Testing tools in Software Engineering

Software testing tools are developed to manage many different types of functional and non-functional tests. Functional tests are designed to determine whether an application delivers all the functionality and features specified in the project requirements. Non-functional testing evaluates the software’s performance, usability, reliability, security. Other factors to determine how well it performs and what kind of user experience it offers.

Testing tools in Software Engineering

Higher product quality. Software testing tools help deliver higher quality applications by improving the accuracy of tests, increasing the coverage of code that is tested, accelerating the pace of testing, and delivering feedback to developers earlier in the process.

Types of software testing tools

There are a number of common software testing tools used by development teams today.

  • Test management tools manage many aspects of the testing protocol .Tracking activity, analyzing data, managing test cases, executing automated tests, and planning and tracking manual testing.
  • Unit testing tools help to ensure that individual modules or units of code work as intended. Unit tests are the most basic element of software testing.
  • Integration testing tools are designed to find bugs that occur when different units are combined.
  • Regression testing tools determine whether new code or features added to software break or degrade existing functionality.
  • Performance testing tools, also known as load testing tools, evaluate the performance of a piece of software under different loads and as it scales to accommodate more users and larger amounts of data.
  • Bug tracking tools help to find bugs in the testing stage and keep a record of bug fixes.
  • Automation testing tools help to manage the process of preparing and executing automated tests and tracking and communicating results.
  • Cross-browser testing tools evaluate how well an application works in multiple browsers, devices, and platforms.
  • Security testing tools look for any vulnerabilities within the software that might be exploited by malicious actors.
  • UI testing tools evaluate the user interface to ensure that the software offers a superior experience.

Static Test Tools

Static test tools are used to work on the static testing processes. In the testing through these tools, the typical approach is taken. These tools do not test the real execution of the software. Certain input and output are not required in these tools. Static test tools consist of the following:

  • Flow analyzers: Flow analyzers provides flexibility in the data flow from input to output.
  • Path Tests: It finds the not used code and code with inconsistency in the software.
  • Coverage Analyzers: All rationale paths in the software are assured by the coverage analyzers.
  • Interface Analyzers: They check out the consequences of passing variables and data in the modules.

Dynamic Test Tools

Dynamic testing process is performed by the dynamic test tools. These tools test the software with existing or current data. Dynamic test tools comprise the following:

  • Test driver: The test driver provides the input data to a module-under-test (MUT).
  • Test Beds: It displays source code along with the program under execution at the same time.
  • Emulators: Emulators provide the response facilities which are used to imitate parts of the system not yet developed.
  • Mutation Analyzers: They are used for testing the fault tolerance of the system by knowingly . It providing the errors in the code of the software.

Categorization of software testing tools

There is one more categorization of software testing tools. According to this classification, software testing tools are of 10 types:

  1. Test Management Tools: Test management tools are used to store information on how testing is to be done, help to plan test activities, and report the status of quality assurance activities. For example, JIRA, Redmine, Selenium, etc.
  2. Automated Testing ToolsAutomated testing tools helps to conduct testing activities without human intervention with more accuracy and less time and effort. For example, Appium, Cucumber, Ranorex, etc.
  3. Performance Testing ToolsPerformance testing tools helps to perform effectively .Efficiently performance testing which is a type of non-functional testing . Checks the application for parameters like stability, scalability, performance, speed, etc. For example, WebLOAD, Apache JMeter, Neo Load, etc.
  4. Cross-browser Testing ToolsCross-browser testing tools helps to perform cross-browser testing that lets the tester check whether the website works as intended when accessed through different browser-OS combinations. For example, Testsigma, Testim, Perfecto, etc.
  5. Integration Testing ToolsIntegration testing tools are used to test the interface between the modules and detect the bugs. The main purpose here is to check whether the specific modules are working as per the client’s needs or not. For example, Citrus, FitNesse, TESSY, etc.
  6. Unit Testing ToolsUnit testing tools are used to check the functionality of individual modules and to make sure that all independent modules works as expected. For example, Jenkins, PHPUnit, JUnit, etc.
  7. Mobile Testing ToolsMobile testing tools are used to test the application for compatibility on different mobile devices. For example, Appium, Robotium, Test IO, etc.

Software testing tools

GUI Testing ToolsGUI testing tools are used to test the graphical user interface of the software. For example, EggPlant, Squish, AutoIT, etc.

Bug Tracking ToolsBug tracking tool helps to keep track of various bugs that come up during the application lifecycle management. It helps to monitor and log all the bugs that are detected during software testing. For example, Trello, JIRA, GitHub, etc.

Security Testing ToolsSecurity testing is used to detect the vulnerabilities . And safeguard the application against the malicious attacks. For example, NetSparker, Vega, ImmuniWeb, etc.

Benefits of software testing tools

Software testing tools offer many benefits for developers, testers, and QA teams.

  • Higher product quality. Software testing tools help deliver higher quality applications by improving the accuracy of tests. It increasing the coverage of code that is tested, accelerating the pace of testing. And delivering feedback to developers earlier in the process.
  • Improved security. Cybercrime is a substantial threat to organizations large and small.  Software vulnerabilities are a significant target for malicious actors. Software testing tools help ensure that applications are free of flaws . Vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers, protecting companies, their users, partners, and customers from exposure to cyber criminals.
  • More cost-effective development. By uncovering defects and design issues earlier in the software developer lifecycle. Software testing tools enable developers to fix bugs more easily and cost-effectively.
  • Ensure compatibility. Software testing tools can help ensure that a piece of software will work across multiple browsers, operating systems, and devices.
  • Greater customer satisfaction. Ultimately, software testing tools help development organizations deliver products that satisfy customer requirements and expectations.

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