Could you test a program 100%? 90%? Why?

Definitely not! The major problem with testing that you cannot calculate how many error are in the code, functioning etc. There are many factors involved such as experience of programmer, complexity of the system etc.
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  • 2006

Showing Answers 1 - 9 of 9 Answers

Sandeep B

  • Jul 22nd, 2005
 

No you cannot test a program 100% because :  
The number of inputs to a program is very large 
The number of outputs to a program is very large 
A tester does not have that much of time to test for each and every input conditions. 
Hence it is said that testing is a risk based exercise and you have to attain a state where you neither overtest or undertest a program.

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Ravi kumar

  • Mar 15th, 2006
 

Hi,

We cann't test the application 100%.

70% of modifications of application

and

30% of defects it will better application.

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jovlen

  • Mar 3rd, 2007
 

Being a mathematician, my first assumption is - GOD is only perfect entity in this whole universe.
My second assumption is that GOD is not a computer program.

Now assume that- a program is 100%error free. it implies that the program is perfect which in turn implies that the program is GOD. But it contradicts 2nd assumption so my statement that a program is 100% error free must be wrong.

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hanumabalusu

  • Apr 27th, 2007
 

Hi Friends,

It is not the question of 100% or 90% or 50% in testing a program.

It is question of how effective and efficient is you’re testing in identifying bugs.

If a tester had tested a program 50% and is able to identify major bugs, and contribute in improving quality of program then we do consider him as a good tester.
(For this tester should have good functional knowledge and basic understanding of program.)

And If a tester had tested a program 100% but still not able to identify Major bugs and is not able to contribute in improving the quality of program, then that tester is not a good tester.

Yours Hanuma.

"Any comments or suggestions over my answer always welcome"


swethareddyv

  • Oct 23rd, 2007
 

As a tester we do not confirm saying 100% or 90% testing is done.. rather we confirm by making sure no critical or major bugs are present (i.e all the imp business & functional requirements are satisfied).. minor bugs some times are accepted by clients for thier own reasons.. this is the way to assure the application is RELIABLE

gowger

  • Jan 30th, 2008
 

A finite state machine, for example implemented using something like Ragel would have a finite number of outcomes, and so would expect be possible to be 100% test covered.

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kspadma13

  • May 22nd, 2009
 

No, we can NEVER test a program completely and say the program is error -free.

Testing depends purely on the testers creativity to give inputs to a program, his/her experience and naturally the knowledge on the requirements and domain.

The testing completion time depends on the product delivery time and the testing of major functionalities.

kurtz182

  • Dec 1st, 2009
 

MOST PROGRAMS ARE TOO COMPLEX TO TEST 100 PERCENT. 

Nevertheless, it IS possible to test a very simple program 100 percent.  For example, if a program asks a user to select between two options (yes or no), and if the results are based only on these two options, then I can easily test all inputs and outputs of this program.  Nevertheless, most programs are not this simple.  As the complexity of an application increases, the more difficult it will become to test the entire program.  One way to determine software complexity would be to use the 'Cyclomatic Complexity' model developed by Thomas J. McCabe Sr which measures the number of linearly independent paths through a program's source code.  There are several correlations that can be made here:
1) The greater the number of independent paths in a program's source code, the greater number of corresponding actions a user can take when using the application.
2) The greater number of paths a user can take to transverse an application, the less likely it can be fully tested. 

The percentage of testing a particular program depends on several factors:
1) How complex is the application?
2) How much time do you have to test the application?  
3) How much testing resources can you devote to testing the application? 

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