Bug! Falha! Bachi! Fallo! Défaut!! What about internationalization testing in the software industry?

Abstract

Background. Testing is an essential activity in the software development life cycle. Nowadays, testing activities are widely spread along the software development process, since software products are continuously tested to meet the user's expectations and to compete in global markets. In this context, internationalization testing is defined as the practice focused on determining that a software works properly in a specific language and in a particular region. Aims. This study aims to explore the particularities of internationalization testing in the software industry and discuss the importance of this practice from the point of view of professionals working in this context. Method. We developed an exploratory qualitative study and conducted interviews with professionals from an international software company, in order to understand three aspects of internationalization testing: general characteristics and importance of this practice, particularities of the process, and the role of test automation in this context. Results. An amount of 13 professionals participated in this study. Results demonstrated that internationalization testing is mostly related to aspects of graphical user interfaces. In this context, truncation and mistranslations are the main faults observed, and test automation might be difficult to implement and maintain due to amount validations that are human-dependent. Conclusion. Internationalization testing is an important practice to guarantee the quality of software products developed for global markets. However, this aspect of software testing remains unpopular or unfamiliar among professionals. This study is a step forward in the process of informing and enlightening academic researchers and practitioners in industry about this theme.