SOFTWARE TESTING - LEVELS

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There are different levels during the process of testing. In this chapter, a brief description is
provided about these levels.

Levels of testing include different methodologies that can be used while conducting software
testing. The main levels of software testing are:

Functional Testing
Non-functional Testing

Functional Testing
This is a type of black-box testing that is based on the specifications of the software that is to be
tested. The application is tested by providing input and then the results are examined that need to
conform to the functionality it was intended for. Functional testing of a software is conducted on a
complete, integrated system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirements.

There are five steps that are involved while testing an application for functionality.

Steps Description

I The determination of the functionality that the intended application is meant to

perform.

II The creation of test data based on the specifications of the application.

III The output based on the test data and the specifications of the application.

IV The writing of test scenarios and the execution of test cases.

V The comparison of actual and expected results based on the executed test cases.

An effective testing practice will see the above steps applied to the testing policies of every
organization and hence it will make sure that the organization maintains the strictest of standards
when it comes to software quality.

Unit Testing
This type of testing is performed by developers before the setup is handed over to the testing team
to formally execute the test cases. Unit testing is performed by the respective developers on the
individual units of source code assigned areas. The developers use test data that is different from
the test data of the quality assurance team.

The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that individual parts are
correct in terms of requirements and functionality.

Limitations of Unit Testing

Testing cannot catch each and every bug in an application. It is impossible to evaluate every
execution path in every software application. The same is the case with unit testing.

There is a limit to the number of scenarios and test data that a developer can use to verify a
source code. After having exhausted all the options, there is no choice but to stop unit testing and
merge the code segment with other units.

Integration Testing
Integration testing is defined as the testing of combined parts of an application to determine if
they function correctly. Integration testing can be done in two ways: Bottom-up integration testing
and Top-down integration testing.

S.N. Integration Testing Method

1
Bottom-up integration

This testing begins with unit testing, followed by tests of progressively higher-level
combinations of units called modules or builds.

2
Top-down integration

In this testing, the highest-level modules are tested first and progressively, lower-level
modules are tested thereafter.

In a comprehensive software development environment, bottom-up testing is usually done first,

followed by top-down testing. The process concludes with multiple tests of the complete
application, preferably in scenarios designed to mimic actual situations.

System Testing
System testing tests the system as a whole. Once all the components are integrated, the
application as a whole is tested rigorously to see that it meets the specified Quality Standards. This
type of testing is performed by a specialized testing team.

System testing is important because of the following reasons:

System testing is the first step in the Software Development Life Cycle, where the application
is tested as a whole.

The application is tested thoroughly to verify that it meets the functional and technical
specifications.

The application is tested in an environment that is very close to the production environment
where the application will be deployed.

System testing enables us to test, verify, and validate both the business requirements as well
as the application architecture.

Regression Testing
Whenever a change in a software application is made, it is quite possible that other areas within
the application have been affected by this change. Regression testing is performed to verify that a
fixed bug hasn't resulted in another functionality or business rule violation. The intent of
regression testing is to ensure that a change, such as a bug fix should not result in another fault
being uncovered in the application.

Regression testing is important because of the following reasons:

Minimize the gaps in testing when an application with changes made has to be tested.

Testing the new changes to verify that the changes made did not affect any other area of the
application.

Mitigates risks when regression testing is performed on the application.

Test coverage is increased without compromising timelines.

Increase speed to market the product.

Acceptance Testing
This is arguably the most important type of testing, as it is conducted by the Quality Assurance
Team who will gauge whether the application meets the intended specifications and satisfies the
client’s requirement. The QA team will have a set of pre-written scenarios and test cases that will
be used to test the application.

More ideas will be shared about the application and more tests can be performed on it to gauge its
accuracy and the reasons why the project was initiated. Acceptance tests are not only intended to
point out simple spelling mistakes, cosmetic errors, or interface gaps, but also to point out any
bugs in the application that will result in system crashes or major errors in the application.

By performing acceptance tests on an application, the testing team will deduce how the
application will perform in production. There are also legal and contractual requirements for
acceptance of the system.

Alpha Testing
This test is the first stage of testing and will be performed amongst the teams developerandQAteams.
Unit testing, integration testing and system testing when combined together is known as alpha
testing. During this phase, the following aspects will be tested in the application:

Spelling Mistakes

Broken Links

Cloudy Directions

The Application will be tested on machines with the lowest specification to test loading times
and any latency problems.

Beta Testing
This test is performed after alpha testing has been successfully performed. In beta testing, a
sample of the intended audience tests the application. Beta testing is also known as pre-release
testing. Beta test versions of software are ideally distributed to a wide audience on the Web,
partly to give the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release. In
this phase, the audience will be testing the following:

Users will install, run the application and send their feedback to the project team.

