Introduction To The Types Of Testing Methods Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

In today’s world, the software we use receives regular updates for new developments or improvements. Therefore, software testing has a very important role in the software development lifecycle.

What Is Software Testing?

“Testing is the process of analyzing a software item to detect the differences between existing and required conditions (that is, defects/errors/bugs) and to evaluate the features of the software item.”

— ANSI/IEEE 1059

Software testing is research conducted to provide information to stakeholders about the quality of services or products under testing. Software testing is also the independent and objective examination of software to understand the risks of software applications.

If we want our program to be stable, it should not have any bugs or errors. If a software testing task like automated regression testing is done successfully, it will remove all the errors and bugs from the program.

Why Is Software Testing so Important?

Software testing is a priority as it ensures the stable functioning of the program. Testing software before implementing and deploying it can avoid significant losses. We need to ensure that the end product or service matches the expectations after the software testing process. Therefore, we can say that the main objectives of software testing are defining bugs and errors, maintaining product and service quality, advancing growth, checking product requirements, and responding to business demands.

Benefits of Software Testing

Low Cost

There are many ways to make software development processes less costly. One way is to properly test the program. You can significantly save money on costs by testing the program before deploying it. Running inaccurate software will cost you lots of investments, users, and customers. Additionally, testing ensures that your software doesn’t need regular fixes and saves money in the long term.

High Quality

Software testing’s purpose is to fix bugs and errors in your software to ensure stable and accurate operation. Therefore, you can make sure you are offering high-quality software to your customers. In addition to that, it also plays an important role in creating a brand image. With the help of this brand image, your product can attract more customers and higher payouts.

End-User Experience

The end-user experience is critical in deciding whether the software runs smoothly. Users want to use an application if it is simple to use. If the end-user experience is bad, the software is probably too complex or difficult to use. The software needs to be simple, direct, and easy to use. For this reason, it is critical to rigorously test software. An error-free user experience allows you to gain positive references and increase your business.

Increasing Profit

Testing is critical to making a profit. It can help you improve your return on investment by enabling you to provide good quality and also ensures a good user experience and customer satisfaction. In addition, it can help you retain available customers and gain new ones. Therefore, it aims to maximize profit. Also, long-term investments in debugging are reduced because software testing allows you to fix as many bugs as possible in the early stages of development.

Business Demand Optimization

Optimization based on your business demands results in happy users, client retention, low servicing costs, increased profits, better quality, and a superior brand image. Those positive results depend on the quality of the software you offer to your users, which can be ensured only with careful and continuous software testing. Inaccurate products can also lead to disturbed communication within your company, causing unnecessary problems and inefficiency. The negative effects of bugs and errors can be avoided with the help of testing.

Types of Software Testing Methods

Software testing methods are various approaches used to ensure an application is working as expected. As given below, we can categorize software testing methods by aim, automation, and formalization.

Functional Testing

It is a type of black-box testing and does not require any knowledge of code. It is also done to test the functionality of the software. Therefore, the software works as expected by the customer. The functional test is performed in the following order:

Unit Testing

Integration Testing

System Testing

Acceptance Testing

Non-Functional Testing

It involves testing the application against the non-functional requirements. For example, if testing is not done for a new feature added to an application, the product becomes too slow to work when it goes live, and the customer gets affected negatively by this. It can be performance testing, security testing, usability testing, or compatibility testing.

Manual Testing

Testing of the product/software only by humans is called manual testing. Requirements play an important role in validating existing conditions and tests may include detailed step-by-step test cases. Some advantages of manual testing are that it’s cost-effective and flexible.

Automated Testing

Testing products via automation tools is called automated testing. Different tools can help you perform automated testing on your software, such as Selenium WebDriver and Appium. Some advantages of automated testing are the capability of task scheduling, ease of use in regression testing, and time-saving.

Conclusion

No product/service has been developed perfectly smoothly. Products always need a process of improvement. At this point, software testing assumes a vital role for the product to be delivered effectively and without error. By ensuring that the team you have created for software testing uses the most accurate tools and methods, you can ensure that products are delivered to you without any problems.