Testing is the act of checking all possible aspects of software functionality with the purpose to find any errors and malfunctioning (bugs). The final goal of thorough testing is to make sure that your users will be satisfied with the product they buy. The best companies never sacrifice the quality of their final product, no matter how strict are the time and money limitations.
Software testing is very important in all stages of software development processes. For example, it’s crucial for developers to make sure that they are on the right track while working on a new feature or bug fixing. They need to have a clear understanding of the product they are going to work on, so they can focus on improving it and making it as stable as possible. It doesn’t matter whether you use the agile or waterfall development process – thorough testing is still needed once those processes are completed.
Now let’s have a look at some methods of testing you can use in the different stages of software development processes.
Testing in requirements specification and design: This type of testing is very important during each project stage when a new feature or a bug fix is being implemented. Most developers use automated testing tools to find out if they did everything properly, so it’s crucial for them to write new tests for each component. For example, a developer can write a test to check if a particular button appears on the screen when certain conditions are met – this will give them clear feedback on how the new feature is going to work.
Testing throughout design and development: Even though automated tools can help developers find out some issues related to testing, it’s important to use manual testing as well, because it is more flexible and can help you go through a larger amount of tests. Besides that, automated tools are not perfect and they might miss some bugs here and there.
What makes manual testing so beneficial is the ability to think out of the box. It also helps developers focus on details and think about the process from a non-technical point of view.
Testing at alpha/beta stage: The goal of testing during development is to make sure that all requirements are met for each project component, including features and bug fixes. It’s quite obvious that software testing will be vital during the alpha and beta stages – this is one of the most crucial periods in software development. At this stage, you need to find any issues and correct them before launching the final product. This is also a good time for developers to perform tests with their help, because they might not notice something that testers will – after all, each testing tool has its own flaws and limitations.
Testing at the post-production stage: As the name suggests, this type of testing is done after the product went live. The goal of this type of testing is to figure out if there are any issues that might affect users and degrade their experience with your product. For example, bugs that were not found during alpha/beta stages can often appear very early after the product was launched – this is why it’s crucial to monitor the product and fix any possible issues as soon as they appear.
Testing throughout your company: Due to the fact that most companies produce software, which usually requires testing before adding new features or bug fixes, you can see how important it is for each of them to perform their own automated testing and to invest in testers. This way, they will be able to produce software that is high-quality and free of bugs at the same time.
If we talk about smaller companies or those with fewer resources, it’s recommended that they use less expensive services for testing – this is a great opportunity for outsourcing companies to provide their services to more companies at the same time.
Testing throughout your company will be useful, because you can use software developers’ skills for creating automated tests that will help other employees find issues in the future. Besides that, this is also a good way of generating QA reports for management teams and showing them how their finances are being spent on your projects.
Testing throughout your company is a valuable practice that will not only help you achieve higher performance rates, but will also increase the number of bugs found and fixed during the process.
Accelerated Software Testing Services has been helping companies test their products for years now to improve their overall quality and find more bugs within a limited period of time.
If you’re interested in joining the club of companies that significantly reduced their development costs by using a quality software testing service, contact Quiits – leading software development company in UK, right now and we will provide you with more details.
