Software Testing and Quality Assurance

Software testing is the process of verifying that a software meets specified requirements and works as expected. It is used to detect errors (bugs), deficiencies, and incompatibilities.

Objectives of Software Testing

• Identify and fix errors

• Improve the quality of the software

• Verify whether it meets user requirements

• Evaluate the security and performance of the system

Quality Assurance is a systematic approach used to ensure and maintain quality in the software development process. It goes beyond software testing and includes processes and methods.

Basic Objectives of Quality Assurance

• Standardize software processes

• Ensure quality at every stage of the software development process

• Reduce error rates

• Increase customer satisfaction

Test Planning

• Test scope, strategy, tools and methods are determined.

• Timeline and resources are planned.

Test Design

• Test scenarios and test cases are created.

• Test criteria based on requirements are determined.

Test Environment Setup

• The test environment is set up (hardware, software, database, network, etc.).

• The data required for the test is prepared.

Test Execution

• Test cases are run.

• Errors are detected and reported.

Bug Reporting & Management

• Error records are created (for example, with tools such as Jira, Bugzilla).

• Errors are corrected and retested.

Test Closure

• Results are analyzed are made and a test report is prepared.

• Lessons learned and suggestions for improvement are determined.

Software tests are divided into two categories: Functional and Non-Functional.

Functional Tests

Functional tests check whether the software meets its functions and requirements.

White Box Testing:The internal structure and logic of the code are tested.

Black Box Testing:Testing is done from the user perspective, outside the system.

Integration Testing:Checks whether different modules or systems work together.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT):Determines whether the software will be accepted by the customer or end user.

Non-Functional Tests

Non-functional tests evaluate the performance, security, and usability of the software.

Performance Testing:Measures the speed and response time of the system.

Load Testing:Tests how the system performs under heavy load.

Stress Testing:Analyzes the behavior of the system under extreme load or unexpected situations.

Security Testing:Tests the software's vulnerabilities and ability to protect sensitive data.

Usability Testing:Determines how user-friendly the software is by evaluating the user experience.

Manual and automation testing tools are used in software testing processes.

Manual Testing Tools

• TestRail: Provides management of test scenarios.

• JIRA: Manages bug tracking and testing processes.

• HP ALM (Application Lifecycle Management): Organizes the testing process.

Automation Testing Tools

• Selenium: Widely used for testing web applications.

• Appium: Used for testing mobile applications.

• JMeter: Used for performance testing.

• Postman: Used for API testing.

• Katalon Studio: Used for web and mobile application testing.

Software Testing and Quality Assurance are critical to ensuring that software works successfully. While quality assurance develops strategies to maintain quality from the beginning of the development process, software testing specifically covers the process of finding and fixing errors in the product.

The methods, tools and testing processes used in software testing play a major role in ensuring that a software is secure, error-free and user-friendly. Therefore, testing and quality assurance processes must be well planned and implemented for a successful software development process.