It is very important to have multiple layers of testing. To me if you are
only testing it yourself, there will be a good bit of errors that you did
not see because you were the one who made the software. You would
have somewhat of a tunnel vision. I'm not saying that you would miss you
would miss all of them. I am saying that it is always good to get fresh
eyes. And if we are looking at it as there are multiple layers to a
program, then you definitely need to test as you go. So, going into that, I
would test as I go. I would also get a team together to also test the
program. I would probably put it out as a beta. I like the beta idea
because now you have people who are actually interested in what you have
created. This will give you the input you actually need to get it to
perfection. What they like and you know you are definitely going to be
told what they found wrong and do not like. It is always important to
have multiple levels of testing. Very often each test done is designed to
test a specific function or area of a system and to ensure it meets
requirements and functions as it should. We often then go in and make
changes to those processes in the system. The importance of multilevel
testing is that when we do make these adjustments, we may not necessarily
see the second or third order effects in the systems. It may affect part of
the process down the line that we did not see with the tests we ran
earlier. Multiple levels of testing are key. Three test activities that should
be done are planning, analysis and implementation. Planning allows us to
determine the scope and objectives of the testing phase and outline what
the goals are for the testing. It also allows us to plan and schedule our
testing which is key on larger projects. Analysis is always a crucial part of
testing and it covers 2 different things. One is to analyze the areas that
need to be tested most and how to test them. The other portion covers
test results and how to make the necessary corrections if there are any.
Implementing the test is when we take all of our test planning and put it
into motion. This is when we ensure the tests are run correctly and
targeting the specific functions that needed to be tested. Having different
levels of testing is very important part of software development. It helps to
ensure performance, compatibility and security. The levels of testing that are
necessary are, unit testing, integration testing, system testing and acceptance
testing. Unit testing, focuses on one part at a time of the software to
make sure it is doing the job that it's suppose to. Integration testing,
makes sure that different working parts of the soft ware can properly work
together. System testing is making sure it works from start to finish.
Acceptance testing, is usually done by the costumer to make sure it meets
the needs that they asked for. Testing is done until expectations are met.
The software has to be deliverable, meaning that the customer paid the
developer for a product that does what they asked, so it must meet at
least that expectation. some important test activities are, planning and
analysis; design and implementation; evaluation and report. The planning and
analysis stage, is about planning out the whole schedule of tests and
analyzing and mitigating all risks involved. The design and implementation
phase, tests are designed and implemented accordingly. Finally in the
evaluation and report phase, is self explanatory, tests are evaluated what has
been done and if there are any other adjustments to be made. Then it is
noted and reported. Having different levels of testing is critical to software
development. One style of testing isn’t sufficient to highlight all the
potential bugs or issues. If a company doesn’t utilize multiple testing cycles
and methods, it could be very risky.
There are 4 different levels of testing: unit testing, integration testing,
system testing, and acceptance. Unit testing focuses on specific parts or
components of the software and tests them with all cases that might happen
in a real-time scenario. Integration testing is where it combines all the
modules of software and test to see if they work with each other as
intended. System testing is the process where it tests the entire project from
start to finish. Finally, acceptance is where the company verifies if the
software meets the companies’ requirements.Three testing activities are also
initiated to be compliant with the companies’ needs and aligns with their
goals. These activities are planning and analysis, design and implementation,
and evaluation and report. During the planning and analysis phase, this is
where the team tries to analyze the program for many different scenarios
and try to find any “breaks” in the software. Design and implementation
are where tests are designed to identify the test environment and then
implement according to it. Finally, evaluation and report is when they gather
all the data and results from the tests and then implement any changes
necessary to mend the software. Software testing at various stages is
essential since it lowers the chance of mistakes. Another advantage is
ensuring that the customer's demands are met. Every level of software
testing helps developers assess the program's features and determine if it
satisfies the client's or consumer's needs. An application's flaws and mistakes
may be found using a variety of tests before it is deployed and put into
large-scale production. Static testing, unit testing, integration testing, system
testing, and acceptance testing are the five stages of software testing.Planning
and managing, analyzing and creating, and implementing and carrying out are
the three main tasks involved in software testing. The needs and properties
of the software are established during the planning and control phase. At
this stage, the project's completion specifications are also established. Analysis
and design, which comes after that, include assessing the program and
choosing a framework for various design methodologies. The design must be
put into practice in accordance with the plan in order to satisfy the client's
requirements. The project is then completed in accordance with the client's
requirements. I was recently working on building the code for a user
interface on a bank app or an atm. It was just the basic code mostly.
