sWhat is Software Testing?

Definition,
Basics & Types
What is Software Testing?
SOFTWARE TESTING is defined as an activity to check whether the actual
results match the expected results and to ensure that the software system
is Defect free. It involves the execution of a software component or system
component to evaluate one or more properties of interest. Software testing also
helps to identify errors, gaps, or missing requirements in contrary to the actual
requirements. It can be either done manually or using automated tools. Some prefer
saying Software testing as a White Box and Black Box Testing.

In simple terms, Software Testing means the Verification of Application Under

Test (AUT). This tutorial introduces testing software to the audience and justifies
its importance.

In this tutorial, you will learn:

 What is Software Testing?

 Why is Software Testing Important?
 What are the benefits of Software Testing?
 Testing in Software Engineering
 Types of Software Testing
 Testing Strategies in Software Engineering
 Program Testing

Why is Software Testing Important?

Testing is important because software bugs could be expensive or even dangerous.
Software bugs can potentially cause monetary and human loss, and history is full
of such examples.

 In April 2015, Bloomberg terminal in London crashed due to software glitch

affected more than 300,000 traders on financial markets. It forced the
government to postpone a 3bn pound debt sale.
 Nissan cars recalled over 1 million cars from the market due to software
failure in the airbag sensory detectors. There has been reported two accident
due to this software failure.
 Starbucks was forced to close about 60 percent of stores in the U.S and
Canada due to software failure in its POS system. At one point, the store
served coffee for free as they were unable to process the transaction.
  Some of Amazon's third-party retailers saw their product price is reduced to
1p due to a software glitch. They were left with heavy losses.
 Vulnerability in Windows 10. This bug enables users to escape from
security sandboxes through a flaw in the win32k system.
 In 2015 fighter plane F-35 fell victim to a software bug, making it unable to
detect targets correctly.
 China Airlines Airbus A300 crashed due to a software bug on April 26,
1994, killing 264 innocents live
 In 1985, Canada's Therac-25 radiation therapy machine malfunctioned due
to software bug and delivered lethal radiation doses to patients, leaving 3
people dead and critically injuring 3 others.
 In April of 1999, a software bug caused the failure of a $1.2 billion military
satellite launch, the costliest accident in history
 In May of 1996, a software bug caused the bank accounts of 823 customers
of a major U.S. bank to be credited with 920 million US dollars.

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What are the benefits of Software Testing?

Here are the benefits of using software testing:

 Cost-Effective: It is one of the important advantages of software testing.

Testing any IT project on time helps you to save your money for the long
term. In case if the bugs caught in the earlier stage of software testing, it
costs less to fix.
 Security: It is the most vulnerable and sensitive benefit of software testing.
People are looking for trusted products. It helps in removing risks and
problems earlier.
 Product quality: It is an essential requirement of any software product.
Testing ensures a quality product is delivered to customers.
 Customer Satisfaction: The main aim of any product is to give satisfaction
to their customers. UI/UX Testing ensures the best user experience.

Testing in Software Engineering

As per ANSI/IEEE 1059 Testing in software engineering is a method of analyzing
a software item to find the differences between current and required conditions. It
also involves evaluating the features of the software.

Types of Software Testing

Typically Testing is classified into three categories.

 Functional Testing
 Non-Functional Testing or Performance Testing
 Maintenance (Regression and Maintenance)

Testing Category Types of Testing

Functional Testing  Unit Testing

 Integration Testing

 Smoke

 UAT ( User Acceptance Testing)

 Localization

 Globalization

 Interoperability

 So on

Non-Functional Testing  Performance

 Endurance
  Load

 Volume

 Scalability

 Usability

 So on

Maintenance  Regression

 Maintenance

This is not the complete list as there are more than 150 types of testing types and
still adding. Also, note that not all testing types are applicable to all projects but
depend on the nature & scope of the project.

Testing Strategies in Software Engineering

Here are important strategies in software engineering:

Unit Testing: This software testing approach is followed by the programmer to

test the unit of the program. It helps developers to know whether the individual
unit of the code is working properly or not.

Integration testing: It focuses on the construction and design of the software. You
need to see that the integrated units are working without errors or not.

System testing: In this method, your software is compiled as a whole and then
tested as a whole. This testing strategy checks the functionality, security,
portability, amongst others.

Program Testing
Program testing is the method of executing any program with the aim of finding
errors. A good testing is one which has a high chance of finding bugs. This testing
process can show whether the errors are present or not. It is possible to write test
cases before writing any program.

Summary of Software Testing Basics:

  Software testing is defined as an activity to check whether the actual results
match the expected results and to ensure that the software system is Defect
free.
 Testing is important because software bugs could be expensive or even
dangerous.
 The important are reasons for using software testing are: cost-effective,
security, product quality, and customer satisfaction.
 Typically Testing is classified into three categories functional testing, non-
functional testing or performance testing, and maintenance.
 The important strategies in software engineering are: unit testing, integration
testing, validation testing, and system testing.

