Software testing does not require coding skills. Any graduate who has attained the pass percentage of basic aptitude test than that person can become a software tester. Having basic computer proficiency is also required to become a software tester.
There exist different types of software testing courses. These software testing courses train learners to explore and investigate software testing techniques, how to identify and target errors, and the techniques of writing error reports. The requirement to become a software tester is not the degree of computer science but it requires logical aptitude and efficient use of exploration techniques.
To become a software tester the Commerce Graduate must possess analytical skills, technical skills, effective communication skills both written and verbal. Software tester must be productive and should possess the attitude to do software testing. Commerce graduates must have the passion to become software testers.
Commerce graduates must have the ability to work with MS Office. MS Office in software testing is used to create error reports. To write error reports software tester must possess the ability to write creative and effective reports. Thus software tester must have the skills to write an effective report. Effective writing skills easily convey error reports to software developers. Software tester should also possess effective verbal communication skills. Many time scenarios open up in which the software tester has to communicate errors to software developers in this case software tester having good verbal communication skills can communicate error report verbally more effectively.
Software tester must have the ability to handle pressure as software testers have to do a lot of testing which has to be managed within a stipulated time period. At the time when the software under development has to be released then the software tester has to work for a long period of time. Thus software must have the ability to work under pressure for a long period of time.
Software tester must be passionate and must be ready to learn new skills. The software tester must be curious to know about new types of errors and explore them to learn more about them, this helps in writing effective error reports. The software tester must also have the attitude to improve the software testing process. With the emergence of new technologies, software testers must have the ability to learn new technology and its associated testing skills and should have the attitude to learn about emerging new types of errors.
Commerce Graduates must have the desire to become software testers and to learn about software testing skills. Software testing is a domain in which skills matter. After working as a software tester for a long period of time commerce degree will not be counted and only experience will be counted.
Software Testing
When software is evaluated to reveal errors it is known as software testing. Software testing is done to find the quality of the developed software. Quality factors such as Software_Reliablity, Software_Usability, Software_Integrity, Software_Security, Software_Capability, Software_Efficiency, Sofwtare_Poratbility, Software_Maintainability, and Sofwtare_Compatibility.
Software testing is a time-consuming and costly process. Software testing targets objectives and rules that are required in software before delivering it to the customer.
Software is developed as per the requirement of the need and requirement of the software. Software testing is done to find up to what percentage of software meets the requirement of the customer. Testing is the process to find up to what percentage required software meet-up with developed software. Software testing is done to find the errors in the software and if found remove them.
Software testing is done because of the following reasons:
- To verify the software and then validate the software:
Software testing is done to verify whether the developed software is working as desired and software testing is done under the desired constraints.
To check whether the constraints meet-up the developed software
Software testing should be done within the budget allocated to develop the software and within the scheduled limits of software development. Software Testing must be done to find whether the developed software has functionalities that are required and these functionalities are working fine without any errors.
All the functionality of the software must be documented. These functionalities are checked by the software testing process and if any errors are arised then these errors are also documented.
Software testing must be deterministic. There must exist a clear plan of software testing and this plan must have the functionalities that should be evaluated and tested for its correctness and reliability.
Principles used in Software Testing
Following is the methodology used in software testing:
Test the functionality in an attempt to fail it:
Software testing is done to reveal errors. Errors are revealed when the software tester tries to make the software fail. Failure of the functionalities is projected in an attempt to make it more robust.
Schedule testing phase with the beginning of the software:
The software testing phase must coordinate with the software development phase. Software testing plans must be developed in such a way that errors are removed in the initial stage and once tested should not be tested again.
Software testing is dependent on context:
Testing is done within the context and it should be valid in different phases of time.
Software testing must have a valid test plan:
Test plans in software testing should have a scope, the test plans should have an objective, the test plans should clearly specify the strategy used in software testing, the test plan should evaluate the risk in software testing and should project it accordingly.
The test plan must have a strategy to meet-up the requirement of the organization that needs the developed software. The test plan must ensure that testing results of the functionalities are clear and precise and should clearly state that the functionality tested has no errors when tested under the specified boundary conditions.
Finding boundary conditions and valid inputs:
Boundary conditions must be used to test the functionality of the software. A boundary condition is a set of constraints that must be satisfied to check the functionalities of the software. In addition to the boundary condition software functionality must be checked for valid input. Developed software must be checked for invalid inputs and conditions which are unexpected.
