Close
26 April 2022
7 MIN READ 
BY
Shubhangi Singh
Software testing is the process of evaluating the functionality of a Functional testing is the process through which QAs determine if a piece of software is acting in accordance with predetermined requirements. It uses black-box testing techniques, in which the tester does not know the internal system logic. Functional testing is only concerned with validating if a system works as intended.
This article will lay out a thorough description of functional testing, its types, techniques, and examples to clarify its nuances.
2. Smoke Testing: This is done after the release of each build to ensure that software stability is intact and not facing any anomalies. Smoke testing ensures the appropriate and consistent functioning of the basic functionalities and the important features. This also ascertains the absence of show stopper bugs in the release done. The decision on proceeding with further testing is made based on the outcome of smoke testing. Ensure basic functionality/user journey works and there are no show stopper bugs present.
3. Sanity Testing: Usually done after smoke testing, this is run to verify that every major functionality of an application is working perfectly, both by itself and in combination with other elements. Sanity testing is a subset of regression testing. This also checks the proper working of new functionality added to an application.
4. Regression Testing: Regression Testing ensures that changes to the codebase (new code, debugging strategies, etc.) do not disrupt the already existing functions or trigger some instability. Complete end to end functionality of the application software once the new feature or change has been included in it gets tested here.
5. Integration Testing: Once regression testing is done on individual modules of the application software, integration testing ensures that all the modules are integrated properly, that is, all the modules work fine and in proper sequence when used combinedly without breaking the product. If a system requires multiple functional modules to work effectively, integration testing is done to ensure that individual modules work as expected when operating in combination with each other. It validates that the end-to-end outcome of the system meets these necessary standards.
6. Beta/ Usability Testing: In this stage, volunteers or a limited set of users for whom the new feature or changes made in the application software have been enabled for usage will test the product in a production environment. This stage is necessary to gauge how comfortable a customer is with the interface. Their feedback is taken for implementing further improvements to the code.
The overview of a functional test includes the following steps:
1. Create input values with boundary conditions in mind.
2. Execute test cases with defined test steps.
3. Compare actual and expected output.
Generally, functional testing in detail follows the steps below:
Automation can certainly reduce time, effort and cost involved in executing functional tests. Initially, Return on Investments is higher. Once we get better coverage it will drastically reduce the manual efforts and produce highly accurate results in less amount of time. Human error can also be minimized, preventing bugs from slipping past the test phase based on the automation coverage.
However, increased automation means that QAs need to develop test cases for each test. Naturally, formulating the right test case is pivotal, along with identifying the right automation tool for the purpose.
1.The automation tool should support all the modes(web or UI or mobile or all) and functionality (if any complex UI patterns are involved) of the product.
2.The tool must be easy to use, especially for all members of your QA team.
3.It must be seamlessly operational across different environments.
a. For example, ask yourself: Can you create test scripts on one OS and run them on another? Do you need UI automation, CLI automation, mobile app automation, or all of them?
4.It must provide features specific to your team’s requirements.
a. For instance, if certain team members are not comfortable with a certain scripting language, the tool should support conversion to other script languages that they may be better versed in. Similarly, if you need specific reporting and logging or automated build tests, the tool must be able to provide the same.5.In case of changes to the UI, the tool must support the reusability of test cases.
