Program testing is used for... I bring to your attention a simple program for creating tests.

Today, not a single teacher can do without tests, be it a school teacher or a professor of a multi-thousand online course. Selecting an option from several is not the only option: you can insert pictures and videos into surveys, change task formats almost indefinitely. Edutainme has selected seven services that will facilitate the preparation and conduct of testing.

Google Forms

Google Forms - part of the office tools Google Drive. Perhaps this is one of the fastest and simple ways create your own survey or test: write a task, select the type of answer (choose from several options, write your own) - done! The resulting test can be sent to students by email or embedded on your website using a special code. To speed up your work, we recommend adding the Flubaroo plugin - it automatically checks student answers and assigns grades according to specified criteria. The forms are completely free - you only need to have a Google account to use the resource.

With Quizlet, you can create quizzes where students can choose the correct answer from a selection of answers, match images and information, or write their own answers. It's very easy to use - you can figure out the interface in just a couple of minutes, in addition, Quizlet supports the Russian language and works on Android and iOS. Quizlet is free, but there is also a $10 Plus subscription that lets you upload your own pictures and create an unlimited number of study groups.

Proprofs

Proprofs prepares tests for every taste - you can offer one or more options to choose from, ask to fill in the missing word or write a detailed answer. The service allows you to insert text documents and presentations into tasks, PDF files, as well as images, audio and video files. After completing the test, you can leave it publicly available on the Proprofs website or embed it on your page.

Although the service is free, the capabilities of Proprofs are expanded in paid plans. Teachers should pay attention to the Basic and Professional tariffs. The first opens all the main features of the service and allows you to create an unlimited number of tests for $20 per month; the second allows you to unite students into closed groups and costs $40. New users can use all Proprofs features for free for 15 days after registration.

Kahoot! allows you to submit almost all educational material in the format of surveys and tests. To establish feedback with students, you can play with new topics in the form simple questions and answers, and consolidate knowledge through more detailed testing. Kahoot! designed for use in the classroom - the teacher shows the material on the main screen, and at this time students answer questions and discuss information using a special client for computers or a browser on smartphones (Android, iOS, Windows Phone). In order to enter the virtual classroom, students must enter a special code sent by the teacher. The service allows you to find out how each student answered questions, or build charts of the progress of the entire class. Students themselves can monitor their results in special tables. Kahoot! free and fully accessible after registration.

ClassMarker

In ClassMarker you can make surveys with different answer formats - in addition to the usual options, there is even an essay. To get started, the teacher needs to create a virtual class and send invitation codes to students. ClassMarker stores the results of all tests taken, keeping progress statistics. If the teacher has his own web page, he can embed test tasks on it.

In the free version, ClassMarker allows you to create no more than 100 tests. 400 tests per month will cost $16.50, and 1000 tests will cost $33. The service has annual packages for those who rarely take online tests. Minimal amount tests (50 per year) will cost $25 per year, and the maximum (5000 per year) will cost $1000.

A mobile application for teachers that helps arrange surveys right in the classroom. Students are given special forms with answer options (A, B, C and D) - after hearing the question, they raise the necessary cards, which the teacher scans with a smartphone camera. Plickers allows you to analyze the results of an individual student or study statistics for an entire class. The app works on Android and iOS and is free to download.

Easy Test Maker

The most interesting thing about Easy Test Maker is the ability to create tasks where you need to choose true and false statements. Texts can be formatted for ease of reading on a tablet, or downloaded in .pdf or .doc formats for testing in a more traditional format. The service can mix up questions and answer options to make it harder for students to cheat.

The free version of Easy Test Maker allows you to create 25 tests without the ability to export to paper formats. The Plus plan ($44.95 per year) allows you to check English spelling, create an unlimited number of tests, and export to offline formats. With a Premium subscription ($74.95 per year), the service will automatically check the results, and will also allow you to set a time limit for completing tasks and attach graphic files to surveys.

Egor Antonenkov

The computer as a testing tool has its advantages and disadvantages. However, it is difficult to deny him an objective assessment. Apparently, it is this factor that contributes to the expansion of the scope of computer testing - it is successfully used in schools, universities, when applying for a job, when passing exams in the traffic police, etc.

At the same time, the range of methods for testing complexes is quite limited:

Typically, tests can use the following five types of questions:

Selecting the only correct answer.
Selecting several possible correct answers.
Setting the sequence of correct answers.
Setting response matches.
Entering the answer manually from the keyboard.

