What is the Software Testing? Why is it important?
What is Software Testing?
Today, with the development of technology, software appears in every aspect of our lives (Online shopping, E-commerce, Online reservations). Many of us have come across software that does not work or does not act as expected.
For example, You want to buy a ticket to go from Porto to Barcelona, but the system gives an error at that time and shows you the opposite journeys. If he does not show you the information again to confirm in any of the next stages and you do not notice this in time, you are buying a ticket in the wrong direction. In this case, you are wasting both money and time.
The example given above shakes your trust in the company. Of course, problematic software can cause even bigger failures than that. Imagine that there is a problem with the radar system on the plane, in which case many people may be injured or even die. Software testing is done to reduce the risk of such things happening and to improve software quality.
This is how ISTQB explains Software Testing:
“Software that does not work correctly can lead to many problems, including loss of money, time, or business reputation, and even injury or death. Software testing is a way to assess the quality of the software and to reduce the risk of software failure in operation.”
Why is Software Testing Important?
Software testing does not only focus on finding faults in the system but also checks whether the developed software meets user and stakeholder needs. The tests of the application planned to be developed should be started as soon as the project drafts are ready. In this way, an experienced tester can use their experience to predict potential problems that may occur in the future, and accordingly, changes are made in the project from the beginning. From the beginning of the project until it goes live, the cost of tests and fixing errors will increase in the process. Therefore, the cheapest way to eliminate existing and potential errors in the system is to detect them early and take action.
For example, You have a project in which you have invested thousands or even millions of dollars, and the software team develops a product according to the features you specify, as they understand it. At the end of the project, you think that everything is ready, but you realize that some of the features you want are not in the system. Even worse, there are a lot of errors in the system and the application you published causes an error. Because there is no tester in the project. Neither the correct product development has been tested, nor the correct development of the product has been tested. You are losing reputation, money and time because your published application gives an error. All the money you spend on promoting your product is starting to become harmful to you because people using your product are having a bad experience. Because no one tested the product well.
BONUS:
Are Software Testing and Debugging the same?
Sometimes software testing and debugging can be confused, although the two are complementary activities. Execution of tests shows the failures caused by the errors while debugging is the software development activity that finds and fixes the errors behind the failures.
