What is Software Testing? A Complete Guide

The most common pet peeves among Software Testers and Developers is when an application which they have been working on for months, doesn't yield the results as they desired. When that happens, they tend to conduct several testing iterations. So how do organisations ensure that the software product or application is error-free by the time they launch? The answer is simple. By doing comprehensive Software Testing. 

Software Testing is the process by which the Software Testers check the quality, functionality, and performance of the software products. This testing helps the organisation to give a defect-free software product to their clients or organisation by identifying the gaps in the functionality of the product. 

So, do you want to learn more about how you can achieve this feat with your software product? Then, read this blog, where we will discuss the different components, types and benefits of Software Testing.

Table of Contents 

1) What is Software Testing? 

2) Importance of Software Testing

3) Software Testing life cycle

4) Types of Software Testing

5)  Software Testing Techniques

6) Popular Software Testing models

7) Software Testing tools

8) Conclusion 

What is Software Testing? 

Software Testing is a methodology of assuring that a software application is of the highest possible quality for end users and testing a product to safeguard any issues from becoming a hurdle at any point in time. It’s a systematic process that involves evaluating and validating a software application to identify and remove all possible bugs. 

The first goal of Software Testing is to meet industry requirements and operate as expected, providing users with a seamless experience. By uncovering issues in the early stages of development, Software Testing saves time and resources and avoids potential future threats. 
 

 

Who needs it? 

Software Testing has become an indispensable part of every industry and every organisation, big or small. Companies focus highly on the quality of the product before they roll it out to their clients or customers. Here are some instances where Software Testing is crucial:

a)Automobile: The automobile industry is one of the most complex and change-driven industries that must be equipped with all the latest technological advancements. They need a testing team to constantly refine the software by applying the correct testing methods. For instance, many automobile companies use chip-based technology to enhance safety measures.    

b) Energy: It is one of the fastest-growing industries that focuses on channelling power supplies with technological support. Embracing alternative energy sources such as electric vehicle manufacturing and solar systems requires a software-driven approach. Alternative energy sources, like manufacturing electric vehicles and solar systems, require a software-driven approach. An in-house testing team can help an organisation use mobile applications to pay energy bills.   

c) Banking: Banking and financial services play a vital role in the economic development of a country, and it is paramount that the software tools and techniques they use are well-tested and deliver high performance. Any banking software or service needs to be highly secure.  If the services are secure, then they will be able to maintain security during monetary transactions. For example, the banking system needs a secure web network to process monetary transactions globally.

d) Healthcare: The healthcare industry has gone through a lot in the past few years, facing new challenges every day.  It now depends heavily on software and robotics to keep themselves functioning all the time. The role of a Software Testing team is to build a robust mechanism that helps produce bug-free medical software to provide the best healthcare services within the stipulated time frame. For instance, automation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry has enabled drug manufacturers to make informed decisions.  

e) Logistics: The expansion of every single economy depends heavily on transportation and logistics.  To assist any logistics and transportation business, companies must be updated with modern software capable enough to perform day-to-day operational tasks. For instance, mobile applications are being made to track down the delivery of a product. 

f) E-commerce: E-commerce caters to many visitors and buyers and empowers them to make well-informed decisions before buying a product or service online. This commodity-driven business needs the help of Software Testing techniques to prevent bugs in the system and add value in prepositions to provide a smoother usability experience to its visitors.

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Importance of Software Testing

Since we got to know the industries where it is necessary, let’s now look at some of these points to understand in detail why Software Testing is important:

a) Help detecting defects: With the help of Software Testing, bugs and defects can be detected. Nowadays, they are built in such a way that they work seamlessly while they are interconnected with other devices or components. If there are any gaps between them or a component breaks down, then it causes a chain reaction of errors, which leads to faulty software products. With the help of the Software Testing process, these gaps can be discovered and fixed, which allows the organisation to deliver the product on time.

b) Enhances product quality: When the Software Testers identify the gaps or any possible errors in the software product, they automatically fix it without any delay. This improves the product quality and helps the organisation meet the customer expectations. With Software Testing, organisations can maintain the quality, compatibility, and security of the software applications.

c) Increases customer satisfaction: With rigorous Software Testing, businesses can increase customer satisfaction because it creates bug-free software that makes the product stable, secure and reliable. Maintaining these aspects helps the organisation to meet customer demands and create a positive and seamless User Experience (UX) for them, even in the long term. Moreover, when the customer gets to know that the software application has been tested repeatedly, they can maintain their trust in the product for a longer period.

d) Reduces cost and saves time: When a software is getting tested repeatedly, the Software Testers can fix those bugs quickly without wasting any time. Software products in industries such as financial, medical, and legal need to be working without any default. The organisations cannot take the risk of this product failing while functioning as it may cause a huge revenue and even life loss. Therefore, Software Testing can prevent such damages from occurring without putting the company at risk.

