functional testing Archives

Functional testing – Full guide for functional testing

Posted on February 13, 2023February 13, 2023 by BIanca

In this article, we will explore the subject of Functional Testing, what it is, and why it is important to perform it in any software project. We will cover some subjects, like what methods of functional testing are there, what are the benefits of it and we will share some examples of functional testing.

But first, let’s understand what functional testing means:

What is Functional Testing?

A form of software testing known as FUNCTIONAL TESTING verifies a software system against functional specifications and requirements. Each function of the software program is tested using functional tests, which involve supplying the right input and comparing the output to the functional requirements.

Functional testing mostly includes “black box” testing and is unconcerned with the application’s source code. This testing examines the Application Under Test’s User Interface, APIs, Database, Security, Client/Server connection, and other functionalities. Testing can be carried out manually or automatically.

What are the 3 types of Functional Testing?

3 major types of functional testing are as follows:

Unit Testing
Integration Testing
Smoke Testing

What types of Functional Testing are there?

You can see a list of the many functional testing categories below.

Unit Testing

Performed early in the development process, assisting in discovering flaws at this point. This helps avoid incurring greater repair costs for problems later in the STLC.

Methods employed include:

Branch Coverage: Testing covers each of the logical connections and outcomes (True or False). For instance, all branches of the path are If and Then conditions in a code If-Then-Else sentence.
Statement Coverage: When testing, each statement in the function or module must be visited at least once.
Boundary Value Analysis: The test case is then performed utilizing all the prepared datasets. The test data is created for the boundary values as well as for the values that fall just before and just after the boundary value. Days of Month, for instance, may accept values from 1 to 31. As a result, the test case will also be examined for the invalid conditions of 0 and 32 in addition to the legal boundary values of 1 and 31.
Decision Coverage: All selection routes are checked during the execution of Control Structures such as “Do-While” or “Case statement.”

Integration Testing

The software consists of two or more unit-tested components that are combined and tested to ensure that their intended interactions occur.

Seen between units, the transmission of instructions, data, DB calls, API calls, and Micro-services processing occurs. No unexpected behavior has been noticed throughout this integration.

Interface Testing

The accuracy of data interchange, data transmission, messages, calls, and instructions between two major parts is evaluated as part of integration testing. Through interface testing, the application’s communication with a database, web services, APIs, or any other external component is evaluated.

System Testing

The system as a whole is tested for compliance and accuracy against the specified requirements after combining all of its components. The integrated system is verified using a Black-Box testing approach.

System testing is carried out in a setting that is close to real life and by real-life usage.

Regression Testing

When a design deviates from an established workflow due to a technology or complete redesign, UX regression, or a step back in the quality or usability of an application’s or website’s user experience, can happen.

Smoke Testing

Smoke Testing is done on the application after development, when a new build is published, to make sure that all end-to-end major functionality functions. It is typically performed on early, unstable versions of an application that were produced during development.

Any important functionality that is found to be broken during testing results in the rejection of that build. The issues must be fixed, and a fresh build must be made for additional testing.

Sanity Testing

Sanity tests are chosen from the suite of Regression Tests to cover the main features of the application. For a somewhat stable application, developers do sanity testing on the fresh release.

An application is prepared for the following level of testing after it properly passes the Sanity Testing.

Acceptance Testing

The end-acceptability users of the application are tested during acceptance testing. The purpose of this testing is to confirm that the produced system satisfies all of the criteria that were established during the development of the business requirements.

It is carried out just after the System Testing and before the program is finally released into the actual world.

