Software Testing and Its Objectives

Introduction

Software testing is a process that ensures the quality of the product to its stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Using Software testing we can provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software implementation.

Objectives of Software Testing is that a computer program/application/product:

• meets the requirements that guided its design and development.

• works as expected.

• can be implemented with the same characteristics.

• satisfies the needs of stakeholders.

Role of  Software testing as a process

Software testing as a process that not only ensures the quality of the product but also helps developers in identifying and resolve issues in computer programs/applications/products.Testing as a process can never be completely identified within software; in fact, it furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behavior of the product that helps to recognize a problem. The key responsibility of testing is to detect software failures so that defects may be discovered and corrected.

Software testing not only ensures that the product functions properly under all conditions but also ensures that the product does not function properly under specific conditions. Testing works as a separate organization from the development team because there are various roles that testing team members must perform so that the information derived from software testing may be used to correct the process by which software is developed. Software as a product has requirements. For example, the users of video game software, the game is completely different from banking software. In such situations when an organization develops or invests in a software product it needs to ensure that the software product will be acceptable to its end users, its target audience, its purchasers, and other stakeholders. Software testing is the process of attempting to make this evaluation.

Software testing as a process is an activity performed by software testers. Software Tester, until the 1980s was used as a general term but later because of its great contribution in software development it was considered as a separate profession.

Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC):

Software Testing Life Cycle explains the entire process that defines various phases of software testing. Software Testing Life Cycle has certain objectives and phases that can also be explained by the following diagram.

    1. Requirement analysis is done to review the requirements and design.
    2. Test planning helps in evaluating what needs to be tested once we have gathered a general idea.
    3. Test designing is done on the basis of the software design and requirement.
    4. Test envoirment helps in replicating the end users envoirment.
    5. Test execution helps in executing test cases, test scripts in the test envoirment.
    6. Test report prepares various reports for all stakeholders.