Software Testing Social Network

Testing a software application or product is vital to the success of the system. System testing is a process in which a logical assumption is made that the system is working as per the requirement and all features are working correctly. Test cases are developed which are tested by the testing team to check the accuracy of the system. Inadequate testing may lead to errors which may not be visible even months after the system has gone live. The errors create a time lag between the cause and the appearance of the problem. The errors also create an impact on the files and records within the system. A small error may explode into a critical problem after the system has gone live.

There are different test data that are used in system testing. System testing has different phases which include program testing, string testing, system testing, system documentation and user acceptance testing. Now let us see what each of these phases exactly mean. The program is the logical part of the system. It is developed in a programming language and contains the logic of the system. During the program testing phase, the testing team tests whether the program code is working satisfactorily and there are no errors during the compilation of the program. There are two types of checks that are carried out during program testing. The first one is syntax check and the second is logic check. If both the syntax and the logic works correctly then the system should give the desired results.

String testing tests each of the individual programs of the application. The tests are done to conform if a single program is related to the other programs correctly. It should be noted that every program with the entire project has an impact on the system. Hence, it is important to check out the accuracy of each program.

System testing tests the entire program and tries to discover bugs which were not discovered in the earlier tests. System testing enforces system failure by stretching the system limits as it would happen in a live scenario.

After the system testing phase is over, the test results and all design and test documents should be documented and entered into the system library for future reference. Documentation is a critical process because different resources work on a project during different times. People leave the company and new people walk into their shoes. If documentation is not done clearly, the new resources will be at a loss to understand the design and the test results.

User Acceptance testing is done by the actual users who will be using the system. It is more of a functionality testing where users check if all the features of the system are working properly. Till the time, user acceptance results dont come the project is not considered as complete. The full and final payment for the project comes in after the client ratifies the system.

As we see testing is as important as development in the software development lifecycle. Hence, it is advisable to outsource testing requirements to an independent testing company.