Software Testing Course And Certification

What Is Software Testing?

Software Testing is defined as the process and activity of checking whether the actual results returned from a software program match the expected output result and to ensure that the software system is error-free. It requires the execution of a Software program or system component to assess one or more properties of interest to find out whether it satisfies the specified requirements or not. In simple words, Software Testing is the process of running a system to identify and locate any errors, gaps or missing requirements that is contrary to the actual requirements.

In the IT industry, large organizations usually have a team whose job is to assess the developed software programs in line with the given requirements. Besides, software developers also carry out Testing which is called Unit Testing.

Testing your software from the initial stages decreases the expense and time spent to rewrite and deliver software that is error-free to be delivered to the client. However, in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), testing could be started right from the Requirements Gathering phase and continued until the software is finally deployed.

Software Testing also depends on the model that is being used for development. For example, in the Waterfall Model, formal testing is carried out in the Testing stage,  but in the Incremental Model, Testing is carried out at the very end of every iteration/increment and the whole application is Tested at the end.

Software Testing can be either done manually or by making use of automated tools. Some people prefer to say that Software testing is a White Box and Black Box Testing.

In an easy to understand way, Software Testing simply means Verification of Application Under Test (AUT).

Features and Characteristics Of Software Testing

Some of the features and characteristics of Software Testing Includes

1. High probability of detecting errors: To detect the most errors, the Tester should understand that software completely and try to find ou the possible ways in which the software can fail.

2. No redundancy: Resources and Testing time are restricted in the software development process. Therefore, it is not helpful to create lots of tests, that have the same expected purpose. Every test should have a different purpose.

3. Choose the most appropriate test: There can be different tests that have the same purpose but due to some limitations for example time and limited resources, only a few of them are used. In such a case, the tests, that are likely to find more errors, should be considered.

4. Moderate: A test is deemed good if it is not too simp1e, nor too complex. Several tests can be combined to form one single test case. However, this can increase its complexity and let many errors go undetected. Hence, all tests should be performed separately.

Benefits Of Software Testing

There are lots of Benefits and Advantages that individuals and organizations get from software testing and some of  them are:

1. Quality: First of all, With proper Testing, the quality of your product would be very high, and that is the most important thing for your customer. For quality, customers will certainly pay more money. what is more important is that with selling constantly high-quality products, you build a strong reputation and brand image for your business, things that are important in the long-term.

2. Satisfied Customer: The core of every business is a happy and satisfied customer. When selling something, you are always aware that everything does not end there. The client can ask for a refund if the product does not satisfy him. If the product is not good, you need to invest more money in adjusting or replacing it, and then you find out that it would be best that quality was established from the beginning.

3. Bringing Profit: Talking of profit, the Testing stage is a huge part of it. A good product does not need much promotion because people will recommend it one to another. Word-of-mouth reference is the best and most valuable advertisement your product can get, and it’s the best advertising tool. offering an extensively tested and quality checked product means having respect for your clients. That will help in keeping old customers and getting lots of new ones.

4. User Experience: User experience is a vital factor when bringing out some products to the market. The software needs to be simple, easily navigable, understandable, and easy to use. If you want your customers to have a great user experience, your software needs to be free from bugs and errors, which can be a huge turnoff for users. Adopting a good software testing service with a professional team will ensure the quality of a product and a good user experience.

5. Business Optimisation: The biggest benefit gained here is that Software Testing brings about business optimization. Business optimization means that you have more satisfied clients, good customer retention, lesser costs of fixing a product, fewer costs of customer service, better quality, and more reliable products, improved reputation and brand image.

Levels of Software Testing

1. Unit Testing: This refers to writing tests that verify if a specific section of code functions properly, it is usually done at the function level. In an Object-oriented environment, this is usually at the Class level, and the smallest unit tests include the constructors and destructors.

These types of tests are usually written by programmers as they write code, in other to ensure that specific functions are working as they are meant to. 

Unit testing is basically a software development process that has to do with a synchronized application of a wide spectrum of error prevention and detection plan in order to reduce the risks, time and costs in software development. It is carried out by the software developer or engineer during the construction sprint of the SDLC(Software Development Life cycle). It aims to eliminate build errors before code is moved to additional testing; this process is intended to raise the quality of the resulting software as well as the efficiency of the overall development process.

2. Integration Testing: This is a type of software testing that is done to verify the interfacing between modules against a software design. It works to expose the defects in interfaces and interaction between integrated modules.

Integration tests usually involve a whole lot of code and it produces paths that are larger than those generated by unit tests.

3. System Testing: This refers to tests that are responsible for testing completely integrated systems to verify and check that the system meets the already set requirements for it. 

