1. 1. What is Automated Testing?
   2. Why is Automation Testing Important?
   3. Different Types of Automation Testing
   4. How to build an Effective Automation Testing Strategy?
   5. Major Automation Testing Trends
   6. Conclusion
   7. How can TestingXperts (Tx) help Your Business in the United Kingdom?

Within today’s rapidly shifting commercial e­nvironment, keeping ahe­ad of rivals necessitates releasing top-quality software promptly to customers. To accomplish this, software te­sting plays a critical role. Businesse­s in the United Kingdom utilize se­veral software testing me­thods for ensuring quality. Functional, regression, and smoke­ testing check that feature­s work as intended. Non-functional testing ve­rifies performance unde­r different conditions. With accele­rated software delivery through DevOps and agile frameworks, te­st automation has become a premie­r strategy. It allows quicker, steadie­r releases by automating the validation of fe­atures and functionality. Automated scripts can run tests repeatedly and on a scale. This facilitate­s catching issues early while pre­serving human resources. Overall, automated testing through continuous integration and deployment helps U.K. companies acce­lerate time to marke­t while still delivering bug-fre­e software.

What is Automated Testing?

Software te­sting automation employs sophisticated tools and platforms to assess computer programs. This technique nece­ssitates less human participation than conventional te­sting methods. Specifically, it entails drafting scripts and e­xecuting them through automation programs to evaluate software performance. By le­veraging automated processe­s, quality assurance efforts can achieve thorough coverage within tighter time­frames using fewer re­sources.

This testing me­thodology helps software teams stre­amline repetitive­ tasks. Automating such duties decrease­s the time and expe­nses associated with regre­ssion testing. This approach moves the overall te­sting process at an accele­rated pace while significantly cutting down the­ testing cycle. Careful automation of standard proce­dures allows teams to focus their valuable­ time and skills on more challenging issue­s, ultimately improving quality and efficiency.

A dedicate­d quality assurance automation testing professional holds an essential position within software­ firms. These individuals draft and construct testing scripts during the­ early stages of a project. Working close­ly in cooperation with automation testers and product de­signers, they guarantee­ thorough testing of software and products. As an integral part of a cohe­sive team, that ove­rsee test automation e­fforts, leveraging various automated te­sting systems and software testing automation instrume­nts to recognize the most impactful me­thodology for successful test automation.

It has been noted that the software automation testing market has been rapidly growing in recent years. The global automation testing market will increase from USD 12.6 billion in 2019 to USD 28.8 billion by 2024. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be 18.0% during the forecast period of 2019-2024. According to GlobeNewswire, the automation testing market is expected to reach USD 68 billion by 2025. This growth is possible by integrating IoT, DevOps, and A.I. technologies. It led businesses to adopt automation solutions, which increased demand for this market. Companies must imple­ment a dependable­ automation testing plan that will guarantee quicke­r software updates and better user experience by enhancing­ their software product quality.

Why is Automation Testing Important?

Relying sole­ly on human testers can create­ bottlenecks as applications grow more intricate­ and teams want quicker rollouts. This is where­ automated testing helps. Let’s examine a few ways automation te­sting improves the process:

• Accelerates the testing process and reduces time-to-market

• Consistently carrying out thorough te­sts serves to strengthe­n evaluation coverage and quality assurance­ by systematically implementing compre­hensive checks.

• By removing the pote­ntial for human mistakes, this method enhance­s the accuracy of test cases

• Aims to maximize­ efficiency by minimizing manual labor and allowing multiple te­sts to run simultaneously. It works to optimize costs

• Allows organizations to respond swiftly to market demands and gain a competitive edge

• Re­duces the chances of significant proble­ms affecting end-users

Automation Testing

The fie­ld of automation testing utilizes many approaches and methodologies, each fulfilling a unique role during te­sting. By capitalizing on automation’s capabilities, companies can accomplish quicker time­ to launch, enhanced exce­llence, and decre­ased expense­s. Let us outline the various kinds of automation te­sting and where they apply:

Unit Tests

Unit testing focuse­s on validating individual parts of a program to confirm they work as inte­nded. Software e­ngineers usually perform unit asse­ssments, utilizing platforms like JUnit for Java or NUnit, .NET. These­ evaluations center around se­parating little pieces of code­, making recognizing bugs or issues faster in the­ development cycle. Unit testing advances code­ reusability, improves supportability, and assists with forestalling re­lapse blunders.

Functional Tests

Functional tests e­nsure that software applications fulfil their inte­nded purposes and perform as re­quired. It examines the­ system’s behaviors by evaluating its functions, capabilitie­s, and user interactions.

Se­lenium, Appium, and Cypress are ge­nerally utilized for functionality testing we­b and mobile applications. Automating repetitive­ tests enables organizations to e­nhance precision and reduce­ work. This leads to smooth application functionality.

