Before entering the operational phase, any business or sales application must pass a testing procedure. Software testing is a kind of quality control, indispensable to ensure alignment with specifications and above all usability by users.
Depending on the characteristics and purpose of use, the procedures adopted may be different. For all of them, however, some general principles apply to which they can be aligned. The goal must be to identify not so much the big errors, theoretically out of the question when it comes to this point, but the small bugs, the hidden imperfections that have escaped the controls of the designers. For this reason, depending on the complexity of the project, it may be useful to accompany the entire development process with the necessary checks.
Software testing: clear steps, efficient software
Broadly speaking, the operation of software testing can be summed up in a number of steps. A first part, sometimes also called functional testing, follows a logical order and is aimed at confirming alignment with business requirements and specifications. Next, we switch to the user side to analyze the operational component, to ensure not only the formal correctness of the code, but also performance, security and usability.
A good starting point is the examination of individual modules. In the case of organizing tasks between working groups, it is important to provide for a testing phase before moving on to the next level of assembly. Like the others, in circumscribed cases, at least in theory the operation can also be conducted manually. However, the advantages of relying on an automatic and specific solution are undeniable, starting from the ability to detect errors and not introduce new ones
Immediately afterwards, we move on to evaluate the reliability of the modules as a whole. The set of units must start behaving according to expectations and requirements. The more accurate the previous phase, the less time it will take.
The result of these steps is to come to consider the whole package as a whole, in the target operating environment. All features and elements must be subject to practical verification. It is therefore easy to reiterate the importance of dedicated tools. Furthermore, if possible, this operation should be entrusted to a team other than the development team.
Hopefully, we then come to the conclusion. Functionally, the application must do exactly as expected and expected. A formal, feature-oriented green light. However, it is not enough on its own.
Software testing, on the user side
In fact, another software testing phase is needed, more oriented towards use. As flawless as it may be from a code perspective, an application must in fact deal with the device on which it will run and how the user can exploit it. This is a different field from that, although very important, of cyber security.
A first part in this case is related to performance. Aspects such as responsiveness and stability must be tested outside development environments. The aim is to reconstruct the conditions in which the user will find himself operating. If the variety is such that it cannot realistically cover them all, we must at least frame most of the possibilities. Also in this case it is important to be able to count on solutions capable of simulating environments without having to experience them all live.
Among the most widespread tests in this case, a fundamental one is the load, to estimate the number of manageable simultaneous requests. The ideal is to push beyond the expected user limit, so as to have a margin in prospect of widening the range of action. In addition to the actual volume of data processed, the period of time during which the peak can be managed before experiencing a decline in performance also counts.
On the user side, security testing is also crucial. From this point of view, mobility and cloud seem made specifically to make life difficult for developers. However, the risks are concrete, continuous and growing. Aspects such as integrity, authentication, data defence and controlled access must be the subject of great attention.
Topics for which it is always useful to intervene also on the sensitivity of users. Less willing generally to accept compromises on actual usability. Without an attractive interface and functions that are accessible without complications, the risk of not seeing an application as predicted exploited, or trying to circumvent it, is real.
In this very delicate phase of software testing, alongside the available tools it is useful to evaluate the possibility of involving an end user in the verification team, who is as extraneous as possible to the design procedures.
Finally, everything must be able to adapt to any device. The proliferation of combinations between hardware and operating systems, fixed and mobile, local or in the cloud, means that the same user finds himself using the program in different conditions, even within a few minutes. Ensuring a linear step is perhaps one of the most delicate tasks for software testing. However, from which arises that sort of fundamental certification represented by user satisfaction.
Then to check the health of the software, you can also move on to performance testing.