Evaluation of software testing

 Software Testing is evaluation of the software against requirements gathered from

users and system specifications. Testing is conducted at the phase level in software
development life cycle or at module level in program code. Software testing
comprises of Validation and Verification.

Software Validation
Validation is process of examining whether or not the software satisfies the user
requirements. It is carried out at the end of the SDLC. If the software matches
requirements for which it was made, it is validated.

 Validation ensures the product under development is as per the user

requirements.
 Validation answers the question – "Are we developing the product which
attempts all that user needs from this software ?".
 Validation emphasizes on user requirements.

Software Verification
Verification is the process of confirming if the software is meeting the business
requirements, and is developed adhering to the proper specifications and
methodologies.

 Verification ensures the product being developed is according to design

specifications.
 Verification answers the question– "Are we developing this product by firmly
following all design specifications ?"
  Verifications concentrates on the design and system specifications.
Target of the test are -
 Errors - These are actual coding mistakes made by developers. In addition,
there is a difference in output of software and desired output, is considered
as an error.
 Fault - When error exists fault occurs. A fault, also known as a bug, is a
result of an error which can cause system to fail.
 Failure - failure is said to be the inability of the system to perform the desired
task. Failure occurs when fault exists in the system.

Manual Vs Automated Testing

Testing can either be done manually or using an automated testing tool:
 Manual - This testing is performed without taking help of automated testing
tools. The software tester prepares test cases for different sections and
levels of the code, executes the tests and reports the result to the manager.
Manual testing is time and resource consuming. The tester needs to confirm
whether or not right test cases are used. Major portion of testing involves
manual testing.
 Automated This testing is a testing procedure done with aid of automated
testing tools. The limitations with manual testing can be overcome using
automated test tools.
A test needs to check if a webpage can be opened in Internet Explorer. This can be
easily done with manual testing. But to check if the web-server can take the load of
1 million users, it is quite impossible to test manually.
There are software and hardware tools which helps tester in conducting load
testing, stress testing, regression testing.

Testing Approaches
Tests can be conducted based on two approaches –

 Functionality testing
 Implementation testing
When functionality is being tested without taking the actual implementation in
concern it is known as black-box testing. The other side is known as white-box
testing where not only functionality is tested but the way it is implemented is also
analyzed.
Exhaustive tests are the best-desired method for a perfect testing. Every single
possible value in the range of the input and output values is tested. It is not possible
to test each and every value in real world scenario if the range of values is large.

Black-box testing
It is carried out to test functionality of the program. It is also called ‘Behavioral’
testing. The tester in this case, has a set of input values and respective desired
results. On providing input, if the output matches with the desired results, the
program is tested ‘ok’, and problematic otherwise.

In this testing method, the design and structure of the code are not known to the
tester, and testing engineers and end users conduct this test on the software.
Black-box testing techniques:
 Equivalence class - The input is divided into similar classes. If one element
of a class passes the test, it is assumed that all the class is passed.
 Boundary values - The input is divided into higher and lower end values. If
these values pass the test, it is assumed that all values in between may pass
too.
 Cause-effect graphing - In both previous methods, only one input value at a
time is tested. Cause (input) – Effect (output) is a testing technique where
combinations of input values are tested in a systematic way.
 Pair-wise Testing - The behavior of software depends on multiple
parameters. In pairwise testing, the multiple parameters are tested pair-wise
for their different values.
 State-based testing - The system changes state on provision of input. These
systems are tested based on their states and input.

White-box testing

It is conducted to test program and its implementation, in order to improve code

efficiency or structure. It is also known as ‘Structural’ testing.

In this testing method, the design and structure of the code are known to the tester.
Programmers of the code conduct this test on the code.
The below are some White-box testing techniques:
  Control-flow testing - The purpose of the control-flow testing to set up test
cases which covers all statements and branch conditions. The branch
conditions are tested for both being true and false, so that all statements can
be covered.
 Data-flow testing - This testing technique emphasis to cover all the data
variables included in the program. It tests where the variables were declared
and defined and where they were used or changed.

Testing Levels
Testing itself may be defined at various levels of SDLC. The testing process runs
parallel to software development. Before jumping on the next stage, a stage is
tested, validated and verified.
Testing separately is done just to make sure that there are no hidden bugs or issues
left in the software. Software is tested on various levels -

Unit Testing

While coding, the programmer performs some tests on that unit of program to know
if it is error free. Testing is performed under white-box testing approach. Unit testing
helps developers decide that individual units of the program are working as per
requirement and are error free.

Integration Testing

Even if the units of software are working fine individually, there is a need to find out
if the units if integrated together would also work without errors. For example,
argument passing and data updation etc.

