QA Fundamentals

By the end you’ll be able to

• Explain what testing can and cannot prove — without sounding defensive
• Turn a requirement into a defensible set of tests with four design techniques
• Write test cases another person can run and get the same verdict
• File defect reports that get fixed instead of closed as “cannot reproduce”
• Tell severity from priority, and know who decides which

1. 01What a tester actually doesThe job as it really is: not clicking every button, but deciding which risks are worth the time you have.8 min
2. 02SDLC and STLCHow software gets built, where testing sits inside it, and why 'shift left' is more than a slogan.10 min
3. 03Test levelsUnit, integration, system and acceptance testing — what each one can catch, and what it structurally cannot.9 min
4. 04Test typesFunctional, non-functional, white-box and change-related testing — and why smoke and regression are not the same thing.9 min
5. 05The seven testing principlesSeven statements that sound like trivia until you need them to defend a decision in a release meeting.7 min
6. 06Equivalence partitioningTurn an infinite input space into a handful of tests by grouping inputs the system treats the same way.Hands-on12 min
7. 07Boundary value analysisBugs live at the edges. BVA is the technique with the best defect-per-test ratio in testing.Hands-on12 min
8. 08Decision tablesWhen several conditions combine to produce different outcomes, a table finds the rules nobody specified.Hands-on12 min
9. 09State transition testingFor systems with memory: test the transitions, and then test the ones that should be impossible.11 min
10. 10Writing test cases people can actually runAnatomy of a good case, the five failure modes of bad ones, and how much detail is the right amount.Hands-on13 min
11. 11Writing a bug report that gets fixedReproduction steps, evidence, and the difference between a report a developer can act on and one they'll close.Hands-on12 min
12. 12The defect lifecycleWhere a bug report goes after you file it, who moves it, and how to handle 'works on my machine' without a fight.9 min
13. 13The tester in a sprintWhat you do in each ceremony, how to write acceptance criteria that are testable, and how to avoid the mini-waterfall trap.11 min