What is software testing & Why is software testing important ?

What is software testing?

The practice of assessing a software program’s functionality is called software testing. The process ensures that there are no errors or gaps and that the application’s output meets the desired expectations before the software is deployed and made live.

Why is software testing important?

Software testing, the last stage of application development, involves difficult code to be evaluated. This evaluation may come to a conclusion right away or continue until everyone is satisfied. Early detection of flaws and issues through software testing allows for their correction prior to a product’s release. By ensuring that only top-notch products are provided to customers, this technique increases their enjoyment and self-assurance.

To understand the importance of software testing, consider the Starbucks example. Millions of dollars in sales were lost when the company’s point-of-sale (POS) platform broke in 2015 as a result of a flawed system refresh caused by a software error. This could have been avoided if the POS software had been thoroughly vetted. A similar fate befell Nissan in 2016, when it was forced to recall more than 3 million vehicles because of a software flaw in the airbag sensor detectors. Software testing is important for the future so join software testing courses in Nashik. 

The following justifies the use of software testing methodologies in application development:

  • Identifies defects early. Errors could occur during the creation of complex applications. Software testing is crucial since it identifies problems in the written code that may be fixed prior to delivery of the software product.
  • Improves product quality. When evaluating customer attractiveness, delivering an excellent product is an important consideration. Only if the product has been thoroughly evaluated prior to release can it be delivered as excellent. Software testing aids in the product’s compliance with user-defined requirements and quality assurance (QA) standards.
  • Increases customer trust and satisfaction.Customer trust and happiness are increased during all stages of a product’s development lifecycle thanks to testing, which reveals both the product’s strengths and weaknesses. When customers acquire a product, it has already undergone rigorous testing and been shown to be of the highest caliber.
  • Detects security vulnerabilities.Attackers could be able to profit from openings created by vulnerable application code. Since the majority of apps are now online, they can be a major target for cyberattacks and should be properly tested over the course of the application development process. For instance, a cross-site scripting attack occurs when a web application is published without conducting proper software testing and an attacker tries to implant malicious code into a user’s web browser while doing so. As a result, the untested programme delivers the hazardous code, which could have been prevented with sufficient software testing.
  • Helps with scalability. Scalability testing is a kind of non-functional software testing technique used to determine how well an application scales with rising workloads, such as user traffic, data volume, and transaction counts. Additionally, it may pinpoint the moment when a programme might stop working and the causes of it, which might include reaching or exceeding a predetermined threshold, like the total number of concurrent app users.
  • Saves money. Unreported software testing issues during software development could end up costing businesses more money in the long term.Due to the fact that software patching is typically more expensive than testing during the development stages, it might be more challenging to identify and fix problems after the application has launched.

Types of software testing

 

The primary categories of software testing approaches are as follows:

  • Integration testing. This brings together two or more application modules to make sure they work together. Defects in interface, communication, and data flow between modules are also revealed by this kind of testing.
  • Unit testing. Unit testing is typically done during the application development phase and its goal is to make sure that every single unit or component works as expected. This kind of testing is known as a “white box test,” and test automation tools like NUnit, JUnit, and xUnit are frequently used to carry out these tests.
  • Functional testing. Checking functions against functional requirements falls under this. Black box testing is a popular method for carrying out functional tests.
  • Security testing. This guarantees that the programme is free of known bugs, security gaps, and possible vulnerabilities that could harm the user system and data. Penetration testing is typically used to do security testing.
  • Performance testing.This evaluates an application’s efficiency and speed under a specific load.
  • Regression testing. This determines if adding additional features results in a decrease in an application’s functionality.
  • Stress testing. This gauges a program’s robustness by seeing how much stress it can withstand before failing. This kind of test is nonfunctional.
  • Acceptance testing. This ensures that the project is finished by comparing the entire system to the required specifications.