Some examples of functional testing

User Login Testing: This tests the user login functionality, including valid and invalid login scenarios.
Registration Testing: This tests the user registration functionality, including validation of mandatory fields, password strength, and email verification.
Payment Gateway Testing: This tests the functionality of the payment gateway, including successful and unsuccessful transactions, handling of various types of cards, and security of sensitive information.
Search Testing: This tests the search functionality of a website or application, including search results accuracy and performance under different conditions.
Shopping Cart Testing: This tests the functionality of a shopping cart, including adding and removing items, updating quantity, and calculating the total cost.
Order Placement Testing: This tests the functionality of placing an order, including shipping options, billing information, and confirmation of the order.
Email Testing: This tests the functionality of sending and receiving emails, including attachments, spam protection, and email formatting.
Data Integrity Testing: This tests the accuracy and consistency of data, including insertion, update, and deletion of data.

These are just a few examples of functional testing, but the specific tests you would perform would depend on the requirements and functionality of the software being tested.

Website Functional Testing?

A website’s functionality is tested using a variety of testing criteria, including user interface, APIs, database, security, client and server, and fundamental website capabilities. It is quite simple to do both manual and automated functional testing with functional testing. It is done to test how well each feature on the website works.

What methods of Functional Testing are there?

Functional testing is a type of software testing that focuses on verifying that a software system meets its specified requirements and works as intended. There are several methods of functional testing, including:

Unit Testing: This involves testing individual components or functions of the software to ensure they work as expected.
Integration Testing: This involves testing how different components of the software work together.
System Testing: This involves testing the entire software system as a whole to ensure it meets all the requirements and works as intended.
End-to-end Testing: This involves testing the software system from start to finish, simulating real-world scenarios, and checking for errors.
Acceptance Testing: This involves testing the software system to determine if it is ready for deployment and meets the expectations of the end user.
Regression Testing: This involves retesting the software after making changes or updates to ensure that the changes did not cause any unintended consequences.
Smoke Testing: This is a quick and basic test that is performed to determine if the software is stable enough to proceed with more in-depth testing.

Each of these testing methods has its specific objectives, techniques, and tools. The choice of method depends on the nature of the software being tested, the requirements, and the resources available.

Why Functional Testing should be a priority?

Functional testing is a crucial aspect of software development because it helps ensure that a software application or system functions as intended and meets the needs of its users.

It should be a priority because it helps to ensure the quality and reliability of software, meet user needs, comply with requirements, and ultimately save time and resources.

10 benefits of Functional Testing

Here are 10 benefits of using functional testing:

Improved software quality: Functional testing helps to uncover defects and ensure that the software meets its requirements and works as intended.
Better user experience: Testing the functionality of the software, it becomes possible to identify and address any issues that might negatively affect the user experience.
Increased reliability: Functional testing helps to increase the reliability of the software by verifying that it behaves correctly under different conditions and inputs.
Reduced downtime: Identifying and fixing defects early in the development process, it becomes possible to reduce downtime and minimize the impact of software failures.
Increased efficiency: Functional testing helps to automate and streamline the testing process, resulting in increased efficiency and reduced manual effort.
Improved user confidence: Conducting functional testing, it becomes possible to demonstrate to users and stakeholders that the software is robust and reliable, which helps to build confidence in the product.
Improved product reputation: Delivering high-quality software, it becomes possible to improve the reputation of the product and the company that produced it.
Increased customer satisfaction: Ensuring that the software works as intended and meets the needs of users, it becomes possible to increase customer satisfaction and foster long-term customer loyalty.
Better risk management: Identifying and addressing potential issues early in the development process, it becomes possible to mitigate risks and prevent costly problems down the line.
Improved development process: Incorporating functional testing into the development process, it becomes possible to continuously improve the software and refine the development process, leading to better results in the long run.

Functional testing for Mobile?

User interaction and transaction testing are typically included in the functional testing of mobile applications. Important considerations for this kind of testing include:

The type of application is determined by its operational capabilities (banking, gaming industry, social networks, and education).
The intended market (user, company, educational environment).
The method by which the application is distributed (for example, App Store, Google Play, or direct distribution).

Functional testing for Desktop?

