Implementation and Testing

Once the database application is finished, you begin implementation and testing. This is the phase where you start the nip-and-tuck process. While many of the people involved will find it annoying, parallel testing is recommended. This means that the new system is tested while the existing system is being used.

Of course, the goal is to have the same result at the end but done with greater efficiency. This so-called beta testing process can quickly uncover flaws in the flow and logic of the database application. The bottom line: you should try to intentionally “break” the application and find a way to recover gracefully.

Data should be added using the input forms or by transferring existing data electronically. Without the “live data,” you can never test for performance issues such as the speed of data retrieval.

The person who designed and built the application (or the team) is not the best one to test it. Potentially, the designers could be less than objective in their testing procedures and protocols. There are companies that provide professional testing services. These people, who should have no stake in the project itself, should employ everything possible to make the software fail. Why?

Because you want these flaws to be discovered early on, when they will have no effect on the actual process; not long after it has been implemented when you won’t be able to recover from an unexpected disaster.

One side effect of testing is that fixing one problem may cause others to occur. Sometimes, these new and unexpected errors may occur in places that were seemingly unrelated to the original error. That is why, after fixing an error, it is important to start testing from the beginning again. In software parlance, we call this regression testing. While this may sound time consuming and tedious, the alternative could miss important and costly bugs.

Remember, in your testing, that end users will not follow directions. In most cases, when designing software, developers assume that end users will do exactly what they are supposed to do and follow all directions.You, or your testers, should examine every possible scenario in order to provide graceful solutions should they be needed.

Once all the testing is done, the next phase is to formally document the software for the end user.