Considering not a large number of testing methods, it is advisable to develop a universal program that would allow teachers of various disciplines to create their own databases and quickly obtain control tasks for your subject. There are several similar programs offered on the market, and in this article we will review them. On the CD-ROM you will find trial versions of some of the programs reviewed.

Distribution method: shareware

Price:

The SunRav TestOfficePro package includes programs for creating tests, conducting tests and processing test results. With its help you can organize and conduct tests and exams in educational institutions(universities, colleges, schools), and enterprises and organizations can carry out certification and certification of their employees.

The package allows you to create tests on subjects school curriculum, university disciplines, tests for professional testing, psychological tests, etc.

All tests and test results are encrypted using strong cryptography methods, which eliminates the possibility of falsifying results. In addition, you can set passwords for the test: for editing protects the test from viewing its structure, correct answers, etc.; to review prevents practice testing to find out the correct answers.

Questions and answer options can be formatted using the built-in text editor, which is similar in functionality to MS WORD. In the editor you can insert images, formulas, diagrams, tables, audio and video files, HTML documents and any OLE documents.

The tests can use the five types of questions listed above.

The test can be divided into several topics. In this case, it is possible to assess the test taker’s knowledge both for each topic separately and for the test as a whole.

Questions in the test can be mixed. Moreover, the test creator can determine how many questions from each topic the user will receive for testing. Let's say each topic consists of 100 questions. If you randomly select only 10 questions, test takers will receive completely different sets of questions from the same test. The answer options can also be shuffled.

The order of questions can not only be linear, but also depend on the user’s answers.

Each question and answer option can have its own “weight”. This allows the user to be awarded more points for correct answers to difficult questions and fewer points for answers to easy questions.

Each question can be provided with a comment containing information about the correct answer, etc.

The following reaction to a user response is possible:

prompting the user to answer the following question;
a message that the user answered correctly/incorrectly;
display any document related to the question. In it, in particular, you can explain in detail why this answer is incorrect and provide additional material that will allow you to study the question in more depth.

Testing can be time limited, both for the test and for each question. However, the amount of time allocated for each question may vary.

The SunRav TestOfficePro package includes the following programs:

tMaker a program that allows you to create and edit tests. It is possible to import tests created in a text editor or spreadsheet editor;
tTester testing program;
tAdmin program for remote user administration and processing of test results. Allows you to view/print test results, as well as create, print, edit, and export reports on testing user groups. It is possible to create a response matrix.

Technical data SunRav TestOfficePro:

number of questions unlimited;
number of answers unlimited;
number of users unlimited;
number of tests unlimited;
number of topics in the test up to 256;
tests and results are stored in files.

Currently, a large number of tests have been prepared for this package. In particular, there are educational tests in computer science, economics, English, history, and social studies.

Distribution method: shareware

Price: 5900 rub. (a 20% discount is provided for all educational institutions, that is, the price for them is 4,720 rubles).

SunRav TestOfficePro.WEB is an application for testing over the Internet and intranet. All information (tests, test sections, results, etc.) is stored in a database and is protected from unauthorized access. If the user does not have the appropriate rights, he will not be able to view, edit or delete his or others' test results.

The package is suitable for testing remote employees, students, schoolchildren, etc. To test, the user does not need to install anything on his computer; a browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla, etc.) is sufficient.

The test capabilities are similar to the test capabilities from the SunRav TestOfficePro program, which can also be used in the SunRav TestOfficePro.WEB program.

To organize testing you need:

Web server You can use Apache or MS IIS as such. According to the authors of the program, development was carried out using the free Apache server versions 1.3 and 2.0. It can be freely downloaded from http://www.apache.org;
MySQL database according to the authors of the program, development was carried out using version 3.23. It can be freely downloaded from http://www.mysql.com;
PHP interpreter according to the authors, development was carried out using version 4.3. It can be freely downloaded from http://www.php.net.

If the user does not have his own Web server, you can use regular hosting, which provides services for using MySQL and PHP databases.

Using SunRav TestOfficePro.WEB you can:

organize tests into sections;
register, import, edit users;
conduct testing of both registered and unregistered users;
view test results for an individual user and a group of users (reports);
view ranking results by this test;
save test results in a database.