The code I had created allow the user to create an account and access an
existing account. once having account some things, you could do were
checking your account balance, depositing and withdrawing from the account.
When first created I would do some basic testing to make sure that the
function I had created actually did what they were intended to do. My
first round of testing I would finish a function and hit F5 (i was using
visual studio) to open the test environment and I would test the function
to see what it did. I would do this for every function trying to find
defects or errors.When I created the rules for creating passwords in the
account creation function, I would purposely not follow the rules, I set in
an attempted to break it while in the testing environment.eventually after is
was more fleshed out I would have friends and family play with and try
to do different things to cause bugs or errors to appear.I had my uncle
who was an experienced developer go thru the code find error or bugs. he
would also help me find more efficient ways to do things too.I had done
developer testing, user testing, bug testing, and input testing during the
process of create it. Because of how complicated the written code can get,
testing at different levels is extremely important to save time and energy
later in the process, you don't want to get to the end and a module with
1000 lines of code and it doesn't output the correct information.Before
releasing to a client testing of the system, and checking that the systems
functions meets the clients requirements would be two big ones. These
would ensure that it is working properly, and has the right needs of the
client. Installation tests would be good to run as well to ensure a the
software can run on the devices the client was targeting. Security tests
would also be a good test to check if the system deals with a lot of
sensitive information. Testing each step added with unit testing helps make
sure that part works before moving on, you don't want to get many lines
in with a bunch of "If" statements and then need to go back and test
each one afterwards. Testing during integration of the modules ensures that
the code calls up the correct functions and the correct outputs are being
delivered from that part. Then a system test would ensure that everything is
working correctly from beginning to end, this would test every part of the
system to find other bugs or hitches that need to be looked into and
fixed. Catching bugs as soon as possible means it is easier to fix. When
a bug is in the code for some time, forgetfulness becomes the irresponsible
half. Spending too much time observing the code will have extra effects.
The longer it becomes, the most significant impact it will have on the
behavior of the bug.
Several levels of testing can be used to catch bugs before they hatch. Unit
testing to system and acceptance not only clarifies the tiniest bit of code
but can routinely test the whole system.
The testing activities I can implement are:
Exhaustive Testing
Test all the possibilities.
Black-Box Testing
Pretend to ignore the contents inside the black box. There is an idea of
what it does but can't figure out how to use it. Testing various methods
to know what will tick its inputs.
White-Box Testing
The inside of the structure is known and how it works. The additional
knowledge for the design of the tester can implement how to crash it.
Gray-Box Testing
White and Black box testing are both implemented. Some methods of testing
are known but not all. How to attack it is partially known.
When you need to make sure that something is working well, you have to
try multiple times to see if the device or in this care the software will
break with certain amount of pressure. This way you can know where you
got to work on it to fix it with patches or updates as needed.
If one was just to make sure that a program was to work at its basic
level, they may miss loop holes or even glitches that will cause the
program to be dismantle as its being used by someone who is not the
main programmer.
The 3 test that one has to do to make sure of it is as follow :
1. Integration testing- You have to make sure that it works well with
the system that you are connected to and making sure that no other
programs failure when added to any OS you built it for.
2. Performance testing - It easy for a program if there are 20 people
looking at it carefully when they do what they know to do on the
app, but it's much more difficult when you have millions of people
checking it out and possibly sending reports back of when the device
breaks down.
3. Acceptance testing- This is done once you have fully found
satisfaction of the product to then allow it to go into the world. As
my company calls it, it has to be the MVP, minimal viable product.
To start off, I would say the term testing is when you test out a
program to see if everything is functioning properly and that there’s no
error. Not just testing programs but also building a computer or car. A
level of software testing is a process where every unit or component of a
software or system is tested. The main reason for implementing the levels
of testing is to make the software testing process efficient and easy to find
all possible test cases at a specific level. There are different kinds of
levels of testing such as unit, integration, and acceptance. Acceptance testing
is all about verifying whether the whole system works as intended.
