Software Testing is a crucial step in the Software Development Life Cycle. In this process, the newly developed software module/ software is evaluated for its precision in functionality, with respect to the requirement provided by the project. Any discrepancies found are labeled as ‘Defects’.
These Defects will be sent back to the development team for a redo in code. Once the defects are fixed, it is again sent back for the testing process. This cycle continues until there is no mismatch found in the software component, in comparison to the given functional requirements.

Why Do We Need to Learn Software Testing?

Any product built for a client, with the client’s requirement as a base, is expected to be flawless as per the agreement between the vendor and client. So it is the Vendor’s responsibility to make sure the product contains all the functional features described by the client.
In order to make sure all the functional areas are perfectly covered, the Software Testing process is indispensable. Software testing is usually handled by a team of Software Testing professionals, otherwise termed as ‘Quality Analysts’.

Applications of Software Testing

As mentioned in the above description, it is important for any and all products to go through the Testing process. If not for Software Testing, there is no way to know if the product is functioning as per the client’s needs. Software testing can be applied to any product. The type of testing depends on the usability of the product. Below is a description of the same.

Manual/ Functional Testing: As the name suggests, this testing involves more manual efforts. This type of testing is applied to new products, so as to validate the functional specifications of the product against the requirements provided by the client/ business.

Automation Testing: This type of testing is commonly applied to an existing product that needs continuous maintenance or an existing product that has got an additional new feature. The automation process is performed using various Automation Testing tools available in the market, such as Selenium, QTP, Zephyr, IBM RFT, Cucumber, TestComplete, etc.

Example

Here is an example of why software testing is important, and how can it be applied to a product.
For an online store ‘Jungle’, the client wants to add a new shop specifically for ‘Interior designing’. The client wants it to have a navigation link from ‘Jungle’ homepage; all the goods in this new shop should be categorized into 9 different departments. Apart from these, all the other shopping options like ‘add to cart’, payment options, etc., are the same as existing features.
In this case, a Testing professional should concentrate on testing the below functional areas.

Home page of ‘jungle’, for the navigation for the ‘Interior Designing’ page. ‘Interior Designing’ landing page and Categorization of ‘Interior Designing’ goods.
Exact 9 categories should be shown.
All 9 categories should function as expected.
Purchase on all 9 categories, to make sure the existing features work as per usual.

Pre-requisites

For a software professional to be considered as a Quality Analyst, the below are the essential qualifications.

Knowledge of Computer Science concepts and how Software works. Software Development process basics.
Hands-on experience on any software. Graduate on any computer-based courses would be a great advantage.

Target Audience

Software Engineers/ Computer science graduates, with a beginner level training on Software Development Lifecycle that should include Software Testing Lifecycle as well.