Developer: Keepsoft

Distribution method: shareware

Price: Standard license 300 rub.; student license 200 rub.; corporate license for 10 computers 1000 rubles; corporate license for 20 computers 1,500 rubles; corporate license for an unlimited number of computers RUB 3,000.

"Test Designer" is a universal program for testing knowledge. The application can be used for testing at home and in educational institutions. The program allows you to use an unlimited number of topics, questions and answers.

Program features:

questions may contain music (WAV, MID. RMI files), images (JPG, BMP, ICO, EMF, WMF files), videos (AVI files);
Questions of all five types listed above are supported;
printing on a printer and saving topics, questions and answers to a file;
printing on a printer and saving test results to a file;
export topics, questions and answers to files of various formats (MS Excel, MS Word, MS Access, Paradox, DBase, text file, HTML, XML, RTF (RichText format), PDF (Adobe Acrobat), MS Windows clipboard, Lotus 1 -2-3, etc.);
testing several users on one computer. For each user it is started personal card user, whose fields are customizable;
setting different access rights to edit the database in the “Editor” for different users;
asking questions in random order;
setting a price for each question in points;
time limit for response;
the ability to interrupt testing and continue it at another time;
issuing a grade at the end of the test. The rating system is configured in the “Editor”. The rating scale can be adjusted from 2 to 100 points;
database synchronization; Using this function, you can easily exchange data with other users and transfer data from computer to computer;
spell checking in the "Editor";
search the database in the “Editor”;
database compression;
customizable interface;
Internet update check function.

“Test Builder” can be downloaded from the developer’s website and you can try the program for free for 30 days. For further work The program requires registration and payment. Registered users are provided with a personal registration key and free technical support via e-mail.

In the registered version, you can use ready-made tests, which can be downloaded from the developer’s website at: http://www.keepsoft.ru/simulator_download.htm. At the time of writing, the following ready-made tests were available: traffic rules, unified state exam for high school graduates, English and French, computer science, mathematics, etc.

Developer: Technoservice Plus LLC

Distribution method: order by email

Price: 5200 rub.

The program is designed for creating tests, exams, and electronic textbooks. To develop a test or textbook, the user does not need to have programming skills; the program is adapted and intended primarily to facilitate the process of testing knowledge in educational institutions. The main difference between the product and analogues is the additional possibility of creating a module for consolidating material, when already during the learning process the user answers questions on a given topic.

The software package contains three modules:

a constructor that allows you to create tests, textbooks, and modules for reinforcing material. The designer provides the ability to use text format, formulas, sound recordings, videos and images;
textbook it is created in the designer and can have an unlimited number of sections, paragraphs and pages;
a test that can also be equated to an exam, since it excludes the possibility of using a textbook when testing knowledge, as when consolidating material.

In this module, new sections and questions are created, and answers to questions are indicated. In this case, in the properties of the question you must indicate the number of points awarded for the correct answer to it.

The program allows you to:

independently create tests to monitor students’ knowledge. Test development is automated and fast; it is possible to use not only text and drawings, but also sound recordings, videos, formulas, graphs, complex graphic objects, etc.;
easily import into the designer the materials on which current electronic textbooks are based;
carry out testing of students in order to identify their level of knowledge upon admission to the institution (upon moving to the next class (course);
carry out internal scheduled/unscheduled knowledge tests after completing new material to assess the mastery of the material;
create electronic textbooks, instructions, teaching materials;
in the learning mode, survey the student on selected questions; If the answer is incorrect, the program will indicate the error and recommend that you read the corresponding section of the textbook again.

The Test Designer software package includes:

module for creating tests and textbooks;
testing module;
training module;
module for viewing textbooks.

There are no restrictions on the number of computers on which the program can be installed.

You can order the program at: [email protected].

Developer: Pavel Kozlovsky

Publisher: Publishing House "Balance"

Distribution method: CD-ROM

Price: 123 rub.

This program can be used both at home and in any educational institution to conduct testing in various areas of knowledge.

The constructor allows you to cover an unlimited number of topics, questions and answers in one test, so with its help parents can not only test their child’s knowledge on a specific subject, but also determine general level his erudition.

The program supports all five types of questions listed at the beginning of the article and allows you to include music, sounds, images and videos in your questions. In addition to using the ready-made sample questions and pictures available on the disk, the user can independently add his own options to the test.

The CD with the program contains ready-made test tests on the most relevant topics: state exam, school curriculum subjects, traffic rules, etc.

Any data can be printed on a printer and exported to files of various formats (Word, Excel, HTML, XML, etc.).

