Topic 4: Software Testing Levels and Types

Introduction
Levels of testing include different methodologies that can be used while conducting software
testing. The main levels of software testing are −
 Functional Testing
 Non-functional Testing
1. Functional Testing
This is a type of black-box testing that is based on the specifications of the software that is to be
tested. The application is tested by providing input and then the results are examined that need to
conform to the functionality it was intended for. Functional testing of a software is conducted on
a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirements.
There are five steps that are involved while testing an application for functionality.
i. The determination of the functionality that the intended application is meant to perform.
ii. The creation of test data based on the specifications of the application.
iii. The output based on the test data and the specifications of the application.
iv. The writing of test scenarios and the execution of test cases.
v. The comparison of actual and expected results based on the executed test cases.
An effective testing practice will see the above steps applied to the testing policies of every
organization and hence it will make sure that the organization maintains the strictest of standards
when it comes to software quality.

i. Unit Testing
This type of testing is performed by developers before the setup is handed over to the testing team
to formally execute the test cases. Unit testing is performed by the respective developers on the
individual units of source code assigned areas. The developers use test data that is different from
the test data of the quality assurance team.
The goal of unit testing is to isolate each part of the program and show that individual parts are
correct in terms of requirements and functionality.
Limitations of Unit Testing
Testing cannot catch each and every bug in an application. It is impossible to evaluate every
execution path in every software application. The same is the case with unit testing.
There is a limit to the number of scenarios and test data that a developer can use to verify a source
code. After having exhausted all the options, there is no choice but to stop unit testing and merge
the code segment with other units.

ii. Integration Testing

Integration testing is defined as the testing of combined parts of an application to determine if they
function correctly. Integration testing can be done in two ways: Bottom-up integration testing and
Top-down integration testing.
 Bottom-up integration
This testing begins with unit testing, followed by tests of progressively higher-level combinations
of units called modules or builds.
 Top-down integration
In this testing, the highest-level modules are tested first and progressively, lower-level modules
are tested thereafter.
In a comprehensive software development environment, bottom-up testing is usually done first,
followed by top-down testing. The process concludes with multiple tests of the complete
application, preferably in scenarios designed to mimic actual situations.

iii. System Testing

System testing tests the system as a whole. Once all the components are integrated, the application
as a whole is tested rigorously to see that it meets the specified Quality Standards. This type of
testing is performed by a specialized testing team.
System testing is important because of the following reasons −
 System testing is the first step in the Software Development Life Cycle, where the
application is tested as a whole.
 The application is tested thoroughly to verify that it meets the functional and technical
specifications.
 The application is tested in an environment that is very close to the production environment
where the application will be deployed.
 System testing enables us to test, verify, and validate both the business requirements as
well as the application architecture.
iv. Regression Testing
Whenever a change in a software application is made, it is quite possible that other areas within
the application have been affected by this change. Regression testing is performed to verify that a
fixed bug hasn't resulted in another functionality or business rule violation. The intent of regression
testing is to ensure that a change, such as a bug fix should not result in another fault being
uncovered in the application.
Regression testing is important because of the following reasons −
 Minimize the gaps in testing when an application with changes made has to be tested.
 Testing the new changes to verify that the changes made did not affect any other area of
the application.
 Mitigates risks when regression testing is performed on the application.
 Test coverage is increased without compromising timelines.
 Increase speed to market the product.

v. Acceptance Testing
This is arguably the most important type of testing, as it is conducted by the Quality Assurance
Team who will gauge whether the application meets the intended specifications and satisfies the
client’s requirement. The QA team will have a set of pre-written scenarios and test cases that will
be used to test the application.
More ideas will be shared about the application and more tests can be performed on it to gauge its
accuracy and the reasons why the project was initiated. Acceptance tests are not only intended to
point out simple spelling mistakes, cosmetic errors, or interface gaps, but also to point out any
bugs in the application that will result in system crashes or major errors in the application.
By performing acceptance tests on an application, the testing team will reduce how the application
will perform in production. There are also legal and contractual requirements for acceptance of the
system.

