What is a feature quick check?
A feature quick check, often called a smoke test, is a short test of every main feature. It runs on each new release to find big problems fast.
1. Short and broad, not deep
A smoke test tries every main feature for a short time. Like a quick health check, it shows each one is basically alive.
2. On every new release
It runs on every new release of the chip's software. Often a small program runs it by itself overnight, so results are ready by morning.
3. The usual steps
Check the versions and which features are on, run short tasks (workloads), sleep and wake, restart, and switch between plugged in and battery.
4. Compare with the last release
Each result is compared with the last release. Anything that now fails or got worse, such as more power used when idle, is a regression.
5. A failure starts debugging
A failure starts debugging and a bug report. A release that passes moves on to wider testing.
Words to know
- Smoke test
- A short, broad test of every main feature. The name comes from switching on new hardware to see that no smoke comes out.
- Release
- A new numbered version of the chip's software: BIOS, firmware or drivers.
- Workload
- A program run to keep the chip busy during a test.
- Regression
- Something that worked in an earlier release but now fails or got worse, such as higher idle power.
- Debugging
- Finding out why something failed.
- Bug report
- A written record of a problem, sent to the team that can fix it.
Where you meet it at work
Running smoke tests on each new release and reporting the results is often one of the first jobs given to a newcomer.
Check yourself
Sleep worked on the last release but fails on the new one. What is that called?Think first, then tap to see the answer.
A regression.