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Software Testing Fundamentals: The Ultimate Guide to Testing

Introduction

Wondering what software testing is? Why do we need it? When should we do testing?

If you are thinking about pursuing a career in software testing – this complete guide on software testing fundamentals will help you know the basics of testing, answer all the how, when what related to software testing and help you move to the advanced level.

You can consider joining a professional Online QA Training Program to gain advanced knowledge of software testing.

This software testing fundamentals guide will take you through the ins and outs of software testing including-

What is Software Testing?

What is the objective of software testing?

What are the type of Software Testing?

Why Do We Need It?

Let’s begin with the definition of software testing.

What is Software Testing?

Software testing is a process that helps to identify the performance of the software based on the business requirements and its operation. In simple words, testing can be understood as examining the Software to ensure that it is functioning as per the expectations.

For Example, A coffee machine has 4 buttons (Tea, Hot Water, Espresso, Cappuccino). If the Tea is pressed, the coffee machine drips 1 glass of milk mixed with water, Hot water option gives a glass full of Hot water, Espresso gives 1 cup black coffee and cappuccino gives 1 cup of milk + coffee.

The above-defined features are considered as our requirements that will be taken into account while testing the Coffee Machine software. Our intent with the testing of this machine will be to ensure that all the 4 buttons are working as expected and in case we play around with the buttons, for example, clicking 2 options together or pressing any button, again and again, is not breaking the coffee machine.

Software testing is done to ensure that the functioning of the final product has no defects and is matching the baseline requirements. The intent of Software testing is to deliver a quality product.

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What are the Goals of Software Testing?

Knowing the goals of your testing comes under the software testing fundamentals. Some major objectives of software testing include –

Finding error that prevent the probability of their occurrence in production
Getting confidence in the product quality .
Coming up with information helps GO or NO GO decision-making while going on the next phase.
Defect analysis in one phase can also help find the main cause and prevent defects in the subsequent phases.

Get in-depth overview of software testing with this guide on– Software Testing illusions & Reality!

The Fundamentals of Software Testing – Types of Software Testing:

Testing can be broadly categorized into 2 categories:

Types of Software Testing

Functional Testing:

If you check the software testing fundamentals, you would know that this type of software testing covers all the functional areas of the software and can be carried out manually as well as through the means of code and automation.

Functional Testing:

The manual testing is usually referred to as ‘Blackbox Testing’ in most of the software testing fundamentals and if the internal code is also reviewed to test the application it is termed as Whitebox Testing. Combination of both these testing is termed as Grey Box Testing. Below are the definition of some of the common functional testing types used frequently in the Testing process:

Unit Test: If you check through the Unit Testing Tutorial, unit testing is done to test the code of each and every unit (component) of the software. Example: If the development team has developed a login page. They will perform a few basic scenarios around this login page like - Valid credentials, Invalid Credentials, Empty credentials
Sanity Testing: Sanity testing is performed after the functionality as cleared smoke testing and is accepted by the QA Team for further validations. As per the software testing fundamentals, a high-level check around all the new features added to the application. Sanity testing generally focuses on the positive scenarios and gives a quick update on how stable the application is looking. Know more about the Sanity testing through a Sanity Testing Tutorial Guide for Beginner! Example: An application has 10 screens. On the 9th screen, a new feature of document upload is added. Sanity would be performed to check the working of the upload option and check if the dependent items are working fine like the fields visible on the 9th screen are not impacted.
Smoke Testing: Smoke testing is done as an initial checkup of the application where the critical flows of functionality are tested. It is done to inspect if the application is ready for testing. Example: If a new website is developed having 3 screens. 1st Login and 2nd User Profile and 3rd to read Articles and having setting option our Smoke testing will cover the following scenarios:
User is able to login
User is able to traverse through one screen to another
User is able to sign out
Regression Testing: Regression testing is the superset of Sanity Testing which is done to ensure that the deployment of any new feature or defects fixes has not impacted the existing functionality. Example: If an issue was logged around an application that Back button is not working properly regression will be done around the Back button as well as the Save button to ensure that the bug fix has not impacted the functionality of other buttons available on the site. Want to learn more about the Regression Testing? Have a quick go through to this Regression Testing Tutorial.
Integration Testing: This testing is done by integrating the developed modules and then checking if the integrated modules are interacting properly. Example: An application has 2 integrated modules. Module 1 has Company Data and Module 2 has the Employees data. When adding new Employees the page has a Company Field wherein if any company name is entered it searches that name in Module 1 finds the matching Company names and displays it under Company Name field of Module 2.