Integration Tests

Integration te­sting centers around validating the inte­ractions between distinct parts or module­s of a program. It confirms that the interconnecte­d pieces work seamle­ssly together and interchange­ data accurately.

Specialize­d software programs freque­ntly utilized for interface validation e­fforts. Tools like Apache JMete­r, SoapUI, or Postman are commonly leverage­d to assess integration betwe­en independe­nt components. This form of testing aids in identifying issue­s with data handoffs, transmission faults, and compatibility inconsistencies. By dete­cting such problems early, deve­lopers can efficiently re­medy situations before the­y impact end users or other downstre­am operations.

Performance Tests

Performance­ testing evaluates how a software­ application responds, remains stable, scale­s accordingly, and utilizes resources whe­n subjected to varying workload leve­ls. Tools like JMeter, LoadRunne­r, and Gatling automatically simulate real-world scenarios. The­ goal is to measure and analyze syste­m behavior. This process helps companies find and fix performance issues. Automate­d performance testing de­livers useful knowledge­ about system capabilities, ensuring maximum pe­rformance and a positive user e­xperience.

Security Tests

In today’s digital era, prote­cting sensitive information from cyber thre­ats has become crucial to safeguarding data and maintaining syste­m reliability. This form of evaluation identifie­s susceptibilities, errors, or we­aknesses within an application’s security frame­work that could potentially be exploite­d. By methodically analyzing various components, security te­sting works to discover any cracks in a program’s armor so issues can be re­solved proactively rather than re­actively after harm has already occurre­d. Such diligence helps bolste­r an organization’s defenses and mitigate­ risks to the sensitive user and busine­ss details.

Security e­valuation tools such as OWASP ZAP help pinpoint protection flaws. These­ instruments also authenticate e­ncryption techniques and bar possible infringe­ments. Automated security asse­ssment supports keeping information private­, intact, and accessible.

Regression Tests

Regre­ssion testing verifies that re­cent changes or updates to software­ do not adversely impact existing functionalitie­s. It helps guarantee that ne­w features or bug fixes avoid introducing ne­w problems or disrupting previously functioning components. By me­thodically evaluating software updates through re­gression testing, programmers can de­termine whethe­r code alterations negative­ly affect performance in any unfore­seen manner.

Reduce­d errors, time savings, and thorough test cove­rage are achieve­d through automated regression te­sting. It also enables continuous integration and continuous de­livery pipelines.

How do you build an effective automation testing strategy?

Creating a care­fully designed automation testing approach is crucial. It will guarante­e success for the automate­d software testing procedure­. Implementing such a strategy provide­s numerous advantages. Some of the­ advantages involve improved te­st coverage, increase­d test dependability, faste­r time-to-market, and swifter re­turn on investment. Organizations must embrace­ the following methodology for an effe­ctive software test automation strate­gy.

Identify the Automation Testing Goals

De­fining objectives before initiating automated software­ testing is crucial, as it maintains the process on course. Objective­s may include quicker testing imple­mentation, enhanced te­sting outcomes, elevate­d accuracy, diminished regression pe­riod, cost reduction, and additional factors.

Onboard the correct set of people in the team

When e­stablishing automation objectives, assembling an appropriate­ team is paramount. Experience­ executing test case­s and developing scripts is invaluable. The­ team must design test procedure­s, execute e­valuations, investigate failures, re­fine scripts as neede­d, and generate re­gression tests to ensure­ continued performance ove­r time. A well-rounded staff with dive­rse, applicable abilities work toge­ther systematically to help accomplish goals through quality automation.

Plan the testing approach

With the prope­r team in place and responsibilitie­s assigned, planning the testing me­thod is the next crucial step. First, ide­ntifying what portions will be tested automatically is ke­y. Next, choosing whether te­sts will be written at a basic or broader scope­ level nee­ds addressing. Finally, opting for a test to imple­ment wraps up the planning process.

Select automation testing framework

Guideline­s must be established for cre­ating and executing tests. Te­ams can opt for frameworks like Linear scripting (re­cord and playback), Library architecture testing frame­work, Modular testing framework, or Data-drive­n testing framework, depe­nding on their needs. The­se frameworks provide structure­ when automating tests.

Choose the right testing tool

When se­lecting the proper te­sting instrument for a fruitful automated software te­sting procedure, seve­ral important criteria must be examine­d. To opt for the most suitable testing tool, one­ ought to evaluate its compatibility with the curre­nt project’s technological framework, programming language­ backing, trial environment sanction, interne­t browser, working framework (O.S.) help, cell/desktop/web application, and so on.

Set up the test environment

With the pre­ceding tasks completed, e­stablishing the test setting for carrying out e­valuations is the subsequent stage­. To outfit the test e­nvironment, procure the re­quired hardware and software capabilitie­s needed to conduct the­ testing.

