In any production line, testing is essential to ensure that the product is of the required quality and meets the consumer’s demands. It is also a way of identifying defects to ensure that the customer gets a full-functioning product. Take an example of the automotive industry.
Before a car is shipped to the customers, it passes through a series of road testing to confirm if it will meet the buyer’s expectations and the safety standards. This applies to a software development company. The piece of customised software needs to undergo rigorous testing before being supplied to the end-user. So, how is the software tested? Before looking at the importance of testing in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), we first have to understand what exactly the software testing life cycle is.
Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is the multi-step procedure taken to certify a software product. It can also be defined as the series of phases performed by software experts to ensure that a software product does not have any bugs or faults. However, it is crucial to note that Software Testing Life Cycle is a part of the Software Development Life Cycle.
Of course, someone may ask how they are related and what the difference is.
Software Development Life Cycle outlines all steps involved in developing software, from gathering the requirements to deploying and maintaining the software. On the other hand, STLC is a series of actions carried out by experts before the product is supplied to the final consumers. Therefore, STLC plays a significant role in the quality and security of absolute software. What are the impacts of testing in SDLC? In this article, we shall focus on the significant effects of testing a piece of software before selling it to the customers.
1. Recognising Bugs and Faults
Software is passed through the testing phase to recognize any errors and defects before deploying it. These errors may exist at the unit level or the system level. When a piece of software is passed to the customer without proper checking, it is likely to malfunction, leading to customers’ severe losses.
In the end, customers may shift their businesses to other service providers who pass through every step of software development before selling it. Furthermore, the errors realized at the deployment stage are costly to correct, and the firm may be forced to start from scratch to produce quality software. Therefore, testing the software at the earliest phases of SDLC is significant in keeping away all the bugs that may affect its operation.
2. Providing Information to The Stakeholders and Keeping the Reputation of The Firm
Keeping in touch with every stage of software development gives statistical data to the shareholders. The testing phase also helps keep track of the software standards, which ensures that the products meet the consumer’s demands in terms of quality.
Additionally, delivering standard software with the right safety measure grows the reputation of the firm. Many customers will trust a company that offers certified products, hence overcoming the increasing competition. Not forgetting, software experts also depend on the test results to check if their plans and methodologies worked in the entire development process.
3. Improving the Quality of the Software
In any production industry, there is a probable result and the real result. Customers will only accept the actual impact that satisfies their demands. However, most production industries use the probable result to formulate a quality end product. What does this mean? In a software development life cycle, experts will spend their time testing the probable result to ensure that it is free from errors and defects. Lastly, they will use the defect-free probable outcome to develop a quality product that will function according to the consumer’s expectations. Therefore, an SDLC testing phase is vital in creating an ideal end-product that will impress the customers.
4. Evaluating the Credibility
Another sole purpose of including the testing phase in the SDLC is to evaluate the software’s credibility. A software development firm may face a simple question from the customer asking how credible is the piece of software. The question can be challenging if the company skipped this crucial phase and delivered the software without testing it.
However, if the firm passed the software through all the testing stages and types, such as unit testing and regression testing, the result will be a reliable product with no faults. Therefore, a software development firm should not overlook the testing phase as it helps evaluate the product’s trustworthiness.
5. To Demonstrate Its Accessibility and Practicability
Some of the questions answered in the testing phase are; is the software accessible by the end-users? Is it applicable to most devices? If the software does not answer these questions, it will be required to undergo the first development stages. Therefore, the most significant target of passing the software in the testing phase is to ascertain if the product is accessible and practical.
In its accessibility testing, the application is delivered to a specific group of users, and the experts keep track of how the testing group uses the application. In case any trouble is experienced, it is addressed and corrected on time. The user’s communication with the application is also tested to determine its functionality. This involves checking on the easiness of applying the software in their operation and the problems encountered.
6. To Free It from Any Risk
Software is technical development. This means that it stands to face many risks from its production to its usage by the customers. Such hazards include system hacking and a computer virus. Therefore, running it in the testing phase helps check the possible causes of such risks and come up with their solutions before deploying the application. Furthermore, selling the application to the customers without testing is likely to cause significant risks to the end-users. The point is, testing the product is essential before supplying it to the users.
Conclusion
From the above illustrations, it can be seen that testing the software is a crucial part of SDLC. It is an effective process that benefits both the producers and the end-users. Therefore, any firm thinking of embarking on software development should strategize on the testing to grow its reputation and deliver quality products that are risk-free to the customers.