System Testing

The software is compiled as product and then it is tested as a whole. This can be
accomplished using one or more of the following tests:
 Functionality testing - Tests all functionalities of the software against the
requirement.
 Performance testing - This test proves how efficient the software is. It tests
the effectiveness and average time taken by the software to do desired task.
Performance testing is done by means of load testing and stress testing
where the software is put under high user and data load under various
environment conditions.
 Security & Portability - These tests are done when the software is meant to
work on various platforms and accessed by number of persons.

Acceptance Testing
When the software is ready to hand over to the customer it has to go through last
phase of testing where it is tested for user-interaction and response. This is
important because even if the software matches all user requirements and if user
does not like the way it appears or works, it may be rejected.
 Alpha testing - The team of developer themselves perform alpha testing by
using the system as if it is being used in work environment. They try to find
out how user would react to some action in software and how the system
should respond to inputs.
 Beta testing - After the software is tested internally, it is handed over to the
users to use it under their production environment only for testing purpose.
This is not as yet the delivered product. Developers expect that users at this
stage will bring minute problems, which were skipped to attend.

Regression Testing

Whenever a software product is updated with new code, feature or functionality, it is

tested thoroughly to detect if there is any negative impact of the added code. This is
known as regression testing.

Testing Documentation
Testing documents are prepared at different stages -

Before Testing

Testing starts with test cases generation. Following documents are needed for
reference –
 SRS document - Functional Requirements document
 Test Policy document - This describes how far testing should take place
before releasing the product.
 Test Strategy document - This mentions detail aspects of test team,
responsibility matrix and rights/responsibility of test manager and test
engineer.
 Traceability Matrix document - This is SDLC document, which is related to
requirement gathering process. As new requirements come, they are added
to this matrix. These matrices help testers know the source of requirement.
They can be traced forward and backward.

While Being Tested

The following documents may be required while testing is started and is being done:
 Test Case document - This document contains list of tests required to be
conducted. It includes Unit test plan, Integration test plan, System test plan
and Acceptance test plan.
  Test description - This document is a detailed description of all test cases
and procedures to execute them.
 Test case report - This document contains test case report as a result of the
test.
 Test logs - This document contains test logs for every test case report.

After Testing

The following documents may be generated after testing :

 Test summary - This test summary is collective analysis of all test reports
and logs. It summarizes and concludes if the software is ready to be
launched. The software is released under version control system if it is ready
to launch.

Testing vs. Quality Control, Quality Assurance and Audit

We need to understand that software testing is different from software quality
assurance, software quality control and software auditing.
 Software quality assurance - These are software development process
monitoring means, by which it is assured that all the measures are taken as
per the standards of organization. This monitoring is done to make sure that
proper software development methods were followed.
 Software quality control - This is a system to maintain the quality of
software product. It may include functional and non-functional aspects of
software product, which enhance the goodwill of the organization. This
system makes sure that the customer is receiving quality product for their
requirement and the product certified as ‘fit for use’.
 Software audit - This is a review of procedure used by the organization to
develop the software. A team of auditors, independent of development team
examines the software process, procedure, requirements and other aspects
of SDLC. The purpose of software audit is to check that software and its
development process, both conform standards, rules and regulations.

SOFTWARE TESTING MYTHS AND FACTS

Given below are some of the most common myths about software testing.

Myth 1: Testing is Too Expensive

Reality − There is a saying, pay less for testing during software development or pay
more for maintenance or correction later. Early testing saves both time and cost in
many aspects, however reducing the cost without testing may result in improper
design of a software application rendering the product useless.

Myth 2: Testing is Time-Consuming

Reality − During the SDLC phases, testing is never a time-consuming process.
However diagnosing and fixing the errors identified during proper testing is a time-
consuming but productive activity.

Myth 3: Only Fully Developed Products are Tested

Reality − No doubt, testing depends on the source code but reviewing requirements
and developing test cases is independent from the developed code. However
iterative or incremental approach as a development life cycle model may reduce the
dependency of testing on the fully developed software.

Myth 4: Complete Testing is Possible

Reality − It becomes an issue when a client or tester thinks that complete testing is
possible. It is possible that all paths have been tested by the team but occurrence of
complete testing is never possible. There might be some scenarios that are never
executed by the test team or the client during the software development life cycle
and may be executed once the project has been deployed.

Myth 5: A Tested Software is Bug-Free

Reality − This is a very common myth that the clients, project managers, and the
management team believes in. No one can claim with absolute certainty that a
software application is 100% bug-free even if a tester with superb testing skills has
tested the application.

Myth 6: Missed Defects are due to Testers

Reality − It is not a correct approach to blame testers for bugs that remain in the
application even after testing has been performed. This myth relates to Time, Cost,
and Requirements changing Constraints. However the test strategy may also result
in bugs being missed by the testing team.

