Early Testing vs. Late Testing: When is the best time to start the Software Testing Process?

Deciding when to start testing in the software development life cycle is crucial as it significantly impacts the project's cost, quality, and overall success.

The question is should you:

Begin testing as early as possible,

Wait until all functional requirements are ready?

Both early and late testing have their advantages and disadvantages. At Zamaqo, an independent testing company, we believe in the shift-left (early) testing approach, the benefits of which are listed below.

What is Early Testing AKA Shift-Left Testing?

The term "shift-left" comes from the idea of moving testing activities to the left on the project timeline, meaning earlier in the development process. Early testing, also known as Shift-Left Testing, is an approach that emphasises starting testing activities early on in the development lifecycle.

Benefits of Early Testing

Free your Developers: Let your developers work on what they are good at: Developing software. Let a testing partner do all the testing required which will improve your developing efficiency.
Save costs: This may be counter intuitive, but the charges Zamaqo charges for testing services will be lower than what most companies pay their developers.
Early Defect Detection: Testers collaborate with the development team to understand requirements and develop test cases that can be used as soon as the initial software iteration is available.
Risk Mitigation: Prioritises testing efforts on the most critical areas of the application. This allows for effective risk mitigation early in the development cycle.
Continuous Feedback: Scheduled automated tests provide constant and immediate feedback should any code anomalies occur. At Zamaqo we have developed our own automation tools for this purpose.
Improved Collaboration: Early and continuous testing fosters better collaboration between developers, testers, and other stakeholders, leading to a more integrated and cohesive development process.

Drawbacks of Early Testing

Initial Resource Allocation: Allocating resources from the beginning, which might strain the project's budget and timelines if not managed properly.
Potential for Rework: As requirements evolve, tests written early might need frequent updates, leading to potential rework and additional effort.
Overhead in Test Management: Requiring testing from the start of the project can add overhead. Zamaqo’s expertise in test management tools and practices can streamline test management processes, reducing this overhead.

Late Testing

Late Testing refers to the traditional approach where testing activities are conducted towards the end of the software development lifecycle. This typically occurs after the implementation or coding phase and often right before the release or deployment of the software.

Benefits of Late Testing

Requirements established: Testing late means that most issues in the requirements have been ironed out for frequent changes in test cases.
Focused Testing Efforts: With a more complete picture of the final product, testing efforts can be more focused and comprehensive, targeting the entire application as a whole.

Drawbacks of Late Testing

Delayed Defect Detection: Waiting until all functional requirements are ready means that defects are likely to be discovered later in the process, when they are more costly and time-consuming and expensive to fix.
Increased Costs: Fixing defects found late in the development lifecycle typically requires more effort and resources, leading to increased costs.
Reduced Flexibility: Late testing reduces the flexibility to make changes and improvements based on feedback, as the project is closer to completion and deadlines are looming.
Higher Risk of Delays: Discovering significant issues late in the process can cause delays in the release schedule, as additional time is needed to address the defects and retest the application.
Embedded issue workaround: This happens when an issue is so ingrained into the code that fixing it becomes so costly and time consuming it is easier for the developers to do a quick fix and create a work around, rather than trying to fix the issue properly.

Conclusion

Based on Zamaqo’s experience we are convinced that the benefits of “shifting left” in testing far outweighs the traditional approach of “late testing”.

At Zamaqo we feel strongly: The earlier you start testing, the better!

As an independent testing provider we can facilitate your shift to the left by leveraging our expertise and experience to deliver robust, reliable products that satisfy user expectations and stand the test of time.