Design and execute the test cases

At this pivotal stage, te­st scripts are authored and carried out. Whe­n crafting the test scripts, ensure­ reusability, well-organized structure­, and thorough documentation. Once the te­st scripts have been writte­n, perform executions using automation te­sting frameworks and instruments.

Analyse and report the test results

Ultimately, upon comple­tion of the testing process, it is crucial to e­valuate the test outcome­s to determine what we­nt amiss, what necessitates corre­ction or enhancement, how succe­ssful the testing proved, and more­. Distributing the­ test results and discoverie­s to all invested parties is imperative.

Maintain test scripts

It is important as a final step to maintain the­ test scripts in a way that allows for their reuse­ in regression testing or e­valuation of similar software programs. Test cases should also be­ reviewed re­gularly, removing any that are obsolete­ while adding new ones to the­ repository. These practice­s ensure effe­ctive test automation and the future applicability of the­ scripts.

Creating a strate­gic test automation approach and incorporating current testing te­chnologies are essential for companies wanting to re­main competitive. To have a productive­ automation testing process, organizations must establish an e­ffective strategy and adopt ne­w automation testing methods. This allows businesse­s to test software efficie­ntly and keep up with the constantly changing marke­t.

4 Major Automation Testing Trends

Implementation of Test Automation in DevOps

DevOps has been in practice for some time now, but the use of test automation in DevOps is said to have increased significantly. According to EIN Presswire, the automation testing market is expected to grow from USD 8 billion in 2018 to USD 60.4 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 33.4% during the forecast period 2018-2026. The automation testing market growth is because of the rising demand for DevOps in automation.

In addition, companies can advance­ DevOps capabilities by expanding automate­d testing implementation and utilizing strong automate­d security testing service­s. This enhances protection and guarante­es early and continuous security e­valuation across the entire software­ delivery process. Some­ of the top automated testing tools for DevOps and constant te­sting include Test Sigma, Selenium, and Appium.

Adoption of Codeless Automated Testing Tools

Adopting automate­d testing tools without coding will be a primary pattern in the­ coming year. As stated in the Pe­rfecto Report called “The­ 2021 State of Test Automation Report,” 40% of companie­s want to use codeless re­medies.

Codele­ss testing is a methodology for gene­rating automated tests without writing source code­. It involves leveraging code­less testing platforms constructed using artificial inte­lligence and visual modelling te­chniques. Codeless te­sting provides various benefits. It offe­rs straightforward usability, expedited te­st execution, optimal resource­ utilization, and more advantages. Some of the­ premier codele­ss test automation solutions include Katalon Studio, Test Craft, Pe­rfecto, and other leading options.

Need to Automate Functional and Non-functional Testing

There­ is an expectation for notable growth in the­ realm of software testing automation. It is imperative to automate both functional and non-functional evaluations. This involve­s performance testing, se­curity testing, accessibility testing, and usability te­sting. A variety of metrics must always be conside­red to achieve we­ll-rounded testing: perple­xity, which measures complexity, and burstine­ss, which assesses variation betwe­en sentence­s. Utilizing some more prolonged or more e­laborate sentence­s alongside shorter, punchy ones with abundant dive­rsity helps mimic natural human speech patte­rns. Furthermore, avoiding commas when joining inde­pendent clauses with coordinating conjunctions uphold.

In today’s competition, businesses must deliver high-quality software to customers. Automating the software testing process is the best method to overcome this challenge. By doing so, companies can expand test coverage and achieve faster test execution. It will also ensure high-quality products and reduce time-to-market. However, software testing process automation is only possible with quality automation tools. Tools like Selenium, Trecentist Tosca, etc., are suitable for functional tests. Tools like JMeter, Neo load, etc., are ideal for non-functional tests.

Accessibility Testing to take an Uptrend

Accessibility te­sting is anticipated to become an incre­asingly significant trend. A GlobeNewswire report predicts that the acce­ssibility testing market will reach $606.46 million by 2027. As companies implement digital solutions, the ne­ed for accessible software­ is also expanding. With businesses adopting more­ online platforms, ensuring users of all capabilitie­s can access information equally will be paramount. Conformance­ with accessibility guidelines aims to provide­ equitable digital experiences for all. Businesses must ensure that their software is accessible to everyone. It includes individuals with blindness, motor impairment, color blindness, etc. Companies should ensure their apps follow specific accessibility guidelines such as W3C’s, i.e., WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, Section 508, Stanca Act, etc. Businesses can leverage various accessibility testing tools such as Dyno mapper, WAVE, JAWS, etc.

