Software Test Metrics: I) Introduction
Software Test Metrics: I) Introduction
Software Test Metrics: I) Introduction
I) Introduction
When we can measure what we are speaking about and express it in numbers, we know
something about it; but when we cannot measure, when we cannot express it in numbers,
our knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of
knowledge, but we have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science.
Base metrics constitute the raw data gathered by a Test Analyst throughout the testing
effort. These metrics are used to provide project status reports to the Test Lead and
Project Manager; they also feed into the formulas used to derive Calculated Metrics.
Calculated Metrics convert the Base Metrics data into more useful information. These
types of metrics are generally the responsibility of the Test Lead and can be tracked at
many different levels (by module, tester, or project).
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• # of Test Cases Re-executed (Regression Phase)
• # of First Run Failures (Test Execution Phase)
• Total Executions (Test Reporting Phase)
• Total Passes (Test Reporting Phase)
• Total Failures (Test Reporting Phase)
• Test Case Execution Time ((Test Reporting Phase)
• Test Execution Time (Test Reporting Phase
The below metrics are created at Test Reporting Phase or Post test Analysis phase
• % Complete
• % Defects Corrected
• % Test Coverage
• % Rework
• % Test Cases Passed
• % Test Effectiveness
• % Test Cases Blocked
• % Test Efficiency
• 1st Run Fail Rate
• Defect Discovery Rate
• Overall Fail Rate
Total number of requirement v/s number of requirements covered through test scripts.
• (No of requirements covered / total number of requirements) * 100
Define requirements at the time of Effort estimation
Example: Total number of requirements estimated are 46, total number of requirements
tested 39; blocked 7…define what is the coverage?
Total number of errors found in test scripts v/s developed and executed.
• (Defective Test Scripts /Total Test Scripts) * 100
Example: Total test script developed 1360, total test script executed 1280, total test script
passed 1065, total test script failed 215
So, test case defect density is
215 X 100
---------------------------- = 16.8%
1280
This 16.8% value can also be called as test case efficiency %, which is depends upon total
number of test cases which uncovered defects
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Defect Slippage Ratio
Number of defects slipped (reported from production) v/s number of defects reported
during execution.
• Number of Defects Slipped / (Number of Defects Raised - Number of Defects
Withdrawn)
Example: Customer filed defects are 21, total defect found while testing are 267, total
number of invalid defects are 17
Requirement Volatility
Review Efficiency
The Review Efficiency is a metric that offers insight on the review quality and testing
Some organization also use this term as “Static Testing” efficiency and they are aiming to
get min of 30% defects in static testing
Example: A project found total 269 defects in different reviews, which were fixed and test
team got 476 defects which were reported and valid
• Effectiveness: Doing the right thing. It deals with meeting the desirable attributes
that are expected by the customer.
• Efficiency: Doing the thing right. It concerns the resources used for the service to
be rendered
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Metrics for Software Testing