To find valid inputs software must be tested by different testers belonging to the hierarchy of testers using different testing techniques.
Stop testing:
The terminating condition of the testing must be specified so it is decided when testing must be stopped. Testing must be stopped when it is going to violate constraints such as time and budget allocated to test software.
Techniques Used in Software Testing
There can be two types of software testing:
- Manual/Static Testing
- Automated Testing
Manual /Static Testing: Testing can also be done manually and it is called static testing. Static testing is done in the initial development phase. Static testing is the work of an analyst followed by a developer followed by a testing team.
There exist different techniques to conduct manual testing:
- Walkthrough
- Informal Review
- Technical Review
- Inspection
Automated Testing:
It is also called Dynamic Testing. Dynamic testing is of four types:
- Correctness testing
- Performance testing
- Reliability testing
- Security testing
Software Testing Methods
Methods of software testing are an essential component of a test plan. Software testing methods can be customized and can be tailored as per the requirement of the software. There are four different types of software testing methods:
- Unit Testing
- Integration Testing
- Acceptance/Validation Testing
- System Testing
Unit Testing
Unit is the module having a collection of programming instructions that can be tested. Unit Testing testing is done module-wise. Unit testing is treated as white box testing. Unit testing is done at a low cost and reveals errors that are specific to a particular module. Unit testing projects errors that lead to system crashes. Since unit testing supports module-wise testing it can be used to test modules as and when they are developed. Unit testing supports parallelism, that is a single module may be tested by many testers simultaneously. Unit testing can test hidden conditions that are not easily be reached in a large integrated system.
Following are the techniques used in Unit Testing:
- Functional Testing
- Structural Testing
- Intuitive Testing
Integration Testing:
Integration testing is used to build program structure and find interface errors. Integration testing uses unit testing to build program structure. Integration testing is of two types:
- Top-down Integration testing
- Bottom-up Integration testing
Top-Down Integration Testing
It is used to create a program structure that is incremental in nature. The program structure is developed using depth-first or breadth-first ways. Integration is done using the following steps:
- There exists a module called main control having subordinate modules. These sub-ordinate modules are replaced by using stubs.
- Subordinate stubs are replaced by actual components serially.
- When components are integrated, a test is performed.
- When one test gets completed then the sub is replaced with a real component.
- At last regression testing is done to remove hidden errors.
Bottom-up Integration
Bottom-up integration testing tests atomic modules and then builds program structure. Following steps are used in Bottom-up integration:
Functionalities that perform common tasks are combined together to form clusters.
A script is used to synchronize test cases for input and outputs.
Clusters are tested.
Clusters are combined using a Bottom-up approach.
Validation Testing
Acceptance testing is also known as user acceptance testing or validation testing. This test Validates that the developed software meets customer requirements. Validation testing is done by the user. This test is a Balck box test as the user checks the functionality of the developed software. This testing is done before the developed software is delivered to the system.
Validation testing has two levels:
- System provider level
- End user level
Validation testing is of the following types:
User Acceptance Testing:
It is done before it is delivered to the system.
Alpha Testing & Beta Testing:
Alpha testing is done by users at the site where the software is developed. Beta testing is done by the user but at the user site.
Operational Acceptance Testing:
This testing ensures that all the functionality of the system is developed and is in the place where it has to be.
Contact and Regulation Acceptance Testing:
The developed system is checked to see whether it follows government authority and local authority regulations and laws. The system is tested against the pre-specified criteria.
System Testing
When required software is fully developed then it is checked for its functionality if all the functionality is developed and integrated, then system testing is conducted.
System testing is a type of Black Box testing to check for each and every functionality of the desired software.
Types of system testing include:
Recovery Testing: In this testing developed software is forced to fail using a variety of test cases and conditions and when the software fails it is tested for its recovery procedures.
Security Testing: Testers try to break the software security features. For this, it designs specific test cases.
Graphical user interface testing: This testing is done to check whether the interface of the developed system is as per the analyst analysis. For this, testers use different types of test cases.
Compatibility testing: In this testing is conducted to check software compatibility with the environment in which computing will take place.
Conclusion
Software testing is a systematic process. In software testing, developed software is tested using appropriate test design.
The order in which software testing is organized includes:
- Unit Testing
- Integration Testing
- Validation Testing
- System Testing
Commerce graduate can do software testing if the graduate has passion and desire to do it.
