Testing9-Specifications

LorrieL

The result of the customer requirements（客户的需求）studies is really just raw data（原始数据）. It doesn't describe（说明） the proposed product（也就是不能代表具体的产品）, it just confirms（确定） whether it should (or shouldn't) be created（怎样或者不能怎样）and what features（功能） the customers want. The specifications take all this informationplus any unstated（没有说明） but mandatory requirements（强制性的要求、或者潜在的硬性要求）and truly define（确切的定义） what the product will be, what it will do, and how it will look.

The format（格式） ofspecifications varies greatly. Some companies especially those developingproducts for the government, aerospace（航天）, financial, andmedical industries use a very rigorous（严格，严密的） process withmany checks and balances（制衡）. The result is an extremely detailed（极其详细的） and thoroughspecification（详细的文档） that's locked down, meaning that it can't change（不能再改变）except under very extreme conditions（极端的情况）. Everyone onthe development team knows exactly what they are creating.

There are development teams, usually onescreating software for less-critical （不太重要）applications,who produce specifications on cocktail napkins（鸡尾酒会的餐巾纸，美式幽默，形容非常随意）, if they create them at all. This has the distinct （明显的）advantageof being very flexible（灵活的，有弹性的）, but there's lots of risk that not everyone is "on the samepage（并不是每个人都是固定的模板）." And, what the product finally becomes isn't known until it'sreleased.

土土的豆豆

Right. Sepcification is most important to all of us, no matter developers or testers.