Integration is when you’re ensuring that software components or functions
operate together.
Lastly, unit testing is validating that each software unit performs as
expected. A unit is the smallest testable component of an application. All
the levels of testing are compulsory and must be finished before the
application/software is launched says (Katara, 2021). (Katara, 2021) also states
that to check the most important facts, you may want to check out the
types of software testing. If you don’t check what kind of testing that
you’re doing for the program then, you can end up making mistakes. Once
all the testing of the program is done and everything goes successful, then
you can start to launch the program to the client. Testing is a very
important part of software development. As a developer, you can write a
program that is 100% what the request asked for, but testing can uncover
many issues. Not only just run-of-the-mill bugs, but users use systems
differently. I have been a part of testing that uncovered a major bug
because of an added keystroke. It was a fluke thing, but the testing
uncovered it. The 1st piece of testing is integration testing. Your program
has to work with any other system in use. The 2nd testing item is
performance testing. This is where you want people to log in and use the
system. Does everything work the way it's supposed to? You can also get
as many users to log in at the same time and see if there are any slow
processes or could there be issues associated with having a lot of people
logged in at the same time.
Acceptance testing is the 3rd piece. This is pretty much does it satisfy the
business requirements? Even if there are bugs, can it work?. Testing during
software development plays an important role in getting to the deployment
stage of a software system. If testing is not conducted there can be a
variety of unanticipated issues that occur in the live system. Testing can
make all the difference not only in the software's integrity but maintaining
one's reputation in software development. In order to attempt to find as
many bugs or issues in a system during development it is extremely
important to employ more than one level of testing. Testing at different
levels allows for more issues or bugs to be found prior to go-live. Some
forms of testing include unit testing, integration testing, component interface
testing, system testing, and acceptance testing.
Unit testing allows you to look at a chunk of code early in the process.
This is one way to find bugs earlier, rather than later which could be
costly. Integration testing allows for testing any new code with existing
code. As part of integration testing, regression testing can be used to test
functionality to see if anything broke or regressed when the new code was
introduced. Component interface testing allows one to test the interactions
between components. System testing is testing the system as a whole from
beginning to end. Finally, acceptance testing is used to make sure the
client's requirements are met and the software functions mostly as it should.
Testing should take place throughout the development process and should not
wait until the system is fully developed. Of course, any testing approach
would need to be tailored to the type, size, and complexity of the software
as well as timelines or milestones that are not flexible.
Testing is a fundamental part of the software development life cycle because
it is needed for quality control. Testing the code at each stage is easier
for developer teams to catch error and fix bugs in a smaller module than
in a big system. The four levels of software testing include: unit testing
for each component of the code to correct any existing bugs, integration
testing to make sure that the interconnected units work when combined with
all the code modules, system testing to make sure the overall system is
functional, and acceptance testing to make sure that business goals are met.
Doing the test activities earlier in the cycle helps keep the testing effort at
the forefront rather than as an afterthought to development.The testing
activities should be done as many times as needed until the software
product meets the customer’s expectations. There’s no limit to how many
times the testing should be done. Important activities to validate the software
before releasing the software should include: a) the test planning that
includes the schedule of tests from implementation to evaluation; b) the test
implementation that includes design / identify test and test environment and
the implementation; and c) last but not least – the test evaluating/ verifying
phase that includes all the steps for evaluating, adjusting, then verify that
the planned deliverables are met, and all issues found are addressed and
resolved. It is necessary to have testing at different stages through out the
development cycle. That way you can catch the bugs early and fix them
before they cause even bigger problems. If you wait to the end to do
testing and find a bug you may have to refactor a lot more of the
program to get it functioning correctly.There needs to be testing activities at
each stage of the program’s development cycle to catch bugs and other
anomalies before they make it to the next stage of the program’s
development. The three types of tests are the following. First test is the
unit testing to test each part of the program as a stand-alone part. The
second test is the integration of the program with other software the
program needs to talk to get data from. Then the last test it the full test
where the program is used just like if it were in the field be used by
the customer. The customer should send some people to the test to use the
program to get a real-world test. It is vital for software that is being
developed to be tested in several areas and as a whole due to quality
assurance and to ensure successful implementation overall. The more complex
the software that is being developed for the customer the more testing is
necessary to ensure overall compliant protocol and give a successful pass for
installation. For example, if you have a mortgage application that takes the
application of buying or refinancing a home from beginning to end in all
the stages, it is approximately 9 to 10 stages of that application process
along with sub-stages in each one. Each section and sub-sections have to
be tested to ensure that the application process runs smoothly and ensure
that there is nothing in one section that may have a bug that affects the
next section or some other intricate part of the process along the road.