Typographical errors, confusing application flow, and even crashes.

Getting the feedback, the project team can fix the problems before releasing the software to
the actual users.

The more issues you fix that solve real user problems, the higher the quality of your
application will be.

Having a higher-quality application when you release it to the general public will increase
customer satisfaction.

Non-Functional Testing
This section is based upon testing an application from its non-functional attributes. Non-functional
testing involves testing a software from the requirements which are nonfunctional in nature but
important such as performance, security, user interface, etc.

Some of the important and commonly used non-functional testing types are discussed below.

Performance Testing
It is mostly used to identify any bottlenecks or performance issues rather than finding bugs in a
software. There are different causes that contribute in lowering the performance of a software:

Network delay
Client-side processing
 Database transaction processing
Load balancing between servers
Data rendering

Performance testing is considered as one of the important and mandatory testing type in terms of
the following aspects:

Speed i. e. ResponseTime, datarenderingandaccessing

Capacity
Stability
Scalability

Performance testing can be either qualitative or quantitative and can be divided into different sub-
types such as Load testing and Stress testing.

Load Testing
It is a process of testing the behavior of a software by applying maximum load in terms of software
accessing and manipulating large input data. It can be done at both normal and peak load
conditions. This type of testing identifies the maximum capacity of software and its behavior at
peak time.

Most of the time, load testing is performed with the help of automated tools such as Load Runner,
AppLoader, IBM Rational Performance Tester, Apache JMeter, Silk Performer, Visual Studio Load
Test, etc.

Virtual users VUsers are defined in the automated testing tool and the script is executed to verify
the load testing for the software. The number of users can be increased or decreased concurrently
or incrementally based upon the requirements.

Stress Testing
Stress testing includes testing the behavior of a software under abnormal conditions. For example,
it may include taking away some resources or applying a load beyond the actual load limit.

The aim of stress testing is to test the software by applying the load to the system and taking over
the resources used by the software to identify the breaking point. This testing can be performed by
testing different scenarios such as:

Shutdown or restart of network ports randomly

Turning the database on or off
Running different processes that consume resources such as CPU, memory, server, etc.

Usability Testing
Usability testing is a black-box technique and is used to identify any errors and improvements in
the software by observing the users through their usage and operation.

According to Nielsen, usability can be defined in terms of five factors, i.e. efficiency of use, learn-
ability, memory-ability, errors/safety, and satisfaction. According to him, the usability of a product
will be good and the system is usable if it possesses the above factors.

Nigel Bevan and Macleod considered that usability is the quality requirement that can be
measured as the outcome of interactions with a computer system. This requirement can be
fulfilled and the end-user will be satisfied if the intended goals are achieved effectively with the
use of proper resources.

Molich in 2000 stated that a user-friendly system should fulfill the following five goals, i.e., easy to
Learn, easy to remember, efficient to use, satisfactory to use, and easy to understand.

In addition to the different definitions of usability, there are some standards and quality models
and methods that define usability in the form of attributes and sub-attributes such as ISO-9126,
ISO-9241-11, ISO-13407, and IEEE std.610.12, etc.

UI vs Usability Testing
UI testing involves testing the Graphical User Interface of the Software. UI testing ensures that the
GUI functions according to the requirements and tested in terms of color, alignment, size, and
other properties.

On the other hand, usability testing ensures a good and user-friendly GUI that can be easily
handled. UI testing can be considered as a sub-part of usability testing.

Security Testing
Security testing involves testing a software in order to identify any flaws and gaps from security
and vulnerability point of view. Listed below are the main aspects that security testing should
ensure:

Confidentiality
Integrity
Authentication
Availability
Authorization
Non-repudiation
Software is secure against known and unknown vulnerabilities
Software data is secure
Software is according to all security regulations
Input checking and validation
SQL insertion attacks
Injection flaws
Session management issues
Cross-site scripting attacks
Buffer overflows vulnerabilities
Directory traversal attacks

Portability Testing
Portability testing includes testing a software with the aim to ensure its reusability and that it can
be moved from another software as well. Following are the strategies that can be used for
portability testing:

Transferring an installed software from one computer to another.

Building executable . exe to run the software on different platforms.

Portability testing can be considered as one of the sub-parts of system testing, as this testing type
includes overall testing of a software with respect to its usage over different environments.
Computer hardware, operating systems, and browsers are the major focus of portability testing.
Some of the pre-conditions for portability testing are as follows:

Software should be designed and coded, keeping in mind the portability requirements.
Unit testing has been performed on the associated components.
Integration testing has been performed.
Test environment has been established.
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