#performance and functionality testing

[flutteragency]

Top 5 Challenges in Mobile Wallet App Development and How to Overcome Them

The world has already gone mobile, and our wallets are following suit.

Digital wallets are the most convenient and useful man-made invention in this century, eliminating the need for carrying hard cash or chequebooks or card transactions everywhere. All you need is to make sure your bank account is linked to a wallet app, specifically designed for transactions, and you’re good to go.

With the global mobile payments market projected to reach about $23 trillion by the next year, there is no reason why people wouldn’t flock to build their own mobile wallet apps. The key, however, is to actually build them from scratch.

This comprehensive guide will help you understand the key areas of mobile app custom development, from idea inception to launch.

Understanding The Market And Your Audience

Every idea begins somewhere, and when you build something while targeting an audience or a specific market, it starts with understanding your audience’s needs and demands in the specific niche. Researching the mobile wallet landscape is the first step before taking a deep dive into mobile wallet app development.

Analyze the already existing players in the arena, and then try to make sense of the apps’ functionalities, as well as shortcomings. This would include all kinds of global wallet apps as well as regional apps.

Your research questions should be catered to your audiences; like if there are any redundant functionalities, any issues with UI, or any niche problems that need addressing. This is what your mobile wallet app will be offering to your audience- better functionalities to be on board.

DEFINING YOUR APP’S CORE FEATURES

Doing primary market research is always key to establish a clear understanding of the audience needs that aren’t being met in the current mobile wallet market, and the functionalities that they have become familiar with, so any other UI wouldn’t do for those. This is key to defining your mobile wallet app’s core features.

Of course, there are the absolutely essential features that you cannot do without, like:

Security:

There is nothing more important in a finance related app than security and encrypted data related to financial information of your mobile wallet app users. Ensure to pay extra attention to the layers of security as well as the authentication features – especially when dealing with larger amounts.

Payment Methods:

There are different methods that people use to pay their dues- normally, credit or debit cards. Integrating such information allows for smoother transactions and allows the user to not worry about punching in the information over and over again. And since not everyone might have credit cards, debit card users also enjoy the same benefits of the mobile wallet app.

Bill Payments:

Bill payment is another crucial need of mobile wallet users. Every month, a good chunk of any person’s salary goes towards bill payments. Integrating such features like mobile recharges, electricity bills, insurance payments, etc. are crucial for a user to fully accept the mobile wallet payment system- bringing in more audience for your app.

Budgeting and Tracking:

This is a feature not usually found in all mobile wallet apps. Budgeting and tracking would allow a unique experience for people who don’t usually keep track of their money flow. Integrating this simple feature into your app, with multiple categories to help a student, an employed, a freelancer, or an investor track their finances would definitely get you more users for your mobile wallet app.

Flutter: For A User-Centric Experience

Here’s the exciting part- Development phase! While every app’s development phase brings in new challenges and breathes life to incepted ideas, the framework on which you build your app is also important- for uniqueness, time-efficiency, cross-platform use, and more.

Here’s why investing in a Flutter app development company can help you build one of the best mobile wallet apps ever:

FASTER DEVELOPMENT:

Time is perhaps more crucial than actual currency in today’s day and age, and the most solid reason to choose Flutter for your mobile wallet app. The best feature of the flutter framework that helps you build interactive and smooth apps is the Hot Reload feature – allowing you to see real-time changes in your code.

REDUCED COSTS:

By using Flutter- notorious for its cross-platform seamless performance, you effectively reduce both the cost and the time required to develop an app that works on both iOS and Android.

INTUITIVE UX/UI:

Any Flutter app development company will make sure that the UX as well as UI for the mobile wallet app that you are building has a smooth and intuitive UI, for user ease and trust, especially with the app security. 

Designing Your Mobile Wallet App: App Flow, UI, And Security Audits

While designing a mobile wallet app, there are a few crucial things that should be considered:

SIMPLE INTERFACE:

The simpler your app’s UI is, the better experience your users will have. A clean, uncluttered and intuitive UI is the key to making sure your users have a good experience with the app.

Apart from this, it is also crucial to integrate some tutorials and FAQs that people can refer to if they are unable to access a feature or do not know how to authenticate a payment.

BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION:

This one’s a no-brainer. If you aren’t making use of digital fingerprints or facial recognitions for secure logins and transactions, you may be risking your users’ sensitive data.

REAL-TIME TRANSACTION TRACKING:

A secure connection with banks ensures that users are immediately notified, via messages or emails, about any and every transaction and transfer that they have made. This ensures complete financial transparency- building trust within the app.

Before the launch of your mobile wallet app, crucial audits are a must. This includes performance and functionality testing to ensure the app works smoothly across different Operating systems and devices, and to evaluate the responsiveness of the app when under load. Security testing will entail testing any vulnerabilities that need to be fixed before launch.

Launching Your Mobile App

Deploying a new mobile wallet app in the market is no easy feat. It requires careful planning and strategizing to make sure it reaches your target audience. For this, you’ll need to leverage:

PRE-LAUNCH MARKETING:

This will involve generating some buzz around your new mobile wallet app through social media campaigns, targeted ads, and even influencer partnerships.

APP-STORE OPTIMIZATION:

Drafting compelling descriptions that include relevant keywords for SEO, and using multiple high-quality previews of your app will definitely help your app get discovered quickly after the launch.

Conclusion

The mobile wallet revolution is here to stay. There is no two-ways about the fact that constant innovation is key to conquering any market.

By understanding the key aspects of building a mobile wallet app mentioned in this guide, you’ll be able to break into the market with a great mobile wallet app. As for making it thrive, make sure to stay ahead on the latest financial trends like blockchain integration to make your app stand out.

[biinaberry]

We can all admit that binghe would make a terrifying hal right?

[barufisher]

i have a test tomorrow that has been haunting me i haven’t been able to do anything for like a week because of it. i’m going to flop the speaking part but at least i will be free

[seilon]

love when this is referred to as the gifted kid website. shockingly my mental disorders made me mentally disordered and school never really vibed with that so. couldn’t be me

[karmaphone]

do you ever think about the process of going to the doctor as someone with the capability of getting pregnant and get mad at the violations of your bodily autonomy. if I say there's no chance I could be pregnant, they shouldn't be able to test my piss anyway if I say no 🤷🏼‍♂️

[bmpmp3]

when people complain about getting like, a 98% grade on something because it was "so close to perfect" its like. i understand what you're saying on a technical level. but that is a line of thought so far away from my experiences and ways of thinking that i do feel like im from another planet. 100% isnt even a real number to me

[veiledinviolet]

low-level optimization is wild, i observed a consistent 25% performance difference between two functions that, in the relevant part, were identical to the machine instruction. i eventually managed to identify the cause as the order in which the functions are defined and therefore their offset in the binary, though i have no idea why this would have such a large impact. maybe something to do with caches?

[gqattech]

Cloud Platforms Testing at GQAT Tech: Powering Scalable, Reliable Apps

In today's digital world, most companies use the cloud to host their software, store their data, and provide users with seamless experiences and interactions, meaning their cloud-based systems have to be fast and secure (it could be an e-commerce site, a mobile app, or corporate software platform) and be able to provide a robust reliable level of service that does not fail. All this hard work to develop a cloud-based application means nothing if the application is not subjected to testing and verification to work properly in different cloud environments.

Credit should be given to GQAT Tech for making cloud platform testing a core competency, as the entire QA team tests applications in the cloud, on cloud-based platforms, i.e., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or Private Cloud, while testing for performance, security, scalability, and functionality.

Now, let's explore the definition of cloud platform testing, what it is, why it is important, and how GQAT Tech can help your company be successful in the cloud.

What Is Cloud Platform Testing?

Cloud platform testing provides validation of whether a web or mobile application will function correctly in a cloud-based environment (as compared to on a physical server).

It involves testing how well your app runs on services like:

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

IBM Cloud

Private/Hybrid cloud setups

The goal is to ensure your app is:

Scalability - Will it support more users over time with no performance degradation?  

Improve security - Is my data protected from being compromised/attacked?  

Stability - Is it repeatably functioning (no crashing or errors)?  

Speed - Is the load time fast enough for users worldwide?  

Cost - Is it utilizing cloud resources efficiently?

