How Much Should You Test?

The big uncertainty that looms over localization testing is in determining how much of the software you should test. If you spent six months testing the American English version, should you spend six months testing a version localized into French? Should you spend even more because of additional configuration and compatibility issues?

This complex issue comes down to two questions:

• Was the project intended to be localized from the very beginning?

• Was programming code changed to make the localized version?

If the software was designed from the very beginning to account for all the things discussed in this chapter, the risk is much smaller that a localized version will be very buggy and require lots of testing. If, on the other hand, the software was written specifically for the U.S. English market and then it was decided to localize it into another language, it would probably be wise to treat the software as a completely new release requiring full testing.

NOTE

The amount of localization testing required is a risk-based decision, just as all testing is. As you gain experience in testing, you'll learn what variables go into the decision-making process.

The other question deals with what needs to change in the overall software product. If the localization effort involves changing only content such as graphics and textnot codethe test effort can sometimes be just a validation of the changes. If, however, because of poor design or other problems, the underlying code must change, the testing needs take that into account and check functionality as well as content.

IS IT LOCALIZABLE?

One method used by teams who know they are going to localize their product is to test for localizability. That is, they test the first version of the product, assuming that it will eventually be localized. The white-box testers examine the code for text strings, proper handling of units of measure, extended characters, and other code-level issues. They may even create their own "fake" localized version. The black-box testers carefully review the spec and the product itself for localizing problems such as text in graphics and configuration issues. They can use the "fake" version to test for compatibility.

Eventually, when the product is localized, many of the problems that would have shown up later have already been found and fixed, making the localization effort much less painful and costly.