Developer: Georgy Gulyaev

Distribution method: shareware

AnyTest program is a tool for organizing testing of people. It allows you to maintain a database of topics and tasks for tests, create any tests based on it, and conduct testing as one person at a time. separate computer, and groups of people (class, course, department of a company or institution, etc.) in local network. Using this program, it is easy to organize automated acceptance of tests and exams in educational institutions, testing of employees when hiring them for intelligence or knowledge of a specific specialty, certification testing of enterprise employees, psychological testing team, etc. The program allows you to store the results of all tests, grouping them by specific people, by groups of people, by date, by specific test and at any time print reports, as well as see all the testing details (which tasks were given, what answers were given, correct answers, points, received for each answer). The extensive administration capabilities built into the program allow you to configure it so that the testing process will take place even without the participation of a teacher or testing organizer. All attempts to pass a particular test will be evaluated and saved with all the details and can be analyzed later at any convenient time.

You can download the program from our CD-ROM or on the Internet, for example, at: http://soft-search.ru/programs/25-398-anytest-download.shtml.

Surely every adult has been tested at least several times in his life. Sometimes testing was fun, sometimes you had to answer questions to pass an exam or get a job. Tests are so popular and in demand that there are quite a lot of specialized applications and online services for creating them.

The main, but far from the only category of people who may benefit from a program for creating tests are teachers of educational institutions. A variety of questionnaires are also constantly used by practicing psychologists, personnel department employees involved in the selection of candidates for vacant positions in the company, and so on. Testing is often necessary in cases where an organization is checking the level of vocational training employees in one area or another. And, of course, tests are actively used by webmasters, because no the best way to keep a visitor on your site than to invite him to find out what psychotype he belongs to, or allow him to test his knowledge in the area where he considers himself an expert.

In our review, we will look at four different programs for creating tests and surveys.

⇡ Quiz Press 2.5.8 - simple tests for publication on the Internet

Developer: Sol Robots
Distribution size: 2.7 MB
Distribution: shareware
Russian interface: no

With Quiz Press, teachers can create quizzes to test students' knowledge. The program makes it possible to generate tests with questions of different types: those in which you need to choose the correct answers from the proposed options, where you need to enter the answer yourself, where you need to indicate whether the statement is false or true, and others. Moreover, one test can contain questions of different types. When composing questions, the teacher has the opportunity to use multimedia files (graphics, flash, sound). By default, when assessing, a student is awarded one point for each correct answer, but in the test settings you can set different quantities points, depending on the type of question. In addition, it is possible to limit the time that a student can spend on solving tasks, add a reminder that the allotted time will soon end, and indicate whether punctuation and whether words are written with a capital letter should be taken into account when evaluating answers.

When creating tests, you can quickly print out a sheet with the correct answers. The test itself, created using Quiz Press, is presented as a set of files ready to be posted on a website. In addition, you can export the results to other popular test formats.

The results are communicated to the student at the end of the test, and are also sent to the teacher in encrypted form at Email specified in the program settings, or printed.

⇡ Wondershare QuizCreator 4.01 - flash tests and questionnaires

Developer: Wondershare
Distribution size: 11.5 MB
Distribution: shareware
Russian interface: no

If you want to create not only tests, but also regular surveys in which you do not need to take into account the correctness of answers, you can turn to the capabilities of the Wondershare QuizCreator program. With its help, you can generate a questionnaire with a variety of types of questions.

Those taking part in the study can answer “yes” or “no”, choose one or more answer options from those proposed, and place the answer options in in a certain order, enter a short answer in the required field, correlate images with text inscriptions, selecting a pair for them, and so on. The same question options are available when compiling tests. In addition, tests may include questions, the answers to which are hidden in the image. This option is convenient to use, for example, when testing knowledge in geography. The teacher can add a map to the test, and the student's task is to point out certain areas on it. You can also create questions for which the student is not offered answer options. In this case, the respondent must enter the answer manually, and it will be compared with the options that the teacher indicated when compiling the test. Wondershare QuizCreator has detailed description all types of questions, so the program will not let you get confused in them. Note also that the program has the ability to import a list of questions from Microsoft Excel.

