Non-functional testing
The non-functional testing is the process of testing the quality characteristics of the component or system developed. Non-functional refers to aspects of the software that may not be related to a specific function or user action such as scalability or security. Non-functional testing is also performed at all levels like functional testing.
Non-functional testing includes:
Usability testing - In usability testing basically the testers test the ease with which the user interfaces can be used. It tests that whether the application or the product built is user-friendly or not.
Usability Testing tests the following features of the software.
- How easy it is to use the software.
- How easy it is to learn the software.
- How convenient is the software to end user.
Portability testing - refers to the process of testing the ease with which a computer software component or application can be moved from one environment to another, e.g. moving of any application from Windows XP to Windows 10. This is usually measured in terms of the maximum amount of effort permitted. Results are measured in terms of the time required to move the software and complete the documentation updates.
Compliance testing - It is related with IT standards followed by the company and the testing is done to find the deviations from the company prescribed standards. It determines, whether we are implementing and meeting the defined standards. It’s basically an audit of a system carried out against a known criterion.
Documentation testing - This is one of the most cost effective approaches to testing. If the documentation is not right: there will be major and costly problems. The documentation can be tested in a number of different ways to many different degrees of complexity. These range from running the documents through a spelling and grammar checking device, to manually reviewing the documentation to remove any ambiguity or inconsistency. Documentation is as important to a product’s success as the product itself.
Load testing - Load test is a type of software testing which is conducted to understand the behavior of the application under a specific expected load. Load testing is performed to determine a system’s behavior under both normal and peak conditions. This helps to identify the maximum operating capacity of an application as well as any bottlenecks and determine which element is causing degradation.
Performance testing - Performance testing is testing that is performed to determine how fast some aspect of a system performs under a particular workload. It can serve different purposes like it can demonstrate that the system meets performance criteria. It can compare two systems to find which performs better. Or it can measure what part of the system or workload causes the system to perform badly.
Security testing - Security testing is basically to check whether the application or the product is secured or not. Can anyone hack the system or login the application without any authorization. It is a process to determine that an information system protects data and maintains functionality as intended.
Stress testing - It involves testing beyond normal operational capacity, often to a breaking point, in order to observe the results. It is a form of testing that is used to determine the stability of a given system. It puts greater emphasis on robustness, availability, and error handling under a heavy load, rather than on what would be considered correct behavior under normal circumstances. The goals of such tests may be to ensure the software does not crash in conditions of insufficient computational resources (such as memory or disk space).
Regression testing – If there is any modification or changes that are done to the application or even when any small change is done to the code then it can bring unexpected issues. Along with the new changes it becomes very important to test whether the existing functionality is intact or not. This can be achieved by doing the regression testing.