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by: JohnHansen
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Software testing is an important stage within the software development cycle (SDCL). There are different testing types and they are useful at different stages of the software development cycle. From the initial development of the application until it reaches the marketing phase different testing types will be used. In addition, all the different versions of the software have to be tested before they are delivered to either the customer or the target market.

One variety is software for web applications. With the advent of the Internet web software has significantly increased in importance, as the Internet has had a substantial impact on our daily lives. Most security risks come from Internet. Therefore it's crucial to test the software thoroughly prior to releasing it on the market.

The time available to develop and test web software is always limited. While the web software is being designed and developed it is also being tested by the testing's engineers using different types of tests. The different types of tests can be grouped in code testing, load testing, compatibility testing, functional testing and regression testing.

The web software is usually released using a pattern of software release known as alpha/beta testing. This is a simulated or actual operational test conducted by potential users or an independent test team at the developers' site. The software is incomplete at this point and testing is done only for small modules of the software. Alpha testing is frequently employed for off-the-shelf software as a method of internal acceptance testing. Software that has been alpha tested cannot be released until all the major functional parts have been coded and tested.

After the alpha testing has been finished the web software is ready to be beta tested. Beta testing is done by a limited amount of users that can use the software before its official release takes place. The alpha/beta testing method is not the standard procedure when testing web site design. This is because HTML coding makes it very easy to design independent web pages that can afterwards being easily integrated so the design team can code and test each page independently.

When software testers or development engineers are code testing they are checking for the presence of software bugs. Web development is a very rapid process so the absence of bugs is required. Paired-programming is one of the favorite methods that highly qualified testers can use to produce bug free coding.

Paired programming is a software development method in which two programmers work together at one keyboard. The driver types in the code while the observer or navigator reviews each line. This strategy is appealing because fewer bugs are produced. According to The Economist, "Laurie Williams of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City has shown that paired programmers are only 15% slower than two independent individual programmers, but produce 15% fewer bugs."

The testing process continues through out the software development cycle so that at the time of final release it is free of bugs. Load testing is done to see at what point the application fails or the performance reduces when under heavy loads such as multiple users on or heavy server traffic. This type of testing will help to arrive at statistics such as how many users the site will sustain at the same time, the quantity of communication it will hold and the reaction time under various circumstances.

Compatibility testing needs to be carried out to asses the software compatibility with the software and hardware that it may interact with. This includes testing compatibility with operating systems, database, browsers, peripherals and backwards compatibility.

Functional testing confirms its specifications and accurately performs all of the required tasks. This involves doing a series of tests that perform a feature by feature validation of behavior, utilizing a wide range of normal and erroneous input data. Regression testing is performed to ensure that enhancements, defect repairs or other changes to the software have not disrupted any existing functionality.

When iterative methodology is used to develop software regression testing is crucial. In iterative programming, new modules are added to the core module to increase the functionality provided by the application, this needs to be done with the certainty that the added module does not affect the original functionality of the running module. The aim of regression testing is to discover regression bugs. All the types of test mentioned above are necessary to provide complete web software testing.

About the Author

Software Testing Basics cover the basic steps for software testing. Our site provides more articles on software testing. For example Black Box Testing tests without knowledge of the code.

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