Functional testing for desktop applications involves testing the application’s features and functionality to ensure that it behaves as expected. The purpose of functional testing is to validate that the software meets the specified requirements and functions correctly. This type of testing usually involves the following steps:

Requirements gathering: This step involves understanding the requirements of the application, including the features and functions that need to be tested.
Test case creation: This step involves creating a set of test cases that will be used to test the application’s functionality. The test cases should cover all the functions and features of the application.
Test execution: This step involves executing the test cases on the application and verifying that it behaves as expected. Any errors or defects found during testing should be documented.
Test result analysis: This step involves analyzing the results of the tests and determining if the application meets the specified requirements. If any errors or defects are found, they should be fixed and the tests should be rerun to confirm that they are now working as expected.
Final release: This step involves releasing the final version of the application to the users after it has passed all the functional tests.

What are some Functional Testing interview questions?

Functional testing is the process of evaluating an application in light of the specifications in the requirements document, as the name implies.

Functional testing may be done manually or automatically, but both methods include evaluating the application by giving a set of inputs and identifying or confirming the result/output by contrasting the actual result with the intended result.

Most common interview questions for functional testing

What do you mean when you say “functional testing”?
What essential procedures are covered by functional testing?
What makes functional testing different from non-functional testing?
What distinguishes “Build” from “Release”?
What various test techniques are employed in functional testing?

How to do Functional Testing?

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do functional testing:

Recognize the Functional Requirements;
In accordance with the requirements, determine the test input or test data;
Calculate the anticipated results using the chosen test input values;
Carry out test cases;
Compare the predicted and actual results.

What are some business benefits of Functional Testing?

To release a product that your end consumers would like, it is essential to test your company’s software. Functional and non-functional testing will make sure that your software is risk-free, secure, user-friendly, and simple to upgrade.

Additionally, it lowers the possibility that a significant software error may seriously harm your company.

There are several examples of how software errors have hampered corporate operations in the real world. Nissan removed nearly 1 million vehicles from the market in 2017 because the airbag sensory detectors’ software had malfunctioned.

Due to an unexpected breakdown of its POS (Point of Sale) systems, Starbucks famously had to close up to 60% of its outlets. Baristas were compelled to give away thousands of free beverages, much to the surprise (and joy) of consumers, costing the business millions of dollars in lost revenue.

How to do Functional Testing for a web application?

Any website has to go through testing before going live. Most experienced testers adhere to a set process since it aids in covering all angles.

Start the initial steps of functional identification;
Create or create the input data by the requirements;
Determine the requirements for the output-keeping function;
Start running the test case;
Examine the findings by contrasting them with what was anticipated.

How to do Functional Testing for a mobile application?

Any mobile app testing process must include mobile functional testing, which verifies that the program functions as it should. check for compliance with design and required standards.

Work together on the testing requirements

That is crucial. There can be no testing strategy without a clear understanding of what needs to be tested. Additionally, there should be no testing without a test strategy.

Although it might seem obvious, it is not the best practice to determine the needs in a vacuum. Which user instructions, integrations, procedures, and displays will be the most crucial will be known by the development team (and the Operations team in a DevOps situation). You may then begin to work on the test plan as a result of that collaboration.

Plan your tests and categorize them according to the importance

We occasionally observe this stage being completely skipped, which is unexpected and concerning. The test plan is not just a dull document where you list the things you already know.

It is a strategy for determining what you will carry out. Instead of writing down the exam strategy, the difficult part is usually the mental gymnastics that go into it.

However, in a nutshell, a best practice testing strategy should include the goals and parameters of the test, the resources needed for the test (including personnel, software, and hardware), as well as a test timeline.

Prioritize and rank the test cases that will be created as part of the strategy as well. Not all tests are equally important to one another.

Identify the automatable tasks

This might equally well be regarded as a component of the test plan creation. But it requires its section since it is so vital to testing and development techniques for mobile apps. Automate as much as you can, to put it simply.

Testing automation shortens the time to market while enhancing software quality. But be wise in your automation choices. This implies that you shouldn’t automate tasks that a manual tester might complete more affordably or efficiently.

