What is Software Testing? | Why it is important? | Skills and Types

Today's role of Technology is completely dominated by machines, and their behavior is controlled by the software powering it but who ensures that this software is free of bugs and is working completely fine - 

What a Software Testing?

Software testing can be defined as the action for checking if the tangible result or output of the product matches with the expected or projected output, it also ensures that the product is free from any bug or defect.

Testing of software also involves the implementation of products module or systems part for evaluating although some of its properties. Through testing, the tester can identify errors, gaps in the requirement, or missing elements in the project.

Testing can be done both manually or with the help of automated tools available in the market.

Why Software Testing is important?

Software testing is important because it is cost-effective, provides security, maintains product quality, and provides customer satisfaction.

And software testing plays a significant role to detect system bugs it can be expensive and also can lead to a dangerous situation. Bugs and software applications can likely lead to a monetary loss, even loss of jobs, or even loss of a human and that's why testing software becomes more important before deploying it into the system.

Various types of Software Testing 

Quality Assurance our software testing is crucial because it identifies errors and bugs from the system at the beginning. By considering the problems in the base it helps to turn improvement in the quality of the product and brings confidence in it.

To get a perfect idea to test the application it is better to split the testing parameter, so that the software testing types may help quality assurance to go through.

Types of software testing are the key role where the tester determines the right testing for the applications.

1. Functional testing

Functional testing focuses on manual as well as automation testing. Functional testing is a bunch of various types to execute the perfect product, so these are the subtypes like we have unit testing that allows you to find more bugs at the code level, whatever you are developing unit testing applies there be it a web application or a mobile app development it is the concept that is up to the discretion of the team whether to use it or not.

2. Integration Testing 

So in integration testing this case every element is treated as an atomic unit or a black box and at the same time, the interconnections among them are checked and modeled to conduct software testing of a system testing.

3. System Testing

It is the testing of a complete and fully integrated software product. System testing simulates real-life scenarios that can occur in a simulated real-life test environment. It tests all the functions of a system.

4. Interface testing

Interface Testing verifies the communication between the system is done correctly if all the supported hardware and software has been tested.

5. Regression testing 

Regression testing is a crucial stage for the product and is very useful for the developers to identify the stability of the product the changing requirements. Regression testing is a type of testing that is done to verify that the code change in the software does not impact the existing functionality of the product.

6. User acceptance testing

User acceptance testing means agreement or approval. It is used to ensure that software satisfying the functional and performance requirement of an end-user an acceptance testing is a level of software testing where a system is tested for acceptability. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the system's compliance with the business requirements and assess whether it is acceptable for delivery or not.

Levels of Software Testing

1. Unit testing 

Unit testing is important because it is one of the earliest testing efforts performed on the core and earlier the defects are detected they are easier to fix and pair programmers work as a team and both share in the creation and unit testing of the code.

2. Integration testing 

It is the level of software testing then individual units are combined and tested as a group. The purpose of this level of testing is to expose faults in the interaction between integrated units. Test drivers and test stubs are used to assess integration testing.

3. System testing 

The system testing is performed as the first level of testing where the system is tested as a whole, it enables you to test validate, and verify both the application architecture and business requirements and that's why it is very important.

Acceptance testing

It is vitally important to the successful implementation of any application, this is because failure to, do proper user acceptance testing can also result in legal risk missed deadlines wasted resources, and added cost.

The Difference Between Manual Testing and Automated Software Testing

The biggest difference between manual and automation testing is who executes the test case. In manual testing, the human tester does it. In automation testing, the tool does it.

Manual Testing

Manual testing uses human testers and human testers are called testers. There are multiple testers for various projects of different sizes and in many countries. An individual tester can be assigned to a manual test. With a team, different testers are required to do different parts of the test. 

Each person has a different role to perform in the test. Typically, a tester carries out the test and approves it before the next tester starts. Automatic Software Testing Automation testing is automated testing, as mentioned above. However, it's still a process that involves a human tester. It's the tester who does the testing. They execute the test, and the automated tool gives feedback. The tester still has some input through the use of feedback.

Automation Testing

Whether you're a CTO, a manager, or someone who simply wants to make sure your company is spending the best possible effort to ensure the highest levels of software quality and security, you want your software testing to be automated and effective. Software testing is not rocket science, but it is not something that has any "magic" to it either. Some people may feel that the word "magic" is in their title, but it's not. It's just computer science. 

Each company and software project has its own unique requirements and culture, and that is why there is a strong push to define standard software testing practices. These practices are not hard to understand. In fact, they are very simple. Here are the basics.

What Skills Do I Need to Become a Software Tester?

Technical skills every software tester need Here are the most important technical skills and hands-on experience you need to become a software tester. Basic knowledge of Linux commands – the vast majority of software applications (like application servers, databases, or web services) are deployed on Linux machines.

That’s why it’s critical that testers have sufficient knowledge about Linux and its commands. Basic knowledge of databases and SQL – software systems usually operate with massive amounts of data in the background. Today, this data can be stored in different types of databases.

Linux commands

Basic knowledge of UNIX systems Python scripting NET utilities (such as Wireshark) Prepared to work with tons of databases, high-level of understanding of application, requirements high-level of understanding of system architecture, good working experience in a large application system, the development and testing of several Java and C++ applications, good experience in extracting test results from large databases, experience with .NET applications, experience with XML.

Technical skills for testing web applications,, Creating tests and writing code for the web app, typical software testing stack.

Databases and SQL

Basic HTML and CSS knowledge – not only do web developers need to know these tools, but so do software testers. Understanding user interface – tools like Apple’s native iOS and macOS SDKs, Google’s Android SDK, Facebook’s native iOS SDK and Windows Phone SDKs are built on HTML and CSS. 

Hands-on software testing experience

The most challenging part of being a software tester is the actual testing phase. To be able to provide excellent customer satisfaction, testers have to perform detailed testing, spend most of their time researching and testing, and sometimes deliver flawed or incomplete testing. Effective testing requires a good understanding of code and an accurate understanding of all sorts of technical systems. For that reason, testers need to have extensive hands-on testing experience. Knowledge of Java, .NET, and C++ As you can see, you need to know the most important computer languages.

Basic programming knowledge

Python, SQL and databases are very popular languages, so learning the basics of them is a good first step. But, if you want to make a career out of this job, you need to move on to more advanced languages like Perl, Java or .NET. 

You should also have a full understanding of web development technologies like PHP and HTML/CSS. Solid understanding of TCP/IP, HTTP, Web servers, content management systems, data storage systems, web services, open source development, and graphic design (fonts, colors, logo, etc).

Basic understanding of computer networks

Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and so on) Basic knowledge of Java and J2EE – nowadays, we’re facing the application development world dominated by Java. 

Good mobile knowledge (i.e. Android), basic understanding of TCP/IP and routing protocols, some knowledge of Python – it’s the foundation of most software testing practices.

Other skills for software testers

Still, not all the knowledge above are absolutely required for becoming a software tester. In most cases, just having basic software engineering and computer science skills are enough to become a tester. 

But there are some other critical softwares testers skills to gain in the course of your career: Testing skills, Web and mobile application development skills, DevOps, DevSecOps, CI/CD, test automation, DevApp, test automation tips, continuous integration, TDD and continuous deployment Software architecture.