There is a new breed of applications that have been labeled Web 2.0. They require a different test strategy. Web 2.0 apps are created by the users themselves. For example, users can create mashups where they take different apps and integrate them into a new system. This complicates verification. What is a tester to do?The first thing is that you need to use the software like a user for a while. You can also ensure that actions get logged to disk. That way you can mine the log. The log can be used to drive future tests. You can use it to set up regression tests.
You got to do all kinds of data inputs validation testing. Sure you can try some special characters as input. But you should also try a whole range of weird characters. Try to simulate a cross site scripting attack. Your app better be on lock down for this.
A good goal is to test small feature sets. You should also clone your production data to seed your test database. If necessary, strip out any private data from the set. Above all ensure you can roll back to a stable release at any given time. This is the web. Things happen fast.
