Whether non functional testing is worth your time and money or not? To get answer to this question, first let’s understand what is non functional testing and its scope?
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In software testing, the term non functional testing means testing the software applications for their non functional behavior/functionality. Like functional software testing/functional testing, non functional testing is also mandatory to be conducted in testing process to achieve better output quality.
Non functional testing is all about testing the software application/product for some business constraints like: time, performance, speed, etc. Testing is done to cover missing requirements/specifications which have not covered in functional testing. It is done against the non functional requirements such as to check readiness of a system or to reflect quality of the product. Non functional testing is not related to any specific function or user action.
Let’s get into more detailed information about non functional testing.
Goal of Non Functional Testing:
The goal of this testing is to satisfy the non-functional requirements of the software application. It is this testing which lets you know how the software application/product will behave in a different expected and non-expected environment. The main aim of conducting this testing is used to cover remaining requirements.
Basic Guidelines for Conducting Non Functional Testing:
Method Used: Black box testing
When to perform: Starts after function testing is done
By whom to be performed: Done by testers
When to start testing: When all functional requirements are meet and testing is completed
Types of Non Functional Testing:
- Load testing
- Stress testing
- Performance testing
- Volume testing
- Recovery testing
- Endurance testing
- Efficiency testing
- Security testing
- Scalability testing
- Usability testing
- Documentation testing
- Installation testing
- Configuration testing
- Compatibility testing
- Compliance testing
- Baseline testing
- Interoperability testing
- Maintainability testing
- Availability testing
- Recoverability testing
- Miscellaneous testing
Basic Steps to perform Non Functional Testing:
Step 1: Requirement gathering and analysis
Step 2: Create non functional test plan
Step 3: Create non functional test cases and test script
Step 4: Execution of the test cases and test script using automated testing tools
Step 5: Capturing of the output result and reporting of the issues/defects
Step 6: At last, documentation preparation by the development team for defects fixing
Pros:
- Covers or fulfills the missed requirements
- Ensures high level of security of the software application
- Leads to higher performance, speed and endurance of the application
- Focuses on achieving higher level of quality
- Automated non functional testing tools help you to save your time
Cons:
- Testing is not stable. Enhancement/changes of the software cause re-testing of the software.
- It’s can be very expensive
Wrapping Up
Non functional testing is as important as the functional testing. It tests the features that contribute immensely to the quality of the application. The testing aims to cover non functional aspects of the software.
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