Balancing Testing and Delivery Times in Software Development
For anyone with experience in software development, you know that it is both a science and an art form. The level of balance that must be maintained between a variety of systems requires mathematical focus and expertise, while the creative components ensure innovation and success of a design.
In the midst of this balance, developers must manage software tests with delivery times and deadlines that can often be difficult and problematic. So how can developers and their teams optimize testing procedures with the modern tools and tech available to them? Here, we will explore optimizing testing through experimentation to meet delivery deadlines and adapt to challenges in software development.
Balanced testing and delivery start with optimized, quality software that lends itself to testing while allowing for experimentation and adjustment. Making software that tests well requires constant tests and quality control, automation, and innovation.
Here are a few of the methods you can use for higher quality testing that will help you balance delivery times:
- create a quality control strategy checklist
- automate testing as early as possible
- communicate consistent quality and key performance indicator expectations to your team
- experiment and make an environment that encourages innovation
- plan deliverables and long-term goals from the start
Quality software testing can bring value to every stage of the project, smoothing issues before they create broader problems. From preparation to maintenance, a strategy and metrics for quality control should be implemented into your project design.
But strict adherence to every laid-out detail likely won’t work in the trial-and-error run of software testing and design. That’s why experimentation and innovation bring value to any project. Taking risks to cut corners and innovate could mean the difference in speedy turnaround time. While too much time should not be spent on ideas that clearly won’t work, experimenting when encountering an issue allows for the kind of innovation in software that can create a world-changing product.
With any project, constant review and rethinking will also be necessary. Everything from the programming language used to the method of automation and testing control maintenance should be called into question. Languages like R and Python each have their drawbacks and strengths. Maybe from the ground up, your project could use overhaul and revision for better testing and faster delivery.
When it comes to balanced delivery times, effective testing is a must. But you often can’t undergo effective testing without delivery and dipping your toe into the production stage. That’s why continuous integration (CI) that enables continuous delivery (CD) is essential to balancing testing and delivery. These systems allow developers to detect performance issues early on and more quickly get effective updates into the hands of users.
CI means updating your build in a communal repository frequently. CD then allows you to test these updates in a production test, engage in A/B testing, and solve problems in a production build that normally wouldn’t be found until the full rollout of an update. Each instance of an update and the corresponding changes can be observed on GitHub, for example, to better identify and fix problems. By making CD part of your testing process, you can better balance testing with delivery and make adjustments to both procedures.
The key to a balanced turnaround between testing and delivery in software development comes down to thorough planning, optimized software, and a continuous delivery system that enables issues at the production stage to be caught quickly and easily as a component of testing.
In this case, testing in production can be a valid and safe way to go about software development. But make sure your business processes are designed to catch and accommodate your updates for quick and efficient testing.
