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Shift left

As explained in Software Testing with Generative AI

Shift-left testing is the practice of performing testing activities earlier in the software development lifecycle.

Shift-left testing brings testing analysis into early development, ideally while ideas are discussed and details are clarified. Asking questions at this point can expose assumptions, reveal misunderstandings, identify issues earlier, and improve feature quality. section 4.2.1

A prompt can make early analysis systematic by requiring:

  • What, Where, Why, When, Who, and How questions. section 4.2.1
  • Coverage of Accuracy, Security, and Accessibility. section 4.2.1
  • Question - Explanation output, supported by a few-shot example. section 4.2.1

User-access requirements

Given a B&B feature describing an Admin user, guest accounts, booking access, and account deletion, the prompt generates clarification questions about ambiguous requirements and their quality implications. Reviewers can keep useful questions and disregard others. section 4.2.1

How Software Testing with Generative AI covers it

How deep it goes
Explains the principle through a structured LLM prompt, heuristic, output format, few-shot example, and requirements input.
Examples
Uses B&B user-access requirements covering administrators, guest accounts, bookings, and account deletion.
What it assumes
Assumes feature or requirements text to analyze and introduces early testing analysis through clarification questions.
What you can do after
Apply it via delimiter-based LLM prompts that generate review questions for requirements and feature ideas.
How it connects
Connects software testing with requirements clarification, acceptance criteria, quality characteristics, and few-shot prompting.

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This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Software Testing with Generative AI. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.