If we accept the fairly standard software development lifecycle definition of Inception – Analysis – Design – Implementation – Testing – Deployment – Maintenance, then it will be fairly easy to see how AutomatedQA’s product line provides support for all phases of the lifecycle.

First, it must be understood that with AQdevTeam’s highly customizable architecture, it is possible to track data items of any sort. By default, it can track bug reports, suggestions, tasks, etc. but it can also be easily extended to track requirements, feature lists, brain-storming ideas, or any other item type you create. With AQdevTeam’s other features (discussed in a moment), it becomes a sort of umbrella over the entire cycle:

Inception

AQdevTeam is present here. Use it to track a project and related notes, suggestions, etc.

Analysis/Design

Again, AQdevTeam tracks items that appear here: requirements, feature lists, checkpoints, resources, etc. In addition, for existing, or legacy projects, AQtime can be used for analyzing existing code.

Implementation

All the AutomatedQA tools find use in this phase. AQdevTeam is, of course, there in the thick of things, tracking items and progress for team members and using its powerful macro capabilities to manage source control and send out notifications to team members as item statuses change.

Automated Build Studio is a real powerhouse from here to the end of the cycle. With its ability to automate so many complex processes (builds, test runs, FTP operations, .NET tools, etc.) ABS is there, driving a wide variety of tools. Imagine the ability to regularly schedule a nightly process that gets the latest source code, calls compilers to create builds, launches TestComplete to run automated tests, runs AQtime to automatically profile the application, creates new issues in AQdevTeam from the testing results, and launches other 3rd party tools (like FxCop, Dotfuscator, the Microsoft HTML Help Compiler, etc.).

For those who make testing a regular part of the Implementation phase of development, TestComplete serves as an invaluable resource for daily, automated test runs. TestComplete can detect existing unit testing code and execute it as part of your other automated tests.

Finally, we come to AQtime. As a robust performance profiler and memory debugger, its place in the Implementation phase should be obvious. This tool allows developers to track down and eliminate application performance bottlenecks and memory leaks. By using this tool every day, application performance or memory problems can be spotted immediately.

Testing

The line between the Implementation and Testing phases continues to blur over time; but whether your team combines the two phases into one, leaves them completely distinct, or lies somewhere in between, the same advantages listed above in the Implementation section can be seen here. Extreme automation, robust profiling, automated creation of bug reports, issue tracking, etc.

But it is here that all the batteries of TestComplete come to bear. Not only can you employ automated unit and regression testing, but TestComplete also offers astonishing automation capabilities in GUI and functional testing, distributed testing and in HTTP performance testing. And all of this automation can be scripted in any of 5 different scripting languages (VBScript, JScript, C#Script, DelphiScript or C++Script).

Deployment

Here AQdevTeam and Automated Build Studio again rule. Using AQdevTeam’s item tracking, you can track releases and fire macros at various points in your process. For Automated Build Studio, things get even more impressive. Remember the nightly build and test scenario described in the Implementation section? Imagine if after that, ABS checks the error list, and if the build has passed, calls your installer software to create an install, burns a CD or DVD, and/or uploads the build via FTP operations, emails notifications of the new build, sends newsgroup messages, etc. Your entire build/test/evaluate/package/deploy/notify process can be automated in Automated Build Studio. Press the “Run” button and rest easy.

Maintenance

Whatever this phase looks like for you, AQdevTeam is back to manage this part of the cycle. Track issues, bug reports, suggestions, etc. as you manage future iterations of the software lifecycle.

As you’ve seen from this discussion, AutomatedQA’s products integrate with each other to create a full lifecycle quality assurance suite. See the graphic below for an example of how these solutions integrate.