How to do Functional testing

The world of software development has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few decades and the enormous contribution it is providing in economic development. As of today, software development organizations, in particular, are working tirelessly to deliver high-quality software products without any technical glitch whatsoever. In order to justify the quality of software, testing is something that cannot be ignored. In this article, you will get to know how functional testing is carried out.

What is functional testing?

Functional testing is a software testing technique where a software system is validated against the functional requirements/specifications.

How to perform functional testing?

1. Initiate with gathering user requirements: The first step starts with understanding what actually a user wants from a particular product because ultimately the product is going to be used by a user. User needs should be thoroughly understood and analysed. Testers must clearly know the project requirements and how it is going to benefit the users. All the necessary user inputs must be listed down so that the work can be done in a streamlined manner.

2. Preparing a test plan: For carrying out effective testing, a good test plan is a prime criterion. For preparing various test scenarios, a test plan needs to be created. Writing a test plan challenges a tester to think about the testing challenges and the means to solve them. For example, when a QA team finds bugs, they can pass on to the development team before the release. This is also known as defect management. For testers, test plans serve as a guide when it comes to the scope of work, the timeline for deliverables, tools used, an objective for each action, and roles and responsibilities.

3. Start off writing test cases: After getting a clear idea about user requirements and then preparing test plans, the third important step is to start off writing test cases. Test data is an important aspect during the execution of functional test cases. While writing the test cases, test input needs to be identified along with the corresponding test output.

• Test data: The tester creates the data and takes it as input for the application to test whether a certain functionality of an application works as expected.
• Test Input: Some data needs to be provided or some action (e.g. button click) needs to be performed to test the application. All these inputs required for the effective functioning of the application are called test inputs.
• Test Output: When the application is provided with test input, the application under test processes the data and provides the output known as “actual test output.” While writing the cases, the expected output is identified based on the functional requirements provided.

4. Test case execution: Execute the test cases based on the test plan that is predetermined. While execution, It is important to compare the expected output with the actual output. If there is any difference that is being reported between these two outputs, then defects must be documented. The flow should start from most to least important. For each test case, test results need to be maintained, so that when the new code is being deployed there should no new defects.

5. End with regression testing: This testing method ensures that the code that has been modified by the development team has not paved the way for new defects or changed the functionality of the application.

Conclusion

As you now know the above mentioned five points to perform functional testing, you must have got some idea regarding the significance of functional testing. If you are looking for a strategic partner who can support in all your testing requirements, then do get connected with a top-notch software testing services company that is working really hard to provide the best of Quality Assurance services to their esteemed clients.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.