The user expectations for any software
product are changing fast. Therefore, the risk of releasing any software
application with glitches can be detrimental to its performance in the market.
To ensure that the software meets all its desired requirements and delivers the
best user experience, it should be subjected to rigorous software functionality testing. Here,
the QA specialists validate the software for features or functions that were
agreed upon by the client. Functional testing
services focus on meeting customer requirements/experience rather than
customer expectations (non-functional testing.) To cite an example, an
eCommerce store selling apparels should offer a comprehensive view of the store
and individual items. If the same is not offered owing to glitches, the
customer experience can go for a toss.
A functional QA specialist analyzes the
individual units of an application and their integration touchpoints with other
units. This is of utmost importance as most glitches make their way into an
application at the integration touchpoints.
Highlights of software functionality testing
In this type of testing, the QA
specialists verify the presence of features or functionalities in the
application as per the specifications provided by the client. The highlights of
functional testing for web or mobile
applications are:
·
The testing should
be executed early as opposed to non-functional testing.
·
Both manual and functional test automation can be a
part of this testing. However, manual testing is relatively easy to conduct in
this type of testing.
·
It tests and
validates the functional aspects of the software product.
·
Examples are unit
testing, sanity testing, smoke testing, user acceptance testing, black-box
testing, white box testing, and regression testing.
Functional testing: the procedure
The process of executing this type of
testing is as follows:
·
Understand and
analyze the functional specifications given by the client
·
Identify the test
data
·
Ascertain the
expected results based on the selected input values
·
Conduct the test
using test cases
·
Compare the results
– expected vs actual
·
Analyze any
incongruities and send them to the developers for fixing
Why is software/mobile functionality testing imperative for an
application?
In a day and age where the quality of an application
overrides all other aspects as far as making it market-ready is concerned,
functional testing has become imperative. It delivers a slew of advantages
including:
Functional suitability
This confirms whether the web or mobile
application executes its basic functions. The testing identifies the functional
flaws and highlights the risks of not fixing them. The testing of functions
should depend on their risk possibilities and then prioritized. This means more
focus on functions that carry more risks rather than omitting them from
testing.
Seamless interaction with better integration: The dynamic nature of today’s applications means they should offer
seamless interaction with other applications. For example, an eCommerce
application should ensure secured payments, which can only be possible with
better integration with the payment gateways. What if the customer could not
make the payment due to poor connectivity with the payment gateway? No points
for guessing, the customer experience will be severely dented.
Interoperability: Another aspect of
customer experience is the ability of the software application in offering an
omnichannel experience. In other words, the application should be easily
accessible on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, and across operating systems
and browsers. To check interoperability, the automated
functional testing of application should be conducted across devices
and other environments.
Early detection of glitches: Functional automation testing helps the QA team to test the code repeatedly. This way, any hidden
glitches can be identified quickly and early on in the development process. In
the Agile-DevOps model of development and testing, any early detection and
fixing of glitches would mean quicker release of the software to the market and
cost savings.
Changes not impacting the overall application: An application can undergo specific changes to its features or
functionalities depending on the market/client demand. Regression testing can
ensure the changes do not impact the overall application. Here, through functional test automation, the specific change area is tested
instead of the whole application thereby saving time and effort.
Conclusion
Continuous and end-to-end testing of
applications has become imperative to ensure the quality of any web or mobile
application. In this context, functional testing of applications incorporating
test automation can help detect resident glitches early and quickly. Its
successful implementation ensures the software application meets the client’s
requirements and delivers superior customer experiences.
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