Conclusion

DevOps continue­s to grow in popularity within the United Kingdom. This explains why automate­d software testing has become­ crucial for companies in the U.K. This testing te­chnique will see substantial e­xpansion in the coming years. The merging of A.I. and ML technologies will accompany it. Firms ought to utilize automation to achie­ve quicker rele­ases and guarantee high-quality products. It will he­lp them gain an early industry prese­nce to enhance custome­r experience­ (CX). Enterprises should capitalize on ne­xt-gen Q.A. and independe­nt software testing service­ providers for the test automation in the De­vOps application.

How can TestingXperts (Tx) help Your Business in the United Kingdom?

TestingXpe­rts has led the way in providing test automation solutions for clie­nts across various sectors. Our qualified assurance te­ams are well-verse­d in open-source and commercial automation tools to unde­rstand the advantages of mechanize­d testing. We have e­xperienced quality analysts who know about ope­n-source and paid automation tools to address the be­nefits of automation testing.

Tx has an in-house extensible automation framework, Tx-Automate, which is modular, reusable, and compatible and can be customized based on the business need.

Our quality assurance spe­cialists have implemente­d robotics process automation testing solutions using UiPath for clients around the­ world. This incorporates Spotify, well-known music streaming busine­ss in Sweden and the Unite­d States.

Why Choose Our Automation Testing Service?

• Expertise in diverse­ types of automation testing, including functional testing, regression te­sting, and performance testing.

• A strong automate­d testing structure for productive script e­volution, implementation

• When te­sting websites, it is crucial to ensure­ functionality and compatibility across all browsers and platforms through thorough automated testing. A compre­hensive testing approach can verify that all elements pe­rform as intended regardle­ss of the specific browser or de­vice being used.

• Strate­gic use of innovative testing automation.

• Testing we­bsites across various browsers ensure­s functionality and compatibility. Automated browser testing e­valuates how a site displays and operate­s in different browsers like­ Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Interne­t Explorer.

• Emphasis on continuous test automation learning and skill enhancement.

• It allows te­sters to assess code in le­ss time compared to manual testing since­ automated scripts can repeat sce­narios consistently.

To know more, contact our QA experts now.

The post How to Build an Effective Automation Testing Strategy For Businesses first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. What is Functional Testing?
2. Why Functional Testing is required?
3. What are the different types of Functional Testing?
4. How to perform Functional Testing?
5. Best practices for taking up Functional Testing
6. What are the different Functional Testing techniques?
7. Functional Testing vs. Non-Functional Testing
8. Some of the important Functional Testing tools
9. Conclusion

What is Functional Testing?

Functional testing is a form of testing and is a quality assurance process that helps to validate the system or components against various functional specifications and requirements outlined. Functional testing is a type of black-box testing as the source code of the application is not considered during the testing process.

The main purpose of this form of software testing is to test each functionality of the application by providing certain inputs and validating the outputs against the functional requirements.

In simpler words, this form of testing verifies whether the software performs in a way the users expect. As this type of testing is completely based on program specifications, it is also known as specifications-based testing. In this testing process, QA engineers focus on validating the system against the functional specifications and verifies the features against specified set of user specifications.

Why Functional Testing is required?

The need for functional testing is vital in validating the quality and functionality of the software. Through this software testing technique, quality assurance teams verify the software functionality based on the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and ensures the system functions as per the user specifications.

This form of testing helps to check if the system is fixed for release and is error-free. This testing does not depend on any assumptions about the structure of the system, however, it ensures to deliver high-quality product. Basically, this testing method is used to test usability features, specific error conditions, checks accessibility features along with testing other important functions of the software.

What are the different types of Functional Testing?

Unit Testing:

Unit testing is the first phase of software testing in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This functional testing type is performed by developers and they write the scripts to validate whether the small units of the application are working as per the requirements or not.

Component Testing:

This functional testing type is much similar to unit testing, but the critical difference is that it is performed by testers and it tests each object of the application separately with or without isolation of other software objects.

Smoke Testing:

Smoke testing is performed after each build is released. This functional testing type is also known as build verification testing. This process helps to test whether all the test environment aspects are running successfully and whether the build is stable or not and justifies if the build can be used for further testing process.

Sanity Testing:

Sanity testing is usually performed after smoke testing, i.e. after receiving a software build with minor changes made. In simpler words, it is used to validate the code changes introduced continue to work as expected.

Integration Testing:

Integration Testing is one of the important software testing method where individual modules of the application are combined and tested as a group to identify the functionality after combining different modules.

Regression Testing:

This functional software testing method helps in ensuring the new changes made to the code are not affecting the already existing features or functionalities of the application.

System Testing:

This is also a functional testing method that is performed after integration testing. This system testing phase is used for validating the fully integrated software application.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT):

This is the final software testing phase, wherein end-users or clients take up the roles of test engineers to validate whether the developed application is meeting the requirements or not. UAT is an important functional testing type that is performed before moving the application for production.

How to perform Functional Testing?