Non-functional Testing:

This type focuses more on the quality of code and is generally performed to identify the threshold of the software. It is usually done using Software Testing Tools. This type of testing is further subdivided into the different testing groups. The most commonly used Testing types are given in the next section of the software testing fundamentals: :

Non-functional Testing:

Documentation Testing: This type of testing focuses on verifying all the testing related documents to estimate the testing efforts, testing coverage and tracing the requirements. Example: Below documents are reviewed to check the coverage and estimates:
- Test Plan
- Requirements
- Test Cases
- Traceability Matrix
Installation Testing: This type of testing is done to check that the Software is correctly installed. Example: User will check that all the features are enabled while installing a Software
Reliability Testing: Reliable testing is done to ensure that the developed software is working the same way as it was expected. It usually covers the positive scenarios and common actions. Example: If the battery backup of a mobile is of 2 days. Testing will be done that the mobile is not crashing or getting switched off before this time
Performance Testing: This type of testing is done to check the performance of the system under a specific load condition. Example: A website gives the facility of booking airline tickets. Verifying the response time when 5 users are booking the ticket at the same time. Then increasing the load to 10, 50, 100 and so on to check if the application is still performing or getting crashed.
Load Testing: When going through the fundamentals of software testing, load testing is defined as a type of testing is performed to understand how the application behaves under normal and peak load conditions. This type of testing identifies the threshold limit of the application. Example: A company has multiple applications using the same server. Running multiple instances of all or most of the application to check how the server responds to the load. The load should be increased gradually to find out the limit till when the system is responding well enough

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Stress Testing: This testing is done to check how stressed the application is when working beyond the threshold. limit. Example: If an application is designed to support 500 users at a time. We will check how the system responds if more than 500 users have logged in to the system.
Spike Testing: In this type of testing sudden increase and decrease of the load is put on the application to check its behaviour. To understand these software testing fundamentals, an example can work better. Example: An e-commerce site has declared 2 hrs sale for 5 days. Testing will be done to check the performance of the site with variation in load
Volume Testing: In this type of testing the application is subjected to a high volume of data and check how the application is accepting that data. This type of testing generally hits upon the database to ensure that the import/export of huge data is not leading to crash of the application. Example: A site allows you to upload any study material for reference by other users. Upload large no. of files to the website and check if it is able to accept the voluminous data.
Security Testing: As the name suggests Security testing is done to ensure that the system is secure and cannot be hacked or misused by anyone. Security testing comes under the key fundamentals of software testing. Example: Check if the password entered on the front end is encrypted and is not readable in the developer mode

In addition, Ranorex testing is another important types of software testing. You can learn about Ranorx here – Ranorex Tutorial – A Powerful Test Automation you Need to Learn!

Why is Software Testing Necessary?

Now since we have a fair idea of what Software testing is and other fundamentals of software testing, we shall further delve into why is software testing necessary For the ease of understanding below are the why factors related to Software testing:

Gaps and Issues in software development: Softwares usually have bugs in it. This can happen because of many factors. It can be due to requirements not being clear or continuously changing, Complex functionality, programming errors, the time allotted is not enough, communication gap etc. Testing helps us identify such gaps and errors and resolve them before time.
Increases Client Satisfaction: The intention of testing software is to ensure that the requirements specified by the Client are completely accommodated in the Software. If the application is thoroughly checked, any concerns related to the requirement not matching or missing becomes very low. Also, testing reduces the risk of application breakdown or having any critical issue that might impact the client’s work.
Ensures good quality product: Testing reduces bugs in the application making the application more stable. And ensuring that the quality of the application is maintained.
Safeguards crashing of Softwares: As a process, it is ensured that before having the Software release the functionality should not have any unresolved critical/high bugs in it, shielding the Software from any failure.
Cost-Effective: Softwares used in domains that have money transactions involved like Banking, ECommerce, Trips and Travel planning have the risk of suffering from a huge loss if the Software isn’t thoroughly tested.

