What Is Software Testing & What Are Its Different Types?

Software testing is an activity to check if the results of software meets the expectations. Software testing ensures that the software does exactly what it is supposed to do. Software testing assesses a software element, as a complete software system, to determine one or more of its properties as bugs, and other problems can be very costly. It is essential to help recognize bugs, gaps, errors, or other missing elements from the client specifications. 

Software testing can be performed either manually or using automotive tools, perhaps a combination of two. 

Why is software testing imperative?

Software testing is an awesome way to recognize flaws in the product before releasing it. Let’s take one real-world example to know why software testing must be taken seriously.

Starbucks got compelled to close down its 60% stores in the States and Canada due to software glitch in 2015. There was a problem in their POS system, thus preventing them from making any transactions. At times, Starbucks got compelled to take orders for free. 

Different types of software testing

  • Functional Testing
  • Non-functional Testing
  • Maintenance Testing

This article will throw a light on functional testing.

Types of Functional Testing

It is a software testing process wherein software is tested to make sure that it meets all requirements. It is to ensure that it has all the necessary features that are specified within its functional requirements.

1. Integration Testing

This type of testing gets created to look at all the integrated modules within a piece of software. This typically occurs once all the elements modules have got synced together, as the name suggests.

Modules can usually consist of code modules, client-server applications on a network, single applications, and others.

2. Unit Testing

Unlike integrated testing, unit testing is a form of software testing that evaluates a single component or module. A unit is the tiny, most testable part of any software. Such testing is typically performed by the programmers themselves and not by committed testers. This is because it requires an in-depth knowledge of the software’s internal design and code. Unit testing is the initial stage of software testing and gets conducted before integration testing.

3. System Testing

This is somewhat similar to Integration testing; however, it is more all-inclusive. This type of testing will look at the complete system for its overall conformance with the software’s requirements.

At times, it is also referred to as Black-Box testing and performed after integration testing. It confirms that the entire software package works as anticipated. It is a crucial testing process to make sure the supreme quality is possible for any delivered package.

4. Smoke Testing

This is a type of preliminary testing to check the basic features and stability of a specific application. Such a test is quick to perform, and its goals are mostly to assure that most elements of a system work as expected.

Such testing is typically executed after a new software has been developed and looks for stability before a more intense trial. Smoke tests check for show-stopper flaws within the code that could reduce later tests from running correctly.

5. Sanity Testing

This type of testing is to ascertain if a new software version performs well enough to approve it for further significant testing. For instance, if an application breaks down on the first use, then the system is considered unreliable for further testing. 

It is also used to look for small changes in code, features, to determine that no more issues arise due to these changes. This test is not used to confirm the software impartially, but make sure that developers have implemented logic when creating it. 

6. Regression Testing

This is used to test an application entirely when a module or a function has got altered. It is used to verify that any changes have not adversely impacted the other existing functionality. 

7. Graphic User Interface Testing

Graphic User Interface (GUI) is a test of the interface against consumer or end-user requirements. This is typically explained in the project summary and will usually have reference GUI mockups to test against. 

These tests will mostly look for the size of buttons and input fields at a given or spectrum of resolutions. It will also look for a line of text, tables, and overall content. 

The testings must conform to any menus present like the populated dropdowns. IT also follows that pages do not change, and the structure remains constant when iterating over them with a mouse. 

8. Beta Testing

This is a form of testing you have mostly heard, even if you are not in this field. Clients and other third-party end-users mostly perform this one. 

This is the testing conducted in the real-life environment before the ultimate product launch. It gets carried out to ensure that there are no significant software failures and that it fulfills all the requirements. 

End-users will be motivated to provide feedback to the developers and also provide recommendations for potential improvements. Later, developers will take action to make improvements before the final release.

9. End-to-end Testing

This is used to test if the flow of an application from beginning to end is as expected. Its purpose is to recognize the system dependencies and ensure that the data synced is balanced between multiple system components and frameworks.

It will typically test the whole applications for critical features such as interacting with other frameworks, interfaces, networks, datasets, and other applications. 

10. Usability Testing

As the name suggests, this one is user-friendly. The application flow gets tested to see whether a new, inexperienced user can comprehend the application or not. Also, it can check to see they are helpful and understands that system navigation is reasonable. 

Conclusion

This article must have given you some deep insights into different types of testing when it comes to software. All the types of testing are essential to ensure that the program works as expected, securely, and reliably. Without an all-inclusive package of tests, end product software can have some severe issues.

Author Bio:
Harnil Oza is CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem, one of the leading app development companies in India, having a team of the best app developers who deliver the best mobile solutions mainly on Android and iOS platforms. He regularly contributes his knowledge on leading blogging sites like top app development companies.

FAQ

Why is software testing imperative?

Software testing is an awesome way to recognize flaws in the product before releasing it.

What are the different types of software testing?

– Functional Testing
– Non-functional Testing
– Maintenance Testing

What are the different types of Functional Testing?

– Integration Testing
– Unit Testing
– System Testing
– Smoke Testing
– Sanity Testing
– Regression Testing
– Graphic User Interface Testing
– Beta Testing
– End-to-end Testing
– Usability Testing


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