GQAT Tech’s Cloud Testing Services

GQAT Tech employs a hybrid process of manual testing, automated scripts, and real cloud environments to validate/applications in the most representative manner. The QA team manages real-time performance, availability, and security across systems.

Services Offered:

Functional Testing on Cloud

Validates that your app will behave in an appropriate way while hosted on different cloud providers.

Performance & Load Testing

Validates how your app behaves when 10, 100, or 10,000 users are accessing it at the same time.

Scalability Testing

Validates whether your app is capable of scaling up or down based on usage.

Security Testing

Validates for vulnerabilities specific to clouds: data leak vulnerabilities, misconfigured access, and DDoS risks.

Disaster Recovery & Backup Validation

Validates whether systems can be restored after failure or downtime.

Cross-Platform Testing

Validates your application's performance across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Private Cloud Systems.

Why Cloud Testing Is Important

By not testing your application in the cloud, you expose yourself to significant risks such as:

App crashes when usage is highest

Data loss because of inadequate backup

Cloud bills that are expensive due to inefficient usage

Security breaches due to weaker settings

Downtime that impacts customer frustration

All of these situations can be prevented and you can ensure your app runs smoothly every day with cloud testing.

Tools Used by GQAT Tech

GQAT Tech uses advanced tools for cloud testing:

Apache JMeter – Load testing and stress testing

Postman – API testing for cloud services

Selenium / Appium – Automated UI testing

K6 & Gatling – Performance testing

AWS/Azure/GCP Test Environments – Real cloud validation

CI/CD Pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) – Continuous cloud-based testing

Who Needs Cloud Platform Testing?

GQAT Tech works with startups, enterprises, and SaaS providers across industries like:

E-commerce

Healthcare

Banking & FinTech

Logistics & Travel

IoT & Smart Devices

Education & LMS platforms

If your product runs in the cloud, you need to test it in the cloud—and that’s exactly what GQAT does.

Conclusion

Cloud computing provides flexibility, speed, and power—but only if your applications are tested and validated appropriately. With GQAT Tech's cloud platform testing services, you can be confident that your application will work as required under all real-world environments.

They will help eliminate downtime, enhance app performance, protect user data and help optimize cloud expenditure—so you can expand your business without concern.

💬 Ready to test smarter in the cloud? 👉 Explore Cloud Platform Testing Services at GQAT Tech

[jonah-miles-smith]

Testing Mobile Health (mHealth) Applications for Accessibility and Usability

The mobile health (mHealth) industry is revolutionizing how patients and providers interact with healthcare. From chronic disease management apps to remote patient monitoring platforms, mHealth applications are improving healthcare delivery access, efficiency, and personalization. However, ensuring that these apps are accessible and usable is vital for achieving positive health outcomes and user adoption—especially for individuals with disabilities or limited tech proficiency.

This article explores how application testing, especially accessibility testing and usability testing, plays a crucial role in the success of mHealth apps. It also examines how these tests integrate into broader mobile testing and healthcare device testing strategies to ensure compliance, safety, and user satisfaction.

Why Accessibility and Usability Matter in mHealth

Accessibility and usability are often conflated, but they address different aspects of user interaction.

Accessibility testing ensures that people with disabilities—such as visual, auditory, cognitive, or motor impairments—can effectively use an application. In the healthcare context, this is critical as patients with disabilities are among the primary users of mHealth apps.

Usability testing evaluates how easy and efficient an app is to use. This includes how intuitive the user interface is, how clear the navigation and content are, and whether users can accomplish their goals without confusion or error.

For mHealth applications, which may involve sensitive data, urgent care decisions, or medication management, both accessibility and usability are essential. A confusing interface or inaccessible features can lead to non-compliance, data entry errors, or even health risks.

Key Challenges in Testing mHealth Applications

Testing mobile health applications presents unique challenges that go beyond conventional mobile app testing:

Compliance with Regulations mHealth apps must adhere to regulatory requirements like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the U.S., GDPR in Europe, and accessibility standards such as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Testing must ensure full compliance to avoid legal and safety issues.

Device and Platform Fragmentation With a wide range of mobile devices and operating systems in use, mobile testing must include thorough cross-platform compatibility checks.

