Introduction
During the engineering or computer courses, all might have come across to the software development which includes programming. We might have heard about Testing in Software Engineering, that comes under SDLC process. We have heard about white box testing or black box testing (It’s colorless testing :D). But testing has so many colors that are unknown to many freshers, students, professionals.Here we go with different types of testing, performed to achieve different objectives to test a software during SDLC.
Software Testing – Methods
1) Black-Box Testing
It is a testing technique, where a QA doesn’t access source code of product and doesn’t require any knowledge of interior workings of the application or system architecture. It requires a QA to interact with the system’s UI by providing inputs and examining outputs without knowing how and where the inputs will work upon.
2) White-Box Testing
A testing type where detailed investigation of internal logic and structure of the code is done. White-box testing is also called glass testing or open-box testing. A QA needs to have a look inside the source code and find out which area of the code is behaving inappropriately.
3) Grey-Box Testing
Grey box testing is the mixture of white box testing and black box testing. Take an example: A QA is testing a web site for links. If he finds any problems then can change HTML code and check further.
Software Testing – Ways
1) Manual testing
This type includes the testing of the Software manually. It doesn’t require any automated tool or any script. In this type the QA takes over the role of an end user and test the Software to identify any un-expected behaviour or bug.
2) Automation testing
Now the most interesting part comes ! Its automation of the website or mobile apps. That performs the steps without doing any action of us ! Automation engineers have to write a script for it definitely. We have to do just a click on run and have to seat quietly to show the magic!
Browser will open and as per our script, flow will be executed, we can see that automatically, sign in can be done, popup can be handled, navigation to page can be done without our manual efforts.
Software Testing - Levels
A) Functional Testing
This is a type of black-box testing that is based on the specifications of the software that is to be tested. The application is tested by providing input and then the results are examined that need to conform to the functionality it was intended for.
Testing functionality can be done from two perspective:
Requirement-based testing: In this type of testing the requirements are prioritised depending on the risk criteria and accordingly the tests are prioritised. This will ensure that the most important and most critical tests are included in the testing effort.
Business-process-based testing: In this type of testing the scenarios involved in the day-to-day business use of the system are described. It uses the knowledge of the business processes.
Unit Testing
Unit testing is performed by the respective developers on the individual units of source code assigned areas. The developers use test data that is different from the test data of the quality assurance team.
The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that individual parts are correct in terms of requirements and functionality.
Limitations of Unit Testing
Testing cannot catch each and every bug in an application. It is impossible to evaluate every execution path in every software application. The same is the case with unit testing.
There is a limit to the number of scenarios and test data that a developer can use to verify a source code. After having exhausted all the options, there is no choice but to stop unit testing and merge the code segment with other units.
Unit tests are ideal candidates for automation. Automated tests can run as Unit regression tests on new builds or new versions of the software
Integration Testing
Integration testing is defined as the testing of combined parts of an application to determine if they function correctly. Integration testing can be done in two ways: Bottom-up integration testing and Top-down integration testing.
System Testing
System testing tests the system as a whole. Once all the components are integrated, the application as a whole is tested rigorously to see that it meets the specified Quality Standards. This type of testing is performed by a specialized testing team.
System testing is important because of the following reasons:
System testing is the first step in the Software Development Life Cycle, where the application is tested as a whole.
The application is tested thoroughly to verify that it meets the functional and technical specifications.
The application is tested in an environment that is very close to the production environment where the application will be deployed.
System testing enables us to test, verify, and validate both the business requirements as well as the application architecture.
Regression Testing
Whenever a change in a software application is made, it is quite possible that other areas within the application have been affected by this change. Regression testing is performed to verify that a fixed bug hasn't resulted in another functionality or business rule violation. The intent of regression testing is to ensure that a change, such as a bug fix should not result in another fault being uncovered in the application.
Regression testing is important because of the following reasons:
Minimize the gaps in testing when an application with changes made has to be tested.
Testing the new changes to verify that the changes made did not affect any other area of the application.
Mitigates risks when regression testing is performed on the application.
Test coverage is increased without compromising timelines.
Increase speed to market the product.
Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing is a formal type of software testing that is performed by end user when the features have been delivered by developers. The aim of this testing is to check if the software confirms to their business needs and to the requirements provided earlier. Acceptance tests are normally documented at the beginning of the sprint (in agile) and is a means for testers and developers to work towards a common understanding and shared business domain knowledge.
This is arguably the most important type of testing, as it is conducted by the Quality Assurance Team who will gauge whether the application meets the intended specifications and satisfies the client’s requirement. The QA team will have a set of pre-written scenarios and test cases that will be used to test the application.
More ideas will be shared about the application and more tests can be performed on it to gauge its accuracy and the reasons why the project was initiated. Acceptance tests are not only intended to point out simple spelling mistakes, cosmetic errors, or interface gaps, but also to point out any bugs in the application that will result in system crashes or major errors in the application.
By performing acceptance tests on an application, the testing team will deduce how the application will perform in production. There are also legal and contractual requirements for acceptance of the system.
Alpha Testing
This test is the first stage of testing and will be performed amongst the teams (developer and QA teams). Unit testing, integration testing and system testing when combined together is known as alpha testing. During this phase, the following aspects will be tested in the application:
Spelling Mistakes
Broken Links
Cloudy Directions
The Application will be tested on machines with the lowest specification to test loading times and any latency problems.
Beta Testing
This test is performed after alpha testing has been successfully performed. In beta testing, a sample of the intended audience tests the application. Beta testing is also known as pre-release testing. Beta test versions of software are ideally distributed to a wide audience on the Web, partly to give the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release. In this phase, the audience will be testing the following:
Users will install, run the application and send their feedback to the project team.
Typographical errors, confusing application flow, and even crashes.
Getting the feedback, the project team can fix the problems before releasing the software to the actual users.
The more issues you fix that solve real user problems, the higher the quality of your application will be.
Having a higher-quality application when you release it to the general public will increase customer satisfaction.
B) NonFunctional Testing
This section is based upon testing an application from its non-functional attributes. Non-functional testing involves testing a software from the requirements which are nonfunctional in nature but important such as performance, security, user interface, etc.
Performance Testing
It is mostly used to identify any bottlenecks or performance issues rather than finding bugs in a software. There are different causes that contribute in lowering the performance of a software:
Network delay
Client-side processing
Database transaction processing
Load balancing between servers
Data rendering
Performance testing is considered as one of the important and mandatory testing type in terms of the following aspects:
Speed (i.e. Response Time, data rendering and accessing)
Capacity
Stability
Scalability
Performance testing can be either qualitative or quantitative and can be divided into different sub-types such as Load testing and Stress testing.
Load Testing
It is a process of testing the behavior of a software by applying maximum load in terms of software accessing and manipulating large input data. It can be done at both normal and peak load conditions. This type of testing identifies the maximum capacity of software and its behavior at peak time.
Most of the time, load testing is performed with the help of automated tools such as Load Runner, AppLoader, IBM Rational Performance Tester, Apache JMeter, Silk Performer, Visual Studio Load Test, etc.
Virtual users (VUsers) are defined in the automated testing tool and the script is executed to verify the load testing for the software. The number of users can be increased or decreased concurrently or incrementally based upon the requirements.
Stress Testing
Stress testing includes testing the behavior of a software under abnormal conditions. For example, it may include taking away some resources or applying a load beyond the actual load limit.
The aim of stress testing is to test the software by applying the load to the system and taking over the resources used by the software to identify the breaking point. This testing can be performed by testing different scenarios such as:
Shutdown or restart of network ports randomly
Turning the database on or off
Running different processes that consume resources such as CPU, memory, server, etc.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is a black-box technique and is used to identify any error(s) and improvements in the software by observing the users through their usage and operation.
According to Nielsen, usability can be defined in terms of five factors, i.e. efficiency of use, learn-ability, memory-ability, errors/safety, and satisfaction. According to him, the usability of a product will be good and the system is usable if it possesses the above factors.
Nigel Bevan and Macleod considered that usability is the quality requirement that can be measured as the outcome of interactions with a computer system. This requirement can be fulfilled and the end-user will be satisfied if the intended goals are achieved effectively with the use of proper resources.
Molich in 2000 stated that a user-friendly system should fulfill the following five goals, i.e., easy to Learn, easy to remember, efficient to use, satisfactory to use, and easy to understand.