Myth 7: Testers are Responsible for Quality of Product

Reality − It is a very common misinterpretation that only testers or the testing team
should be responsible for product quality. Testers’ responsibilities include the
identification of bugs to the stakeholders and then it is their decision whether they
will fix the bug or release the software. Releasing the software at the time puts more
pressure on the testers, as they will be blamed for any error.
Myth 8: Test Automation should be used wherever
possible to Reduce Time
Reality − Yes, it is true that Test Automation reduces the testing time, but it is not
possible to start test automation at any time during software development. Test
automaton should be started when the software has been manually tested and is
stable to some extent. Moreover, test automation can never be used if requirements
keep changing.

Myth 9: Anyone can Test a Software Application

Reality − People outside the IT industry think and even believe that anyone can test
a software and testing is not a creative job. However testers know very well that this
is a myth. Thinking alternative scenarios, try to crash a software with the intent to
explore potential bugs is not possible for the person who developed it.

Myth 10: A Tester's only Task is to Find Bugs

Reality − Finding bugs in a software is the task of the testers, but at the same time,
they are domain experts of the particular software. Developers are only responsible
for the specific component or area that is assigned to them but testers understand
the overall workings of the software, what the dependencies are, and the impacts of
one module on another module.

What is The Ultimate Goal and Key

Objectives of Software Testing?

Serving as a bridge between users and development team of a product, the ultimate goal of
software testing is to troubleshoot all the issues and bugs as well as control the quality of a
resulted product. On the way to the ultimate goal of testing using manual and automated means,
QA specialists are aimed to complete different objectives.
Here are five the most essential software testing objectives:

Bug Prevention. QA engineers prevent defects in a system at the earliest stage of development.
The bug-prevention objective is superior to others and implies not only anticipation but also
prevention of defects from recurring in the future. In the long run, bug prevention helps to shorten
the product time to market, reduce the cost of software quality maintenance and increase the
customer satisfaction and loyalty to your product.

Bug Detection. QA experts detect and root out bugs and malfunctions before customers find
them. It’s a short-term objective that requires a scrutinous approach which can be provided by
manual software testing.

User Satisfaction. QA team make sure that the product satisfies the user requirements and
works as desired. In the process of the software verification & validation, a tester usually writes a
set of test cases which help to determine the software compliance with specific business and
user requirements under positive and negative conditions. For instance, our team establishes the
set of tests to ensure the main functions and features cover different scenarios, work properly in
a range of countries and locations.

Software quality and reliability. Keeping control of software quality and reliability. Keeping
control of software quality means keeping bugs at a low level and making sure software is
compatible. Software compatibility is the capability of a software or an app to work well with other
hardware, software or network, including web, desktop, mobile platform types, all types of
operating systems and web browsers, etc.

Recommendations. QA team provides suggestions for software improvements. A good software

testing provider should not only tell the difference between the actual and expected result but
also make suggestions on how to improve this or that software element performance from the
user perspective.In particular, the team might recommend how to make the app more intuitive for
customers as well as provide with simpler ways of software development.

Automated Testing Goals

A fast-paced software development environment requires dynamic testing solutions. Automation

helps to speed up the process, covering more test areas in less time. As a result, QA engineers
get more time to handle high-level tasks that require human input. This highlight defines the key
automated testing goals.

#1. High quality of software & user satisfaction. These two things that always go hand-in-hand
define the main goal of software testing. All members of a QA team use different types of testing
and tools to achieve the same goal: to release software without critical bugs and make sure
users are happy with it. Automation testing contributes to it with its special techniques.

#2. Minimizing testing time & human effort. Automation is applied where manual testing would
have taken a lot of time. It helps to shorten test time and simplify testing of complex applications
with many features. QA engineers can set up the system, and it will start running automatically at
night. Every test scenario can be executed multiple times, making automation very useful for
regression. Thus, automation optimizes the time and human resources.

#3. Increasing efficiency and quality while reducing costs. Automation is always more
advantageous over the long run. Timely releases and flawless performance require a lot of effort.
QA engineers can execute tests during off-peak hours, distribute them across multiple servers,
simulate different types of environments, etc. Carrying out all those tests manually will take much
more effort. You will need to pay for more working hours and wait for a long time – not the best
scenario for a dynamic project or tight deadlines.

Automated Testing Objectives

The objectives are specific actions that help to achieve bigger automation testing goals.

#1. Enhancing software quality after each iteration. QA specialists apply automation to check
software specifications after each iteration. Along with bug detection, they focus on bug
prevention and localization. For this, it is necessary to cover all possible scenarios of software
behavior. Well-written automation tests can work as bug-repellents and prevent mistakes that are
expensive to fix.