Each question can contain not only text information, but also various multimedia data. Moreover, they can act as part of the question or simply illustrate it. For example, when adding a question about the theory of relativity in a physics test, you can place a photo of Einstein on the page. The correct answer to each question is awarded ten points by default. If you wish, you can set a certain number of points for each question. In addition, it is possible to subtract a certain number of points from the overall result if the question is answered incorrectly, as well as set the number of attempts that are given to the student to find the correct answer.

Once questions have been added, the program prompts you to define numerous test parameters. You can specify the author and contact information, add an introductory page with information about the test (this can be not only text, but also graphics, sound, video), determine how the test will react to user actions in case of correct and incorrect answers, set the percentage of correct answers, upon reaching which the test will be considered passed, indicate what messages the user should receive in case of successful completion or failure of the test. In addition, it is possible to configure a transition to a specified web page after the test is completed.

The means of protection have not been forgotten either. So, to run a test you may need to provide a password or even data account. In addition, it is possible to allow the test to be launched only from a specific domain, which will protect it from copying when posted on the Internet. By default, statistics are not collected about those who took the test, but the author can make it mandatory to enter a name, email address, and other data. You can also set a time limit for answering certain questions or for the test as a whole, allow or disable viewing your answers, taking the test again, and moving on to the next question when the answer to the previous one is not given.

Wondershare QuizCreator pays a lot of attention to appearance test. The user has the opportunity to select one of the many proposed design themes, edit it (change colors and labels, remove elements, determine the position of graphic data, etc.), add an audio file that will be played in the background.

The test generated in the program can be saved in different formats, depending on how you plan to distribute it. For example, you can save it in Word/Excel format for printing, or burn a disc with the autorun menu. However, the most modern and interesting option, without a doubt, is the creation of a flash version of the test for posting on the site. When you select this option, you will be able to specify the email address to which the results will be sent, as well as allow the results to be sent to students.

As for surveys, when creating them you can use most of the described settings and export options. The exception is those that are relevant only when assessing the level of knowledge (different alerts for correct and incorrect answers, etc.), which is not significant in the case of surveys.

Both tests and surveys can be saved online using the Quiz Management System service, which is also developed by Wondershare. The convenience of this system is that it can be used to distribute tests only among registered users, view the results of completed tasks using a variety of filters, and generate reports. Quiz Management System also supports importing questions created in Wondershare QuizCreator and building new tests based on them directly in the web interface.

⇡ Schoolhouse Test 3.1.6 - assistant for teachers

Developer: Schoolhouse Technologies
Distribution size: 16.5 MB
Distribution: shareware
Russian interface: no

Unlike previous programs, Schoolhouse Test is aimed primarily at teachers of educational institutions. The purpose of the program is to simplify working with the question database, as well as automate as much as possible the process of creating tests and checking results. However, there are no options for creating online assignments - the program only allows you to print the results of the work, as well as export tests to PDF.

Working with Schoolhouse Test begins with creating a database of questions. By adding questions, the teacher can indicate the area of knowledge, as well as the student’s level of preparation and the number of points that the student will receive for the correct answer.

Questions can be accompanied by graphic files, and in addition, a picture can be attached to any of the answer options. Schoolhouse Test supports the most different types answers, including such an unusual one as the student drawing a diagram. It is also possible to create tests in which the student needs to insert the missing word. To create questions of this type, you need to enter the entire phrase, and then click on the word in the place of which there should be a gap in the task. Schoolhouse Test features flexible tools for managing all questions. For example, when creating multiple-choice questions, each answer can be temporarily disabled or randomly excluded from the shuffle.

Once the database of questions is created, the teacher can quickly specify which questions should be included in the test, as well as create several different options tests with a given number of questions in each.

Schoolhouse Test has three data presentation modes. In the first - Design View - work is carried out with the database of questions. Here the teacher can select questions for the test, set their order, add accompanying graphic files, and make other changes to the content of the task. In Document View mode, you can see what the print test will look like, change its design, headers and footers, and page print settings. For the convenience of the teacher, in this mode the ability to display the correct answers is available. This way, you can quickly look through the pages with tasks and check if an error has crept in.

When switching to the third data presentation mode - Answer View - the program generates an answer sheet. It is convenient to use for quickly checking tests, as well as saving paper. When using it, it is assumed that students will receive the questions separately and will fill out not the question paper, but their answer sheet.

