As part of the entire Quality Assurance Testing process, functional testing is a testing type that evaluates if all the components of a system are functioning robustly.
To begin functional testing, every component of the system is first tested to confirm if it is giving the desired output according to the designed code and then double-checked to make sure that the system overall is not being affected negatively by the output of that particular component. Testers need to make sure that their functional testing solutions are able to cover all essential aspects of the system, which includes the edge case or boundary case scenarios. However, the primary focus of functionality testing remains on the system’s or application’s accessibility, usability, and how smooth are its features and functions working.
Functional testing helps to warranty the quality of the software. While performing functional testing, QA engineers are frequently focused on one particular component of the software in order to give ample attention to meticulously analyzing and test that component. During the testing process, integration points between the part and other parts can be realized. In case of a bug or issue identified, the QA test engineers then move to the scrutiny process and implement a plan that makes sure that, holistically, the system is integrated seamlessly. Therefore, in order to pass the system, it is imperative that the user interface absolutely matches the software’s code for outstanding customer experience.
Functional Testing Types
There are various types of functional testing that are performed with the purpose of assuring that the quality of the software being assessed is 100% faultless.
Following below are some of the most significant types of functional testing solutions offered under different circumstances:
Unit Testing:
This testing type primarily guarantees that each piece of code being developed and embedded in a component is able to derive the desired result. In this case, developers begin by writing the code. Meanwhile, changes are performed significantly, the unit test scripts automatically begin to differ. This serves as a purpose of preparing documentation of code development, with every unit of the code being tested thoroughly before moving on to another unit.
Black Box Testing:
Among functional testing solutions, there is a testing type where the testers are not provided with any prior knowledge or requirements of the implementation to assess the critical functions of the system. For performing Black Box Testing, test cases are created for different scenarios.
Regression Testing:
To put it simply, regression testing is a normal part of a systems development processes and focuses on testing the modifications in a system to ensure that it continues to work smoothly even after changes. It is explicitly performed to make sure that the new code has not been disrupted due to issues or bugs. However, regression testing cannot be implemented on the entire system. Rather, it is limited to only the critical functions where there is often a possibility for further software developments and defects fixing.
System integration testing (SIT):
System integration testing, or SIT, is a process that regulates the software’s operations as well as compatibility with other applications. It is essential to test precisely when the interaction between the systems work together with the developed system after it has been installed. If the system undergoing development is overall separate or independent that doesn’t need compatibility to be tested, SIT can be passed over.
User acceptance testing (UAT):
Evaluating the user experience and how well the system interacts, UAT helps measure the final usability of the overall system. For UAT, test cases are developed using user requirements and are then authenticated or cross-checked with actual end-users of the system. UAT helps decide if the final product is accepted.
Functional Testing Tools
Functional testing process involves cross-checking if software is functioning as desired in terms of user interface, database, security, and client/server applications. This can be executed either through manual or automation testing. However, primarily, manual testing is favored because of the high-cost expense in automated testing.
It is worth mentioning here that open source tools have won credible recognition among corporations to opt for automated testing. A few of the most widely used open source tools for performing functional testing include are:
• Selenium
• Appium
• HP QTP / UFT
• HP Quality Center (HP ALM)
• IBM Rational
• TestComplete
• Cucumber
Conclusion
Kualitatem understands that the present-day business scenario is evolving at a lightning fast pace and is becoming more and more digitally innovative. This demands complex and dynamic testing solutions with limited time and resources. Kualitatem’s functional testing services assure that the focus is on the end-user. To learn more about Kualitatem’s s functional testing solutions, visit our website and get in touch with our experts.