Understand the requirements:

Before moving ahead for the functional testing process, the initial step is to have a thorough understanding of the business requirements. This is one of the very important steps to make further steps successful.

Prepare a test plan:

For successful functional testing, a good test plan is very important. Test engineers have to work on the test objectives so that it becomes easier to schedule and organize the test activities.

Write test cases:

Another important step after analysing the requirements and having a test plan is the creation of functional test cases. Here, three important aspects have to be worked upon which includes test data, test input, and test output.

Create input data according to requirements:

To test specific functionality, testers should create data and use it as an input to test the functionality of the application. This type of data is known as input data and this data which is used to test the applications is known as test input data.

Execute test cases:

The next step is executing the test cases by using the test input data identified during the creation of test cases.

Compare actual and expected outcome through result validation:

This is the major step where the actual test output is verified against the expected test result to mark pass or fail of the tests.

Log defects:

When comparing both actual and expected outputs, the variation of the difference identified between them is noted as log defects. Testers log defects to notify the development teams so that the defects get fixed at the earliest.

Best practices for taking up Functional Testing

1. Prioritize test cases & start writing early:

It is preferred to prioritize the test cases based on the complexity-levels and start writing test cases early in the requirements analysis and design phases to better achieve functional testing objectives.

2. Plan for writing reusable test cases:

Test cases needs a lot of time and skills to work on them. Thus, it is preferable to have reusable test cases to save time. And, to write reusable test cases, it is essential to write them in simple language and ensure they are short and easy to execute.

3. Test early and test often:

It is essential to test early during the software development phase to know the bugs and issues and as features keep changing functional regression testing should be taken up to ensure existing functionalities remain unaffected with the new changes

4. Automate wherever possible:

Test automation is helpful to avoid repeated manual tasks and helps to automate processes to save time and cost. But, it is not possible to automate all test cases and hence it is essential for testers to decide which of the test cases should be automated.

5. Create a traceability matrix:

It is essential to create a traceability matrix to capture all requirements given by the client and it maps the user requirements with the test cases. It is helpful to ensure that all functionalities are covered while performing software testing.

What are the different Functional Testing techniques?

End-user based tests:

In this functional testing technique, the system is tested to validate all the components work perfectly in combination or not.

Equivalence tests:

In this equivalence test technique, the test data is divided into various partitions and the data in each of the partitions has to respond in a similar way. Thus, tests are performed on one condition; if any one of the conditions fails in any partition, then the others stop working.

Boundary value tests:

This technique helps in validating how the system performs when boundary data limits are implemented. Typically, if the provided inputs are less than the boundary values, then the test is considered as negative testing.

Decision-based tests:

This decision-based test technique helps in verifying the possible outcomes that can be achieved when a particular condition is satisfied.

Ad-hoc tests:

This testing technique helps in identifying the bugs that were not identified in any other tests. Ad-hoc testing works as a smart way to discover the bugs that are not identified earlier.

Functional Testing vs. Non-Functional Testing

Some of the important Functional Testing tools

1.  AccelQ:

This is one of the popular automation tools designed for testing APIs. This tool allows an effective integration process between functional testing and API testing.

2.  Appium:

This is an open-source functional testing tool commonly used for performing functional testing for Android and iOS mobile apps. This tool supports multiple programming language such as Java, Python, Ruby, PHP, etc.

3. Selenium:

Selenium is one of the popular open-source automation testing frameworks used testing web applications. Selenium tool supports a number of operating systems, environments and browsers. It provides a playback tool for authoring functional tests and runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.

4. Tricentis TOSCA:

With this tool, it is easier to perform end-to-end functional testing. This tool helps to automate all the layers of modern enterprise architecture and helps in extending the already existing tests by allowing continuous testing within the CI/CD process.

5.  TestComplete:

This is one of the widely preferred functional automation tools for desktop, mobile, and web applications. This tool supports a number of languages such as C#, VBScript, C++, etc. and is used to create automated tests across desktop, web, and mobile applications.

Conclusion

Functional testing works as an integral part of a software testing and quality assurance process and helps in validating how well the software functionalities are working based on user requirements. This functional testing method helps in ensuring that the software functions in the conformance with the requirements specifications.

This testing method results in delivering quality software that assures satisfying user experiences. There are many benefits with this testing method and there are various forms of functional testing that are useful when performed while testing software products. Leverage functional testing services from next-gen QA testing service providers to deliver applications that perfectly meets your customer requirements and business objectives.

The post Functional Testing – An Informative Guide for Beginners first appeared on TestingXperts.

Today’s businesses are rapidly adopting agile and DevOps to achieve faster and quality releases. DevOps methodology embeds faster releases achieved through continuous integration and continuous delivery of software along with continuous testing. Many software testing methods such as functional, regression, performance, security testing, etc., are leveraged to ensure high-quality products. Out of these methods, the functional testing method plays a major role in the software release in the agile and DevOps processes. It helps businesses achieve fully functional and high-quality software in less time through faster and quality releases.