vi. Alpha Testing

This test is the first stage of testing and will be performed amongst the teams (developer and QA
teams). Unit testing, integration testing and system testing when combined together is known as
alpha testing. During this phase, the following aspects will be tested in the application −
 Spelling Mistakes
 Broken Links
 Cloudy Directions
 The Application will be tested on machines with the lowest specification to test loading
times and any latency problems.

vii. Beta Testing

This test is performed after alpha testing has been successfully performed. In beta testing, a sample
of the intended audience tests the application. Beta testing is also known as pre-release testing.
Beta test versions of software are ideally distributed to a wide audience on the Web, partly to give
the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release. In this phase,
the audience will be testing the following −
 Users will install, run the application and send their feedback to the project team.
 Typographical errors, confusing application flow, and even crashes.
 Getting the feedback, the project team can fix the problems before releasing the software
to the actual users.
 The more issues you fix that solve real user problems, the higher the quality of your
application will be.
 Having a higher-quality application when you release it to the general public will increase
customer satisfaction.

2. Non-Functional Testing
This section is based upon testing an application from its non-functional attributes. Non-functional
testing involves testing a software from the requirements which are nonfunctional in nature but
important such as performance, security, user interface, etc.
Some of the important and commonly used non-functional testing types are discussed below.
i. Performance Testing
It is mostly used to identify any bottlenecks or performance issues rather than finding bugs in a
software. There are different causes that contribute in lowering the performance of a software −
 Network delay
 Client-side processing
 Database transaction processing
 Load balancing between servers
 Data rendering
Performance testing is considered as one of the important and mandatory testing type in terms of
the following aspects −
 Speed (i.e. Response Time, data rendering and accessing)
 Capacity
 Stability
 Scalability
Performance testing can be either qualitative or quantitative and can be divided into different sub-
types such as Load testing and Stress testing.
a) Load Testing
It is a process of testing the behavior of a software by applying maximum load in terms of software
accessing and manipulating large input data. It can be done at both normal and peak load
conditions. This type of testing identifies the maximum capacity of software and its behavior at
peak time.
Most of the time, load testing is performed with the help of automated tools such as Load Runner,
AppLoader, IBM Rational Performance Tester, Apache JMeter, Silk Performer, Visual Studio
Load Test, etc.
Virtual users (VUsers) are defined in the automated testing tool and the script is executed to verify
the load testing for the software. The number of users can be increased or decreased concurrently
or incrementally based upon the requirements
b) Stress Testing
Stress testing includes testing the behavior of a software under abnormal conditions. For example,
it may include taking away some resources or applying a load beyond the actual load limit.
The aim of stress testing is to test the software by applying the load to the system and taking over
the resources used by the software to identify the breaking point. This testing can be performed by
testing different scenarios such as −
 Shutdown or restart of network ports randomly
 Turning the database on or off
 Running different processes that consume resources such as CPU, memory, server, etc.

ii. Usability Testing

Usability testing is a black-box technique and is used to identify any error(s) and improvements in
the software by observing the users through their usage and operation.
According to Nielsen, usability can be defined in terms of five factors, i.e. efficiency of use, learn-
ability, memory-ability, errors/safety, and satisfaction. According to him, the usability of a product
will be good and the system is usable if it possesses the above factors.
Nigel Bevan and Macleod considered that usability is the quality requirement that can be measured
as the outcome of interactions with a computer system. This requirement can be fulfilled and the
end-user will be satisfied if the intended goals are achieved effectively with the use of proper
resources.
A user-friendly system should fulfill the following five goals, i.e., easy to Learn, easy to remember,
efficient to use, satisfactory to use, and easy to understand.

iii. UI vs Usability Testing

UI testing involves testing the Graphical User Interface of the Software. UI testing ensures that the
GUI functions according to the requirements and tested in terms of color, alignment, size, and
other properties.
On the other hand, usability testing ensures a good and user-friendly GUI that can be easily
handled. UI testing can be considered as a sub-part of usability testing.