Run your tests in actual user environments

More than any other sort of development, mobile app development requires that you discover a means to test in actual user settings. The consequences of losing data coverage or receiving an SMS are not something that web developers need to worry about, but you do.

Naturally, this increases the number of test instances, but that is the nature of mobile. Returning to the earlier discussion about test automation, having it in place will be quite beneficial as you begin to consider the functional requirements under various app scenarios.

Make it simple to submit your findings

The administration of outcomes ought to be one of the simpler aspects of the process, in principle. Although a lot of this relies on the test management systems you choose.

Abstraction and display of test results will be relatively simple with a modern test management system. It will be completed for you, and stakeholders will always have access to a dashboard.

In conclusion, functional testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality and reliability of a software product. By thoroughly testing all the functions and features, the development team can identify and fix any issues before the product is released to the market.

This not only helps to enhance the user experience but also reduces the risk of defects and improves the overall performance of the software. Effective functional testing requires a well-defined testing strategy, comprehensive test cases, and robust testing tools and techniques.

By following these best practices, organizations can deliver high-quality software products that meet the needs and expectations of their users.

You can also watch this tutorial about Functional Testing

What is functional testing in QA

Posted on August 25, 2022October 28, 2022 by BIanca

Every project creates a document listing functional or necessity specifications during the planning phase. It is a list of what the app/system/website is meant to do from the user’s point of view. In this article, we will talk about functional testing in QA, types, and how to perform one.

What is functional testing in QA?

Functional testing is a type of black-box testing that you can use to ensure that an application’s or system’s functionality is as intended.

You can perform it to ensure that an application’s functionality is complete.

There must be a standard that describes what is and is not proper behavior.

A functional or necessity specification specifies this. It is a document that specifies what a user can do so that he can establish the application’s or system’s compliance with it.

Functional Testing Types

You can use many functional testing categories depending on the situation.

Unit Testing

Unit testing is typically performed by a developer who writes various code units that may or may not be related to achieving specific functionality.

Typically, this involves writing unit tests that call the methods for each unit and confirm them when you carry out the necessary parameters and the return value is as anticipated.

Sanity Testing

Testing to make sure that all of the application’s/major systems and critical functionalities are working properly. This is usually done following a smoke test.

Smoke Testing

After each build release, you can perform testing to ensure the build’s stability. Build verification testing is another name for it.

Regression Testing

If you need to modify any component, module, or function, you must ensure that the entire system works properly after the changes. Regression testing is the process of testing the entire system after such adjustments.

Integration Testing

After integrating the modules, you must determine whether the combined modules function properly. This is integration testing. This type of testing requires fewer resources than unit testing.

Beta Testing

A small number of actual users or clients conduct it in a real-world user environment to ensure that the software is error-free and runs fine. You can make some modifications to improve the software after gathering constructive criticism and feedback from those users.

Usability testing

Usability testing is the process of determining how user-friendly an app is. It entails determining how functional or user-friendly the app is. It is determined whether or not any user can use your software without getting tangled.

Functional System Testing

System Testing

Is a type of testing that you can carry out on an entire system to ensure that it functions as anticipated after you incorporated all modules or elements.

End-to-end Testing

End-to-end testing refers to the functional testing of the entire software system. It refers to the process of testing the entire software system.

End-to-end tests require fewer resources than integration tests.

The process

This testing procedure consists of three major steps:

Create test data
Execute test cases
Comparing the actual and expected results

The involved steps

The following are the various stages required in this testing:

→Establish the functionality

The first step is to establish the functionality of the product that must you must test. It includes testing the basic functionality, error conditions, and messages, as well as usability testing, which determines if the product is user-friendly or not.

→Generate the input data

The next step is to generate the input data for the specifications to test the functionality.

→Determined result

The outcome of the functionality under test is eventually determined based on the requirement.

