How can Functional Testing ensure Software Quality?

A recent post by Mashable.com lists down the most exciting games coming up in 2017. So, you have this thrilling range of games – Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Destiny 2, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Assassin’s Creed, and much more. While the game gets loaded on the user’s device, it is expected to create an impact and perform seamlessly. Any glitch in its functionality can be detrimental for its survival in the user’s choice list. Functional Testing enables testers and developers to ensure that the features and functionalities of an application are in sync and at par with the developer’s expectations to achieve the desired user experience.

Digital Transformation has reinforced the need for flexible and agile testing approach, as updates happen in real-time to meet user experience. Functional Testing needs to take the agile approach to ensure efficiency of the application and desired experience. An apparel portal is expected to deliver a desirable experience, where the user must get a 360-degree view of the fashion line and get the look and feel. If there is a glitch in this experience, the user is going to turn you off and move to another application. Functional Testing, thus, must ensure that all failure paths are mended.

What to expect from Functional Testing?

The underlying objective of Functional Testing is to check and ensure that the application has the ability to seamlessly perform the fundamental activities. This is absolutely critical as the developers define a scope for an application and if the user is unable to experience the same, it could be disastrous. For instance, a financial services application (Mobile Wallet) proposes that the user will be able to scan a QR code and pay for a service. However, if there is a glitch and the payment doesn’t go through, there will be a major disappointment and the user will refrain from going back to that application.

Functional Testing with automation ensures to cut down any such hiccups and brings business sustainability to the application. Ultimately, the application is expected to make money and sustain in the turbulent marketplace. While Performance Testing assures that the application brings enhanced user experience, Functional Testing ensures basic deliverables from the application.

There are some quintessential objectives that Functional Testing and Regression Testing are expected to achieve – Precision, Interoperability, Compliance, and rendering secure interface. Encapsulating the key deliverables of an application, functional testing enables an application to perform seamlessly and deliver its key performance parameters – deliver with precision and ensure secure transactions.

How can Functional Test Automation supplement the testing process?

Research and analysis suggests some interesting findings on automating Functional Testing. A report by Forrester on Functional Test Automation (FTA) states, Functional testing is one of the most crucial, time-consuming, and expensive steps in continuous testing — so it’s necessary to automate this testing, and to automate it at higher levels than most Agile teams achieve today. In fact, our Agile survey shows FTA adoption levels between 42% and 45%, and we know that automation is lower in the general development market. On the other side, developers are getting more involved with FTA; 16% say that they use UI and API functional test automation.

Furthermore, a functional software test automation tool helps teams to design, develop, and manage the automation of functional tests for an application, even while the application is running across various platforms. It’s similar to driving on 2-3 lanes (or more) at a time.

A tool helps to test various functionalities such as User Interface with UI Test Automation and even interact with the Application Programming Interface (API) with API Test Automation. This is essential to ensure the interconnectivity of the application. Similar to the other superseding benefits of Test Automation, FTA offers faster feedback, better results, cost-effectiveness, and absolute elimination of manual errors due to automation.

Digital enterprises need faster turnaround and need to speed up to the market. So, automation at every level of testing and development is essential. According to a Forrester report on FTA, Manual testing should account for less than 20% of the overall testing activity; automated testing should account for more than 80%.

The Value Functional Testing brings for software development

Every aspect of software testing is expected to bring value to the software development process – speed up the process, help deliver a better software, and ensure superior quality. These are some key objectives that Functional Testing is expected to achieve.

• Reveal Functional flaws

Identifying and exposing the functional flaws is essential to ensure efficiency of the application. So, it is important to make a list of the basic deliverables of an application and run functional tests to confirm the required results. So, the tester can connect with real-life usage of the application and understand the flaws of the software application.

Security is a key functional aspect that has to be considered while executing tests and ensuring basic functionalities. With cyber threats growing each day, Functional Testing plays a critical role to ensure that your application authenticates the user’s actions.

• Precision of the application

Functional Testing enables teams to test the application for precision in performance. If there is a double click in a gaming application, it has to be a double click, not a single click. Any and many of such expectations can get blemished if the functionality is not precisely implemented.

• Ensure Interconnectivity for smooth interactions

Today an application needs to interact with various other applications and gateways to ensure smooth and seamless transactions. A mobile wallet (application) must ensure secure payments, transfers, even enable hotel bookings, book a taxi, and much more. What if it is unable to connect and make a payment to conclude the transaction with success? It will lead to total dismal climax.

• Operate across diverse platforms

An application can be accessed on a tablet, a mobile device, or over a web. It can be accessed across browsers and operating systems. How do you ensure Interoperability? The only way is to automate functional testing and test a single application across devices and technology platforms.

A software is tested and assessed for interoperability, as it has to ensure the desired customer experience and perform its fundamental duties.

In Conclusion

If you ask users about their expectations from an application, the answer would boil down to some select keywords – Secure, flawless, smooth, and as defined. Functional Testing with automation is thus critical today to ensure the basic deliverables of an application. Digital Technologies are changing the face of software development and testing. Teams need to ensure that their Functional Testing strategy is very much in place and runs effectively.

Cigniti’s functional testing approach is well structured and leverages proven industry standard testing techniques, tools, pre-built test accelerators, and methodologies. Connect with us to leverage our expertise to build a robust Functional Testing framework for your Software/Application Development model.