Software Testing life cycle

There are several stages involved in the Software Testing life cycle. Let’s have a look at these stages:

Requirement analysis

a) Objective: To find out the functions which the app must perform and how the app is supposed to show different data results under different circumstances.

b) Tasks: Review and analyse documentation such as requirements and design documents and product specifications. Collaborate with participants like business analysts, system designers, and clients to better define the system's requirements. Outlining the testable requirements and exacting the Testing scope.

c) Deliverables: A Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) is a tool that connects requirements to test cases to check whether they are covered. A tangible list of requirements with a clear testing scope.

Test planning

a) Objective: To create the strategy for overall testing and plan the activities of testing.

b) Tasks: It is important to choose the right testing tools and define the roles and responsibilities in the first stage. Then, a testing plan should be made that considers time and resources. After that, establish an objective criterion for starting and stopping the test, based on the accuracy and precision of the test given the level of risk.

c) Deliverables: Scope of Test Plan document that explains the strategy, resources, schedule, and deliverables.

Test case design and explanation of roles

a) Objective: To develop precise test cases as well as scripts which cover all the possible conditions for testing the app's functionalities.

b) Tasks: Produce testing documents and scripts in accordance with results of requirement analysis. Develop test cases that can be run during testing. Refine and revise test cases and scripts due to manufactured errors.

c) Deliverables: Test cases/scripts along with test data. Provide coverage reports to ensure all aspects of the application are covered.

Test environment setup

a) Objective: To design and produce an environment that is like the production one for observing the behaviour of the application during testing.

b) Tasks: The first step will be to define the environment and the required hardware for the test. Testers need to make sure that the test environment is in line with application specifications i.e. databases, servers, and dependencies. They also need to ensure that the environment of experiment from the development and product environments is isolated to prevent any unforeseen effect.

c) Deliverables: A ready-to-use test environment where configurations and setup processes are explained.

Test execution

a) Objective: To execute the test, modify it, and report any application defects spotted.

b) Tasks: Testers need to perform the test execution method indicated in the plan and record test results in accordance with expectations. They also need to tackle logging the failures for any failed tests, along with a descriptive idea for realigning. One of the other interesting methods is retrying defects after the fix has been done and performing regression testing to verify that changes are not negative to not changed areas of the application.

c) Deliverables: Test logs and bug summaries. Updated RTM with execution status.

Test cycle closure

a) Objective: To assess the testing process and the product quality, prescribing that the software needs to conform to the design and be of utmost quality.

b) Tasks: Testers need to acquire and process data from test metrics and results. Then, they need to evaluate whether the testing objectives are met or if there is a passing criterion. Then, the lessons learned in this stage need to be documented, and suggestions need to be listed for any future suggestions.

c) Deliverables: Testing report, which is focused on describing the testing process, results, and parameters and recommendations for improvements for succeeding tests design.

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Types of Software Testing

If you want to become a professional Software Tester, you need to know the different types of Software Testing that you can use in different scenarios. Each of these tests are unique to each other with their own objectives and specific strategies:

a) Acceptance testing: This type of testing verifies whether the entire system will work as it was intended.

b) Code review: This type of testing confirms if any new or modified software is following according to the organisation’s coding standards.

c) Integration testing: This testing will help you ensure the software components are working together as planned.

d) Functional testing: This type of testing can be used to verify functions. For example, black-box testing is one way which is used to check functions.

e) Performance testing: This type of testing will show you how the software will run under different workloads, including real-life scenarios.

f) Regression testing: With this type of Testing, you can check whether any new feature makes any difference to the functioning of the software product or application.

g) Security testing: This is probably one of the most important types of testing, as you can check whether your application is prone to any malicious threats, whether they be from hackers or any other vulnerabilities.

h) Stress testing: This testing allows you to see the amount of stress that your software application or product can take before it breaks down. This is also referred to as non-functional testing.

i) Usability testing: Using this type of Testing, you can understand how a system or web application will help a consumer complete a task.

Software Testing techniques

Software Testing as a technique helps companies in odd situations and saves a great deal of time, cost and other valuable resources. These techniques detect threats and errors effectively, helping developers and testers deliver robust, bug-free software products.  

With insight into these diverse Software Testing Techniques, professionals can make informed decisions about which technique to apply during their development processes, ultimately enhancing the overall quality and User Experience of software as a product. Let us now discover some popular Software Testing techniques and their significance.

Unit testing 

Manual testing involves examining individual components or units of a software application. Developers conduct this type of testing to ensure that each unit functions correctly and to detect and fix any bugs early. Test cases are written to validate the functionality of units, making it easier to identify issues in specific coding sections. 