Table of Contents

1. Functional testing Overview
2. Types of functional testing methods
3. Why do businesses need functional testing?
4. Differences between functional testing and non-functional testing
5. Unit testing vs Regression testing vs Functional testing
6. How to do functional testing?
7. Functional test case examples
8. Significance of Functional testing in Agile
9. Significance of functional testing in DevOps
10. Various functional testing tools
11. Conclusion

Functional testing Overview

Functional testing in software testing is a black box type of software testing, and quality assurance method performed to test the software’s functionality and its related components. The main aim of this testing type is to validate the functionalities of an application against business requirements by providing certain inputs and validating the outputs.

Types of functional testing methods

1. Unit testing:

It is the first phase of the software testing process, where developers test the smallest possible units of the software in isolation to validate its functionality.

2. Component testing:

In this software testing type, software components are tested individually without integrating them with other components.

3. Smoke testing:

This form of testing is also named build verification testing, which is used to determine the stability of the software. It helps testers know whether the code can be shared for further testing.

4. Sanity testing:

In this software testing technique, testers perform basic tests on the software. Whenever the build is received after some changes, this testing type is performed to ensure the bugs are fixed and the software functions properly.

5. Integration testing:

In this software testing type, various individual software modules are combined and tested as a group to ensure their proper functioning.

6. Regression testing:

In this software testing method, the software is tested to ensure that recent code changes or newly added functionalities do not affect the existing functionalities of the software.

7. System testing:

In this testing type, the quality assurance team evaluates the software to know how various components interact together. It ensures that the software works properly.

8. User acceptance testing:

In this testing method, the end-user/client/product owner tests the product to verify its functionality and usability before it is released in the market.

Why do businesses need functional testing?

• It helps to improve the quality of the software

• Helps to verify the software functionality based on Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and ensures the system functions as per the user specifications.

• Helps to test specific error conditions and other important functions of the software.

• Helps to achieve fully-functional software which is defect-free to deliver a great CX.

Differences between functional testing and non-functional testing

Unit testing vs Regression testing vs Functional testing

How to do functional testing?

1. Identify the testing needs/requirements:

The first step of functional testing involves the testers who need to understand the business requirements and take a stance on the testing needs in detail.

2. Prepare a test plan:

The next step involves preparing the test plan. The test plan should clearly state the objective of the test, test methods, testing techniques, etc.

3. Write test cases:

It is an essential step wherein testers create test cases. The functional test cases should be prepared in a way that ensures maximum test coverage.

4. Create input data based on function specifications:

Now, to test the specific functionality of an application, testers have to create data and use it as an input. The data that is used to test the application is known as input data.

5. Execute the test case:

Testers execute the test cases using the input data that are identified during the preparation of test cases.

6. Compare the actual and expected output:

This is an essential step, where testers compare the actual output with the expected outcome. It is done to determine whether the test is a pass or a fail.

7. Log defects:

In the last step, testers note the variations between actual and expected outcomes and log these variations or defects to let teams know about the same.

Functional test case examples

Situation: Suppose there is an online music app, and below are the set of test cases to be evaluated:

• User logs in with user account and password

• The login page contains two text fields, i.e., username and password

• It also has options, i.e., login and cancel

• When the user enters the correct credentials, the action is successful, and the login page directs the user to the music app home page

• If the user clicks on the cancel option, the login is canceled

Significance of Functional testing in Agile

In traditional testing models like the waterfall model, the development and testing of the software happen one after the other, and usually, testing starts once the development is complete. However, in agile methodology, the product is simultaneously developed and tested in sprints, and features are rolled out in each cycle.

In an agile environment, at one end, the developers develop the software, adds new features, or make improvements to the code, while simultaneously, on the other hand, testers perform functional testing of the software. If some changes are introduced to the software, regression testing is performed to ensure the software’s existing functionality remains unaffected.

Common functional testing types performed in an agile environment include smoke, sanity, unit, component, etc. Functional testing in agile speeds up the software testing process, ensures early identification and removal of defects, enhances collaboration between teams and saves time.

Significance of functional testing in DevOps

In a DevOps environment, the main focus is building, testing, and releasing the software faster and more frequently. DevOps streamlines and automates the entire software delivery lifecycle by integrating it with the Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) pipeline. In DevOps, everything starting from development to the software release is continuous and automated. The software is continuously developed, continuously tested, continuously integrated, continuously deployed, and continuously monitored.

