Software testing monitors and evaluates the application’s working to align with user needs. The testing process lets developers identify bugs, errors, or missing requirements.
An adequately tested software product has reliability, security, and high performance. It results in time savings, cost-effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.
Here’s a guide for developers on the benefits of software testing and its approaches.
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Customer Satisfaction
Software testing helps build the customer’s trust and satisfaction. It also assures a defect-free application. UI testing improves customer satisfaction and uncovers all possible defects.
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Cost-effectiveness
If an application works without fault and with low maintenance, it saves money significantly. Software testing helps detect and fix defects early to make a good application.
Moreover, every application requires maintenance. Hence, by testing an application, the maintenance area reduces too many folds saving money.
Software testing saves money by detecting defects in the early stages of development. It becomes easy and cheap for developers to redesign the module instead of tracking bugs after software development.
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Good Quality Product
Software testing aims to deliver a quality product to its clients. The product is of good quality when bug-free and meets all the user- requirements.
When an application works with others, the developers must test its compatibility. Moreover, the developers write test cases and scenarios to confirm defect-free applications.
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Lower Failure and Bug-free Application
Application’s failure impacts its working and brand value. Adequate software testing helps understand cases where an application is most likely to fail. Moreover, the primary goal of software testing is to determine bugs.
When testers fix a bug, they can recheck it to identify its status. A bug-free application means no faults or defects that work effectively and smoothly.
A 100% bug-free application is practically impossible, but the testing team must track as many bugs as possible. Software testing employs the STLC process to detect a bug.
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Security and Easy Recovery
Security testing identifies the security level of the application. It allows them to find security loopholes in an application.
Recovery means when an application fails, it consumes less time when it restarts functioning as usual. An application is successful when it recovers rapidly, continuing its normal functions.
Software testing identifies an application’s recovery rate with the total time it uses to recover. Testers test an application to identify scenarios where any application will likely fail and the time it takes to recover.
The developers can then change the internal coding to recover applications rapidly.
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Speeds Up the Development Process
Businesses can deliver applications only when the development is quick. Software testing allows the development team to speed up their development process.
The developers can fix the weaknesses in the early stages of system development. Doing this will not affect the other functionalities.
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Reliable Product
An application is reliable when it works per user requirements building customer trust. Software testing maximizes the application’s reliability by testing the application. They test the application’s security and performance testing.
Adequate testing validates that an application aligns with customer requirements. It tracks as many defects as possible using complete or exhaustive testing.
Software Testing Approaches
Software testing approaches comprise strategies, processes, or environments for testing. Here are a few models the developers can use.
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Waterfall Model
In the waterfall model, developers conduct formal testing in the testing phase. The waterfall model is ideal for small and easy projects. Yet, developers can find changing undefined requirements in the completed stage challenging.
The model is ideal for small projects since fewer processes lead to faster completion. But, if developers detect buys in later development stages, fixing them is expensive.
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Iterative Model
The iterative model lets developers build basic software versions. They can then review and enhance the application in iterations.
The model is ideal for large applications that need quick completion. It lets developers detect defects earlier, costing the company less to resolve them.
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Agile Model
The Agile model is ideal for big development projects. The agile approach is an incremental model. It allows developers to test the model at every increment.
At the same time, the developers can test the whole application upon the project’s completion.
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DevOps Approach and Continuous Testing
Developers must work with operations teams through the entire product life cycle during a DevOps approach. It makes the software delivery process quick and costs less to address the issues.
Continuous testing uses automated testing and automation tools. It enables the components of the software development pipeline to offer immediate feedback on any risks.
Types of Software Testing
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Acceptance Testing
In acceptance testing, the quality assurance team checks whether the app meets the specifications. They also check whether it satisfies the client’s requirements.
The QA team sets pre-written scenarios and test cases to test the application. They can share more ideas about the application and perform more tests to check its accuracy.
These tests are not only to check simple spelling or cosmetic errors. They also detect bugs that will result in crashes in the application. These tests will allow the developers to deduce the application’s performance in production.
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Unit Testing
Unit testing aims to isolate every part of the program. It shows single correct details about requirements and functionality.
Developers perform unit testing before they hand over the setup to the testing team to execute the test cases. They perform this on the individual units of source code in assigned areas.
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Static Analysis
Static analysis requires no dynamic software execution. It detects potential defects in an early stage before running the program.
Developers can analyze it during or after coding and before unit test execution. Static analysis tools assess and detect vulnerabilities to check the code under test.
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Integration Testing
With integration testing, developers can test the combined parts of an application. It helps determine the application’s functionality. Developers can use integration testing in two ways.
The bottom-up integration testing begins with unit testing. It then follows a test of higher-level unit combinations called modules.
The top-down integration testing allows developers to test the highest-level modules first. They can then check lower-level modules.
Also Read: Software Application QA Testing: Everything You MUST KNOW in 2023
When Must Developers Complete the Testing or Put to an End?
As testing is continuous, developers cannot determine when to stop testing. Here are a few factors that serve as signs to end the testing process.
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No Major Bugs Rates
Developers can halt testing when no significant bug rates fall below a predetermined level.
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Code Coverage to a Pre-specified Percentage
Instrumenting the code and running all the test cases will offer developers a percentage of the code tested. It also highlights the unexecuted code that has hidden bugs.
Some businesses try to get 80% and higher code coverage. But, some need 100% statement and modified condition decision coverage.
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Management Decision
The most common way to know halts in testing is when the management decides to end the testing process. Management’s decision is due to budget or time restrictions that might compromise the quality.
At the time, they might halt the project when it has reached the extent of the needed testing.
