What is software testing?

A software development lifecycle consists of several stages. If we are following the waterfall model, these stages are:

• Requirements gathering

• System design

• Implementation

• Integration

• Testing

• Deployment

• Maintenance

The testing stage is one of the crucial parts of this lifecycle, and without it, it would be safe to say that our software integrity will get compromised.

Software testing

It is the process where the software is thoroughly tested to ensure every bug is identified. Afterward, each bug is reported back to the development team so they can fix it. Software testing also verifies that the developed software meets all its functional requirements. This helps the team to ensure what they have developed is the right product. 

Types of software testing

A developed software goes through several different types of software testing. In each type, a particular part of the software is tested to ensure its integrity is intact. 

Let’s look at some of these testing types. 

Unit testing

This testing involves dividing the code into smaller parts called units. Each unit is then separately tested to ensure it is working as expected. We can divide our code however we like, but there is a general practice that a unit typically handles only a single requirement. 

In a React.js application, we can consider each component a single unit and write tests for it. 

Integration testing

As the name suggests, this testing involves the integration of software modules and then testing them as a group. For instance, a Next.js application has different pages that contain multiple components. On top of writing tests for each component, we can write tests for each page that house numerous components. 

System testing

This testing involves validating the system as a whole product to ensure it fulfills all requirements. The system testing takes the integration tested components as the input and finds the defects in the entire system.

Acceptance testing

The acceptance testing validates whether the system has met its business requirements. It is done to ensure whether the system is ready for acceptability. 

There are two types of acceptance tests, i.e., alpha and beta.

• Alpha testing: The specialized alpha testers do the alpha testing to ensure it meets the business requirements. This is done by company personnel.

• Beta testing: This testing is performed by real-world users who are given access to the product. These users then use it in real-world environments. It is also a form of acceptance testing through which we learn whether the user is interested in the product, and so on.

Security testing

Security testing is used to identify the data leaks and find vulnerabilities in the system that someone can exploit. This testing is done to detect all possible security risks, find the threats, introduce security patches, and so on. The testers find all the potential loopholes that can harm the system.

Performance testing

The performance testing involves measuring the system performance against a threshold limit. It is non-functional testing that measures the system's speed, stability, and responsiveness under extreme workloads. 

Usability testing

The usability testing is performed with a bunch of people who get access to the product. They are asked to perform specific tasks using the software. The testers then notice everything the user does to check if there are any usability issues they need to fix.

Compatibility testing

Currently, several operating systems exist, for instance, macOS, Ubuntu, Windows, and so on. If we want to ship our product to every kind of audience, we must ensure it works on all operating systems. On top of this, we also need to test whether it works on different hardware. This type of testing is called compatibility testing because it checks our software’s compatibility with other factors. 

Conclusion

Software testing is an essential part of the software development process. It is not only used to find bugs in the system and correct them, but is also used in validation, verification, and reliability of the system. It is a great way to ensure customer satisfaction as it offers the prerequisite and perfect user experience.