#2. Improving stability and reliability. Modeling stress situations and seemingly impossible
scenarios (peak traffic, a huge amount of users requesting the same feature, etc.) helps to
discover how an app behaves in unusual circumstances. It, in turn, allows preventing crashes
and lags if such situations happen. To avoid introducing new risks, any test-specific code is
plugged in by the test and only in a test environment.

#3. Helping to understand the system under test. A system under test, or simply SUT, refers to
the thing that is currently tested. Automated tests help to explore numerous “What if…”
scenarios. Without them, the team would need to pore through code. Instead, a QA engineer
turns on a debugger, runs a test, and sees how code works.

#4. Creating tests that are easy to run. The tests should be fully automated so it is possible to run
them without any effort. They should also be self-checking (detect and report errors without
manual inspection) and repeatable (suitable for multiple uses). Ideally, QA engineers should be
able to run each test independently.

#5. Creating tests that are easy to maintain. When QA professionals write automated tests, they
still need to focus on testing, not on the code for automation. Thus, tests should be easy to write,
read, understand, and modify in the future. They should require minimal maintenance when the
system evolves.

#6. Expanding test coverage. QA engineers aim to cover the widest test area possible. To check
all user scenarios, they need to execute hundreds of test cases, validate boundary and edge
cases, ensure the compatibility with different devices and browsers. Automation can cover both
functional and UI testing.

#7. Boosting QA engineers’ effectiveness and motivation. First off, we aren’t trying to say that our
QA engineers unmotivated or fail to work effectively 🙂 Still, manual testing is an error-prone job.
Repeating the same test cases frequently with only slight changes can get frustrating. Needless
to remind that there are many time-consuming low-level tasks. Automation leaves more time for
QA engineers to focus on challenging and uncommon issues, like exploratory testing and risk
analysis.
 What is Software Testing? Terminologies |
Importance | Types
Software Testing is not as easy as it is often presumed to be! One needs to possess a knack
for analytical and logical thinking to formulate different test-case scenarios and present an
appropriate solution accordingly.
It’s very important to understand what Software Testing actually is as there are lots of
misconceptions surrounding this domain. Testing is all about out-of-the-box thinking and
verifying, validating, investigating & exploring the product.

Benjamin Franklin once stated,

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

Testing is an easier job for those who don’t comprehend the significance of good quality.
Stay tuned to our series of blogs on Software Testing where I will be covering each aspect,
FROM SCRATCH! Nothing would be left out!
So, if you wish to venture into this domain, stay tuned as these articles can serve as a holy
grail for you.
In our first blog on Testing, we will be covering the following points,

 Introduction to Software Testing

 Significance of Testing
 Common Terminologies used in Software Testing
 Types
 Concluding View

What is Software Testing?

As per ISTQB definition,
Software Testing is the process of verifying and validating whether a software application or
product meets the business and technical requirements that guide its design and development.
In simpler terms, it is the process of executing a program or application with the intent of
finding defects in it.
Software Testing is performed to check whether the outcome matches the expected result and
also to ensure that the developed product has minimal anomalies. It includes the execution of
different test cases over different functionalities. A tester, often referred to as a Quality
Analyst, needs to ensure that the developed product meets the client’s requirements.
Software testing can be carried out manually or by using automated tools.
Note: ISTQB or The International Software Testing Qualifications Board is a software testing
qualification certification.

Importance of Software Testing

“Quality is not an accident, it’s an intelligent effort “

– John Ruskin

You cannot understate the significance of testing if you wish to deliver a quality product to
your customers.
Creating a good quality product which is bug-free, delivers great user experience and runs
seamlessly across multiple channels requires the product to undergo through a rigorous
testing process. The right kind of testing guarantees that your product is seamless and
delivers on the expectations of the client.
Testing is also essential to enrich User Experience. This is because a badly tested product
will have bugs and other contingencies which will consequently hamper in providing a
seamless UX.
Now, developing this lucrative and seamless product requires the tester to review the product
on several parameters, like,

 Accessibility
 Compatibility
 Efficiency
 Functionality
 Scalability
 Performance
 Reliable
 Usability

The objective of testing isn’t limited to discovering bugs or to advance programming. It is to

minimize hazard by proactively detecting and dispensing issues which could sway the
customers from efficiently utilizing the product.
TERMINOLOGIES
 Test Plan
 Test Scenarios
 Test Cases
 Priority
 Severity
 Verification
 Validation
 SDLC & STLC

1. Test Plan

As per ISTQB definition,

A test plan is a document outlining the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of the
intended test activities. It identifies amongst others, the test items, the features to be tested,
tasks, person assigned to each task, the test environment, test design techniques, entry and
exit criteria as well as contingency planning.
Simply put – A test plan defines the strategy to be used to test an application and elucidates
the objective, resources used and the information about the test environment. It is a blueprint
which summarizes how the testing activities will proceed for any project.