Depending on the section that is being tested, in most cases there can be
three to 12 or more types of scenarios, you must test for the scenarios
and then the different combinations of the scenario. For example, you may
have a conventional mortgage that is a purchase, but the borrower doesn't
have enough to buy, so the bank is giving a simultaneous 2nd to offset
the difference which changes the scenario. So having different types of
testing activities is necessary and must be considered depending on the
programs that the mortgage or banking institution offers to their customers.
This is why it's so important for software companies to have many stages
of testing of the software they create for their companies to ensure every
type of scenario is considered and tested for customer experience and client
satisfaction. Testing is very important part of software development because it
ensures that the software functions as intended. Having different levels of
testing is important to ensure compatibility, performance, and security. Unit
testing focuses on specific components of the software. Then it is tested
them against all circumstances to see what could happen in a real time
scenario. Integration testing combines the components to see if they work in
harmony as a group. System testing test the system as a whole from
beginning to end. This is to ensure that all system requirements were met.
Acceptance checks to make sure the business goals were met and approved
by the end user. How much testing is done before the software is release
should depend on the user’s satisfaction with the software. Some important
testing activities are planning and analysis which involves testing from
implementation to evaluation, design and implementation which uses a test
environment to design and test the software, and evaluation and report which
evaluates what has been completed and check to see if any further
tweaking are needed to improve the software. Once all the deliverables are
met and reported issues are resolved, the software can be implemented into
production. In software development testing, the main goal is to ensure that
the software works properly and fulfills its intended purpose. The last thing
you want is for end-users to resent the finished project. Software testing
can be done manually or it can be automated using tools. Automated
testing ensures that your software is free of defects and meets quality
standards before it is released to production.
In general, most companies have a dedicated QA department that is
responsible for performing different types of testing such as functional
testing, regression testing, performance testing, security testing, etc. However,
many companies also have a separate test team that has the responsibility
of performing end-to-end testing of the software. Companies with agile
methodologies tend to have separate test teams for each development sprint
and release, as opposed to dedicated QA departments.
Before releasing software to a client I would first perform various tests to
ensure that it is bug-free and that the requirements have been met. The
percentage of testing depends on the size and complexity of the project.
For small projects, it is usually sufficient to do only unit testing as the
code is quite simple and only a few features are being tested. For large
and complex projects we usually follow a hybrid approach where we do
unit testing as well as end-to-end testing which involves checking the
application in various stages of its development life cycle. Different levels of
testing activities include unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and
acceptance testing. Because testing helps to guarantee that the software is
functional, dependable, and of good quality, it is a crucial step in the
software development process. Without adequate testing, software may have
bugs, mistakes, and other problems that affect both its usability and
performance. To make sure that every component of the software is
adequately tested, multiple degrees of testing are used. Unit testing,
integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing are some of these
levels.
Unit testing focuses on testing individual units or components of the
software to ensure that they are functioning correctly. Integration testing
involves testing the integration of different units or components to ensure
that they work together as intended. System testing involves testing the
software as a whole to ensure that it meets the requirements and performs
as expected in a real-world environment. Acceptance testing involves testing
the software to ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of the end-
users.
Different levels of testing are required rather than simply one since each
level has a distinct focus and goal. For instance, unit testing concentrates
on the software's distinct parts, whereas integration testing concentrates on
how those parts interact. It would be challenging to guarantee that the
software is completely functional and meets the needs and expectations of
the end users without these many testing levels.