⇡ Adit Testdesk 2.4 - a complete set of testing solutions

Developer: Adit Software
Distribution size: 41 MB
Distribution: shareware (there are several editions)
Russian interface: yes

The Adit Testdesk program is a universal tool for creating tests of various types. The peculiarity of this solution is that using the utility you can not only generate tests, but also organize testing. Adit Testdesk includes several utilities: the Editor test editor, a tool for creating complex scripted tests using the ScriptMaker programming language, a Reporter program for evaluating results and exporting them to XML format, and a test client Tester. When using the network edition of the program, the Testserver utility is also available, with which you can organize testing on a local network or via the Internet. It is also possible to prepare a printed version of any test using the built-in text editor.

Adit Testdesk offers several main types of projects, which differ in the way they are assessed. The “with correct answers” type is suitable for creating tests that need to assess the knowledge of students or employees. The “psychological” type provides the ability to set a certain number of points for each answer option. To create a more complex assessment algorithm, you can use the “script” type, and the “survey” option is suitable in cases where the correctness of the answers does not matter and it is important to find out the opinion of the respondents.

The program supports an incredible number of question types, many of which are not available in other applications. For example, you can create questions where, as an answer, the person taking the test must put a dot, build a graph, enter the time or date, match a number to each statement, select “hot” zones in the image, draw a circle, rectangle, segment or line and so on.

When composing questions, you can not only indicate the correct answer or several answer options, but also set special conditions for assessing its correctness. You can attach a graphic, audio or video file to each question, and you can also create a training example presented in the form of a tree of small texts.

Each project created in the program contains not only a list of questions, but also topics and profiles. Topics are used to organize questions more conveniently: each question can be assigned to a specific topic, after which it becomes much easier to search for them. In addition, if you use a time limit for taking the test, you can separately set limits for questions related to different topics.

Profiles are a very convenient means of managing a large database of questions. Thanks to profiles, you can create similar tests with different designs and settings, as well as with different questions. This can be useful, for example, if a teacher creates several versions of the same test for a group of students. The design of tests can be flexibly managed using the Text Designer module. With it you can change the background color, fonts, location various elements, add your own inscriptions or logos.

It is worth mentioning separately the possibility of using variables in tests. They allow you to change questions or other test parameters on the fly, during the testing process, depending on what answers the user gives. For example, if the respondent indicates that he is a man, he is shown one group of questions, and if he reports that he is a woman, completely different questions arise. In addition, variables are convenient when assessing psychological tests, where when choosing one answer or another, points can be subtracted from the amount already scored or a bonus can be added. Variables can also be used to provide auxiliary text information that is displayed during the test. For example, if unsatisfactory results are obtained during a knowledge assessment, using variables you can display text with links to educational materials, which should help the student in further learning.

A lot of attention is paid to security at Adit Testdesk. All tests are saved in encrypted form, and the test author can set permissions to view and change the data. For example, some users can be allowed to add new test profiles, others can make changes to questions, and another group can only view finished tests. Access to tests can be limited by the user's IP address, group ID and login. You can also set testing quotas, for example limiting the number of tests completed by users to two per day. For those who plan to actively use Adit Testdesk for testing over the Internet, there is a special secure network edition. It implements secure data transfer using the SSL protocol, as well as secure remote administration with support for the SSH protocol.

⇡ Conclusion

Despite the fact that all four utilities discussed in this review are used for the same purpose - creating tests, each of them has its own purpose, which is determined primarily by what use cases ready-made tests provided by the developers. Thus, the results of work in Quiz Press can only be saved as a set of files for uploading to an FTP server, so it is obvious that the program can be used to create tests that are planned to be posted on the Internet.

Wondershare QuizCreator can save tests and surveys in Flash format, which will be convenient for webmasters who want to diversify the information on their site. Using this program you can also record tests to disk. Schoolhouse Test is intended exclusively for creating paper tests and is a convenient tool for organizing questions in a form convenient for the teacher. Finally, Adit Testdesk offers its own client for conducting tests, which means it is aimed primarily at use in organizations and educational institutions where it is necessary to implement a full testing cycle.

Substantial part production process relies on program testing. What it is and how such activities are carried out will be discussed in this article.

What is testing?

This refers to the process during which software in order to detect places where the code is not functioning correctly. Difficult input data sets are intentionally designed to achieve the best results. The main goal of the tester is to create optimal opportunities for failure. Although sometimes testing of a developed program can be simplified to a simple test of functionality and performance of functions. This saves time, but is often accompanied by unreliable software, user dissatisfaction, and so on.

