What is Software Testing?
SOFTWARE TESTING is characterized as a movement to check whether the real outcome coincides with the normal outcome, in order to guarantee that the product framework is without defect. Software testing assists with recognizing blunders, holes or missing prerequisites. It includes execution of a product segment or framework part, to assess at least one property of interest.
The objective of software testing isn’t to discover bugs or to improve programming. It is there to decrease that chance, by proactively finding and disposing of issues, which would significantly affect the client utilizing the product or application. Clients can otherwise be affected by the recurrence of a mistake or undesired usefulness, or by the seriousness of the issue.
Effect by the Recurrence of an Error: In the event that you had a bug in your bookkeeping programming, which made it freeze up for a second or two, at whatever point a worth higher than $1,000 was entered, it would not so much have an immense effect; however that would be a sufficiently high recurrence and would bother the client.
Effect by the Seriousness of the Issue: On the off chance that you had a bug in the bookkeeping programming, that made the entirety of the information corrupt, it would have a gigantic effect on your overall system.
The aim and key concept behind software testing is to reduce risk, so when using the software, the consumer will benefit. This is usually achieved by first prioritizing which areas of the program are likely to have the greatest impact (i.e. risk), and then agreeing on a set of tests to run which will validate the desired functionality.
The 7 Types of Software Testing
Every type of testing also has its own characteristics, benefits and disadvantages. Below are the most commonly used types of software testing with their details, along with their Advantages and Disadvantages.
1 – Black-Box Testing
It is a Software Testing approach that analyzes a software / application’s functionality, without knowing much about the internal structure or design of the element being evaluated. Basically, Software testing assists with recognizing blunders, holes or missing prerequisites compares the input value with the output value.
One is only concerned with ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’ in black-box testing, and you don’t know how the output is actually obtained. Furthermore, you don’t know about the code or how it works, simply that a collection of outputs will be generated for a given set of inputs in to the program.
Advantages of Black-box Testing
- Tester can be non-tech.
- Simplifies testing, since only input & output is examined.
- Testing from the viewpoint of one person.
Disadvantages of Black-box Testing
- Difficult to conceive test cases.
- Failure causes are not visible.
- Tester has limited application know-how.
2 – White-Box Testing
Also, White box testing is a testing technique which examines the structure of the program and extracts test data from the logic or code of the program. In other words, you can simply say White-Box Testing is when you understand some of the systems internals. You might have access to the actual source code you are using to inform your testing, and what you are targeting. In this process, one has some insight into what is going on inside the program.
Advantages of White-box Testing
- Forces test creator to be careful, in order to think about implementation.
- Reveals ‘hidden’ code errors.
- Spots the ‘Dead Code’ or other issues regarding best practices in programming.
Disadvantages of White-box Testing
- In-depth programming language knowledge is required in order to perform white box testing.
- Access to code is mandatory.
- Based on existing software, it is not possible to discover missing features
3 – Acceptance Testing
The aim of this test is to assess the compliance of the system with business requirements and to determine whether it is suitable for delivery. This testing is also known as User Acceptance testing (UAT).
This type of testing could be either checking the system’s functionality or testing the usability, or both. Also, The theory is that measuring acceptability checks what is predicted and what actually happens.
Advantages of Acceptance Testing
- Find & resolve usability problems early.
- Shows you how functional the system is.
- Feedback can be put into practice early in the development process.
Disadvantages of Acceptance Testing
- Needs to be tested in conditions other than the test environment.
- Consumers may be in line with the way the system works, but not see or record the defects.
- Not able to test all functions and features.
- A well-defined test audience is required.
4 – Automation Testing
Automation testing is a software testing methodology that checks and compares the actual result to the expected result. Also, This can be done by writing test scripts or using any method used to test automation.
So, by running scripts that open a web page, enter some data, push some buttons and then search for some results on a page, you could automate the testing of a web application. You could also automate the testing of an Application Programming Interface (API) by writing scripts with different data calling out to the API, and then checking the returned results.
More and more testing is moving towards automated testing because it can be repetitive, error-prone, and expensive to manually run through test cases over and over again — especially in an agile environment where the same test set may have to be run every two weeks or so to ensure that nothing has changed.
Advantages of Automation Testing
- Automated test re-usability.
- Earlier fault detection.
- Thoroughness in testing.
- Overall high-test coverage.
Disadvantages of Automation Testing
- Frequent adjustment to testing code.
- Proficiency required to write automation test scripts..