2. Test Scenarios vs Test Cases

A Test Case mentions the detailed inputs, execution conditions, steps to reproduce, test data,
the actual & expected results. Different test cases are designed and noted-down during the
Test Case Development phase of STLC which the testers later refer to, to check the
application performance.
Test cases can be broadly classified into Functional & Non-
functional or Positive & Negative.
People often get confused amongst – Test Scenarios and Test Cases. Here is a simple
example to quickly comprehend the difference between the two,

 Test Case 1: Check results on entering valid User Id & valid Password
 Test Case 2: Check results on entering Invalid User ID & valid Password
 Test Case 3: Check results on entering valid User ID & Invalid Password
 Test Case 4: Check results on entering Invalid User ID & Invalid Password
 Test Case 5: Check response when fields are Empty & Login Button is pressed.
Test Scenario is to Test the login functionality whereas Test Cases that are included in this
Test Scenario are,

3. Priority vs Severity

Priority specifies the level of urgency under which the bug needs to get resolved. Whereas
severity illustrates how critical the bug is, it basically describes the magnitude of impact if the
bug is not resolved. There are different levels of priority and severity, which are depicted in
the image below,
4. Verification v/s Validation:

Verification is a static routine involving checking documents, structure, code, and program.
It incorporates activities involved in creating fantastic programming, including, assessment,
structure investigation, and detail examination. It is a moderate target process.
Validation is assessing the last item to check whether the product meets the clients’ desires
and prerequisites. It is a dynamic tool of approving and testing the real item.
It’s essential for a tester to possess a clear understanding of the process followed to develop
the product in their organization. Similar to SDLC, a proper process is followed to perform
software testing which is called STLC or Software Testing Life Cycle. Let’s catch some
more details about these processes.

Image Courtesy: plutora.com
SDLC vs STLC

 SDLC
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) explains the journey of Software
Development. According to Wikipedia, SDLC is a process followed for software
development. It consists of a detailed strategy outlining how to develop, maintain,
replace, alter and enhance a specific software.
 STLC
STLC illustrates a systematic and well-planned testing process which includes different
stages to make the testing process quick, effective and accountable. Unlike SDLC, STLC
– software testing life cycle identifies how test cases will be implemented and how the
testing would be conducted successfully.

Now Let’s a brief look at the different phases of SDLC and STLC:

Phase SDLC STLC

 Business Analyst gathers

SDLC  The testing team analyzes and reviews the
requirements.
Requirement Software Requirement Document or SRD.
 Development team
GatheringSTL  Identifies the testing requirements –
analyzes the requirements &
C Scope, Verification, and Validation of key
starts the brainstorming on
Requirement points.
architecture & design
Analysis

 SDLC architecture helps

you develop high-level and  In STLC, either the Test Lead or the Test
low-level design plans based Architect usually plan the test strategy.
SDLC
on the requirements.
Design
 Business Analyst works on  Test planning, Test Analysis, and Test
STLC
wireframe designing here, & Design took place here, along with Resource
Test Planning
after design approval, it will Allocation & timeline fixation.
hand over to stakeholders.

 The testing team writes the test scenarios

 The development team
in order to examine the quality of the
starts developing the software,
product.
SDLC Integrates it with different
Development systems.
 Detailed test cases are planned out for all
STLC  Once all integration is
modules along with expected behavior.
Test Case achieved, a ready to test
Development software or product is
 The prerequisites and the entry & exit
provided.
criteria of a test module are mentioned here,

SDLC  The test team confirms the environment

Environment set-up based on the pre-requisites.
Development team sets-up a test
Set-up  Performs smoke testing to make sure the
environment with a developed
STLC: environment is stable for the product to be
product to validate.
Environment tested.
Set-Up
  The actual testing is
carried out in this phase.
 System Integration testing starts based on
test cases.
It encompasses a wide
 Defects reported, if any, gets retested and
SDLC: variety of testings.
fixed.
Testing
STLC:  Developers fixed the bugs
Test Execution  Regression testing is performed here and
& assign to tester again to
the product is signed off once it meets the
retest it.
exit criteria.
 UAT testing is performed
here

 Smoke and sanity testing in a production

SDLC:
Once sign-off is received from the environment is completed here, as soon as th
Deployment/
various testing team, the product is deployed.
Product Release
application is deployed in a  Test reports and matrix preparation are
STLC:
production environment for real done by the testing team to analyze the
Test Cycle-
end users. product.
Closure

It covers the post-deployment

In this phase, the maintaining of test cases,
Maintenance enhancement, supports, and
regression suits has been done.
updates if any.

It’s important that a tester must have knowledge of the process followed to develop any
product in any IT company. This process is named as SDLC – software development life
cycle. Add on to this, a proper process is followed to perform software testing i.e STLC –
software testing life cycle. Let’s catch some more details about these processes.
A tester has to perform numerous types of testing in his career. Let’s take a sneak peek at the
different types of software testing out there,

Functional Testing

Functional testing is a type of software testing where the system is tested against some
functional requirements.

