Life Coach - 75 of 100 - Exercises and Testing in IT

After a long break it is great to be back. I had spent last few months on high end IT consulting and this is what I seek to do in my future blogs - share the IT learning.

In IT once an application is developed it is tested. There are various tests the application is subjected to - unit test, system test, integration test, regression test, etc. This is so much like our annual exercises that our units undertake. The unit test is akin to our lets say bridging exercise. It is a function test - whether or not we can construct the combat bridge in isolation. At the system test we have the entire bridging company with its various other functions like reconnaissance, selection of site, measuring of water current, etc coming in.

In a brigade exercise we take our capabilities to the next level - integration test where the company works in tandem with the units it is supposed to work with and provide support for - say armored brigade, artillery brigade, etc. It is a test of coordination more than anything else as well as building a rapport.

Regression test in software development is what happens when we update the code or improve the code. So in this case if the armored regiment is replaced with another one, all rest details would remain same but we still need to work out the coordination and rapport.

Where I am coming to is fuzzy testing - this is gaining a lot of support. Techniques like fuzzy testing uncover inputs that can cause applications to behave badly. With fuzzy we deliberately attack software with random data in search of weaknesses and unexpected responses.

Most of our exercises ended at integration test. And so did our preparation and training. So how would fuzzy testing work here. Let me take the example of a combat bridging unit. What fuzzy tests can we do
1. Assume that the end ramps are not available because the vehicles never made it to the bridge line. Options are available but I do not recall having tested them.
2. Assume that the current prevents swinging of the bridge
3. Assume that the ford line is less than the required depth for the pontoon to stay afloat
4. Assume that the dozer is unavailable for making the launching pad. Can we use explosives to make the launching pad?


I am just citing the example of a combat bridging unit. We can extend the logic to every unit and apply fuzzy testing.

As a Commanding Officer or a Staff Officer what fuzzy tests do you apply?