Example: In a banking application, unit testing would involve testing individual functions like deposit, withdrawal, and balance inquiries to confirm that they perform their designated tasks accurately. 

Integration testing 

Integration testing checks how different units or modules of a software application work together when compiled together. The primary aim of the integration method is to expose any interface issues between components and ensure the seamless interaction of integrated units. It helps identify defects that may arise due to the integration process. 

Example: For web-enabled e-commerce applications, integration testing would involve testing the interactions between buyers and sellers and regulating database and updates accordingly.  

Regression testing 

Regression testing is performed to verify that new code changes or updates to the software do not adversely impact existing functionalities. It resets the entire application or specific parts to ensure that any modifications have not introduced new defects or prevent previously fixed issues from reappearing. 

Example: After fixing a bug and processing the application, retesting would be carried out to verify that the bug fix will not come back to the system, causing another problem for the user.  

Performance testing 

Performance testing assesses how well the software performs under different conditions. It aims to determine the application’s responsiveness, speed, and stability under varying workloads and stress levels, as well as scalability testing to make sure the software is ready to perform in real-world scenarios.  

Example: In this testing scenario, a website's delivery capacity can be checked thoroughly, analysing its scalability and responsiveness in absorbing the web traffic load etc.     

Security testing 

Security testing identifies vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the software’s security measures. It aims to protect the application from threats and breaches, protecting sensitive data and user information. The whole idea of having security testing in place is to figure out any loophole in the system and fix it before the deployment. 

Example: In a Healthcare Management System, testing would involve end-to-end scenarios, such as registering new patients, scheduling appointments, and generating medical reports to ensure the application functions correctly throughout the workflow. 

Usability testing 

Usability testing evaluates the software's user-friendliness and User Experience (UX). It helps identify potential roadblocks or difficulties users may encounter when interacting with the application regularly. This testing is vital for ensuring a smooth and intuitive User Experience. 

Example: A mobile app development project would involve a group of selected users testing the application to ensure it provides a satisfactory user experience and meets the business objective.    

Outsourced testing 

This is where companies play smartly to save costs and resources by handing it over to an independent organisation or a bunch of Software Testers outside the company's limits. This form of testing is known as outsourced testing methodology resulting in higher quality outcomes. On the other hand, the organisation may lose control over the entire process compared to the in-house quality check team. 

Example: A small company with a limited budget can outsource its Software Testing project to a third party; this can safeguard their interest, reducing the project's cost.    

Compatibility testing 

Compatibility testing endorses an application that can be installed and run on different platforms, which includes hardware, network, operating system and other software. This testing emphasises more end-user satisfaction and reduces it. However, it is a time-consuming and costly method of testing software that is unrecommended for small-scale organisations with budget issues.  

Example: Organisations developing software and likely to face compatibility issues amounting to conflict of interest between users and makers can go for compatibility testing before the deployment.        

Functional testing 

Functional testing evaluates the software application against specified functional requirements. Testers verify whether the application functions and features work as intended. It ensures that the software meets the end users’ needs and adheres to the stated business requirements. 

Example: A grocery store needs an application to check the customer's list without a server. The developer would create a test to determine the “check to customers” function, other than “customer number” or “customer name”, would also go under the testing process. 

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Popular Software Testing models

Popular Software Testing models include:

a) Waterfall Model: Stages of test runs following the development of the leading application.

b) V-Model: In some respect, the Waterfall model has proven effective, especially in its verification and validation features.

c) Agile Model: It adopts a humane approach of the development and testing cycles being interchangeable to a continuous iteration.

d) Spiral Model: Entwines consequential development with risk management and control.

e) Iterative Model: Writes software in small and focused modules to better be tested within incremental iterations in this process.

f) Big Bang Model: Minimum planning, which is testing that happens before, throughout, or after a development phase.

Software Testing tools

Automated Software Testing Tools allow for quicker and more efficient testing cycles that are more likely to result in a high-quality product. 

a) Test Management Tools (e.g., JIRA, TestRail): Create a test plan, run the tests, and produce a report.

b) Functional Testing Tools (e.g., Selenium, QTP/UFT): Automated execution of software functions tests.

c) Performance Testing Tools (e.g., LoadRunner, JMeter): Explore the software under various conditions.

d) Security Testing Tools (e.g., OWASP ZAP, Fortify): Find which software applications are vulnerable.

e)  API Testing Tools (e.g., Postman, SoapUI): Put APIs to the test and verify their functionality and reliability.

Conclusion 

Software Testing is a fundamental process in software development, ensuring that applications are reliable, efficient, and secure. Employing various testing methodologies and types of testing, developers and Quality Assurance  teams work together to detect and resolve defects at every stage of development. 

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