foundations of Testing, V&V & Test Design FAQs