You may already be familiar with terms such as load testing, system testing, and integration testing. If not, you are certainly not alone. Although these software tests differ in some respects, there is also a lot of overlap. They are all relevant to producing a high-quality end product. In this blog, we discuss, in no particular order, how you can get started with software testing.
12. Graphic user interface testing (GUI)
Load testing means heavily burdening a website or application to see how it behaves. You use these software tests to identify performance bottlenecks, determine hardware requirements, and determine how much traffic the website can handle before crashing. Additionally, you use load testing to check for security issues such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
How many users can your website handle? How many requests per second can your website process? You use stress testing to determine the maximum capacity of a system. It helps identify bottlenecks and resource hogs (programs or processes that use disproportionate amounts of computer resources) on your website or application. Any performance issues not visible with traditional load testing can be detected thanks to stress testing. This includes excessive database queries or inefficient code.
In the software testing process, unit testing checks the behavior of an application in comparison to the expected behavior, similar to most other software tests. Programmers write unit tests to test individual units of the source code. It is efficient to have the people who implement a new feature or bug fix also perform software tests. This way, people close to the code are also involved in testing and can implement findings quickly.
Integration testing is one of the most important types of software testing you can do to improve the quality of your website. It tests how your application works with other systems, such as databases and web services. You can test integration at different levels for individual components and complete systems. The main goal is to verify that all components work together correctly as one system.
When you enter the final software testing phase, system testing becomes important. What you do is test the performance of a new or modified application under different conditions and scenarios. This ensures the application performs as expected and provides a good user experience. You also check the integration between various components of an application, such as hardware, the operating system, and the database. All in all, system testing consists of several steps, which look like this:
Identify all requirements for testing the system.
Identify all functional specifications for testing the system.
Create test cases based on identified requirements and functional specifications.
Execute the test cases and identify any defects.
At the end of the development cycle, a necessary software test takes place, namely the acceptance test. The acceptance test confirms that a product or function meets the acceptance criteria defined by the customer as a requirement prior to the project.
Acceptance testing consists of high-level software testing, usually carried out by the customer using automated tools or human testers. A test example is whether an online ordering form works correctly or whether a mobile app displays relevant information for users in different countries.
Smoke testing determines whether a build (the process of converting programming code into an executable form) is "buildable" or not. With smoke testing, you can detect issues early and prevent them from being found in the final project.
Smoke tests typically consist of the following:
After a change is made to a new feature, it is important to ensure that the software still meets the original requirements. This is where regression testing comes in. Regression testing is a common practice in software testing. You also use these software tests to determine if changes in the code have caused errors or broken previously existing functionality in the code.
It is important to note that regression tests are typically automated software tests that can be repeatedly executed without human intervention and at any given time. Companies use them extensively to ensure that software continuously meets requirements.
A sanity test is a quick and simple test that ensures the most basic functionality of an application works as expected to prevent the application from crashing entirely or a small error rendering the entire system unusable.
A developer or tester can perform Sanity testing and sometimes even automate it.
Database testing ensures that the data stored in the database is correct, consistent, and complete. It involves checking whether the data is stored, retrieved, and updated correctly. Database testing includes testing the database's structure, the data's integrity, input, and output validation, database performance, and security. Again, this is critical to software testing because many applications rely on databases to store and retrieve data. As long as you are sure that the database is in order, you can ensure the quality and reliability of your application with greater confidence.
When creating a functionality, you want it to meet the required specifications. But even more important, you want the end-user to use it. User acceptance testing is a testing process where a software application is tested based on the requirements and expectations of the end-user,
When performing user acceptance testing, you assemble a team of end-users who test the software in a 'real' environment. The team focuses on verifying the software's functionality, usability, performance, and compatibility with other systems. Any problems are addressed before the software goes live by documenting and communicating the test results to the developers.
The better the software meets expectations, the less chance of complaints and disappointments after the release.
Last, but not least is Graphical User Interface testing (GUI-testing). With Graphical User Interface testing, you test an application's visual and functional aspects, such as buttons, menus, dialog boxes, and other elements of the graphical interface of a software application. You also check if the interface of your application works well, if the layout is consistent, and if the functions work correctly. This includes testing the navigation, input and processing of data, and trying different interactions between the user and the application.
You perform GUI testing manually or automatically as part of the overall software testing process to evaluate the quality of the user experience. It helps to detect and resolve issues that affect the user experience. Just like with user acceptance testing, this increases user satisfaction.
Different types of software testing are essential in the software development process. And while you can perform each manually, test automation is becoming increasingly popular. With test automation, you can perform tests faster and more efficiently, speeding up the development process. Additionally, automating tests reduces the risk of human error and increases test accuracy. Want to learn more? Read here for more information on how test automation works.