These are some of the many factors that help to promote Software Testing as a practice to deliver a bug-free and a good quality product. Let’s explore through some other major concepts in fundamentals of software testing,

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When is the Ideal Timing to do Software Testing?

It will be easier for the developing team to complete the project by the deadline, and it will also save a lot of time, money, and effort the sooner the testing team starts testing the program. Starting testing later in the development process can end up being expensive because it is very challenging to fix errors once the software has reached the final stages.

How Frequently should be Testing Done?

The frequency of testing should be determined solely by how important the product's quality is to the manufacturer. In general, testing and development should work hand in hand, and a tester should concentrate on finding the most flaws during the early stages.

What are standards for Software Testing?

A significant part of the software testing fundamentals, standards for software testing are crucial from both a consumer and production perspective. It is a crucial component of the general principles of software testing. When a consumer invests in software, if the program is high-quality, he feels certain that he made the best possible choice for himself.

All reputable businesses make sure that the product's software quality is governed by a set of accepted standards. A business provides confidence over its products by adhering to these requirements. Standards benefit producers by enhancing the quality of the finished product.

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What is Software Testability?

The phrase "software testability" refers to how easily a software system can be put to the test. Early in the software development process, testability is estimated to determine how many resources will be needed to complete the testing process.

Testability falls under the category of software testing fundamentals since it plays a significant part in finding the critical regions where problems remain concealed from a tester's view. Testing is simpler when testability is high, and testing effort should be raised when testability is low.

Conclusion

Software testing is a very vital step in the software development life cycle process. It is usually taken into account in every phases of SDLC, be it in the form of Unit Testing, to check if code works fine or Integration testing, to check if the modules work fine after integration, or maybe Compatibility testing, to ensure that it is working fine in all the systems/browsers, etc.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why do we need software?

Ans: Software helps improve the productivity of your company in addition to enabling your computer hardware to carry out essential functions. Even new working methods can be developed with the right software.

Q2. Why is software testing necessary?

Ans: Testing is crucial since it identifies flaws and errors before the software is delivered to the client, guaranteeing the software's quality. It improves the software's usability and dependability. Software that has been thoroughly tested will operate with greater dependability and performance.

Q3. Why does software testing play a major role?

Ans: The following difficulties are addressed by software testing:

i) Errors in Architecture
ii)Wrong Design Choices
iii) Invalid Functionality
Iv) Security Flaws

Q4. How is software testing done?

Ans: A manual test case scenario is constructed from the viewpoint of the end user once a test plan is first created in accordance with the application requirements. The team now automates the test scenarios using scripts, runs functional tests, and verifies that everything functions as intended.

Q5. How is software testing done as per the software testing fundamentals?

Ans: Software testing is done through these two steps–

Verification: This is the group of procedures that make sure the software carries out a certain function appropriately.
Validation: This term refers to a variety of procedures that guarantee the software is traceable to customer requirements.

Q6. What are software testing fundamentals in software engineering?

Ans: Software testing is the process of confirming and validating whether software or application is free of errors, complies with all technical specifications established during its design and development, and can effectively address user needs by handling all exceptional and borderline instances.

Q7. What can I expect after the certification course?

Ans: The JanBask Training Tester Course gives you a great learning opportunity, practical experience and also gives you a tremendous boost during interview calls with an excellent QA engineer Salary.

Q8. What skills will I learn in a software testing course?

Ans: The following are the software testing fundamentals you learn in a software testing course – Software Testing, Manual Testing & Database,)Java & Oops, Basics of programming, Page Object Model, Cucumber, etc.

Q9. What is the objective of this course?

Ans: The course's main goal is to provide students with a thorough grounding in QA Testing knowledge preparation by going through the ideas, skills, and methods required for QA tester certification and job roles.

Q10. What career options are available after completing the certification programme?

Ans: After completing the thorough Software Testing course online and become aware of the software testing fundamentals, you will be qualified to apply for the following positions:

QA Engineer
QA Software Tester
QA Analyst
Business Analyst

Hopefully, you are clear on the software testing fundamentals. Consider joining our professional QA Community to get guidance from industry experts and the best career advice.

Ankita Tewari

I am a seasoned IT professional with a total experience of 8 years. During my course of work, I have been engaged in several projects. I have hands-on experience in leading CRM systems like Salesforce and Pega. I am currently employed as a Test Lead and is enthusiastic to learn and explore new technologies.

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