In addition to the different definitions of usability, there are some standards and quality models and methods that define usability in the form of attributes and sub-attributes such as ISO-9126, ISO-9241-11, ISO-13407, and IEEE std.610.12, etc.
UI Testing
UI testing involves testing the Graphical User Interface of the Software. UI testing ensures that the GUI functions according to the requirements and tested in terms of color, alignment, size, and other properties.
Security Testing
The security testing is performed to check whether there is any information leakage in the sense by encrypting the application or using wide range of software’s and hardware’s and firewall etc.
Software security is about making software behave in the presence of a malicious attack.
The six basic security concepts that need to be covered by security testing are: confidentiality, integrity, authentication, availability, authorization and non-repudiation.
Security testing involves testing a software in order to identify any flaws and gaps from security and vulnerability point of view. Listed below are the main aspects that security testing should ensure:
Confidentiality
Integrity
Authentication
Availability
Authorization
Non-repudiation
Software is secure against known and unknown vulnerabilities
Software data is secure
Software is according to all security regulations
Input checking and validation
SQL insertion attacks
Injection flaws
Session management issues
Cross-site scripting attacks
Buffer overflows vulnerabilities
Directory traversal attacks
Portability Testing
Portability testing includes testing a software with the aim to ensure its reusability and that it can be moved from another software as well. Following are the strategies that can be used for portability testing:
Transferring an installed software from one computer to another.
Building executable (.exe) to run the software on different platforms.
Portability testing can be considered as one of the sub-parts of system testing, as this testing type includes overall testing of a software with respect to its usage over different environments. Computer hardware, operating systems, and browsers are the major focus of portability testing. Some of the pre-conditions for portability testing are as follows:
Software should be designed and coded, keeping in mind the portability requirements.
Unit testing has been performed on the associated components.
Integration testing has been performed.
Test environment has been established.
Reliability testing
Efficiency testing
Maintainability testing
Baseline testing
Compliance testing
Documentation testing
Endurance testing
Compatibility testing
Scalability testing
Volume testing
Stress testing
Recovery testing
Internationalization testing and Localization testing
During the engineering or computer courses, all might have come across to the software development which includes programming. We might have heard about Testing in Software Engineering, that comes under SDLC process. We have heard about white box testing or black box testing (It’s colorless testing :D). But testing has so many colors that are unknown to many freshers, students, professionals.Here we go with different types of testing, performed to achieve different objectives to test a software during SDLC.
Software Testing – Methods
1) Black-Box Testing
It is a testing technique, where a QA doesn’t access source code of product and doesn’t require any knowledge of interior workings of the application or system architecture. It requires a QA to interact with the system’s UI by providing inputs and examining outputs without knowing how and where the inputs will work upon.
2) White-Box Testing
A testing type where detailed investigation of internal logic and structure of the code is done. White-box testing is also called glass testing or open-box testing. A QA needs to have a look inside the source code and find out which area of the code is behaving inappropriately.
3) Grey-Box Testing
Grey box testing is the mixture of white box testing and black box testing. Take an example: A QA is testing a web site for links. If he finds any problems then can change HTML code and check further.
Software Testing – Ways
1) Manual testing
This type includes the testing of the Software manually. It doesn’t require any automated tool or any script. In this type the QA takes over the role of an end user and test the Software to identify any un-expected behaviour or bug.
2) Automation testing
Now the most interesting part comes ! Its automation of the website or mobile apps. That performs the steps without doing any action of us ! Automation engineers have to write a script for it definitely. We have to do just a click on run and have to seat quietly to show the magic!
Browser will open and as per our script, flow will be executed, we can see that automatically, sign in can be done, popup can be handled, navigation to page can be done without our manual efforts.
Software Testing - Levels
A) Functional Testing
This is a type of black-box testing that is based on the specifications of the software that is to be tested. The application is tested by providing input and then the results are examined that need to conform to the functionality it was intended for.
Testing functionality can be done from two perspective:
Requirement-based testing: In this type of testing the requirements are prioritised depending on the risk criteria and accordingly the tests are prioritised. This will ensure that the most important and most critical tests are included in the testing effort.
Business-process-based testing: In this type of testing the scenarios involved in the day-to-day business use of the system are described. It uses the knowledge of the business processes.