Integration with Healthcare Devices Some mHealth apps connect with external devices such as glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs, or smartwatches. Healthcare device testing must be part of the QA process to ensure accurate data transmission and processing.

Real-World Usage Scenarios mHealth apps are often used in varied environments—from homes to hospitals. Tests must simulate different network conditions, screen sizes, and user interactions.

Essential Testing Types for mHealth Apps

1. Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing ensures the app is usable by people with disabilities. This includes:

Screen reader compatibility (e.g., Voiceover, Talkback)

Colour contrast and font size checks

Keyboard navigation for users with motor impairments

Captions for audio and video content

Alternative text for images

Automated tools like Axe or WAVE can assist, but manual testing with assistive technologies remains critical.

2. Usability Testing

Usability testing involves real users interacting with the app to uncover pain points. It helps answer questions like:

Are users able to find information easily?

Can patients�� complete tasks like logging symptoms or scheduling appointments without guidance?

Is medical terminology explained clearly?

Testing sessions can include surveys, interviews, and screen recordings to collect qualitative and quantitative feedback.

3. Functional Testing

This verifies that the app’s core features work as intended—such as logging in, syncing with devices, sending notifications, or storing data securely.

4. Compatibility Testing

To account for device fragmentation, apps should be tested across:

iOS and Android versions

Various screen sizes and resolutions

Different network conditions (3G, 4G, Wi-Fi)

5. Performance Testing

Since mHealth apps often handle real-time data, performance testing ensures fast load times, stable connections, and smooth data syncing.

6. Security Testing

Apps handling health data must implement robust encryption, secure authentication, and data privacy measures. Security testing evaluates these protections and ensures HIPAA/GDPR compliance.

Designing Effective Healthcare Test Cases

To ensure coverage of all crucial aspects, healthcare test cases should be designed to validate:

Accurate retrieval and display of medical history

Secure communication with healthcare professionals

Correct functioning of reminders and alerts

Accessibility features for users with impairments

Device integration and data syncing accuracy

Error handling in case of device failures or poor connectivity

Each test case should include a clear description, expected outcome, and compliance criteria (e.g., “User with visual impairment can book an appointment using screen reader”).

Best Practices for mHealth Application Testing

Start Early: Integrate accessibility and usability testing from the design phase to avoid costly redesigns later.

Involve End Users: Conduct usability tests with patients and healthcare providers to gather real-world feedback.

Adopt Agile Testing: Continuous testing during development ensures faster iterations and better quality.

Use Automation Wisely: Automate repetitive functional tests, but rely on manual testing for user experience and accessibility.

Stay Updated with Regulations: Monitor updates in healthcare and accessibility compliance standards to stay ahead.

Conclusion

Testing mHealth applications for accessibility and usability is not just a technical requirement—it’s a healthcare imperative. By integrating comprehensive application testing, including accessibility testing, mobile testing, and healthcare device testing, developers can create apps that are safe, inclusive, and truly impactful.

The ultimate goal is to empower all users—regardless of ability or technical expertise—to take control of their health through intuitive and accessible mobile solutions.

[laurelnose]

did you know that the well-known factoid that male anglerfishes degenerate after attachment until they’re basically just a pair of testes is false? i knew of course that they don’t just become “growths” on the female because I’ve handled dozens of attached pairs and every male I’ve ever seen has been very much obviously a whole and complete second fish, but I sort of assumed there was internal degeneration, perhaps muscle atrophy, etc. i can’t believe no one ever corrected me on this but this just doesn’t happen. in obligatorily parasitic species, the male actually continues to grow and increases considerably in size after he attaches to the female, because the two of them can only reach sexual maturity together. me, an octavia butler fan: is this the height of romance??

what is true is that attached males do have hugely enlarged testes proportionate to the rest of their bodies & organs, and that they receive all nutrition from the female’s bloodstream so their stomachs are always empty, though their own gills seem to still be functional, as are their fins and muscles—you can even induce movement and swimming motions on recently dead attached males. I can only assume that at some point someone said that basically the only biological function a male anglerfish needs to perform is sperm production and this got taken out of context and luridly exaggerated over time. he’s not just a pair of testicles! he’s her forever partner! one flesh one end!