5 – Regression Testing
The aim of Regression testing is to ensure that the software does not revert to functionality. With agile development methodologies, where software is developed incrementally, this is extremely important and there is a constant potential that adding new features might break existing ones.
This type of testing is required when there are new features added, performance issues are to be fixed, and the change in requirements and code is modified according to the new criteria.
Advantages of Regression Testing
- Regression testing helps in performance optimization.
- It can be done through automation tools.
- Does not allow the new changes to be made while the regression test is on.
- It helps to incorporate continuous integration as soon as the developer moves the code triggered by the construct and automatically runs the regression test.
Disadvantages of Regression Testing
- It takes a lot of effort and time manually, and becomes a tedious process.
- As the test cases get big, all test cases can sometimes not be executed due to time and budget problems
- It’s hard to determine the frequency of regression tests after every release and build of bug fixes.
6 – Functional Testing
Functional testing is defined as whereby the system is tested against the functional requirements or specifications.
It ensures the program is meeting the requirements properly. This type of testing is not about how processing occurs, but rather about the processing outcomes. This simulates actual usage of the system but does not make assumptions about any device structure.
Functional Testing typically involves the following Steps:
- Identify the tasks you expect the program to perform.
- Build input data based on the specifications for the feature.
- Determine the performance based upon the requirements of the feature.
- Execute the test case.
- Compare the actual and expected outputs.
Advantages of Functional Testing
- The product or software related risks/losses are decreased.
- Helps in approving actual system usage.
- Essential for evaluating the performance and functionality of the application/product before delivering it to the end user.
Disadvantages of Functional Testing
- Also, Functional testing can be missing both critical and logical system errors.
- The possibility of carrying out redundant tests in functional testing is high.
- Also, Functional testing can not ensure the software is ready to go live.
7 – Exploratory Testing
Also, Exploratory testing is the systematic discovery of software weaknesses and vulnerabilities guided by complex hypotheses. Also, It is a software testing methodology with simultaneous learning, test design, and test execution.
Exploratory Testing is aimed at finding out how the software actually works and asking questions on how it will handle difficult and simple cases. Also, It all relies on the skill set of the tester in generating test cases and figure out the flaws. As the tester has more knowledge about the product and various test methodologies, the better the test will be.
Advantages of Exploratory Testing
- A large portion of testing is done during test execution.
- Previous results can be used for future testing.
- Involve reviews to explore further bugs.
Disadvantages of Exploratory Testing
- Difficult to find out most suitable test case.
- Reporting without planned scripts is difficult.
- Difficult to document every single procedure.
The Process of Software Testing
Also, Different organizations will have different ideas about how to do the testing, and what procedure to use. Also, The idea here is not to be prescriptive or model the ideal testing process, but rather to give an idea of what the testing process is like, and what it entails. Let’s look at those components that make up the whole.
Step 1 – Test Strategy and Test Plan
Testing starts with some kind of strategy and plan. First, one analyzes the points below in order to start testing.
- What is the strategy for testing?
- Type of testing are you going to perform?
- What features of the application/product are going to be tested?
- Test requirements and setups
- Test schedule
Above are the questions which are answered in the test ‘Planning’ phase, so the test plan must have the methodology chosen for a project laid out step-by-step, in a formal document. Without the testing strategy, one cannot get productive results.
Step 2 – Test Design
In this step, the tests are usually conceived at a high level based on the system requirement and functionality. At this point, a tester may come up with a list of general test cases to be conducted.
Step 3 – Test Execution and Creation
In this phase, the test is created and executed. Tests are first written in test management software and executed later.
Step 4 – Test Closure/ Log Results
The test execution results are recorded and evaluated, and any bugs or flaws are usually logged into some kind of bug tracking system. Once the bugs are logged then it sends it to development team to fix before the release of application/ product.
Popular Programs to Use
Top 10 Most Popular Software Testing Tools
- Selenium
- UFT/QTP
- Katalon Studio
- Silk Test
- Squish
- TestComplete
- Ranorex
- Appium
- SoapUI
- EggPlant
Also, There are may programs out there for testing software. Hashe Computer Solutions recommends that one hire a professional for most of these tests, as experience and knowledge outweigh first-time testers exponentially. With organizations adapting to Agile and DevOps methodologies, good quality software delivered on a quick schedule is now the new norm.
Conclusion
The Software Testing types discussed above are just a part of testing. Such types of assessments, procedures and their methods of implementation continue to change as and when the project, specifications, and scope changes.
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Last Modified: June 28, 2024 at 11:11 am
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