4/21/24, 9:26 AM Types of Software Testing: Guide to Different Testing Methods

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You may have come across business case studies about
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software products being launched with much fanfare, with
millions of dollars in advertising and marketing spend, only
to become colossal failures in the field or the marketplace.

These can include anything from a mobile app that doesn’t

get as many eyeballs or downloads as expected to an
automated aircraft system that fails mid-flight, causing
tragic loss of human life. All these failures stem from a
common source — inadequacy in software testing.

Software testing is one of the most critical components of

the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and yet so
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little is known about it. For instance, did you know that
there are more than 150 different types of software tests INDUSTRIES
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that are being conducted today? And many more are being
added regularly!

Though there are 150+ different types of software testing

namely,

1. Functional testing
2. Load testing
3. Exploratory testing
4. Non-functional testing
5. Performance testing
6. Regression testing
7. Sanity testing
8. Security testing
9. Smoke testing
10. Stress testing
11. Unit testing
12. White-box testing
13. Accessibility testing
14. Acceptance testing
15. Black box testing
16. End-to-end testing
17. And more to follow …

Some of these software testing can be done manually or

automated. In this blog, we’ll see the

7 most common types of software

testing
1. Acceptance testing

Acceptance Testing is a form of software testing in which

systems are tested for compliance with business and
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technological requirements to evaluate its suitability for

final delivery to end customers. Simply put, Acceptance
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Testing assesses whether the given software system fulfills
its purpose.

Generally, Acceptance Testing is conducted by teams of

functional testers and developers against a set of functional
specifications. It is a critical form of testing as it validates if
the software meets the end criteria for which it was
developed. Often live information and real use cases are
considered in Acceptance Testing, which makes it an
integral part of the SDLC. Inadequate Acceptance Testing
has historically caused major losses to several
organizations, as the price of fixing errors far exceeds the
cost of comprehensive testing.

Apart from the testing teams, Acceptance Testing can even

be conducted by end-users, which is termed User
Acceptance Testing (UAT) or Beta Testing. Often end-users
provide the most valuable feedback that goes into
developing a great product. Hence UAT is a vital part of
Acceptance Testing and not only ensures the absence of
bugs but also helps developers to proactively fill in
functionality gaps before the product enters the market.

Here are an example of how UAT helps ensure that software

meets user requirement:

Validating Feature Functionality:

Scenario: A retail e-commerce platform is being

developed, and users expect a seamless shopping
experience.
UAT Action: End-users simulate real shopping
scenarios, adding products to the cart, proceeding to
checkout, and confirming that the process is smooth,
intuitive, and error-free.

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Outcome: UAT helps ensure that the software’s core

functionality aligns with user expectations and that INDUSTRIES
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users can easily complete their purchases.

2. Integration testing
Today, most software is developed in modules, which are
then integrated to build a larger system. Often, the lack of
compatibility among different modules is the chief source of
software defects that affect its viability. Therefore,
Integration Testing is conducted in which individual
software modules are integrated and tested as a whole. It
evaluates the compliance of the ‘full’ system as opposed to
its individual components.

Different forms of Integration Testing include:

String Testing, which evaluates a collection of logically

related modules after they have been integrated and
before production
Thread Testing, which evaluates the capability of a
system to carry out specific processes or threads early
on in the integration phase

Integration Testing is implemented using Stubs and Drivers,

which are dummy programs that simulate data
communication between modules, without implementing
the complete system logic. The three common types of
Integration Testing are based on their strategic approach.
They include:

1. Big Bang Approach

This involves completing the entire integration process and

conducting the testing of all its modules in a single phase.

2. Incremental Approach
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The Incremental Approach, on the other hand, conducts

testing in a multi-phased manner. Based on the order in INDUSTRIES
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which tests are conducted, this can be further sub-divided:

a. In the Top-Down approach, all the top integrated modules

are tested first, then the branch of the module
systematically, until finally, the last related module is tested.

b. Bottom-Up

c. The Sandwich approach, as the name suggests, adopts a

combination of the Top-Down and Bottom-Up approaches.

Here are some examples of integration testing scenarios:

Database Integration Testing:

Scenario: Testing the interaction between the

application code and the database.
Example: Verifying that data is correctly retrieved
from the database and displayed in the user interface.

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E-commerce Integration Testing:

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Scenario: Testing an e-commerce platform’s
integration with payment gateways, inventory
systems, and shipping services.
Example: Validating that orders placed by customers
are correctly processed, paid for, and shipped.

3. Unit testing

Unit Testing is the fundamental building block of the entire

software testing family and involves testing the individual
components that go into the complete system. It evaluates
the smallest testable part of the system and generally
involves only a limited number of inputs/outputs. Under
Unit Testing, the “units” that are tested include blocks of
source code, program modules, and usage/operating
procedures. As may be expected, they are tested for fitness
of purpose, i.e., whether they accomplish the tasks that they
are supposed to execute and behave as expected.

Unit tests are an integral part of ensuring code quality,

identifying bugs early in the development process, and
facilitating maintainability and code refactoring. They are a
key practice in test-driven development (TDD) and play a
crucial role in achieving robust and reliable software.

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Here’s an example of a simple unit test written in Python

using the popular testing framework, pytest. SERVICES INDUSTRIES SOLUTIONS AB

In this example, we have a basic function that

adds two numbers, and we'll write a unit test to
verify its correctness:

# The function we want to test

def add_numbers(a, b):
return a + b

# The unit test using pytest

def test_add_numbers():
# Test case 1: Adding two positive integers
result = add_numbers(3, 4)
assert result == 7

# Test case 2: Adding a positive and a negative

integer
result = add_numbers(5, -2)
assert result == 3

# Test case 3: Adding two negative integers

result = add_numbers(-1, -5)
assert result == -6

# Test case 4: Adding zero to a number

result = add_numbers(7, 0)
assert result == 7

# Test case 5: Adding zero to zero

result = add_numbers(0, 0)
assert result == 0

4. Functional testing
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Functional Testing, as the name suggests, checks whether

the software system meets all its functional specifications.
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As part of functional tests, various inputs are provided to
the system in accordance with its functionality, and the
output is used to verify whether or not it meets the
requirements.

