In this article, we will walk you through what is software testing in detail, why is it important to be done before the software goes live in production, how to become a software or program tester with no experience, and the different types of roles in software testing.
What is Software Testing or What is Testing in Software
Software testing is an important part of the software development life cycle that can help ensure that software is of high quality and meets customer requirements. Before a software goes live in production, it must be tested to ensure that it works as per the given requirements.
In order to do this, testers must understand what software testing is and why it is important. Testing helps avoid potential issues before they become problems. It helps to prevent bugs, crashes, and security breaches. Software testing is important because it affects the reliability and function of the software. It also allows for future updates and fixes to be made in a timely manner. Finally, proper testing can help improve the overall quality of a software product.
Software testing is the process of verifying that a software program or application functions as expected. Software testers use a variety of methods to test software mainly manual testing and automated testing. Manual testing is the most common type of software testing and involves testers manually executing test cases. Automated testing is used to automate the execution of test cases.
Why Testing is so Important for a Software
Why should we need to test the application before it goes live? Let’s have an example to understand better what is software testing and why it is important in SDLC. Suppose you purchase a mobile phone that suits best your budget and requirements. Once you start using this mobile, unfortunately, some features are not working as per your expectation. So as a customer you will start frustrated with this because you spent a lot of money. You will start thinking that you have wasted your money and may never buy or suggest any product from that company again.
Why did this happen? This happened because before putting this product into the market, the company has not done proper testing to check whether all features are working properly or not, which lead to this particular issue that caused the failure of the product.
If testing is not done properly and there are bugs in the application it can lead to money or even human loss. It can be very expensive and even too dangerous. For example, in 1994, China Airlines Airbus A300 crashed and 264 people were killed. It crashed because there was a software defect in the system. In 1996 due to a malfunction, accounts of the many customers were credited with a total of 920 million US dollars.
To avoid this kind of drawback, you should always deliver a quality product to the customer. If you want to deliver a quality product to the market or customer, you must need to perform proper testing.
Software testing is so important. It helps us to save money in the long run, make the product trustworthy from a security point of view, deliver the quality product to the customer and give the best customer satisfaction.
How to Perform Software Testing
In software testing, two main things we need to focus on are what to test and how to test. First thing is to learn the domain and application and once we have learned then we need to know how to test.
We do a lot of activities to check whether all the functionalities of the software are working fine or not according to the customer requirements. Testing is an activity to detect and identify the defects in the software. We try to identify if there is any mismatch between expected results and actual results. This mismatch is called a defect or bug.
The main intention of the software tester is to find as many defects in the application and to deliver a quality product to the customer.
If any defect is found, we report to the development team that the functionality is not working fine or it is not as expected then the development team will fix that issue and deploy it again for testers to retest the application.
There are a lot of activities or stages involved in software testing like analyzing the customer requirements, test planning, writing test cases, executing test cases manually or by automation, reporting defects, re-testing, test closure, and test matrices to measure the performance, etc. All of these we will be discussing in detail in the coming sessions.
This testing is done by individuals who are not involved in the development of the software and who use it to test its functionality. Testing can uncover problems with the design or implementation of a software application, as well as errors in how it functions. By identifying these problems early on in the development process, they can be corrected before they cause serious problems for users.
Software Testing can be performed manually or can be performed using some automation tools.
How to Become a Software Tester
The software testing industry is growing rapidly, and there is a great demand for qualified testers. If you are interested in getting started in software testing, here are some tips to help you get started in how to become a software tester.
First, you should learn about the basics of software testing, what is software testing, its functional and non-functional types and techniques, how to perform, etc. There are many resources available online that can teach you the basics of testing methods, tools, and techniques. This website is one of the great sources to learn about what is software testing and how to become a software testing engineer.
Next, you should find a good software testing tutorial or course to help you learn more in-depth about the industry on YouTube, Linda, Udemy, etc. There are many reputable online and offline schools that offer software testing courses as well.
Once you have learned the basics, it is important to start practicing your skills. You can do this by testing applications that you use every day, or by participating in online forums or communities where you can share your experiences and ask questions.
In today’s highly competitive software industry, the best way to make a name for yourself and to get a good job is to start your career by joining a good software house as an internee. At this stage, you will be able to learn a lot about the industry and about different software development methodologies. You will also get to know about the latest tools and technologies being used in the industry.
This is the best way to learn and improve your skills while also making money. As you gain experience, you can become more valuable to companies that need testing services.
If you are having relevant qualifications in computer science it is a plus point to avail job as a quality assurance engineer in any reputed software house in your area or globally. If you are not having relevant qualifications still you have good chances to work as a software testing engineer on different platforms l like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, etc.
What are the differences between QC, QA, and QE in Software Testing
There are different types of job careers in software testing you can earn by enhancing your skills. The three most common are QC, QA, and QE. Each has a specific role in the software development process.
Quality Controller (QC) in Software Testing
QC stands for Quality Controller. QC’s main responsibility is to ensure that the software meets the required standards before it is released to the end-user. They do this by reviewing the product for defects and verifying that all requirements have been met. QC engineer performs actual testing activities like providing different types of inputs and capturing the outputs and checking whether the application is working or not according to the customer’s requirements. QA will define the process and QC will implement the process. QC performs activities to detect the defects. QC is involved only during the testing phase of the SDLC. They will write test cases, execute test cases, report the defects and perform re-testing.
QCs are actually manual testers who will understand the requirements clearly then they will create good test cases and execute them to find maximum defects. Test cases are nothing, but step-by-step actions on the application testers perform.
Executing test cases means performing these step-by-step actions as per test cases’ scripts. QC Testers will see and compare the actual output and expected output. If these two outputs do not match, they will define it as a defect and will report it to the developers.
Developers will fix this issue and deploy the software again and manual testers or QC will again do the re-testing. Finally, QCs need to close the defect if it is fixed. QCs verify whether the behavior of the application is as intended as per the customer’s requirements.
Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer in Software Testing
QA stands for Quality Assurance. This is a set of process-oriented activities that belongs to the complete processes of software testing. QA is to build the processes and define the processes. On each step of SDLC, any type of process related to the testing is done by the QA engineers.
QC engineers or manual testers can be promoted to QA engineers after three to four years of experience depending on their skill sets covering the whole process of STLC and SDLC. All testing managers and team leaders are said to be QA.
QA’s main intention is to prevent the defect. QA engineers perform different activities like setting up the testing environments, analyzing the requirements, reviewing, walkthroughs and inspecting the documents, meeting with all the stakeholders, making testing plans, test closure, and making different matrices to evaluate the testing performance, etc. QA engineer is involved throughout the development process.
Quality Engineer (QE) in Software Testing
QE stands for Quality Engineering. QE’s role is to manage and optimize the quality of the software throughout the entire development process.
QE stands for Quality Engineering. All types of automation testers come in this branch. As an automation tester, you need to write automation scripts using manual test cases. You may need to choose the test cases from manual test cases and then automate those test cases. Once you have automated those test cases, you can execute the same test cases, again and again, multiple times to identify if the software is running smoothly.