iv. Security Testing

Security testing involves testing a software in order to identify any flaws and gaps from security
and vulnerability point of view. Listed below are the main aspects that security testing should
ensure −
 Confidentiality
 Integrity
 Authentication
 Availability
 Authorization
 Non-repudiation
 Software is secure against known and unknown vulnerabilities
 Software data is secure
 Software is according to all security regulations
 Input checking and validation
 SQL insertion attacks
 Injection flaws
 Session management issues
 Cross-site scripting attacks
 Buffer overflows vulnerabilities
 Directory traversal attacks
v. Portability Testing
Portability testing includes testing a software with the aim to ensure its reusability and that it can
be moved from another software as well. Following are the strategies that can be used for
portability testing −
 Transferring an installed software from one computer to another.
 Building executable (.exe) to run the software on different platforms.
Portability testing can be considered as one of the sub-parts of system testing, as this testing type
includes overall testing of a software with respect to its usage over different environments.
Computer hardware, operating systems, and browsers are the major focus of portability testing.
Some of the pre-conditions for portability testing are as follows −
 Software should be designed and coded, keeping in mind the portability requirements.
 Unit testing has been performed on the associated components.
 Integration testing has been performed.
 Test environment has been established

Testing Terms
• Bug: A software bug may be defined as a coding error that causes an unexpected defect, fault or
flaw. In other words, if a program does not perform as intended, it is most likely a bug.
• Error: A mismatch between the program and its specification is an error in the program.
• Defect: Defect is the variance from a desired product attribute (it can be a wrong, missing or
extra data). It can be of two types – Defect from the product or a variance from customer/user
expectations. It is a flaw in the software system and has no impact until it affects the user/customer
and operational system. 90% of all the defects can be caused by process problems.
• Failure: A defect that causes an error in operation or negatively impacts a user/customer.
• Quality Assurance: Is oriented towards preventing defects. Quality Assurance ensures all parties
concerned with the project adhere to the process and procedures, standards and templates and test
readiness reviews.
• Quality Control: quality control or quality engineering is a set of measures taken to ensure that
defective products or services are not produced, and that the design meets performance
requirements.
• Verification: Verification ensures the product is designed to deliver all functionality to the
customer; it typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code,
requirements and specifications; this can be done with checklists, issues lists, walkthroughs and
inspection meetings.
• Validation: Validation ensures that functionality, as defined in requirements, is the intended
behavior of the product; validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after
Verifications are completed.
Most common software errors
Following are the most common software errors that aid you in software testing. This helps you to
identify errors systematically and increases the efficiency and productivity of software testing.

Types of errors with examples

• User Interface Errors: Missing/Wrong Functions Doesn’t do what the user expects, Missing
information, Misleading, Confusing information, Wrong content in Help text, Inappropriate error
messages. Performance issues - Poor responsiveness, Can't redirect output, Inappropriate use of
key board
• Error Handling: Inadequate - protection against corrupted data, tests of user input, version
control; Ignores – overflow, data comparison, Error recovery – aborting errors, recovery from
hardware problems.
• Boundary related errors: Boundaries in loop, space, time, memory, mishandling of cases
outside boundary.
• Calculation errors: Bad Logic, Bad Arithmetic, Outdated constants, Calculation errors,
incorrect conversion from one data representation to another, Wrong formula, incorrect
approximation.
• Initial and Later states: Failure to - set data item to zero, to initialize a loop control variable, or
re-initialize a pointer, to clear a string or flag, Incorrect initialization.
• Control flow errors: Wrong returning state assumed, Exception handling based exits, Stack
underflow/overflow, Failure to block or un-block interrupts, Comparison sometimes yields wrong
result, Missing/wrong default, and Data Type errors.
• Errors in Handling or Interpreting Data: Un-terminated null strings, overwriting a file after
an error exit or user abort.
• Race Conditions: Assumption that one event or task finished before another begins, Resource
races, Tasks starts before its prerequisites are met, Messages cross or don't arrive in the order sent.
• Load Conditions: Required resources are not available, No available large memory area, Low
priority tasks not put off, doesn’t erase old files from mass storage, and doesn’t return unused
memory.
• Hardware: Wrong Device, Device unavailable, Underutilizing device intelligence,
Misunderstood status or return code, Wrong operation or instruction codes.
• Source, Version and ID Control: No Title or version ID, Failure to update multiple copies of
data or program files.
• Testing Errors: Failure to notice/report a problem, Failure to use the most promising test case,
Corrupted data files, Misinterpreted specifications or documentation, Failure to make it clear how
to reproduce the problem, Failure to check for unresolved problems just before release, Failure to
verify fixes, Failure to provide summary report.