[hvac-eng]

Download HVAC-Cx: The Essential Building HVAC Systems Commissioning Tool

As building systems become increasingly complex, the need for efficient commissioning and monitoring tools has never been more critical. HVAC-Cx, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), stands out as a powerful semi-automated commissioning software tool that’s transforming how we analyze and optimize HVAC performance in commercial buildings. Having worked…

[qualityassurance11]

QA vs. Software Testing: What's the Difference and Why It Matters

In the world of software development, terms like Quality Assurance (QA) and Software Testing are often used interchangeably. However, while both contribute to software quality, they serve distinct purposes.

Think of QA as the blueprint that ensures a house is built correctly, while software testing is the process of inspecting the finished house to ensure there are no cracks, leaks, or faulty wiring. QA is proactive—preventing defects before they occur, whereas software testing is reactive—detecting and fixing bugs before deployment.

Understanding the difference between QA and software testing is crucial for organizations to build reliable, high-performing, and customer-friendly software. This blog explores their differences, roles, and why both are essential in modern software development.

What is Quality Assurance (QA)?

Quality Assurance (QA) is a systematic approach to ensuring that software meets defined quality standards throughout the development lifecycle. It focuses on process improvement, defect prevention, and maintaining industry standards to deliver a high-quality product.

Instead of identifying defects after they appear, QA ensures that the development process is optimized to reduce the likelihood of defects from the beginning.

Key Characteristics of QA:

Process-Oriented: QA defines and improves the software development processes to minimize errors.

Preventive Approach: It prevents defects before they arise rather than finding and fixing them later.

Covers the Entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC): QA is involved from requirement gathering to software maintenance.

Compliance with Industry Standards: QA ensures the software adheres to ISO, CMMI, Six Sigma, and other quality benchmarks.

Key QA Activities:

Defining Standards & Guidelines – Establishing coding best practices, documentation protocols, and process frameworks.

Process Audits & Reviews – Conducting regular audits to ensure software teams follow industry standards.

Automation & Optimization – Implementing CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) to streamline development.

Risk Management – Identifying potential risks and mitigating them before they become major issues.

Example of QA in Action:

A company implementing peer code reviews and automated CI/CD pipelines to ensure all new code follows quality guidelines is an example of QA. This process prevents poor-quality code from reaching the testing phase.

What is Software Testing?

Software Testing is a subset of QA that focuses on evaluating the actual software product to identify defects, errors, and performance issues. It ensures that the software behaves as expected and meets business and user requirements.

Testing is performed after the development phase to verify the correctness, functionality, security, and performance of the application.

Key Characteristics of Software Testing:

Product-Oriented: Testing ensures the final product works as expected and meets user requirements.

Defect Detection & Fixing: The main goal is to identify and fix bugs before software release.

Different Testing Methods: Includes manual and automated testing, covering functionality, usability, performance, security, and compatibility.

Part of the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC): Testing occurs after development and follows a structured cycle of planning, execution, and bug tracking.

Types of Software Testing:

Functional Testing: Verifies that the software functions as per the requirements.

Unit Testing: Checks individual components or modules.

Integration Testing: Ensures different modules work together correctly.

System Testing: Tests the complete application to validate its behavior.

Performance Testing: Measures speed, scalability, and responsiveness.

Security Testing: Identifies vulnerabilities to prevent security breaches.

Example of Software Testing in Action:

Running automated UI tests to check if a login form accepts correct credentials and rejects incorrect ones is an example of software testing. This ensures that the application meets user expectations.

Key Differences Between QA and Software Testing

Focus: Quality Assurance (QA) is a process-oriented approach that ensures the entire software development process follows best practices and quality standards to prevent defects. In contrast, software testing is product-oriented and focuses on detecting and fixing bugs in the developed software.

Goal: The primary goal of QA is to prevent defects from occurring in the first place by refining development and testing methodologies. On the other hand, software testing aims to identify and fix defects before the software is released to users.

Scope: QA encompasses the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), ensuring that each phase—from requirement analysis to deployment—adheres to quality standards. In contrast, software testing is a subset of QA and is mainly concerned with validating the functionality, performance, security, and reliability of the software.

