Testing plays an important role in improving the quality, reliability & performance of the system. This blog on software functional testing will help you know more about functional testing, why you need it and how to test software functionality.
What is Software Functional Testing?
Software functional testing helps you validate the requirements of your software. For instance, you’ll want to verify if each function or component of the application works as expected. You can do this with various types of testing that all fall under the functional testing umbrella. The software you develop should also meet functional specifications. For example, a user should be able to successfully add an item to their shopping cart.
Need for Software Functional Testing
The functional tests define your working system in a useful manner. Functional testing always focuses on customer requirements whereas non-Functional testing always looks at customer expectations.
A functional tester holds a lot of importance as he is able to analyze individual pieces of an application within the context of the entire application. He looks into a particular item, identifies integration points between that item and other parts of the application, and then formulates a strategy to inspect those weak points. Applications are usually weakest in places where different parts come together. A strong functional tester knows how to exploit those weaknesses to identify any bugs. A functional tester has the ability to evaluate individual features of an application.
In an organization, functional testing will only be successful if the organization’s underlying quality fundamentals are concrete and everyone vividly has an understanding of how testing helps achieve the goals of the business. Functional testing is only one of many activities that collectively comprise a comprehensive testing strategy.
How To Test Software Functionality?
There are certain steps that we need to follow while performing functional testing. There are 6 steps in the functional testing process: –
- Identify and clarify the functions that you expect the software or web application to perform
- Create input data based on these functional specifications
- Determine the output based on these functional specifications
- Write and execute test cases to gather test data (these can be manual or automated tests)
- Compare the results of actual and expected output
- Make changes if the results don’t match the end user’s needs
What is the Aim of Software Functional Testing?
Functional testing is one of the most important aspects of application security. This testing verifies that the features of the software work as intended, which is essential for ensuring the security of an application. When executing functional testing, the system’s overall quality will improve.
- Client satisfaction – Functional testing is performed from the user’s perspective. Client satisfaction improves when the system meets or exceeds the user’s expectations.
- Improve testing efficiency – A tester can easily judge if the system passes or fails when requirements are well defined, which results in quicker and more accurate results.
- Increase safety – When compliance testing is involved, products are regarded as safe once they pass functional testing.
- Improve security – A product is considered better protected when security testing is involved. This aspect is critical when personal user data or financial records are accessible within the application.
Wrap Up
Functional testing differs from other types of testing in the sense that it most closely reflects the experience of the users. This testing ensures that the system does what users are expecting it to do. And this type of testing means testing the functionality and checking the output as per the requirement documents. One of the leading QA testing companies, QASource, has a team of qualified QA specialists who are experts in their respective fields. Visit QASource now to learn more about professional testing services.