 Unit Testing
Unit testing consists of the testing of individual modules or components. Its objective is
to test each unit of the software, validate whether the functionality implemented is stable
or not and most importantly it should work as per the design & requirement.It’s the first
and foremost step to perform Software testing and is generally carried out by software
developers themselves. Unit Testing builds confidence in changing or maintaining the
codes. Reusability of code also increases.
 Integration Testing
Integration Testing is the second step of software testing, where individual modules are
combined & integrated modules are tested. It started after completion of Unit Testing.
The objective is to test the defects to discover while integrating any modules. This type of
testing verifies the functionality, performance, and reliability between the integrated
modules.
 System Testing
System testing is the testing of complete and integrated software. It ensures that the
developed product meets the specific requirements.System Testing involves the
examination of completely integrated applications incorporating outer peripherals to
check how modules interact with each other and with the framework, all in all.
 Sanity Testing
Sanity testing is carried out to quickly evaluate and determine whether functionalities are
working as expected or not. Sanity Testing is also referred to as surface-level-
testing.Sanity testing is a type of Software Testing performed after receiving a software
build, with minor changes in code, or functionalities, to learn that the bugs have been
fixed and no further issues are acquainted due with these progressions.The objective is
“not” to verify the new functionality thoroughly but to determine that the developer has
applied some rationality (sanity) while developing the software.
 Smoke Testing
Smoke Testing is performed to discover that the critical functionalities of the program are
working fine. The motto of this testing is to check the “stability” of the framework and
execute “before” any detailed functional or regression tests are executed on the
application.
 Interface Testing
An interface is a medium between two different software systems, whereas interface
Testing is a software testing type which verifies whether the correspondence between two
distinctive programming frameworks is done accurately.
 Regression Testing
Regression testing is the type of testing in which QA verifies whether changes made in
the old functionality still works with the newly implemented changes.
 Beta/Acceptance Testing:
Beta or User Acceptance testing is carried out by “real users” of the developed product in
“real environment.” A Beta version of the application is released for a limited number of
users to gather feedback on product quality.Beta testing decreases item disappointment
hazards and provides an expanded nature of the product through client approval.It is the
final test before delivery product to the clients. Direct criticism from clients is a
 noteworthy preferred standpoint of Beta Testing. This testing serves to tests the item in
the client’s environment.

Non-functional testing types,

 Performance Testing
Performance testing is defined as the type of testing where we ensure proper functionality
of our application under a heavy workload.
 Load Testing
Load testing is a sub-classification of Performance Testing. During load testing, we
evaluate the behavior of our application when N number of users simultaneously access
it.
 Stress Testing
The objective of stress testing is to analyze the response of the system following a failure.
In this type of testing system should give an error message if it is operating under dire
conditions. This type of testing tries to break the system by testing with overwhelming
data or resources.
 Volume Testing
Volume testing is a sort of Software Testing in which the product is subjected to an
enormous volume of information. This testing is carried out to test system performance
by expanding the amount of data in the database.
 Security Testing
Security Testing ensures that our applications are free from any vulnerabilities, dangers,
risks that could cause a major misfortune. It additionally helps in identifying all
conceivable security issues in the system and assist users in fixing these issues through
coding.
 Compatibility Testing
Compatibility Testing is a sort of Software testing to check whether your product is fit for
running on multiple hardware, different OS, Applications and mobile gadgets. It’s a type
of Non-functional testing.
 Recovery Testing
Recovery testing is the process of testing how well an application can recoup from
accidents, hardware failures, and other comparable issues. This testing is the constrained
disappointment of the product in an assortment of approaches to confirm that recovery is
appropriately performed.
 Usability Testing
Usability testing ensures – Usefulness, Discoverability, Accessibility, Usability, and
Desirability. The objective is to see how clients interact with your product and to improve
 the item dependent on the outcomes. The main focus of a Usability test is to improve a
design.
 Compliance Testing :
Compliance testing also referred to as conformance testing, regulation testing, standards
testing, is a sort of testing to decide the consistency of a framework. Most importantly it
is the nonfunctional testing procedure which is done to approve, regardless of whether the
framework created satisfies the association’s recommended guidelines or not.
Determining that the development and maintenance process meets the endorsed
procedure.
 Localization Testing
Localization testing is a software testing strategy, where the product is checked to
guarantee that it carries on as indicated by the nearby culture or settings.

Software testing methodologies 

are the various strategies or approaches used to test an application to ensure it behaves and
looks as expected. These encompass everything from front to back-end testing, including
unit and system testing. This article is designed to highlight the myriad of testing techniques
used by quality assurance professionals.