→Comparing the actual and expected results

You can compare actual output and desired outputs to establish the extent to which functionality is functioning as expected.

How to approach functional testing in QA

It is divided into four sections:

Test summary
Pre-requisites
Test Steps and
Expected results.

Trying to write every type of test is not only inconceivable but also time-consuming and costly.

Generally, we would want to find as many bugs as possible while avoiding any escapes from existing tests. As a result, the QA must employ optimization techniques and plan their approach to testing.

Functional Test Automation

Manual effort can be lowered, saved time, bug slippage prevented, and efficiency can be improved with automation.

However, it is impossible to automate everything. This testing can be automated, but the user must create test cases for the automation to operate. It’s critical to select the right test cases to automate, as well as a suitable tool.

The disadvantage of automating functional cases is that if the number of test cases is large and must be regressed repeatedly, the developer may have difficulty ready to commit changes to the code.

When doing defect escape analysis, the most common and persistent cause of escapes appears to be a lack of test coverage in a specific function.

Aspects for Automation

→Choose the appropriate Automation Tool

There are numerous tools available on the market; selecting an automation tool is a difficult challenge! You could, even so, create a list of specifications from which you can choose which automation tool to use.

Some of the best functional test tools are listed below:

Selenium
QTP
Junit
Loadrunner
SoapUI
TestComplete

→Select the appropriate test cases to automate

If you want to make the most of automation, you must be selective about the tests you choose to automate.

You can automate tests that must be run repeatedly, with different types of data, with errors, and so on.

→Automation Specialists

Each team member has a unique set of expertise, technical skills, interests, and bandwidth to support automation. Some people may be better at performing manual tests, while others may be familiar with scripting and automation tools.

In scenarios like this, it’s a good idea to conduct an audit of the entire team and devote some members solely to automation.

→Data-Driven Tests

Automated test cases require various sets of data must be well written to be reused.

As to the data source, generating well-structured automation data simplifies framework maintenance and allows established test scripts to be utilized to their maximum potential.

→Changes to the user interface must not break tests

The test cases you write with the chosen tool must be adaptable to potential Updates. As a result, it’s essential to recognize the tool’s shortcomings ahead of time and write test cases so that UI changes require only minor changes.

→Regular Testing

Once you’ve created a basic automation test bucket, plan on running it more frequently.

Advantages of functional testing in QA

This testing replicates or is a replica of the actual system, — in other words, it is a replica of the product in the live environment. Testing is centered on requirements based on customer utilization, such as system specifications, operating systems, browsers, and so on.

It makes sure that a high-quality product is delivered that fulfills the customer’s requirements and that the customer is pleased with the outcome.

It guarantees the delivery of a bug-free product with all functionalities functioning as expected by the customer.

Conclusion

Functional testing in QA is an essential testing process because it validates a product’s functionality, as this is the most essential part of any product or application.

Types of software testing – The ABCs of Software Testing

Posted on August 17, 2022October 28, 2022 by BIanca

There are varied types of software testing, some of which are fully operational and some of which are non-functional. Each has its own set of qualities, abilities, benefits, and downsides.

The ABCs of software testing is a guide for those new to the field of software testing.

Types of Software Testing

Acceptance Testing

This is a test that the customer is conducting to determine if to acknowledge the system/software in compliance with the requirements and end-user requires. Is classified into four types:

Contract Acceptance Testing
Regulation Acceptance Testing
Operational Testing
Alpha Testing and Beta Testing

Beta Testing

Beta testing is a type of acceptance test that takes place at a location other than the developer’s testing environment and adheres to the rules applied outside of the development organization. This is the final test before actually releasing the software to the market, normally to a small number of end-users.

Component Testing

Component testing is a type of testing that apply to specific hardware or software parts. Regarding unit testing, the development team is responsible for component testing. The primary goal of component testing is to validate the system’s input and output behavior.

Dynamic Testing

The dynamic behavior of a code is tested during dynamic testing.

Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing is a testing method in which testers interactively design and execute tests based on experience, investigation of the given test, and preceding test results. The various types of exploratory testing are as follows:

Performed random exploratory testing.
Exploratory testing based on scenarios.
Exploratory testing is based on strategy.

Functional Testing

You can use Functional testing to determine if a component or system meets specific functional specifications. The ultimate objective of functional tests is to make sure that the project works as expected and meets the expectations of the consumer.

GUI Testing

You can do GUI testing by interacting with the software under test via the GUI. The primary goal of GUI testing is to ensure that software features and functionality meet specifications by inspecting screens, buttons, and menus.

Happy Path Testing

Happy path testing is used to effectively test an application on a positive flow and therefore does not look for negative or error circumstances. Is comparable to smoke testing and sanity testing.

Integration Testing

Integration testing concentrates on the interaction of components or systems. Usually, you can do it after unit testing and before system testing.

Junit Testing

Junit is a Java unit testing framework that is open source. It is an open-source framework that is the best way to perform regression testing.

Keyword Driven Testing

Keyword-driven testing is a scripting method in which test scripts include high-level keywords as well as aiding files containing reduced scripts that enforce those keywords. Action word-based testing is another name for keyword-driven testing.

Load Testing

Load testing is a type of testing process that you can use to evaluate the behavior of a system or component under load variations, typically between minimal, typical, and maximum utilization.

Monkey Testing

A tester performs monkey testing by providing spontaneous inputs. There are no scripted test cases, and it is not important to understand the entire system’s functionality. Typically, you can test this automatically, with the user entering invalid inputs and observing the behavior.

Non-Functional Testing

You can use Non-functional testing to determine whether a component or system meets non-functional specifications. There are seven different kinds:

Upgrade and Installation Testing
Security Testing
Recovery Testing
Volume Testing
Load Testing
Stress Testing
Performance Testing

Operational Acceptance Testing

Operational acceptance testing is a type of acceptance testing used to ascertain whether or not operations/system administration personnel can recognize a system. It’s also known as an operational readiness test (ORT) or an operational test. After you complete user acceptance testing, you can perform operational acceptance testing.

Performance Testing

Performance testing determines a component’s or system’s performance efficiency. Use It to evaluate a system’s speed, reliability, application, and robustness.

Qualification Testing

Qualification testing is used to validate the design and act as a guideline for successive acceptance tests.

Regression Testing

Regression testing is a type of software testing that detects whether deficiencies have been presented or discovered in previously unaffected aspects of the software.

Systems Testing

System testing is a type of testing that aims to determine whether a system as a whole face the stated requirements.

Top-Down Integration Testing

Top-down integration testing simulates the behavior of lower-level components that you have yet to integrate. It is also referred to as iterative integration testing, and it employs stubs as a backup option for testing purposes.

Usability Testing

Use Usability testing to assess user-friendliness. It determines whether or not a user can easily know the application. The primary benefit of usability testing is determining how much time you need to complete tasks.

Vulnerability Testing

Vulnerability testing entails identifying flaws in software, hardware, and networks. It is also known as a vulnerability assessment, and it aids in the identification of threats.

White Box Testing

White box testing is based on an examination of the component’s or system’s inner structure.

Terms used when code becomes visible to testers:

Open Box Testing
Transparent Box Testing
Clear Box Testing
Glass Box Testing
Code-Based Testing

XP Testing

Is used to validate Extreme Programming applications to generate quality software. XP is a framework for Agile software development.

Yellow Box Testing

Yellow box testing is used to validate the alert message. It can be used to determine whether the system is properly generating alert messages.

Zombie Testing

Zombie testing is a repetitive test execution utilizing predefined patterns and methods that turns testers into “zombie testers.” This type of testing is more concerned with documenting and reporting than with bug tracking.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a lot to consider when it comes to types of software testing. However, by following the ABCs of software testing, you can be sure that you are doing everything possible to ensure the quality of your software.