Software Testing is a continuous process to prevent mistakes that may affect the performance of a digital product.
How is it related to development? Testing is essential for the development of several solutions.
Let's review the common concepts on the subject and how to do software testing!
What is Software Testing
What is a test in software development?
In the short term, the process examines different edges and behaviors.
To do so, it applies verification and validation methods.
These provide an independent and specific view of the final product.
With these views, it's possible to analyze the potential risks a software could imply.
In a nutshell, it prevents errors, reduces dev costs, and improves performance.
Software Testing came along with Development.
This concept was born by Tom Kilburn after World War II.
The computer scientist credits for the first working computer memory.
His job relied on math calculation through machine code instructions.
In this context, the method received the name purification.
Further, this process was the norm for over two decades.
Yet, in the 80s, computer scientists adopted a broader view.
This approach focused on the quality control of software development.
Due to this focus, in the 90s, experience design stepped up in the game.
This new process consisted of planning, creating, designing, executing, and testing.
During this time, radical changes brought the testing process to a new level.
To do so, administration and automation tools appeared.
These tools were also integrated with new methodologies.
How does Software Testing Work
When discussing software testing, it's essential to know the testing life cycle.
There are vital variations in every software development.
Yet, today there is a typical cycle for testing known as the Waterfall Model.
These practices are at all stages of the process but can be a little unclear.
Software Testing life cycle has a basis of six steps.
These are Requirement Analysis, Test Planning, Test Case Development, Test Environment Setup, Test Execution, Test Cycle Closure
The tests follow a common pattern and seek to define the test environment that surrounds them.
This process includes development, structuring, analysis, and reporting.
Yet, it's essential to know that a software test can take a long time.
Manual tests are enough to run small builds.
Instead, automated tests incorporate diverse scenarios by applying differentiators.
These tests have measurement results and define what works.
Types of Software Testing
There are several testing types.
These approaches got different focuses on goals and strategies.
Among them, there is:
- Integration Testing. Verifying that different elements are efficiently interconnected.
- Unit Testing. Defining the correct functionality of teach unit (the smallest element)
- Functional Testing. Focusing on different scenarios based on functional goals.
- Load Testing. Testing operations through a series of loads that simulate real scenarios.
- Regression Testing. Ruling out that the new features added break the functionality.
- Stress Testing. Checking how much stress the system can withstand before a failure.
- Usability Testing. Validating the possible user experiences.
Software Testing Techniques
There are some outstanding strategies to achieve optimal testing.
Among these approaches, the following stand out:
- Continuous Testing. It allows process validation within a realistic environment at an early stage.
- Configuration Management. This is about spearheading a centralized organization of test assets.
- Virtualization Process. The virtualization process includes a simulation process that allows for identifying missing systems.
- Bug Tracking. This process focuses on awareness of possible flaws and metrics of the project.
It's important to keep testing in mind as the main element rather than a late solution option.
As a result, testing reduces costs and solves fewer problems.
A large percentage of development teams use Continuous Testing.
This technique responds to a DevOps approach.
In this case, the development and operations influence the product's life cycle.
The goal is to advance software delivery while stabilizing costs, risk, and quality.
With these systems, the software doesn't have to be complete to reach performance conclusions.
Further, it's possible to apply solutions to problems before they worsen.
Best Languages for Software Testing
As for 2022, the primary programming languages software testers use are as follows.
- Python. An open-source, simple syntax language, Python is ideal for executing applications involving Artificial Intelligence.
- Java. This language aims to get the least possible implementation dependencies, making Java ideal for mobile devices and loT.
- C#. Also known as C Sharp, C# is quite present in business environments, video game development, applications and web pages.
- C++. The C++ (C Plus Plus) language provides a standard template library with different structures, algorithms and arithmetic operations.
- JavaScript. The widely used language JavaScript allows adding more complex features and functions to achieve higher degrees of interaction.
These languages have great relevance in space and time.
Yet, this does not guarantee their permanence.
The tech field is volatile, and any language can get more advanced replacements anytime.
Why is Software Testing Important?
There are not a lot of cons to software testing within the development.
If not applied, it can lead to severe software and bugs.
Further, it can be detrimental to interconnected systems.
And last but not least, it can affect brands' reputations and conclude in the loss of users.
When talking about real-life cases, there's the example of Nissan.
The company had to take around one million cars off the market due to a software failure in the airbag sensors.
In another example, software failure led to the loss of a USD 1,2B military satellite launch.
Numbers speak for themselves: thanks to software failures, the US lost about USD 1,1T in assets in 2016.
This does not only involves economic losses.
Also, it goes by the user experience impact that affected 4,4B customers.
Yes, on expenses, testing processes need investment.
Yet, they're a good one because, with good techniques, companies can achieve excellence.
Software Testing is necessary to rule out problems before the product goes public.
Dev teams can rule out terrible design choices with a pre-release target test.
Further, they can prevent invalid functions, architectural flaws, and security vulnerabilities.
Spending time and effort on test orders helps improve software reliability.
Thus, it helps develop high-quality products. Systems need to meet the goals and exceed user expectations.
In consequence, ventures can bet on better positioning in the market.
Conclusion
It's possible to deduce that testing is an imperative technique.
It allows identifying the error and attacking root problems.
Furthermore, there are plenty of tools, techniques, and types of tests.
If a software product launches without testing, it can be in vain and endanger users.
In this context, software testing teams protect reliability and ensure real-world usability.