Unit Testing
Unit testing is performed by the respective developers on the individual units of source code assigned areas. The developers use test data that is different from the test data of the quality assurance team.
The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that individual parts are correct in terms of requirements and functionality.
Limitations of Unit Testing
Testing cannot catch each and every bug in an application. It is impossible to evaluate every execution path in every software application. The same is the case with unit testing.
There is a limit to the number of scenarios and test data that a developer can use to verify a source code. After having exhausted all the options, there is no choice but to stop unit testing and merge the code segment with other units.
Unit tests are ideal candidates for automation. Automated tests can run as Unit regression tests on new builds or new versions of the software
Integration Testing
Integration testing is defined as the testing of combined parts of an application to determine if they function correctly. Integration testing can be done in two ways: Bottom-up integration testing and Top-down integration testing.
System Testing
System testing tests the system as a whole. Once all the components are integrated, the application as a whole is tested rigorously to see that it meets the specified Quality Standards. This type of testing is performed by a specialized testing team.
System testing is important because of the following reasons:
System testing is the first step in the Software Development Life Cycle, where the application is tested as a whole.
The application is tested thoroughly to verify that it meets the functional and technical specifications.
The application is tested in an environment that is very close to the production environment where the application will be deployed.
System testing enables us to test, verify, and validate both the business requirements as well as the application architecture.
Regression Testing
Whenever a change in a software application is made, it is quite possible that other areas within the application have been affected by this change. Regression testing is performed to verify that a fixed bug hasn't resulted in another functionality or business rule violation. The intent of regression testing is to ensure that a change, such as a bug fix should not result in another fault being uncovered in the application.
Regression testing is important because of the following reasons:
Minimize the gaps in testing when an application with changes made has to be tested.
Testing the new changes to verify that the changes made did not affect any other area of the application.
Mitigates risks when regression testing is performed on the application.
Test coverage is increased without compromising timelines.
Increase speed to market the product.
Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing is a formal type of software testing that is performed by end user when the features have been delivered by developers. The aim of this testing is to check if the software confirms to their business needs and to the requirements provided earlier. Acceptance tests are normally documented at the beginning of the sprint (in agile) and is a means for testers and developers to work towards a common understanding and shared business domain knowledge.
This is arguably the most important type of testing, as it is conducted by the Quality Assurance Team who will gauge whether the application meets the intended specifications and satisfies the client’s requirement. The QA team will have a set of pre-written scenarios and test cases that will be used to test the application.
More ideas will be shared about the application and more tests can be performed on it to gauge its accuracy and the reasons why the project was initiated. Acceptance tests are not only intended to point out simple spelling mistakes, cosmetic errors, or interface gaps, but also to point out any bugs in the application that will result in system crashes or major errors in the application.
By performing acceptance tests on an application, the testing team will deduce how the application will perform in production. There are also legal and contractual requirements for acceptance of the system.
Alpha Testing
This test is the first stage of testing and will be performed amongst the teams (developer and QA teams). Unit testing, integration testing and system testing when combined together is known as alpha testing. During this phase, the following aspects will be tested in the application:
Spelling Mistakes
Broken Links
Cloudy Directions
The Application will be tested on machines with the lowest specification to test loading times and any latency problems.
Beta Testing
This test is performed after alpha testing has been successfully performed. In beta testing, a sample of the intended audience tests the application. Beta testing is also known as pre-release testing. Beta test versions of software are ideally distributed to a wide audience on the Web, partly to give the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release. In this phase, the audience will be testing the following:
Users will install, run the application and send their feedback to the project team.
Typographical errors, confusing application flow, and even crashes.
Getting the feedback, the project team can fix the problems before releasing the software to the actual users.
The more issues you fix that solve real user problems, the higher the quality of your application will be.
Having a higher-quality application when you release it to the general public will increase customer satisfaction.
B) NonFunctional Testing
This section is based upon testing an application from its non-functional attributes. Non-functional testing involves testing a software from the requirements which are nonfunctional in nature but important such as performance, security, user interface, etc.