Functional vs. Non-functional Testing

The goal of utilizing numerous testing methodologies in your development process is
to make sure your software can successfully operate in multiple environments and
across different platforms. These can typically be broken down between functional
and non-functional testing. Functional testing involves testing the application against
the business requirements. It incorporates all test types designed to guarantee each
part of a piece of software behaves as expected by using uses cases provided by
the design team or business analyst. These testing methods are usually conducted
in order and include:

 Unit testing
 Integration testing
 System testing
 Acceptance testing

Non-functional testing methods incorporate all test types focused on the operational
aspects of a piece of software. These include:

 Performance testing
 Security testing
 Usability testing
 Compatibility testing
The key to releasing high quality software that can be easily adopted by your end
users is to build a robust testing framework that implements both functional and non-
functional software testing methodologies.

Unit Testing
Unit testing is the first level of testing and is often performed by the developers
themselves. It is the process of ensuring individual components of a piece of
software at the code level are functional and work as they were designed to.
Developers in a test-driven environment will typically write and run the tests prior to
the software or feature being passed over to the test team. Unit testing can be
conducted manually, but automating the process will speed up delivery cycles and
expand test coverage. Unit testing will also make debugging easier because finding
issues earlier means they take less time to fix than if they were discovered later in
the testing process. TestLeft is a tool that allows advanced testers and developers to
shift left with the fastest test automation tool embedded in any IDE.

Integration Testing
After each unit is thoroughly tested, it is integrated with other units to create modules
or components that are designed to perform specific tasks or activities. These are
then tested as group through integration testing to ensure whole segments of an
application behave as expected (i.e, the interactions between units are seamless).
These tests are often framed by user scenarios, such as logging into an application
or opening files. Integrated tests can be conducted by either developers or
independent testers and are usually comprised of a combination of automated
functional and manual tests.

System Testing
System testing is a black box testing method used to evaluate the completed and
integrated system, as a whole, to ensure it meets specified requirements. The
functionality of the software is tested from end-to-end and is typically conducted by a
separate testing team than the development team before the product is pushed into
production.

Acceptance Testing
Acceptance testing is the last phase of functional testing and is used to assess
whether or not the final piece of software is ready for delivery. It involves ensuring
that the product is in compliance with all of the original business criteria and that it
meets the end user’s needs. This requires the product be tested both internally and
externally, meaning you’ll need to get it into the hands of your end users for beta
testing along with those of your QA team. Beta testing is key to getting real feedback
from potential customers and can address any final usability concerns.
Performance Testing
Performance testing is a non-functional testing technique used to determine how an
application will behave under various conditions. The goal is to test its
responsiveness and stability in real user situations. Performance testing can be
broken down into four types:

 Load testing is the process of putting increasing amounts of simulated

demand on your software, application, or website to verify whether or not it can
handle what it’s designed to handle.
 Stress testing takes this a step further and is used to gauge how your
software will respond at or beyond its peak load. The goal of stress testing is to
overload the application on purpose until it breaks by applying both realistic and
unrealistic load scenarios. With stress testing, you’ll be able to find the failure
point of your piece of software.
 Endurance testing, also known as soak testing, is used to analyze the
behavior of an application under a specific amount of simulated load over longer
amounts of time. The goal is to understand how your system will behave under
sustained use, making it a longer process than load or stress testing (which are
designed to end after a few hours). A critical piece of endurance testing is that it
helps uncover memory leaks.
 Spike testing is a type of load test used to determine how your software will
respond to substantially larger bursts of concurrent user or system activity over
varying amounts of time. Ideally, this will help you understand what will happen
when the load is suddenly and drastically increased.

Security Testing
With the rise of cloud-based testing platforms and cyber attacks, there is a growing
concern and need for the security of data being used and stored in software.
Security testing is a non-functional software testing technique used to determine if
the information and data in a system is protected. The goal is to purposefully find
loopholes and security risks in the system that could result in unauthorized access to
or the loss of information by probing the application for weaknesses. There are
multiple types of this testing method, each of which aimed at verifying six basic
principles of security:

1. Integrity
2. Confidentiality
3. Authentication
4. Authorization
5. Availability
6. Non-repudiation

Usability Testing
Usability testing is a testing method that measures an application’s ease-of-use from
the end-user perspective and is often performed during the system or acceptance
testing stages. The goal is to determine whether or not the visible design and
aesthetics of an application meet the intended workflow for various processes, such
as logging into an application. Usability testing is a great way for teams to review
separate functions, or the system as a whole, is intuitive to use.

Compatibility Testing
Compatibility testing is used to gauge how an application or piece of software will
work in different environments. It is used to check that your product is compatible
with multiple operating systems, platforms, browsers, or resolution configurations.
The goal is to ensure that your software’s functionality is consistently supported
across any environment you expect your end users to be using.