Efficiency

How well and quickly bugs are found has a significant impact on the cost and duration of software development. required quality. So, despite the fact that testers receive wages several times lower than programmers, the cost of their services usually reaches 30 - 40% of the cost of the entire project. This is due to the number of personnel, since finding a mistake is an unusual and rather difficult process. But even if the software has passed a significant number of tests, there is no 100% guarantee that there will be no errors. It is simply unknown when they will appear. To encourage testers to choose types of testing that are more likely to find a bug, various means of motivation are used: both moral and material.

Approach to work

The optimal situation is when various mechanisms are implemented to ensure that there are no errors in the software from the very beginning. To do this, it is necessary to take care of competent architectural design, clear technical specifications, and it is also important not to make adjustments to connections when work on the project has already begun. In this case, the tester is faced with the task of finding and identifying a small number of errors that remain in the final result. This will save both time and money.

What is a test?

This is an important aspect of the inspector’s activity, which is necessary for successfully identifying defects in the program code. They are necessary to verify the correctness of the application. What is included in the test? It consists of initial data and values that should be obtained as resultant (or intermediate). To be more effective at identifying problems and inconsistencies, tests should be written after the algorithm has been developed but programming has not begun. Moreover, it is advisable to use several approaches when calculating the necessary data. In this case, the likelihood of finding a bug increases due to the fact that you can examine the code from a different point of view. Comprehensive tests must provide verification externalities finished software product, as well as its operating algorithms. Of particular interest are limiting and degenerate cases. Thus, in the practice of activities with errors, it can often be revealed that the cycle works one time less or more than it was planned. Also important is computer testing, thanks to which you can check whether the desired result is met on different machines. This is necessary to ensure that the software can run on all computers. In addition, testing the computer on which development will be performed is important when creating multi-platform developments.

The Art of Finding Bugs

Programs are often aimed at working with huge amounts of data. Does it really need to be created completely? No. The practice of “miniaturizing” a program has become widespread. In this case, there is a reasonable reduction in the amount of data compared to what should be used. Let's look at this example: there is a program that creates a 50x50 matrix. In other words, you need to manually enter 2500 thousand values. This is, of course, possible, but it will take a lot of time. But to check its functionality, the software product receives a matrix whose dimension is 5x5. To do this, you will need to enter 25 values. If in this case normal, error-free operation is observed, then this means that everything is in order. Although there are pitfalls here too, which lie in the fact that during miniaturization a situation occurs as a result of which changes become implicit and temporarily disappear. It is also very rare, but it still happens, that new errors appear.

Pursued goals

Software testing is not an easy task due to the fact that this process cannot be fully formalized. Large programs almost never have the exact reference required. Therefore, a number of indirect data are used as a guideline, which, however, cannot fully reflect the characteristics and functions of software developments that are being debugged. Moreover, they must be selected in such a way that the correct result is calculated even before the software product is tested. If this is not done in advance, then there is a temptation to calculate everything approximately, and if the machine result falls within the expected range, then an erroneous decision will be made that everything is correct.

Testing under various conditions

As a rule, testing of programs occurs in the volumes that are necessary for a minimum check of functionality in within limited limits. Activities are carried out with changes in parameters, as well as their operating conditions. The testing process can be divided into three stages:

Testing under normal conditions. In this case, the main functionality of the developed software is tested. The result obtained should be as expected.
Checking under emergency conditions. These cases involve obtaining boundary data that may negatively affect the performance of the created software. An example would be working with extremely large or small numbers, or in general, complete absence information received.
Checking in exceptional situations. It involves the use of data that lies beyond processing. In such situations, it is very bad when the software perceives them as suitable for calculation and produces a plausible result. In such cases, care must be taken to ensure that any data that cannot be processed correctly is rejected. It is also necessary to provide information to the user about this

Software testing: types

It is very difficult to create software without errors. This requires a significant amount of time. To get a good product, two types of testing are often used: “Alpha” and “Beta”. What are they? When they talk about alpha testing, they mean a test carried out by the development staff themselves in “laboratory” conditions. This is the last stage of verification before the program is released to end users. Therefore, the developers are trying to expand to the maximum. For ease of operation, data can be logged to create a history of problems and their resolution. Beta testing refers to the delivery of software to a limited number of users so that they can use the program and identify missed errors. The peculiarity in this case is that the software is often used for purposes other than its intended purpose. Thanks to this, faults will be detected where nothing was previously noticed. This is quite normal and there is no need to worry about it.

