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Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system
From: |
Alex Bennée |
Subject: |
Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system |
Date: |
Fri, 21 May 2021 14:03:34 +0100 |
User-agent: |
mu4e 1.5.13; emacs 28.0.50 |
Philippe Mathieu-Daudé <philmd@redhat.com> writes:
> On 5/21/21 2:28 PM, Willian Rampazzo wrote:
>> On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 4:16 AM Thomas Huth <thuth@redhat.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 20/05/2021 22.28, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé wrote:
>>>> On 5/20/21 9:53 PM, Willian Rampazzo wrote:
>>>>> Conceptually speaking, acceptance tests "are a series of specific tests
>>>>> conducted by the customer in an attempt to uncover product errors before
>>>>> accepting the software from the developer. Conducted by the end-user
>>>>> rather
>>>>> than software engineers, acceptance testing can range from an informal
>>>>> “test drive” to a planned and systematically executed series of scripted
>>>>> tests" [1]. Every time Pressman refers to the term "acceptance testing,"
>>>>> he
>>>>> also refers to user's agreement in the final state of an implemented
>>>>> feature.
>>>>> Today, QEMU is not implementing user acceptance tests as described by
>>>>> Pressman.
>>>>>
>>>>> There are other three possible terms we could use to describe what is
>>>>> currently
>>>>> QEMU "acceptance" tests:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1 - Integration tests:
>>>>> - "Integration testing is a systematic technique for constructing
>>>>> the
>>>>> software architecture while at the same time conducting tests to
>>>>> uncover errors associated with interfacing. The objective is to
>>>>> take
>>>>> unit-tested components and build a program structure that has
>>>>> been
>>>>> dictated by design." [2]
>>>>> * Note: Sommerville does not have a clear definition of integration
>>>>> testing. He refers to incremental integration of components
>>>>> inside
>>>>> the system testing (see [3]).
>>>
>>> After thinking about this for a while, I agree with you that renaming the
>>> "acceptance" tests to "integration" tests is also not a good idea. When I
>>> hear "integration" test in the context of the virt stack, I'd rather expect
>>> a test suite that picks KVM (i.e. a kernel), QEMU, libvirt and maybe
>>> virt-manager on top and tests them all together. So we should look for a
>>> different name indeed.
>>>
>>>>> 2 - Validation tests:
>>>>> - "Validation testing begins at the culmination of integration
>>>>> testing,
>>>>> when individual components have been exercised, the software is
>>>>> completely assembled as a package, and interfacing errors have
>>>>> been
>>>>> uncovered and corrected. At the validation or system level, the
>>>>> distinction between different software categories disappears.
>>>>> Testing
>>>>> focuses on user-visible actions and user-recognizable output
>>>>> from the
>>>>> system." [4]
>>>>> - "where you expect the system to perform correctly using a set of
>>>>> test
>>>>> cases that reflect the system’s expected use." [5]
>>>>> * Note: the definition of "validation testing" from Sommerville
>>>>> reflects
>>>>> the same definition found around the Internet, as one of the
>>>>> processes
>>>>> inside the "Verification & Validation (V&V)." In this concept,
>>>>> validation testing is a high-level definition that covers unit
>>>>> testing,
>>>>> functional testing, integration testing, system testing, and
>>>>> acceptance
>>>>> testing.
>>>>>
>>>>> 3 - System tests:
>>>>> - "verifies that all elements mesh properly and that overall system
>>>>> function and performance is achieved." [6]
>>>>> - "involves integrating components to create a version of the
>>>>> system and
>>>>> then testing the integrated system. System testing checks that
>>>>> components are compatible, interact correctly, and transfer the
>>>>> right
>>>>> data at the right time across their interfaces." [7]
>>>>>
>>>>> The tests implemented inside the QEMU "acceptance" directory depend on the
>>>>> software completely assembled and, sometimes, on other elements, like
>>>>> operating
>>>>> system images. In this case, the proposal here is to rename the current
>>>>> "acceptance" directory to "system."
>>>>
>>>> Are user-mode tests using Avocado also system tests?
>>>> https://www.mail-archive.com/qemu-devel@nongnu.org/msg782505.html
>>>
>>> We've indeed got the problem that the word "system" is a little bit
>>> overloaded in the context of QEMU. We often talk about "system" when
>>> referring to the qemu-softmmu-xxx emulators (in contrast to the linux-user
>>> emulator binaries). For example, the "--disable-system" switch of the
>>> configure script, or the "build-system" and "check-system" jobs in the
>>> .gitlab-ci.yml file ... thus this could get quite confusing in the
>>> .gitlab-ci.yml file afterwards.
>>
>> I agree with you here. After I made the changes to the code, I noticed
>> QEMU has the "system" word spread all over the place. That may confuse
>> people looking at the "system tests" without much interaction with
>> software testing terminology.
>>
>>>
>>> So I think renaming "acceptance" to "system" is especially ok if we only
>>> keep the "softmmu"-related tests in that folder... would it maybe make sense
>>> to add the linux-user related tests in a separate folder called tests/user/
>>> instead, Philippe? And we should likely rename the current build-system and
>>> check-system jobs in our gitlab-CI to build-softmmu and check-softmmu or so?
>>>
>>
>> As I mentioned in Philippe's reply, those tests are still considered
>> system tests because system testing is the software built and
>> interacting with external test artifacts in software engineering.
>>
>>> Alternatively, what about renaming the "acceptance" tests to "validation"
>>> instead? That word does not have a duplicated definition in the context of
>>> QEMU yet, so I think it would be less confusing.
>>
>> While at the beginning of your reply, I started thinking if
>> "validation" would cause less confusion for the QEMU project. Although
>> validation testing is a broader concept inside the Verification &
>> Validation process, encompassing unit testing, functional testing,
>> integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing, it may be
>> an option for the QEMU project.
>>
>> While system testing would be the correct terminology to use, if it
>> causes more confusion, using a less strict terminology, like
>> validation testing, is valid, in my opinion.
>
> This works for me:
>
> - tests/system/softmmu
> - tests/system/user
>
> Or validation, as you prefer.
So what are tests/tcg if not user tests? They *mostly* test
linux-user emulation but of course we have softmmu tests in there as
well.
>
> Thanks for sharing the background references,
>
> Phil.
--
Alex Bennée
- [RFC 0/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/20
- [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/20
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé, 2021/05/20
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Thomas Huth, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system,
Alex Bennée <=
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Peter Maydell, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Peter Maydell, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Thomas Huth, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Philippe Mathieu-Daudé, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Willian Rampazzo, 2021/05/21
- Re: [RFC 1/1] acceptance tests: rename acceptance to system, Alex Bennée, 2021/05/21