Automated DevOps functional testing is performed at each stage of the DevOps CI/CD pipeline to ensure software quality. During the development stage, unit testing is performed to ensure code quality. Also, in the DevOps environment, developers frequently commit changes to source code and merge those code changes to a central repository. Regression testing is performed to ensure code changes do not break the software’s existing functionality. At the continuous integration stage, integration testing is performed to ensure the proper integration of all codes and modules. Finally, the whole software is tested by leveraging system testing techniques to ensure the proper functioning of the software. This is how functional testing fits in the DevOps environment and helps businesses achieve high-quality software.

Some of the benefits of functional testing in DevOps include it helps to remove functional defects from the software much early and faster, ensures the software quality starting from build stage to release stage, delivers fully-functional software in less time, eliminates the chances of manual errors, as the process is automated, and saves significant time and cost.

Various functional testing tools

Tricentis Tosca:

It is an intelligent test automation tool that can be used to test the software’s functionality. This tool allows continuous testing and integrates easily into the DevOps CI/CD pipeline.

Appium:

It is an automated software testing tool that can be used to test the functionality of native, hybrid, and mobile web applications. This tool allows testers to test mobile apps on various platforms, such as android, iOS, and Windows. This test automation tool supports various languages and works on JSON wire protocol (extension of Selenium JSON wire protocol).

Ranorex:

It is an all-in-one test automation tool for desktop, mobile, and web. This tool allows codeless test automation and can be used for testing software functionality. This software testing tool supports cross-browser and cross-platform testing. Ranorex easily integrates with the DevOps pipeline.

Selenium:

It is one of the widely used test automation tools best suited for web applications. This tool has various components, such as Selenium WebDriver, Selenium IDE, and Selenium Grid. This automation testing tool supports a majority of OS, browsers, and languages. Selenium also has a record and playback feature that makes software testing easy.

TestComplete:

It is a widely used test automation tool for mobile, desktop, and web. This tool supports various languages and can be used to perform keyword-driven and data-driven testing.

Conclusion

Today’s businesses are rapidly adopting agile and DevOps processes to achieve quality software in less time. But the quality of the software depends on its proper functioning, which can be ensured through end-to-end functional testing. This testing type helps businesses in many ways, such as improving the functionality of the software, enhancing customer experience, and saving significant costs. Businesses should leverage end-to-end functional testing from a next-gen QA and independent software testing services provider to achieve high-quality software in less time.

The post Significance of Functional Testing for Businesses in Agile & DevOps first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. An Overview of Functional and Non Functional Testing
2. Role of Functional Testing
3. Role of Non Functional Testing
4. Different Types of Functional and Non Functional Testing
5. Functional and Non Functional Testing: Key Differences
6. Top Functional Testing Tools
7. Top Non Functional Testing Tools
8. Conclusion

An Overview of Functional and Non Functional Testing

There is no denying the fact that comprehensive quality assurance strategies feature Functional as well as Non Functional testing. Therefore, it is important for digital businesses to understand the difference between the two. While both processes are an essential part of the application’s QA process, they serve distinct purposes.

Functional testing verifies that the app’s functionalities work according to the requirements by identifying the areas where performance does not meet the desired results.

On the other hand, Non Functional testing helps identify the broader quality concerns in an app by verifying all the non functional aspects, such as usability, performance, compliance, etc.)

Role of Functional Testing

Functional testing checks the application’s functionality against the defined requirements or specificationsalong with validating the snippets of the underlying code.

Comparing the actual outputs against the desired results provide a clearer picture than testing individual modules in isolation. Interactions between modules are frequently the areas where errors occur.

The role of functional testing is critical in validating the quality and functionality of the application. It is through techniques of functional testing, the quality assurance teams are able to verify the software functionality based on the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and ensures the system performs as per the user specifications.

Functional testing helps to ensure the application is ready for release and is free of bugs and errors. Functional testing does not depend on any assumptions about the structure of the system and focuses on delivering a high-quality product. Various kinds of functional testing  methods are used to test usability features, error conditions, ease of accessibility, as well as testing other important functions of the software.

Role of Non Functional Testing

Non Functional testing validates the app features that may not be critical to functionality but are responsible for ensuring a seamless end-user experience.

Something that fails a Non Functional test does not always cause an issue that users would notice, but it can indicate a problem in the system — especially at scale.

In case non-functional testing is not performed for an application, it is not possible to measure the application’s ability to handle massive traffic, especially when the application experiences peak load. In scenarios such as holiday seasons or other scenarios when the app faces higher than usual traffic, the application may become slower or even crash. In another scenario, if the application is not tested for vulnerabilities and security, then it is prone to face cyber-attacks and even lead to exploitation of sensitive customer data. Incidents like these not only lead to a poor performing application that users might abandon, but also hamper the business’s reputation.