Approach: QA follows a proactive approach by setting up quality checkpoints, code reviews, and documentation processes to reduce the chances of defects. Software testing, however, takes a reactive approach, meaning it focuses on identifying existing issues in the software after the development phase.

Activities Involved: QA activities include process audits, documentation reviews, defining coding standards, implementing CI/CD pipelines, and process optimization. In contrast, software testing involves executing test cases, performing unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, performance testing, and security testing to ensure the software meets the required specifications.

Example of Implementation: A company implementing peer code reviews, automated build testing, and compliance audits as part of its development process is engaging in QA. On the other hand, running test cases on a login page to check if valid credentials allow access while invalid ones do not is an example of software testing.

By understanding these differences, organizations can ensure they integrate both QA and testing effectively, leading to higher software quality, fewer defects, and a better user experience.

Why Both QA and Software Testing Matter

Some organizations mistakenly focus only on testing, believing that identifying and fixing bugs is enough. However, without strong QA practices, defects will continue to arise, increasing development costs and delaying software delivery. Here’s why both QA and testing are crucial:

1. Ensures High-Quality Software

QA minimizes errors from the start, while testing ensures no critical issues reach the end-user.

Organizations following robust QA practices tend to have fewer post-release defects, leading to better product stability.

2. Reduces Cost and Time

Finding a bug during requirement analysis is 10x cheaper than fixing it after deployment.

QA ensures that software defects are avoided, reducing the need for excessive testing and bug-fixing later.

3. Enhances User Experience

A well-tested software application performs smoothly without crashes or failures.

Poor QA and testing can result in negative user feedback, harming a company’s reputation.

4. Supports Agile and DevOps Practices

In Agile development, continuous QA ensures each sprint delivers a high-quality product.

DevOps integrates QA automation and continuous testing to speed up deployments.

5. Helps Meet Industry Standards & Compliance

Industries like finance, healthcare, and cybersecurity have strict quality standards.

QA ensures compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, ISO, and PCI DSS regulations.

How to Balance QA and Testing in Your Software Development Process

Implement a Shift-Left Approach: Start QA activities early in the development cycle to identify defects sooner.

Adopt CI/CD Pipelines: Continuous integration and automated testing help streamline both QA and testing efforts.

Use Test Automation Wisely: Automate repetitive test cases but retain manual testing for exploratory and usability testing.

Invest in Quality Culture: Encourage developers to take ownership of quality and follow best practices.

Leverage AI & Machine Learning in Testing: AI-driven test automation tools can improve defect detection and speed up testing.

Conclusion

While QA and software testing are closely related, they are not the same. QA is a preventive, process-oriented approach that ensures quality is built into the development lifecycle. In contrast, software testing is a reactive, product-focused activity that finds and fixes defects before deployment.

Organizations that balance both QA and testing effectively will consistently build high-quality, defect-free software that meets user expectations. By implementing strong QA processes alongside thorough testing, companies can save costs, speed up development, and enhance customer satisfaction.

[sparktechnologiesforallservices]

QA & SOFTWARE TESTING - Spark Technologies

We design, develop, implement, manage and optimize access to systems and information to answer your business processing, application and infrastructure needs. Whether you are a private or public sector organization, or whether you want to run our solutions on your own hardware, or outsource your IT through us, Spark Technologies has the expertise you need to overcome the business challenges you face.

[accessiblemindstech]

Embark on a global bug hunt with our SDET team, leveraging cloud-based mobile testing to ensure your app achieves flawless performance across all devices and networks. With cutting-edge tools and a meticulous approach, we identify and eliminate bugs before they impact your users. https://rb.gy/jfueow #SDET #BugHunt #CloudTesting #MobileAppQuality #FlawlessPerformance SDET Tech Pvt. Ltd.

[redactedconcepts]

Never forget a test

Testing is the process of evaluating a system or its component(s) with the intent to find whether it satisfies the specified requirements or not. Testing is executing a system in order to identify any gaps, errors, or missing requirements contrary to the actual requirements. This tutorial will give you a basic understanding of software testing, its types, methods, levels, and other related terminologies.

