Software Testing: A Complete Guide for Newcomers to the Industry
Software Testing: A Complete Guide for Newcomers to the Industry
You use software almost daily, whether you are on your phone, using your laptop, driving your vehicle, or even operating your washer-dryer. Everyone knows that just about everything you use is run by Software. However, have you ever thought about how these applications run so smoothly together? How does a company ensure its Website or Apps are free of bugs before they are available to you? A software product must be tested.
Software Testing is one of the easiest and quickest ways for a beginner to break into the IT Sector. In this article, we will introduce you to Software Testing, explain why it is important, explain how it works, give you descriptions of different types of Software Testing, and discuss how you can begin your career in this field.
Everything You Need to Know About Software Testing
Software Testing is the process of verifying that an application can work according to specifications. It's like doing a quality check on your vehicle before driving off a lot. Basically, Software Testing identifies any problems, errors or defects in your application before the end user does.
If you've ever downloaded an App, you've probably experienced some sort of problem with it (e.g. Crashing, Broken Button, Payment Failure), all bad experiences. To alleviate these problems, companies hire Software Testers to validate an application from the end user's perspective and verify that all aspects of the application work properly. There are several reasons why Testing is important.
Quality has improved as a result of software testing
- It saves companies from costly mistakes
- Prevention of Major System Failures
- User Trust can be maintained
- Stability of Product
When people think of Testing, many times they're only thinking of finding bugs. However, software testing encompasses much more than that. Software Testing is ensuring that a software product meets required specifications and is therefore considered Reliable, Usable and Secure.
It is possible to get started as a Software Tester without the need for coding or programming experience. Many testers get their first jobs with little or no technical knowledge and learn the necessary skills through experience.
Importance of Software Testing in Today's Technology
At present, software is an integral part of thousands of industries, including finance, health care, education, e-commerce, transportation, logistics, and entertainment. With so many companies relying on software, just one small bug can result in huge problems.
Real Life Examples of Bugs that Have Caused Damage
For example, a major banking software error caused millions of dollars in losses due to incorrectly processed transactions. Another incident occurred when a major airline's ticketing system malfunctioned and resulted in thousands of tickets being cancelled due to a software problem. Incorrect prices were displayed for products as a result of programming mistakes made by e-commerce sites.
These examples provide insight into the importance of protecting your finances, your time and your image through the software testing process. Having a great design does not matter if an app crashes. Software testers can find issues before they become issues that frustrate users.
Create Trust Among Users
Users trust a stable application. In fact, stability is the most important aspect of banking and payment applications. Users want to feel safe when using an application.
Verify Application Security
Software testers will test for leaks or loss of sensitive data, which is a huge issue in today’s technology world. This is why security testing has become one of the highest standards for achieving success in today’s technology world.
Lower Development Costs
The camera, speaker, applications, and battery have all been tested before delivery of the smartphone. Essentially, Software Testing represents a broad area with various forms of testing. Do not worry about being a "newbie" and trying to master each form of testing on your first try. The following are some of the more popular forms of software testing, with a brief description of each, presented in layman's terms.
The benefits of manual testing for new testers are that it's easy to learn, gives a practical insight into how to fit into the space of software testing, and establishes a solid foundation for future testing. Automation Testing: Automation testing is a type of testing using tools to create scripts, which are used to automatically run functionality tests on an application. The reason for automated testing is that it is faster than manual testing, supports larger-scale projects, takes away a lot of the hard work off of manual testers and provides opportunities for career growth and more money with automated testing.
Non-Functional Testing: Non-functional testing focuses more on the performance of the application over and above its functional benefits
Unit Testing, Integration Testing & System Testing stage
(Unit Testing) represents the testing of components individually.
Step 1: Requirement Analysis
The requirements of the application for the Tester to understand:
- What should the application do?
- What features should be tested?
Step 2: testing for cases
In this phase, you will identify:
- The way you are going to test your application.
- The tools you are going to use.
- The amount of time you are going to need.
- Who will be conducting the testing?
This is the same as when you plan a job.
Step 3: Development of Test Cases
In this phase, Testers create Test Cases – written steps to be performed in order to test a particular feature of an application.
Example Test Case:
1. Open the login page
2. Enter a valid login username and a valid password.
Step 4: Testing for software
- Execute test cases.
- Report on all bugs discovered through testing.
- Re-test once the Developers have repaired the bugs discovered.
Concluding all test documentation on:
- Testing Individuals
- The bugs that were repaired and fixes implemented
- Overall status of quality control
Testing is considered complete once the Software has stabilised and is ready for release.
Career Path for Freshers:
Basic Skills to be successful are:
- Logical Thinking
- Effective Communication Skills
- Attention to Detail
- Basic Computer Knowledge
Understanding of both the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) as well as the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC). There will be programming required to finally automate testing, but the beginning does not require programming.
Courses You Should Consider to Learn Software Testing
As a fresher, you have many options for Short Courses to start: Manual Testing, API Testing, Mobile Application Testing, Basics of SQL, Basics of Python or Java (optional for Automation.) You will also find many Training Institutions and Online Portals that provide beginner-friendly training for these Courses.
Tools You Will Learn
For Manual Testing, the following Tools are recommended:
- Jira
- Bugzilla
- TestRail
For Automation Testing, the following Tools are recommended: Selenium, Postman, Appium, Playwright,and TestNG.Even learning two or three of these tools will make your CV even more solid!
Job Roles for Freshers
As a fresher, you can look for jobs in the field of software testing, including:
- QA Tester, Manual Tester, QA Analyst, Test Engineer
- Automation Tester (If you are familiar with testing tools)
- High Demand for Qualified Testers;
- Stable Job Opportunities within the Industry;
Opportunity for Growth in an Automation Testing Career Path
A Vital Role for Each of the Major Players in the IT Industry, as all software must go through a testing cycle prior to becoming live to Users.
Conclusion
Software Testing is a vital part of ensuring that software is of high quality, functional, and reliable. For Freshers, software testing is an excellent career path because it is easy to start in, and has a high demand for qualified testers. Testers who learn the fundamentals, practice using real-life applications, and develop confidence in their abilities can easily become highly skilled and valuable Software Testers.
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