What does the word testing mean to those who are doing it?

To a software tester, 'testing' is a daily activity. But it is really fascinating to find that the term 'software testing' bears a number of different meanings to different people, even those working within the same team. While some feel that testing refers to the procedure of gathering information through making observations and comparison of the same with the expectations, others opine that a test implies an experiment created for revealing information, or finding solution to a particular problem, pertaining to the system or software.

Information gathering through observations is indeed a very different aspect of testing, and a tester should always endeavor to develop this skill to the greatest extent. It is the duty of those involved in the process to render product oriented significant information to the stakeholders, thereby assisting them in arriving at vital decisions. Within this comprehensive information gathering process, location of defects as well as bugs might be just a component.

A general discussion on testing and its types

Generally speaking, evaluating a software means locating the errors that might be present in the given code and then removing them. This is an activity incorporated within the process of developing a software. Herein, a software is evaluated for its reliability as well as quality.

There are a number of means through which it can be done but the experts feel that this process is an art, given the lack of conceptual understanding in this domain. Irrespective of the different definitions that are prevalent in the market, software testing comprises the major steps of verification and validation. The process of verification ensures that the product lives up to the conditions specified at the beginning of the developmental phase. Again, validation refers to the procedure of ensuring that the product satisfies the particular requirements once the development phase is over. The aim is to make sure that the product is developed according to the requirements of the customer.

Software testing can be of different categories, as follows:

• Unit Testing: This involves the evaluation of a cluster of related units or an individual unit. Mostly the programmer does it to validate that the unit implemented is producing the desired output.

• Integration Testing: In this testing, a group of components are amalgamated for production of output. It is also verified whether there is any relation between the hardware and software components.

• Functional Testing: It ensures that the particular functionality required by the system is working.

• System Testing: Herein, by subjecting the software to different environments, it is ensured whether it is working. This procedure is done with complete system implementation along with environment.

• Stress Testing: In this category the behavior of a system is evaluated under adverse conditions, through testing beyond specification limits.

• Performance Testing: This assesses the effectiveness as well as speed of the system, thereby ensuring whether it is generating results within a particular time frame.

• Usability Testing: This is performed keeping in mind the client's perspective, and verifies aspects like how conveniently the client can learn, how proficiently he can perform, and so on.
• Acceptance Testing: It is often carried out by the customer to make sure that the delivered product is in line with the requirements and works as per the customer's expectations.

• Regression Testing: This refers to the evaluation done following the modification of a component, system or a group of associated units to make sure that the modification is appropriate and is not detrimental to the functioning of the other modules.

• Beta Testing: This is usually done by end-users for covering unexpected errors.

There are other numerous definitions of testing, referring to the process as a questioning of the product for evaluation or an empirical technical investigation whose aim is to offer stakeholders information regarding the quality of the service or product. Irrespective of the meaning or definition, the basic fact is that the aim of this evaluation process is to enhance the quality and reliability factor of the software or hardware involved. You can hire software testing companies who can help you in testing your application within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide QA software testing services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our certified software testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.