What are software tests and how do they work?

When it comes to the quality of the software, testing is undoubtedly an important tool to ensure the success of the development phases by minimizing the occurrence of errors and potential problems before the solution is delivered to the customer.to understand software as a product, it is essential that it is subjected to the tests that certify that the software meets the requirements and performs the functions correctly and without errors. Just as a car manufacturer tests its vehicles before delivering them to the end user, the software solution must also be tested to ensure that it is of the required quality, and the software tests must cover the entire project development. In other words, the solution must be tested throughout its development so that each stage and completed functionality is evaluated in advance in order to continue working with the correctly tuned solution.

Anyone looking for a company to develop a software solution certainly expects their needs to be met in the best possible way. That is why there are quality dimensions:

Trust: Here it is necessary to know whether the system is so intact that there are no errors during execution and whether it has no errors and interruptions that could, for example, impair the functioning and/or security of the software.

Functionality: It must be assessed whether the system fulfills the parameters defined in the project and whether its functionalities match.

Performance: Is the system robust enough? Are there no problems with its design when it is subjected to high loads? The robustness tests look for scenarios that could lead to a failure of the software.

Which tests can be carried out?

There are different types of tests that can be applied to a software to identify its errors and improve the quality of the developed solution. The most important are

White-Box-Testing
– Uses the internal aspect of the program/system, i.e. the source code, to evaluate its components. It is also referred to as structural testing. It examines the internal structural design and code of the program to analyze points such as data flow, state, cycles, etc.

Black-Box-Test
– In contrast to white box testing, which prioritizes internal aspects, black box testing checks external aspects, namely the functional requirements of the system. It is also referred to as a functional technique, in which the system behavior is observed exclusively via input and output.

Grey-Box-Test
– This type of test combines both approaches by evaluating both internal and external aspects, input and output.

Regressionstests
– Tests are carried out for each version of software in which functionalities have been changed. This prevents errors that were previously corrected from occurring again when new functions are added.

Unit-Tests
– Here, smaller software units are tested in isolation to ensure that they function correctly. This type of testing is also known as component testing. In agile methods, unit tests are very often used for quality assurance.

Integrationstest
– After the individual units have been tested, it is checked whether they work together correctly. The interaction between the components or systems is tested.

Belastungstest
– This test evaluates the software's usage limits by determining how much information volume it can process and how stable it remains under high load.

Usability-Tests
– These tests are carried out by a small group of users to check whether the software meets the requirements. This involves analyzing how the user uses the system and where difficulties arise.

Stresstest
– In this test, the software is pushed to its performance and functional limits in order to determine at what point it no longer functions correctly. Stress tests are necessary to test the stability of the CPU, cache and RAM after overclocking.

Cross-Browser Testing
– It checks whether the website works in various Internet browsers (e.g. Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari).

Why is software testing so important?

In a world increasingly connected by technology, software testing is of great importance as companies need to function correctly in order to compete. Any error in a financial management program can lead to huge financial losses. An error in medical device software can cost a person their life or make it difficult to provide care to someone in need.

And it's not just the most extreme cases that require high-quality software testing, because a simple error in a frequently used program can lead to the user complaining or not recommending it to other users and migrating to the competition. The one who loses is the one who developed the software. This is why software testing is so important.

• It makes it possible to identify errors during the development phases;
• It ensures end user confidence and satisfaction when using the software;
• It makes it possible to ensure the quality of the product and its correct functioning;
• It helps to maintain the company's authority in the industry.

Why can't developers test software?

Developers often work with the mindset "How is this supposed to work? A good tester thinks: "How to break this? "* - a very different mindset. The developer will find it hard to move away from the "how it works" mentality as opposed to the "how it should work" mentality. Therefore, it is best to have the program tested by someone with a high degree of objectivity, such as QA or test engineers.

How is software testing organized in our company?

If no problems are found after the code review, the task is sent to the test server (you can read more about the code review process in our other article).We perform two types of tests: automated and manual.When the code reaches the test server, we first perform the load test via K6 Tool. The load test measures the system behavior when the system load increases (e.g. due to parallel users) in order to find out what load can actually be handled.

Testing is then carried out using the Google Lighthouse tool. It enables performance audits of websites, with this tool you can test performance, Progressive Web App, SEO, accessibility and best practices and check whether the Google Page Speed Insights have not been lost.

This is followed by automated testing via TestCafe, which enables cross-browser testing of web applications without much configuration effort.

In addition, we use Lambdatest for cross-browser testing.

Then we do the manual testing. During manual testing, the tester checks the functionality of the website, for example whether all blocks, texts and images are displayed correctly and have not moved, or whether the individual business logic functions correctly and without errors. If errors are found at any of these stages, the developers fix the problems and all test processes are run again until everything is working properly.in the next step we use the Release Manager. When all tasks with the same code version have been successfully checked by all tests, the system automatically publishes the release. This release can now be transferred to the customer's live or stage store and as soon as the release is on the customer's live server, all test stages are carried out again - first automatically via K6, Google Lighthouse and TestCafe, then manually.our agency Kenner Soft Services GmbH pays great attention to the quality of the services provided. We check everything very thoroughly and carefully in order to deliver the best result to the customer.