It is important to have multiple phases of software testing because it helps
to reduce the chances of errors. It also helps to make sure that the
customer needs are fulfilled. Every stage of software testing helps the
developers to assess the characteristics of the software and evaluate if the
software fulfills the demands of the client or customer. With the help of
various testing it is possible to identify the errors and shortcomings in the
applications prior to its deployment and largescale production. There are 5
phases of software testing, known as static testing, unit testing, integration
testing, system testing and acceptance testing.
The 3 main activities for software testing are planning and control, analysis
and design and implementation and execution. In the planning and control
stage the requirements and parameters of the software are decided. The
parameters for completion of the project are also decided in this stage. The
next activity is the analysis and design where the software is analyzed and
the blueprint for the different design techniques are decided. The final
activity is the implementation of the design according to the plan and
making sure that the client requirements are fulfilled. Then the project is
deployed according the demands of the customer.
Testing and quality assurance is involved throughout the software engineering
process because it lets the developer study pieces of the code to see if it
meets the needed requirements and it properly works under all conditions.
Normally different parts of the program is made by different developers and
it is put together throughout the software process. It is important to test
throughout the development steps to make sure as may as the bugs are
removed, the software is doing what it should be doing and to make sure
the different pieces of the software work together. ww Feature testing is part
of the software development process where the developers access different
ways of implementing key features. The are several reasons why you should
do automation testing which are new builds, dependency, testing is required
to move the application to the production environment, or the software
requires a rollback. It increases the quality because it is faster, cheaper and
can be done more often. ww The advantages of the manual testing is the
tester can test the software from a user prospective and get more familiar
with the product. When you don't properly test the software applications that
you develop, they will have quality problems and your stakeholders and
users will be very frustrated as they use the software applications. Good
testing and QA have to happen for the software application to meet the
needs of the stakeholders and end-users.
I like to create test plans that test worst-case scenarios. Testing edge cases
and boundary conditions helps you find many of the worst-case scenarios
when you are testing. These tests find errors that tend to be critical with
a high priority. These are errors that must be fixed before the product is
shipped.Testing helps reduce errors as testing wont eliminate all errors. No
matter how much testing is done it wont catch all the errors. Even if
errors are caught they might not be fixed as it may cause worse or
additional errors. When organizations properly test their software applications
they increase the quality of the applications they develop which provides
more value to their customers as their customers use these software
applications to solve their business problems.Automated testing should be an
essential part of any organization's testing and QA processes. Automated
testing does not catch every bug, but when organizations update their
software applications and make changes to them, running automation testing
can help to catch any bugs that might have been introduced in the
software application update. It is good practice to always have automation
testing to ensure that bug fixes, patches, software application updates, etc.
do not break other areas of the code. This helps to increase the quality
and robustness of the code before it is moved to production. testing is
very important to the development process. The software needs to be tested
with real world data. The system should also be tested by the end users
and there feedback will be the most valuable indicator of how the software
is performing. Doing appropriate performance testing helps the organization to
ensure that their software applications will perform as expected even during
heavy volumes and loads. No one likes using a slow application. If an
organization does not appropriately performance test their software application
and it is slow, users of the system will get frustrated with it and not
want to use it. when you are testing there are different types of stages
before the testing becomes successful. Ensuring that every step works out
properly is very important because you don't want to run into any issues.
If you do happen to run into an issue in a certain area then your client
would have a complaint. Software testing identifies bugs and issues in the
development process so they're fixed prior to product launch. This approach
ensures that only quality products are distributed to consumers, which in
turn elevates customer satisfaction and trust. Testing is necessary in order to
provide the facilities to the customers like the delivery of high quality
product or software application which requires lower maintenance cost and
hence results into more accurate, consistent and reliable results. I am also a
big fan of Unit and segment testing. Testing segments of your code first
helps you to better pinpoint where the initial bugs and QA issues are in
your software applications. Once each segment is tested, you can then move
to integration and systems testing knowing that the individual code segments
are working well and are robust.
Reference:
Lakhman Katara (2021) Levels of Testing in Software Testing. Retrieved from
https://qacraft.com/levels-of-testing-in-software-testing/
