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software testing

By Kinza Yasar

What is software testing?

Software testing is the process of assessing the functionality of a software program. The process checks for errors and gaps and whether the outcome of the application matches desired expectations before the software is installed and goes live.

Why is software testing important?

Software testing is the culmination of application development through which software testers evaluate code by questioning it. This evaluation can be brief or proceed until all stakeholders are satisfied. Software testing identifies bugs and issues in the development process so they're fixed prior to product launch. This approach ensures that only quality products are distributed to consumers, which in turn elevates customer satisfaction and trust.

To understand the importance of software testing, consider the example of Starbucks. In 2015, the company lost millions of dollars in sales when its point-of-sale (POS) platform shut down due to a faulty system refresh caused by a software glitch. This could have been avoided if the POS software had been tested thoroughly. Nissan also suffered a similar fate in 2016 when it recalled more than 3 million cars due to a software issue in airbag sensor detectors.

The following are important reasons why software testing techniques should be incorporated into application development:

Types of software testing

There are many types of software testing, but the two main categories are dynamic testing and static testing. Dynamic testing is an assessment that's conducted while the program is executed; static testing examines the program's code and associated documentation. Dynamic and static methods are often used together.

Over the years, software testing has evolved considerably as companies have adopted Agile testing and DevOps work environments. This has introduced faster and more collaborative testing strategies to the sphere of software testing.

The following are the main types of software testing methodologies:

What can be automated within software testing?

Automated testing can be used to test larger volumes of software when manual testing becomes tedious and time-consuming. Test scripts can be run automatically on software applications, which frees up time and resources and enables companies to test efficiently at lower costs.

Many QA teams build in-house automated testing tools so they can reuse the same tests repeatedly and deploy them around the clock without time constraints. Most vendors also offer features for streamlining and automating tasks. For automated testing of web application frameworks, tools such as Java for Selenium are often used.

The following are five ways in which automation can aid in the software testing process:

  1. Continuous testing. This type of automated testing is performed on every piece of software a developer delivers. It offers error detection and validation of code early in the process. To make the process continuous and rapid, the test automation is integrated with the deployment process and is done at every stage of development -- initial stages of software development to the deployment of software.
  2. Virtualization of service. The initial stages of software development can lack certain test environments, hindering the ability of teams to test efficiently and early in the process. This gap can be filled by service virtualization, as it can simulate those services or systems that aren't developed yet. This encourages organizations to make test plans sooner rather than wait for the entire product to be developed. Virtualization also offers the added benefit of reusing, deploying or changing the testing scenarios without affecting the original production environment.
  3. Bug and defect tracking. Automation testing is great for detecting bugs that manual testing can sometimes miss, such as memory leaks. The automated tests are run hundreds of times in a short period, which can find these issues quicker. As a part of automation testing, regression testing is performed after each build, which ensures old bugs don't reappear. Another advantage of automated software testing is the rapid notification to developers in the event of a failed test, as opposed to waiting for manual testing results to arrive. This is especially important for those products that go through frequent updates.
  4. Reporting and metrics. Both reporting and metrics play a vital role when it comes to the automation framework. Advanced tools and analytics are used in automated testing for integrating metrics that can then be shared with everyone in the form of test results and status reports. This enables entire teams to analyze the health of a project and coordinate between different departments instead of singular developers looking at the results, as is the case with manual testing.
  5. Configuration management. Automated software testing provides great visibility across all test assets, including code, design documents, requirements and test cases. This offers centralized management where all teams across the organization can track and collaborate during different phases of development.

Best practices for software testing

There's more to software testing than running multiple tests. It also entails using a specific strategy and a streamlined process that helps to carry out these tests methodically. To improve the performance and functionality of any application or product, software best practices should always be followed.

The following are a few best practices to consider to help ensure successful software testing projects:

History of software testing

Computer scientist Tom Kilburn wrote the first piece of software code in 1948 at the University of Manchester in England. Software testing started during the same timeframe but was restricted to debugging only. By the 1980s, development teams started to incorporate a more comprehensive process for isolating and fixing bugs and doing load testing in real-world settings. This brought software testing to the forefront. In the 1990s, the QA process was born and testing became an integral part of the software development lifecycle.

While manual software testing works great for code validation, automated testing is better for verification purposes. Learn when to choose automated testing over manual testing.

12 Aug 2022

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