Types, Tactics, and Techniques of Testing

1. Installation Testing.

2. Compatibility Testing.

3. Smoke and Sanity Testing.

4. Regression Testing.

5. Acceptance Testing.

6. Alpha Testing.

7. Beta Testing.

8. Functional and Non-Functional Testing.

9. A/B Testing.

10. Development Testing.

11. Internalization and Localization.

12. Security Testing.

13. Accessibility Testing.

14. Concurrent Testing.

15. Type Testing.

Software Testing Course Outline

1. Overview of Testing

• Introduction

• Objectives and Limits of Testing

• The Value Versus Cost of Testing

• Relationship of Testing to the Software Development Life Cycle

• Tester Versus Developer Roles in Software Testing

• Putting Software Testing in Perspective

• Summary

2. The Software Development Life Cycle

• Introduction

• Methodologies and Tools

• The Evolution of System Development Life Cycles

• The Phased Development Methodology

• The Preliminary Investigation Stage

• The Analysis Stage

• The Design Stage

• The Preliminary Construction Stage

• The Final Construction Stage

• The Installation Stage

• Putting Phased Development in Perspective

• Summary

3. Overview of Structured Testing

• Introduction

• Checklist Mentality for Software Testers

• SPRAE — A Generic Structured Testing Approach

• Putting the Overview of Structured Testing in Perspective

4. Testing Strategy

• Introduction

• The Chess Pieces for Testing Strategies

• The Two-Dimensional Testing Strategy Chess Board

• The Three-Dimensional Testing Strategy Chess Board

• Putting the Testing Strategy into Perspective

5. Test Planning

• Introduction

• The Test Plan

• Test Cases

• Writing Your Test Plan and Test Cases in the Real World

• Test Document Standards

• Putting Test Planning in Perspective

6. Static Testing

• Introduction

• Goal of Static Testing

• Candidate Documents for Static Testing

• Static Testing Techniques

• Tracking Defects Detected by Static Testing

• Putting Static Testing in Perspective

7. Functional Testing

• Introduction

• Functional Test Cases from Use Cases

• An Approach to Functional Testing

• An Approach to Regression Testing

• Detailed White Box Testing Techniques

• Detailed Black Box Testing Techniques

• Summary

• Putting Functional Testing in Perspective

8. Structural (Non-functional) Testing

• Introduction

• Interface Testing

• Security Testing

• Installation Testing

• Smoke Test

• Administration Testing

• Backup and Recovery Testing

• Putting Structural Testing in Perspective

• Summary

9. Performance Testing

• Introduction

• Workload Planning Techniques

• Workload Execution Techniques

• Component Performance Testing

• Round Trip Performance

• Putting Performance Testing in Perspective

• Summary

10. The Testing Environment

• Introduction

• Simulations

• Benchmarking

• Testing Environments

• The Goal of a Testing Environment

• Good Testing Environments and Why They Should Be Used

• Bad Testing Environments and Why They Should Be Avoided

• Putting the Testing Environment in Perspective

• Summary

11. Automated Testing Tools

• Introduction

• Brief History of Automated Testing Tools for Software

• Test Tool Record/Playback Paradigm

• Test Tool Touchpoint Paradigms

• Test Tool Execution Paradigm

• The Benefits that Testing Tools Can Provide

• The Liabilities that Testing Tools Can Impose

• Putting Automated Testing Tools in Perspective

• Summary

12. Analyzing and Interpreting Test Results

• Introduction

• Test Cases Attempted Versus Successful

• Defect Discovery Focusing on Individual Defects

• Defect Discovery Focusing on the Defect Backlog

• Defect Discovery Focusing on Clusters of Defects

• Prior Defect Discovery Pattern Usefulness

• The Rayleigh Curve — Gunsights for Defect Discovery Patterns

• More Defect Tracking Metrics

• Putting Test Results in Perspective

• Summary

13. A Full Software Development Lifecycle Testing Project

• Introduction

• Preliminary Investigation Stage

• Analysis Stage

• Design Stage

• Preliminary Construction Stage

• Final Construction Stage

• Implementation Stage

• Post-implementation Stage

• Case Study Closure

14. Testing Complex Applications

• Introduction

• 1-Tier Applications

• 2-Tier Applications

• 3-Tier Applications

• n-Tier Applications

• Putting Testing Complex Applications in Perspective

• Summary

15. Future Directions in Testing

• Introduction

• Future Directions in Software Development That Could Increase the Need for Testing Professionals

• Software Testing Challenges Already Upon Us

• Software Testing Near Future Challenges

• Software Testing Challenges To Come

• Putting Future Testing Directions in Perspective

• Summary

16. Exams and Certification