Software Testing Methodologies

Introduction to Software Testing Methodologies

In Software Development or testing, both are given equal importance. So, let us see how Software Testing forms an integral part of Application Development. Software Testing is an integral part of any Development methodology, hence testing refer to Waterfall, Agile, and other QA methodology. Software Testing Methodology is defined as strategies and types of testing used to verify the application is meeting client requirements. As software applications get complex with a large number of platforms that need to be tested, it is important to meet specified requirements that can operate in a large number of environments with required usability and security.

The testing approach is used to define the strategy which needs to be implemented and executed. It is usually defined in all test plans and test designs, refers to various project activities such as planning the testing approach, selecting the designs, defining entry-exit criteria.

There are two testing approaches,

• Preventive Approach: Tests are designed and initiated at an early stage, before the start of software development to fix bugs before build in initiated.
• Reactive Approach: Tests are designed after software development.

There are also other test approaches based on the requirement,

1. Dynamic, Heuristic Approach
2. Consultative Approach
3. Risk-based testing Approach
4. Methodical Approach
5. Model-based Approach
6. Standard Compliant Approach

The selection of test Approaches is based on factors as below,

• Experience of resources in proposed tools and techniques.
• External and Internal regulations of the development process
• Nature of product and the domain
• Risk of product and Risk of failure for the company.

Software testing includes finding bugs/ errors in software, ensuring productivity and quality of the software, examining and executing of code in various environments, and also verifying the code aspects as to what it is supposed to do.

Types of Software Testing Methodologies

We have different types of Software Testing Methodologies, which are classified as Functional and Non-functional Testing.

1. Functional Testing

Functional Testing focuses on testing the application based on business requirements. It is broken into four components, Unit, Integration, System and Acceptance Testing

• Unit Testing: Testing of individual software modules or components of an application. These types of tests are written by developers in a TDD( Test Driven Development ) methodology such as Agile, Scrum, etc. Each module is tested by unit test cases written in the same programming language.
• Integration Testing: Testing of various modules or components of an application which are successfully unit tested are integrated together, which is also known as Scenario Testing or End-to-End Testing (E2E). This testing is done with a combination of automated functional and manual tests depending on the ease of preparing test cases.
• System Testing: Testing of the entire application or system for bugs or errors. This test is done on an application that is unit tested and integration tested by interfacing the hardware and software. IT is listed under black box testing where software is prior checked for user expected conditions.
• Acceptance Testing: It is the final phase of functional software testing and makes sure that all the project requirements are met and customer with end-user has tested to make sure the application is operating as expected.

2. Non-Functional Testing

Non-Functional Testing focuses on testing the operational aspects of the application. It involves testing the application against non-functional requirements which involve testing the application against pre-defined technical aspects, such as vulnerability, usability, scalability.

• Performance Testing: Measures how a system behaves under increased load be it the number of users or data volume. It can be classified into Load and Stress Testing. Load Testing verifies if the system can operate at the required response time when putting on load. Stress testing finds the failure point of the application where the system crashes.
• Security Testing: With the rise of cyber-attacks and cloud-based testing platforms, the need for securing data and storing in software is a growing concern. Determines if the data and information in the system are protected. Used to find loopholes and security breaches that can result in unauthorized access or loss of secured data.
• Usability Testing: It looks at end-user usability aspects of the software. The usability of the application forms the main testing part. Five aspects, learnability, efficiency, satisfaction, memorabilia, and testing the application as an end-user by logging in to it.
• Compatibility Testing: It tests that the product is compatible with all specified operating systems, hardware platforms, web browsers, mobiles, and other third-party plugins. Checks, whether the product is working as expected across all different hardware/ software combinations and functionality, is supported consistently.

Let us explore some more Testing Types,

• Alpha Testing: Identifies all possible issues, bugs, or defects before releasing to end-user. It is done at the end of the software development phase at the developer’s site.
• Acceptance Testing: It is performed by business clients to verify whether the end-to-end flow of the application is as per the business requirements and if it is as per end-user needs. Last phase of testing the software before going into production, also known as User Acceptance Testing(UAT)
• Beta Testing: It is carried out to ensure there are no major failures in the application and satisfy end-user requirements. This Beta version of the software is released only to a few customers for feedback.
• Browser Compatibility Testing: It is performed for web applications ensuring the web application runs on all versions of browsers.
• Example Testing: Real-time testing includes real-time scenarios based on testers’ experience.
• Happy path Testing: To test an application on a positive flow without looking for negative flow or errors.
• Regression Testing: Testing an application as a whole for modification in functionality.
• Smoke Testing: Ensures the build is stable and a detailed level of testing to find major critical functionality is broken down at the initial stage itself then the testing team can reject the build.
• Recovery Testing: It validates how well a system or application recovers from hardware/ software crashes or disasters.

Conclusion

Let us summarize what we have learned through this article. How Software Testing methodologies are useful in Software development and Testing. Testing approaches and different testing methodologies. Also explored some of the different testing types, however, there are a list of more than 100+ types of testing but are not used in all types of projects. These testing types, processes, and methodologies its implementations keep changing according to project requirements and scope.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Software Testing Methodologies. Here we discuss an introduction to Software Testing Methodologies, two different types explained in detail. You can also go through our other related articles to learn more –

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2. Domain Testing
3. Dynamic Testing
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