A combination of various important and complex activities, software testing is one of the most critical process performed during Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It is an amalgamation of various activities that are performed continuously, since the inception of the project. It helps verify and validate that the software meets the requirements of the client and works as per their expectations and requirements. Testing is an extremely beneficial and helpful activity that allows testers to establish the quality and performance of the software. In short, software testing guarantees proper functioning of the software and validates is security, stability, and more.
The purpose of this article is to help you understand the main objectives of testing, which will be discussed in detail below.
What is Testing Objectives?
Software testing is a crucial element in the software development life cycle (SDLC), which can help software engineers save time & money of organizations by finding errors and defects during the early stages of software development. With the assistance of this process one can examine various components associated with the application and guarantee their appropriateness.
The goals and objectives of software testing are numerous, which when achieved help developers build a defectless and error free software and application that has exceptional performance, quality,effectiveness, security, among other things. Though the objective of testing can vary from company to company and project to project, there are some goals that are similar for all. These objectives are:
Verification: A prominent objective of testing is verification, which allows testers to confirm that the software meets the various business and technical requirements stated by the client before the inception of the whole project. These requirements and specifications guide the design and development of the software, hence are required to be followed rigorously. Moreover, compliance with these requirements and specifications is important for the success of the project as well as to satisfy the client.
Validation: Confirms that the software performs as expected and as per the requirements of the clients. Validation involves checking the comparing the final output with the expected output and then making necessary changes if their is a difference between the two.
Defects: The most important purpose of testing is to find different defects in the software to prevent its failure or crash during implementation or go live of the project. Defects if left undetected or unattended can harm the functioning of the software and can lead to loss of resources, money, and reputation of the client. Therefore, software testing is executed regularly during each stage of software development to find defects of various kinds. The ultimate source of these defects can be traced back to a fault introduced during the specification, design, development, or programming phases of the software.
Providing Information: With the assistance of reports generated during the process of software testing, testers can accumulate a variety of information related to the software and the steps taken to prevent its failure. These, then can be shared with all the stakeholders of the project for better understanding of the project as well as to establish transparency between members.
Preventing Defects: During the process of testing the aim of testes to identify defects and prevent them from occurring aging in the future. To accomplish this goal, software is tested rigorously by a independent testers, who are not responsible for software development.
Quality Analysis: Testing helps improve the quality of the software by constantly measuring and verifying its design and coding. Additionally, various types of testing techniques are used by testers, which help them achieve the desired software quality.
Compatibility: It helps validate application’s compatibility with the implementation environment, various devices, Operating Systems, user requirements, among other things.
For Optimum User Experience: Easy software and application accessibility and optimum user experience are two important requirements that need to be accomplished for the success of any project as well as to increase the revenue of the client. Therefore, to ensure this software is tested again and again by the testers with the assistance of stress testing, load testing, spike testing, etc.
Verifying Performance & Functionality: It ensures that the software has superior performance and functionality. This is mainly verified by placing the software under extreme stress to identify and measure its all plausible failure modes. To ensure this, performance testing, usability testing,functionality testing, etc. is executed by the testers.
Advantages of Testing:
The benefits and advantages offered by software testing are innumerable. It helps software developers and programmers in verifying and validating various components of the software as well as in detecting bugs and defects. Moreover, it helps them deliver a software product that has remarkable quality and innovative features. Other advantages of software testing are:
Can be performed manually as well as with the assistance of testing tool.
Helps identify and prevent bugs.
Enables team to build a bug free software and application with exceptional quality and features.
Saves time and money by testing the software during the early stages of development.
Identifies areas where developers and programmers require training.
Offers better user experience and customer services by building a effective and efficient software.
Helps reduce and avoid development downtime.
Monitors and assess various activities during the process of software development.
Helps identify various human errors, which if executed can lead to system failure.
Conclusion:
Testing during the process of software development has become a necessary activity because of our tendency to make mistake. These mistakes and errors if not identified, evaluated, and rectified during the early stages of development can impact the performance and quality of the software as well as can harm the reputation of the organization it is being developed for. Therefore, with the assistance of testing one can overcome these errors and bugs effectively and make a software that is in compliance with the client’s requirements, company standards, as well as international regulations.