Completion of testing

If the previous steps have been successfully completed, then all that remains is to conduct an acceptance test. In this case it becomes a mere formality. During this check, it is confirmed that no additional problems have been found and the software can be released to the market. The more important the final result is, the more carefully the check should be carried out. It is necessary to ensure that all stages are completed successfully. This is what the testing process looks like in general. Now let's get into the technical details and talk about useful tools like test programs. What are they and in what cases are they used?

Automated Testing

Previously, it was believed that dynamic analysis of developed software was too heavy an approach that was ineffective for detecting defects. But due to the increasing complexity and volume of programs, a contrary view has emerged. Automated testing is used where the most important priorities is performance and safety. And they should be present for any input data. Examples of programs for which such testing is appropriate include the following: network protocols, web server, sandboxing. We will next look at several samples that can be used for such activities. If interested free programs testing, it is quite difficult to find quality ones among them. But there are hacked “pirated” versions of well-proven projects, so you can turn to their services.

Avalanche

This tool helps detect defects by testing programs in dynamic analysis mode. It collects data and analyzes the execution trace of the developed object. The tester is provided with a set of input data that causes an error or bypasses a set of existing restrictions. Thanks to the presence of a good verification algorithm, a large number of possible situations are developed. The program receives various sets input data that allows you to simulate a significant number of situations and create conditions where a failure is most likely to occur. An important advantage of the program is the use of heuristic metrics. If there is a problem, then there is a high probability of an application error. But this program has limitations such as checking only one marked input socket or file. An operation such as program testing will contain detailed information about problems with null pointers, infinite loops, invalid addresses, or malfunctions due to the use of libraries. Of course it's not full list detected errors, but only their common examples. Unfortunately, developers will have to correct the shortcomings - automatic tools are not suitable for these purposes.

KLEE

This good program for memory testing. It can intercept approximately 50 system calls and a large number of virtual processes, thus running in parallel and separately. But in general, the program does not look for individual suspicious places, but processes the maximum possible amount of code and analyzes the data transmission paths used. Because of this, program testing time depends on the size of the object. When checking, the emphasis is placed on symbolic processes. They are one of the possible ways to perform tasks in the program that is being tested. Thanks to parallel operation, it is possible to analyze a large number of options for the operation of the application under study. For each path, after testing is completed, the sets of input data with which the test began are saved. It should be noted that testing programs using KLEE helps to identify a large number of deviations that should not exist. It can even find problems in applications that have been in development for decades.

Free program. With her you can organize a test, questionnaire, survey, verification and control of knowledge. In the content of the questions, you can use pictures and text formatting (color of letters and background, font, use of formulas and tables). Answer options in can be with single and multiple choice, “yes/no” (false or true), entering a number or word, sequence order, matching, selecting the answer area in the image, rearranging letters. The program implements training (error messages), penalty (points are deducted, skipping a task), free (any sequence of questions) and exclusive (the program window occupies the entire screen and cannot be minimized) training modes. The program has a nice design and easy control of all the necessary functions and settings to carry out the test.

Testing, editor and testing log

The MyTestX utility includes three modules - testing, editor and testing log. The testing module conducts a test from a saved file containing questions, answers and test settings, counts and checks correct and incorrect answers. Using the test editing module, even a novice user can easily create a new test or survey. The test log stores the results of the tests performed in the form of a detailed report.

Network testing

In a computer class using a local network, the teacher can test the knowledge of all students at the same time and carry out online monitoring performing testing, having previously distributed tests and tasks over the network. Program for conducting tests and testing knowledge supports work on a local network, you can easily centrally organize the collection and processing of test results and view a detailed report using the testing log.

Protecting tests and their results

The MyTestX program has highly reliable protection against editing and viewing test results and test tasks. Once you set a test password, it becomes impossible for third parties to change or damage it. All settings, parameters, questions and answer keys for individual test tasks are stored in one encrypted and compressed file.

In the MyTestX archive:

MyTestX 10.2 program;
testing module for terminal classes;
module for creating autonomous tests;
a program for importing tests from text files into the MyTestX 10.2 program format;
programs for converting tests for MyTestX from one legacy format to another.

Official site: http://mytest.klyaksa.net
OS: Windows All
Supported languages: Multilingual platform including Russian
Version: 10.2.0.3
License:freeware (for free)

File size 16.9 MB
Password for loadboard archive