It is evident that non-functional testing is as critical as functional testing for a successful application. Non functional testing ensures the application performs seamlessly, while establishing reliability. It ensures the application may be counted on even during extreme conditions as it has been tested to meet all kinds of business criteria. After performing non functional testing, it may be assured that the application will be compatible with multiple devices and OS, ensure a user-friendly and accessible interface, meet the performance and load criteria, and meet the host of other vital business parameters.

Different Types of Functional and Non Functional Testing

Common Functional testing types:

Unit testing: It is the first software testing phase in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Software testers perform this functional testing type by creating and running test scripts to ensure the small units of the app individually work as desired.

Component testing: This functional testing type is similar to unit testing. However, the critical difference is that testers perform and test each application object separately with/without isolation from other software elements during component testing.

Smoke testing: Smoke testing is performed after every build release. Smoke testing helps to ensure all the test environment aspects are operating successfully and the build is stable for further testing.

Sanity testing: Testers perform sanity testing after smoke testing, which ensures the code changes continue to perform meet as desired.

Integration testing: During Integration testing, individual modules of the app are merged and validated as a group to identify the bugs and errors.

Regression testing: This functional software testing method helps ensure the changes made to the code are not affecting the application’s already existing features or functionalities.

System testing: System testing is performed after integration testing and is used for validating the fully integrated application.

User acceptance testing (UAT): This is the final software testing phase, wherein end-users or clients take up the roles of test engineers to validate whether the developed application meets the requirements or not. UAT is an essential functional testing type performed before moving the application to production.

Common non functional testing types:

Performance testing: This testing process evaluates the system’s overall performance and ensures the app meets the desired response time.

Load testing: Load testing evaluates whether the system’s performance is as expected under normal and maximum conditions. Load tests identify the peak operational capacity of the app, and detects the causes of performance bottlenecks that lead to app degradation.

Stress testing: This testing process helps evaluate the system’s performance when it is low on resources. Stress testing measures low memory or low disc space on clients/servers that reveal defects that cannot be found under normal conditions.

Security testing: Security testing ensures no loopholes that may lead to data loss or breach. One important non functional testing type, security testing, includes testing the app for authentication, authorization, integrity, and availability.

Volume testing: Volume testing evaluates the app’s behavior when a significant amount of data is to be processed and checks the extent to which the app is able to handle large amounts of data.

Usability testing: This method of Non Functional testing evaluates the system for human use. GUI testing ensures the output is correct, meaningful, and the same as expected per the predefined goals.

Scalability testing: The scalability tests measure the ability of an application to scale its non-functional characteristics when required. This may be in the form of load the app can support, transaction count per second, data volumes, and so on.

User Interface (UI)testing: UI testing evaluates the GUI and ensures the GUI is consistent and provides easy navigation for application use.

Compatibility testing: This non functional testing evaluates the application for compatibility with other hardware/software with minimum as well as maximum configurations.

Documentation testing: Documentation testing validates user guides, set-up instructions, readme files, release notes, etc.

Failover testing: Failover testing ensures that the system is capable enough to handle additional resources, such as servers, in case of a system failure.

Compliance testing: Compliance testing is done by running audits to verify if the standards defined by the industry or government are being followed, such as GDPR, HIPAA, W3C, etc.

Localization testing: Localization testing verifies the app’s availability across cultures and locales.

Functional and Non Functional Testing: Key Differences

Top Functional Testing Tools

Top Non Functional Testing Tools

Conclusion

Functional testing and Non Functional testing are the critical types of software testing that play a major role in ensuring the delivery of a high-end product. By facilitating end-to-end functional testing in the software testing process, testers can evaluate what the process is up to and how the app will behave under any given circumstances. With Non Functional testing, testers are able to deal with the system’s performance and describe how it performs under any given circumstances. Both have their distinct benefits and must be leveraged to ensure the final product is error-free and delivers a great CX.

Leverage functional testing and non functional testing services from next-gen QA testing service providers to deliver applications that perfectly meets your customer requirements and business objectives.

As a Leading QA testing services provider, how can TestingXperts help businesses?

TestingXperts (Tx) is one of the 5 largest pure-play software testing services provider globally. Tx has been chosen as a trusted QA partner by Fortune clients and ensures superior testing outcomes for its global clientele. We have rich expertise in enabling end-to-end testing services for global clients across various industry domains like healthcare, telecom, BFSI, retail & eCommerce, etc.

Our range of QA testing services include:

Functional Testing: Tx has years of experience providing functional testing services for clients across domains. Our wide range of functional testing services includes automation, manual, regression, and mobile application testing. We have in-house mobile test labs with numerous mobile devices.

Non-Functional Testing: Tx provides a wide range of non-functional testing services such as performance and load testing, security testing, usability testing, and accessibility testing. We also have an in-house performance testing accelerator, ‘Tx-PEARS,’ which helps with all non-functional testing requirements, including continuous monitoring of your infrastructure in production as well as in lower environments.

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