Functional Testing plays a significant role in testing as it

ensures whether an application is ready for release.
Functional Testing can be manual or automated, and it
generally falls in the category of Black Box testing, with the
functional testers examining individual components vis-à-
vis the entire system.

Some of the common types of Functional Testing include:

Component Testing

Involves testing individual modules or components to

evaluate their functionality and includes code chunks, web
pages, mobile screens, and so on.

Smoke Testing

The origin of the term is believed to be in plumbing, where

smoke was used to detect cracks in pipes. Similarly, in
Smoke Testing, the critical issues are the main focus, and the
objective is to fix them first rather than performing
comprehensive system testing.

Sanity Testing

In this form of software testing, new builds with minor

updates are tested to check whether defects have been
fixed in the new version and whether any new defects have
been introduced. It is not a comprehensive set of tests but
only a subset of the entire suite designed to examine the
effect of software modifications.

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Here are some examples of functional testing scenarios:

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1. Login Page Testing:

Scenario: Verify that users can log in successfully

with valid credentials.
Example: Ensure that a registered user can access
their account by entering the correct username
and password.

2. Registration Form Validation:

Scenario: Check if the registration form validates

user inputs correctly.
Example: Test that the system rejects registration
attempts with invalid email formats or duplicate
usernames.

Take a look at the comprehensive guide to functional testing, its

types, examples, and tools

5. Performance Testing
While Functional Tests only check whether the system
meets functional requirements, Performance Testing
examines other equally critical factors such as speed,
stability, scalability, reliability, and responsiveness under
specified workloads. The aim of Performance Testing is not
only to find defects but to eliminate performance
bottlenecks.

Performance Testing is among the most important form of

testing, as it evaluates issues that are most likely to affect
usage and directly impact the end-user, such as page load
times, network response times, server request processing
times, concurrent user volumes, and memory or CPU usage.

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It enables developers to pinpoint the issues that need to be

addressed before the product can be deemedSERVICES
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Some forms of Performance Testing are:

Load Testing

Conducted by consistently increasing the load on a system

to determine threshold values, it includes reading/writing
large volumes of data, executing multiple applications, and
so on. Volume Testing and Scalability Testing operate on a
similar principle by increasing the volume of data and the
user load, respectively.

Stress Testing

Stress Testing checks whether systems operate in a graceful

manner under stress, e.g., under low CPU, memory, or
bandwidth conditions.

Spike Testing

As the name suggests, Spike Testing creates periodic spikes

in demands on the system to examine whether it continues
to perform within acceptable limits.

Soak/Endurance Testing

This involves testing the system under a constant load for a

long duration and checking for memory leaks, system
failure, overheating, and other such performance issues.

Considering performance testing? Read


more on:

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4/21/24, 9:26 AM Types of Software Testing: Guide to Different Testing Methods

How Performance Testing Is The Key To

Digital Transformation SERVICES INDUSTRIES SOLUTIONS AB
When Should You Outsource Your
Performance Testing?
What’s Trending in Performance Testing in
2022?

6. Regression Testing
Regression Testing is one of the most common forms of
testing and involves re-execution of previous test cases. It
repeats all previous functional and non-functional tests to
ensure that the system continues to perform satisfactorily
even after changes, updates, or modifications. In case the
system fails to perform, it would be a regression, hence the
name Regression Testing. This form of testing can be
termed Selective with only a subset of existing test cases to
analyze the impact of new code, or it can be Progressive to
ensure that new modifications do not adversely impact
already existing functionality.

Based on the level of testing, the types of testing include:

Unit Regression Testing, which narrowly focuses on

code units while blocking complex interactions and
dependencies.
Partial Regression Testing, in which new code is tested
against existing code to ensure acceptable
performance of the system.
Complete Regression Testing, which is carried out
after major overhauls and multiple modifications to
existing code.

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Regression Testing 101: A
Short Overview

READ MORE

Here are some examples of regression testing in action:

1. UI Regression Testing:

Scenario: A web application’s user interface (UI)

has undergone updates to improve user
experience.
Regression Test: Verify that all previously
working UI elements (buttons, menus, forms) still
function correctly after the UI enhancements.

2. Code Refactoring Regression Testing:

Scenario: A software codebase undergoes

refactoring to improve code quality.
Regression Test: Confirm that the refactored
code does not introduce new bugs or negatively
impact existing functionality.

7. Usability Testing
Usability Testing deals with the way end-users interact with
a given software system. Typically, it involves observation of
subjects by researchers to understand the user experience
in the real world. It plays a key role in User-Centric
Interaction Design or User Experience (UX) Design, where it
is used for various purposes:

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Discovering usability problems

Benchmarking performance SERVICES INDUSTRIES SOLUTIONS AB
Usage pattern mapping
Ease of use

Summary

Software of all sizes and types trust us with all types of

software testing, especially – test automation. We love
being your extended testing buddy and helping you launch
quality products with confidence.

Don’t let production defects hinder your customer

experience.

Looking to improve your product’s quality? Take a look at

Zuci’s testing services and see how you can leverage Zuci
for your business needs.

Start now

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Keerthi Veerappan
An INFJ personality wielding brevity in speech and writing.
Marketer @ Zucisystems.

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