In order to market a certain software product successfully, you need to make sure that all the product features are working correctly. Quality assurance is possible only through the software testing process, as it’s the only way to know that all the work you and your team put in gave the desired results. There are various methods of software testing, it’s an ever-changing process that improves with the experience of the team. In order to help you grow as a developer, we decided to share 8 views on how to test software before it’s out for sale.
There are two basic categories of software testing:
- Manual testing includes a person who will operate the software in order to check the consistency of all features and aspects of the product.
- The automated testing approach includes the use of various software tools that perform a wide range of tests that could include simple things like checking code correctness or complex simulation of human-operated manual test.
Quality Assurance
This is an old way of testing a software product which takes a lot of time but it always gives proper results. Quality Assurance includes testing the software product once it is in premarket stage one stage at the time. This is why it takes a while to complete because you can’t start the next stage of testing until the prior stage is complete. This approach is not a bad solution for one-person operation with some time left before the deadline.
Quality Engineering
When the market became too dynamic for busy software developers to use QA approach, a new methodology showed its face. Quality Engineering allows you to perform tests as the process goes on, with no need to wait until the process is waiting to hit the shelves. More importantly, Quality Engineering introduces much more automatic testing tools and earlier in the process. Automation allows higher productivity, it’s like when marketing managers hire writing service like AssignmentGeek or some other to write a piece of content to prevent bottlenecking the campaign.
IoT testing
The amount of hardware devices connected with each other via the internet is rising every year. According to reports, countries like Denmark, Switzerland, and Korea have around 30 IoT devices per 100 persons. This puts a lot of weight on software testing for hardware that’s online and connected with a series of other products operated by various software solutions. The security and connectivity issues are of utmost importance with IoT testing, which is becoming a standard for industry software developers.
Agile methodology
As the term might suggest it, one of the most important aspects of this testing approach is flexibility that allows team members to change their testing priorities when business priorities change. More than that, Agile allows you to adopt new ways of dealing with a problem, the whole concept actually welcomes the change of plan. Furthermore, Agile puts business priorities firs while all other challenges come afterward.
DevOps
Another aged but very potent and, in recent time, testing methodology with a rising popularity. The goal of DevOps is to shorten the development process by automating and monitoring the entire software build process. This would allow regular fixes, new features, and updates during the product development. Implementation of DevOps rests on several sets of different tools with each set of tools responsible for their respective segment of the product.
Big Data testing
It’s almost impossible to find an industry that doesn’t include the use of big data. Unlike regular databases which store structured and semi-structured data, Big data also includes unstructured information like videos, music, medical records, scientific research, surveillance data, IoT devices, satellite information, and a whole lot of more. Because of these differences, testing of Big data applications requires a strategy. For successful testing you should go through three steps:
Database testing – which includes validation of data source, process validation, and confirmation that displayed data is the same as the data obtained from the source.
Performance testing – Since Big data includes processing a large amount of information in a short period of time, performance testing is necessary to ensure a smooth workflow of the future product. In short CPU and memory consumption are being measured, as well as the time needed to complete a task, and other performance related metrics.
Functional testing – This step is similar to regular application testing where a team member tests front end for consistency with user requirements.
Mobile testing
Studies suggest that mobile devices are taking over the market at a steady pace. Almost every desktop application has a mobile version that needs to operate successfully on various types of devices, operative systems, brands, and models. Therefore, mobile testing should include as much automation as possible, due to such a wide range of complex tests that need to be performed.
Open source third-party tools
Sometimes, instead of buying a branded tool for your product it’s more affordable to implement an open source solution. Open source software is not the safest option, however, because the public has access to your work whilst able to perform changes. Another large benefit is flexibility depicted through all but unlimited customization and design options.
Conclusion
These pieces of advice should give you some of the basic information required to further expand your knowledge and build your experience. Only by constant improvement can a person hope to achieve excellence in their field of work. Software tested by experienced and well-informed person has a higher market potential and reduces consumption of time and funds
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About the Author
Reay has been working as a journalist and editor in one of the finest Melbourne publishing agencies for 3 years. She is also a professional content writer who prefers to do research on the following topics – self-improvement, technology innovations, global education development ets. Feel free to contact her at Twitter.
