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You have gotten your software this far and now it is time to start the testing process.

If you have put a lot of time, effort, and funding into this software then you will want to ensure that it works as efficiently, and as effectively as possible.

If the software does not work as well as you want it too then you could risk wasting all of your time, hard work, and effort.

If your software is full of glitches, bugs, and errors then it could mean it is time to start again and once again return to the drawing board.

Testing software at all stages is important, from conception through to production and release. Failing to implement adequate testing could leave you with a useless error-prone piece of software.

Why Testing Matters

If you did not test your software then crucially how would you know it works the way you want it to? Testing is important to ensure that a piece of software runs as well as it was designed to. Testing at all stages can enable you and your team to iron out any creases and mistakes before they become too large and costly to deal with.

When good testing is put into practice and it is considered normal for releasing and developing new software you get the opportunity to allow for and counteract any human error issues.

Human errors, unfortunately, do occur and even small errors within a piece of software can be costly. So, to overcome the barriers and obstacles of human testing rigorous testing for all software must be standard and must be a priority for any developers.

Functionality Testing

At the most elementary level of testing, you will want to ensure that basic functions work. To undertake functionality testing you will want to test everything one step at a time.

If functions do not work at this basic level then you have the opportunity to reprogram and tweak your software before you commit any more time or funds to its development.

Functionality testing provides you and your team with the quality assurance that it works by testing software against both functional specifications and functional requirements. 

Non Functional Testing

Performance Engineering is non-functional testing that covers performance tuning. Performance Testing works by measuring the speed, scalability, stability, and responsiveness of your software.

When looking at the additional aspects of Performance Engineering it is important to establish where the differences lie between engineering and testing as the two can often be confused and mistaken for one another. Performance engineering focuses on functionality and its processes to ensure that consistent and constant monitoring ensures the end user’s experience is optimized and as brilliant as it can be.

Lack Of Time

It can be very easy to want to rush the testing period, especially if you are behind on a deadline, or if you have time limits to adhere to, but you must stop and take your time.

Conduct calculated research and testing to ensure that your software is ready for its next stage of development and that it is ready to be released into mainstream markets. Like with most things testing periods and timescales can overrun so it is important to ensure that you give yourself and your team enough time to conduct thorough and regular testing.

Quality And Consistency

When using software testing services at any stage of development it can be difficult to identify quality and consistency issues, and it can be hard to maintain consistency and quality throughout periods of testing.

For these instances, you must have a testing plan that you implement and stick to. Failing to have a plan can leave you feeling frustrated and it can also leave you questioning just how accurate your results are, and if they are in fact as quality-driven and consistent as you need them to be to move forwards.

Code Review 

Looking at a piece of software coding for too long can be counterproductive. You can end up going in circles if you stare at something too long, especially if you have been working on it closely.

If you are looking too closely at an application you may fail to notice errors, even those large glaring issues that you might normally see.

Getting others onboard is important and so utilizing a code review both in the early and advanced stages, and getting other eyes to look over the coding will ensure that any errors are quickly seen and resolved.

Exploratory Testing

You may consider this type of testing if you are not so focused on rigorous testing. As the name says exploratory testing works on the basic plans and guidelines of what areas you want to test, where, and when.

From here you then explore the software and you allow the opportunity for errors, bugs, and issues to be uncovered more by chance than anything else. Exploratory testing should not be used on its own but should be used in conjunction with other testing methods and modes.

Failing To Record Results

Quite often you may find yourself and your team is so focused on testing software that you forget to record test results, or you simply overlook the importance of recording results.

If you do not record the result then you will not see where the errors and problems lie and you will not remember what you need to do to improve your software.

Keeping accurate and clear records of your results will allow everyone to move forwards and improve the software so always make time to record the results you gain from testing.

Launching and creating a new piece of software is exciting, however, it can be easy to get caught up and not get the results or information you need.

Testing your software at all times is important and creating a program of testing will ensure you don’t overlook any stage or area of the process. Testing and evaluation can take weeks and it is important to allow for testing time when you are working out your release deadlines.