It is all-important for all stakeholders, not just software developers and testers to know the relevance of software testing. The Software Testing process unfortunately is skipped often, thus the product and the brand could suffer. There are some major points that explain why the product must undergo testing.
In software testing services, there is of course the testing performed during the process of development and afterwards. Before we scour the various software testing methods, in particular verification and validation, and know their differences, let us first determine the importance and benefits of software testing.
Unfortunately, there are still organizations that take QA testing for granted, thus it’s very important to educate people, particularly entrepreneurs, why software testing should be done and the benefits that a brand could derive from the process.
IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF SOFTWARE TESTING
1. QA Testing saves money
There are numerous benefits to testing, and one of the most important ones is the money savings. Testing could save costs in the long run. In a typical software development testing firm, software development consists of several stages and if bugs were discovered early on it would cost less to resolve them than if they were identified during a later stage.
Therefore, it’s important that as soon as possible, QA testing should be done. Having QA’s or testers who are experienced and technically educated is equal to an investment and budget-wise, the company would get the benefit. The costs of maintenance are also lesser, without exponential damage to the business in terms of finances.
2. Quality of Product
To make the product vision come to life, the product should work as planned. To an extent, following product requirements is critical since it helps achieve the results desired. Products serve users in various ways, thus it’s vital for it to bring its promised value and work properly for a great customer experience.
The compatibility of the product across multiple devices is checked as well. For instance, the compatibility of an application on various operating systems and devices. Software testing firms usually have numerous tools and devices to cover as many operating system / device combinations as possible.
3. Security
This probably is the most sensitive but the most vulnerable. There have been many instances where user information was hacked or stolen, thus people today are looking for trusted products they can rely on. Software testing could help product security by:
- keeping the personal information and data of users safe
- ensuring that users receive a trustworthy product
- eliminating risks and problems early on
- supporting the creation of products that are vulnerability-free
- saving a lot of headaches in the long run
At times, even the smallest security concerns have brought big problems to organizations worldwide, that is why it is important to ensure that products are secure.
4. Consumer satisfaction.
For a product owner, the ultimate goal is to provide the best customer satisfaction. Software and apps should be tested to bring the best possible user experience. The best product helps saturate the market to gain trustworthy customers, with great long-term impacts like Customer retention and will help in Brand presence in the market.
Without a doubt, users who have an amazing experience would tell their friends about the product and the brand. Customer trust is difficult to earn, particularly if the product has glitches and only functions 60 percent of the time. Keep in mind that when the market is saturated first impressions are paramount, as dissatisfied users will find another product that meets their requirements.
5. Boost Sales.
A product that is good requires less promotion compared to one with issues, since people would recommend it and as we know, world-of-mouth is a critical promotion tool. A product that’s been quality-checked means that you value your customers and go the extra mile to provide them the best solution in the market. This goes a long way not only to acquire new customers, but to retain them as well.
6. Boost the User Experience.
Whether software is used internally or sold to consumers, understanding and using it should be seamless. Only testers who have good experience in software testing profession could ascertain that the software is designed in such a way that enables users to follow an intuitive and logical path. An enhanced user experience also means that the software product must be free of any errors or bugs that could frustrate and inconvenience users.
Investing in the services of a software testing company eliminates all the concerns at the beginning of development, since bringing the biggest value in a saturated market would make the brand stand out.
Software Testing Verification and Validation
Delivering the best product, software or hardware, is a laborious task. A product should go through and pass different planning, development, and testing stages to ensure the best quality and performance. Out of the many stages involved in development, one of the common steps taken at each stage is testing.
Although there are different kinds of software testing that could be done based on the development stage and requirements, there are some that are commonly performed and all of them is a part of verification and validation. These two are often confused by readers, but actually they hold a different meaning.
Verification Software Testing
The process of assessing a software during a specific development stage to find out if it meets the conditions and/or requirements stressed at the start of the stage. The verification process is static. As one of the most important stages in developing software, it also has substantiations on all the documents, code and design necessary.
Moreover, this stage includes all the activities done to ensure the best quality product possible, including the design, specification and inspection analysis.
Several common ways of performing verification testing include meetings, review, and inspection.
Validation Software Testing
This is the type of software testing that is performed after development has been completed. It’s done to determine if a specific product is upto the mark. It is a dynamic process that evaluates a software product on criteria that assess whether it meets customer requirements and expectations.
Some common validation methods include black box, white box, and grey box testing.
The Key Differences
Having an understanding of the difference between verification and validation is vital since this enables testers to support the team as they develop the best quality software.
- The goal. The goal of the verification process is to confirm if a product meets the specified requirements during the start of the development stage. Validation on the other hand aims to check if the final product sticks to the set standards and requirements.
- Mechanism Type. Verification is a sort of static process involving the assessment of the design, program, documents, and code. Validation is a dynamic process, which validates and tests the final product’s quality.
- Code Execution. Since verification is static, it doesn’t involve code execution. Validation however is a dynamic process, which could not be complete without code implementation.
- Automation Scope. Verification is manual, and could not be completed without human intervention. Validation is machine-dependent and could be solely accomplished with computers.
- Execution. Carrying out the verification process is the responsibility of the QA team. It also ensures that the software developed is at par with the specified document requirements. The validation on the contrary is carried out by the testing team.
- The Level. Verification is a low-level exercise, enabling the identification of errors could not be revealed with validation. Validation on one hand is a high-level exercise that ensures optimum quality of a product and easy errors identification, which usually go unnoticed using verification.
- Error expense. The errors identified during the verification process cost less to fix than the ones that are discovered during the validation process.
- Hierarchy. The verification process should be performed before validation.
- Evaluated Items. Verification evaluates plans made for the product, the specified requirements, and specifications, which are related to design, test instances, and others. Validation testing allows evaluating of the software or product developed by the team.
- The Target. Typically, verification targets things such as specifications, architecture, database design, product design, and so forth. Validation tests on the other hand target things such as the unit of the product, module, integrated modules, and the final product.
- Bugs. In verification, bugs are discovered in the early development stages. Validation would make sure that other bugs that verification failed to find would be caught.
Verification and Validation in Software Testing—a Diagrammatic Comparison
Wrapping Up
Both verification and validation in software testing are equally vital to look for errors and ensure that the final solution that goes in the market is the best. Thus, never underestimate or take for granted the significance of the two. Choosing professional software development services with a team that has the know-how and experience to build the best quality product for your brand is guaranteed to boost the user experience significantly, and thus, result in more satisfied clients.
Let me end this by saying, and I could not stress it more, that software testing is necessary because all of us make mistakes. Some of the mistakes are not important, but some are costly and even dangerous. We have to test anything and everything that we create because things could always go wrong, and that of course includes software development.
