Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Testing and types of testing

Software Testing:-
It is the process used to help identify the correctness, completeness, security and quality of developed computer software.
Basically testing is of two types say black box and white box

Black box testing:-

Black box being an external view of the test object.
Types of black box testing
I)functional testing:- In this type of testing, the software is tested for the functional requirements. The tests are written in order to check if the application behaves as expected. Although functional testing is often done toward the end of the development cycle, it can and should, be started much earlier. Individual components and processes can be tested early on, even before it's possible to do functional testing on the entire system. Functional testing covers how well the system executes the functions it is supposed to execute including user commands, data manipulation, searches and business processes, user screens, and integrations. Functional testing covers the obvious surface type of functions, as well as the back-end operations (such as security and how upgrades affect the system).
II)Stress testing:- Stress test is repeated until a level of stress is reached that is higher than expected to be present at a customer site. Race conditions and memory leaks are often found under stress testing.
III) Load testing :- Load testing does not aim to break the system by overwhelming it, but instead tries to keep the system constantly humming like a well-oiled machine.
IV) Ad-hoc:-This type of testing is done without any formal Test Plan.
V)Exploratory testing:- This testing is similar to the ad-hoc testing and is done in order to learn/explore the application. Yet it doesn't get much respect in our field. It can be considered as “Scientific Thinking” at real time
VI)Usability testing:- This testing is also called as ‘Testing for User-Friendliness’. This testing is done if User Interface of the application stands an important consideration and needs to be specific for the specific type of user.
VII) Smoke test:- This type of testing is also called sanity testing and is done in order to check if the application is ready for further major testing.
VIII)Recovery test:- Recovery testing is basically done in order to check how fast and better the application can recover against any type of crash or hardware failure etc.
IX)Volume test:- Volume testing is done against the efficiency of the application. Huge amount of data is processed through the application (which is being tested) in order to check the extreme limitations of the system.
X)Domain test:- Domain testing is the most frequently described test technique. Some authors write only about domain testing when they write about test design. The basic notion is that you take the huge space of possible tests of an individual variable and subdivide it into subsets that are (in some way) equivalent. Then you test a representative from each subset.
XI)Scenario test:- Scenario tests are realistic, credible and motivating to stakeholders, challenging for the program and easy to evaluate for the tester. They provide meaningful combinations of functions and variables rather than the more artificial combinations you get with domain testing or combinatorial test design.
XII)Regression test:- Regression testing is a style of testing that focuses on retesting after changes are made. In traditional regression testing, we reuse the same tests (the regression tests). In risk-oriented regression testing, we test the same areas as before, but we use different (increasingly complex) tests. Traditional regression tests are often partially automated. These note focus on traditional regression.
XIII) User acceptance test:- In this type of testing, the software is handed over to the user in order to find out if the software meets the user expectations and works as it is expected to. In software development, user acceptance testing (UAT) - also called beta testing.
XIV)Alpha test:- In this type of testing, the users are invited at the development center where they use the application and the developers note every particular input or action carried out by the user. Any type of abnormal behavior of the system is noted and rectified by the developers.



White box testing:-
white box being an internal view
I)Unit testing:-The developer carries out unit testing in order to check if the particular module or unit of code is working fine. The Unit Testing comes at the very basic level as it is carried out as and when the unit of the code is developed or a particular functionality is built. Unit testing deals with testing a unit as a whole.
II)Static and dynamic analysis:- Static analysis involves going through the code in order to find out any possible defect in the code. Dynamic analysis involves executing the code and analyzing the output.
III)Statement coverage:- In this type of testing the code is executed in such a manner that every statement of the application is executed at least once. It helps in assuring that all the statements execute without any side effect.
IV)Branch coverage:- No software application can be written in a continuous mode of coding, at some point we need to branch out the code in order to perform a particular functionality. Branch coverage testing helps in validating of all the branches in the code and making sure that no branching leads to abnormal behavior of the application.
V)Security testing:- Security testing is carried out in order to find out how well the system can protect itself from unauthorized access, hacking – cracking, any code damage etc. which deals with the code of application. This type of testing needs sophisticated testing techniques.
VI)Mutation testing:- A kind of testing in which, the application is tested for the code that was modified after fixing a particular bug/defect. It also helps in finding out which code and which strategy of coding can help in developing the functionality effectively.

Source and reference