Putting software terminology to the test

Project management relies on testing personnel's expertise to ensure software quality. However, contractual and management issues also determine a project's quality. Such issues might even control testing itself. Consider the situation in which a client hires a vendor to build a piece of software. The client could specify the type, schedule, and extent of testing in its contract. Such terms might include compressing the time allotted to quality assurance or substituting certain tests for others. To successfully meet software quality goals, all parties involved must fully understand what testing the contract requires. However, testing literature, practitioners, and project management often have different understandings of common testing concepts. I describe two specific inconsistencies in testing vocabulary that can put a software project at risk.