Performance Testing
It is mostly used to identify any bottlenecks or performance issues rather than finding bugs in a software. There are different causes that contribute in lowering the performance of a software:
Network delay
Client-side processing
Database transaction processing
Load balancing between servers
Data rendering
Performance testing is considered as one of the important and mandatory testing type in terms of the following aspects:
Speed (i.e. Response Time, data rendering and accessing)
Capacity
Stability
Scalability
Performance testing can be either qualitative or quantitative and can be divided into different sub-types such as Load testing and Stress testing.
Load Testing
It is a process of testing the behavior of a software by applying maximum load in terms of software accessing and manipulating large input data. It can be done at both normal and peak load conditions. This type of testing identifies the maximum capacity of software and its behavior at peak time.
Most of the time, load testing is performed with the help of automated tools such as Load Runner, AppLoader, IBM Rational Performance Tester, Apache JMeter, Silk Performer, Visual Studio Load Test, etc.
Virtual users (VUsers) are defined in the automated testing tool and the script is executed to verify the load testing for the software. The number of users can be increased or decreased concurrently or incrementally based upon the requirements.
Stress Testing
Stress testing includes testing the behavior of a software under abnormal conditions. For example, it may include taking away some resources or applying a load beyond the actual load limit.
The aim of stress testing is to test the software by applying the load to the system and taking over the resources used by the software to identify the breaking point. This testing can be performed by testing different scenarios such as:
Shutdown or restart of network ports randomly
Turning the database on or off
Running different processes that consume resources such as CPU, memory, server, etc.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is a black-box technique and is used to identify any error(s) and improvements in the software by observing the users through their usage and operation.
According to Nielsen, usability can be defined in terms of five factors, i.e. efficiency of use, learn-ability, memory-ability, errors/safety, and satisfaction. According to him, the usability of a product will be good and the system is usable if it possesses the above factors.
Nigel Bevan and Macleod considered that usability is the quality requirement that can be measured as the outcome of interactions with a computer system. This requirement can be fulfilled and the end-user will be satisfied if the intended goals are achieved effectively with the use of proper resources.
Molich in 2000 stated that a user-friendly system should fulfill the following five goals, i.e., easy to Learn, easy to remember, efficient to use, satisfactory to use, and easy to understand.
In addition to the different definitions of usability, there are some standards and quality models and methods that define usability in the form of attributes and sub-attributes such as ISO-9126, ISO-9241-11, ISO-13407, and IEEE std.610.12, etc.
UI Testing
UI testing involves testing the Graphical User Interface of the Software. UI testing ensures that the GUI functions according to the requirements and tested in terms of color, alignment, size, and other properties.
Security Testing
The security testing is performed to check whether there is any information leakage in the sense by encrypting the application or using wide range of software’s and hardware’s and firewall etc.
Software security is about making software behave in the presence of a malicious attack.
The six basic security concepts that need to be covered by security testing are: confidentiality, integrity, authentication, availability, authorization and non-repudiation.
Security testing involves testing a software in order to identify any flaws and gaps from security and vulnerability point of view. Listed below are the main aspects that security testing should ensure:
Confidentiality
Integrity
Authentication
Availability
Authorization
Non-repudiation
Software is secure against known and unknown vulnerabilities
Software data is secure
Software is according to all security regulations
Input checking and validation
SQL insertion attacks
Injection flaws
Session management issues
Cross-site scripting attacks
Buffer overflows vulnerabilities
Directory traversal attacks
Portability Testing
Portability testing includes testing a software with the aim to ensure its reusability and that it can be moved from another software as well. Following are the strategies that can be used for portability testing:
Transferring an installed software from one computer to another.
Building executable (.exe) to run the software on different platforms.
Portability testing can be considered as one of the sub-parts of system testing, as this testing type includes overall testing of a software with respect to its usage over different environments. Computer hardware, operating systems, and browsers are the major focus of portability testing. Some of the pre-conditions for portability testing are as follows:
Software should be designed and coded, keeping in mind the portability requirements.
Unit testing has been performed on the associated components.
Integration testing has been performed.
Test environment has been established.
Reliability testing
Efficiency testing
Maintainability testing
Baseline testing
Compliance testing
Documentation testing
Endurance testing
Compatibility testing
Scalability testing
Volume testing
Stress testing
Recovery testing
Internationalization testing and Localization testing
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