Code that is not tested can’t be trusted

Bad reputation

“Testing is Too Expensive”: Pay less for testing during software development => pay more for maintenance or correction later. Early testing saves both time and cost in many aspects. However, reducing the cost without testing may result in improper design of a software application, rendering the product useless.

“Testing is Time-Consuming”: Testing is never a time-consuming process. However diagnosing and fixing the errors identified during proper testing is a time-consuming but productive activity.

“Only Fully Developed Products are Tested”: No doubt, testing depends on the source code but reviewing requirements and developing test cases is independent from the developed code. However, iterative or incremental approaches to a development life cycle model may reduce the requirement of testing on the fully developed software.

“Complete Testing is Possible”: It becomes an issue when a client or tester thinks that complete testing is possible. It is possible that all paths have been tested by the team but occurrence of complete testing is never possible. There might be some scenarios that are never executed by the test team or the client during the software development life cycle and may be executed once the project has been deployed.

“A Tested Software is Bug-Free”: No one can claim with absolute certainty that a software application is 100% bug-free even if a tester with superb testing skills has tested the application.

“Testers are Responsible for Quality of Product”: It is a very common misinterpretation that only testers or the testing team should be responsible for product quality. Testers’ responsibilities include the identification of bugs to the stakeholders and then it is their decision whether they will fix the bug or release the software. Releasing the software at the time puts more pressure on the testers, as they will be blamed for any error.

“Test Automation should be used wherever possible to Reduce Time”: Yes, it is true that Test Automation reduces the testing time, but it is not possible to start test automation at any time during software development. Test automaton should be started when the software has been manually tested and is stable to some extent. Moreover, test automation can never be used if requirements keep changing.

Basic

This standard deals with the following aspects to determine the quality of a software application:

Quality model

External metrics

Internal metrics

Quality in use metrics

This standard presents some set of quality attributes for any software such as:

Functionality

Reliability

Usability

Efficiency

Maintainability

Portability

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:

The determination of the functionality that the intended application is meant to perform.

The creation of test data based on the specifications of the application.

The output based on the test data and the specifications of the application.

The writing of test scenarios and the execution of test cases.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 deduce how the application will perform in production. There are also legal and contractual requirements for acceptance of the system.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Molich in 2000 stated that 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.

In addition to the different definitions of usability, there are some standards and quality models and methods that define usability in the form of attributes and sub-attributes such as ISO-9126, ISO-9241-11, ISO-13407, and IEEE std.610.12, etc.

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.

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

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.

Test Plan

A test plan outlines the strategy that will be used to test an application, the resources that will be used, the test environment in which testing will be performed, and the limitations of the testing and the schedule of testing activities. Typically the Quality Assurance Team Lead will be responsible for writing a Test Plan.

A test plan includes the following:

Introduction to the Test Plan document

Assumptions while testing the application

List of test cases included in testing the application

List of features to be tested

What sort of approach to use while testing the software

List of deliverables that need to be tested

The resources allocated for testing the application

Any risks involved during the testing process

A schedule of tasks and milestones to be achieved

Test Scenario

It is a one line statement that notifies what area in the application will be tested. Test scenarios are used to ensure that all process flows are tested from end to end. A particular area of an application can have as little as one test scenario to a few hundred scenarios depending on the magnitude and complexity of the application.

The terms ‘test scenario’ and ‘test cases’ are used interchangeably, however a test scenario has several steps, whereas a test case has a single step. Viewed from this perspective, test scenarios are test cases, but they include several test cases and the sequence that they should be executed. Apart from this, each test is dependent on the output from the previous test.

Test Case

Test cases involve a set of steps, conditions, and inputs that can be used while performing testing tasks. The main intent of this activity is to ensure whether a software passes or fails in terms of its functionality and other aspects. There are many types of test cases such as functional, negative, error, logical test cases, physical test cases, UI test cases, etc.

Furthermore, test cases are written to keep track of the testing coverage of a software. Generally, there are no formal templates that can be used during test case writing. However, the following components are always available and included in every test case:

Test case ID

Product module

Product version

Revision history

Purpose

Assumptions

Pre-conditions

Steps

Expected outcome

Actual outcome

Post-conditions

Many test cases can be derived from a single test scenario. In addition, sometimes multiple test cases are written for a single software which are collectively known as test suites.