How Have Testing Tools Helped to Perform Effective Testing?

Software testing has always been a very important part of the whole software development process. It helps in detecting the flaws that are responsible for the dissatisfaction of the customers which in turn helps in the development of better products which automatically gets better due to the rectification of errors which would possibly diminish the outcome of the software.

With the advancement of the software testing procedure, automation of various testing procedure, automation have been introduced where the various tests are being performed by the automated tools which helps in fast testing and at the same time increases the coverage area. The main advantage of automated testing is the fact that it is effective yet costs a lot test than manual procedures. The process is completed a lot faster and the same test can be run parallel on multiple machines and at the same time. You will also get the same accuracy every time you test software. Prolonged tests are actually done with better proficiency by tools than on a manual way. This is why the tests which have high output value but require little effort to be completed are automated first.

1.  Reduction of Repetitive Work: Certain tests, like regression tests, are very boring to perform as they are repetitive in nature. When manually done, these repetitive tests become prone to mistakes as it is tedious in nature and tend to bore people off. Insertion of the test data again and again as well as checking the codes multiple times in order to create a proper database for the storage for future referencing. However tools are capable of performing these repetitive tasks with perfect ease and with the same amount accuracy every time and saves up on time too.  

2.    Greater Consistency and Repeatability: A tool is capable of performing the same task again and again with the same amount of preciseness. However, when a human performs the same test manually, their technique gets altered although they may not realize it. Hence the testing tool helps in increasing the effectiveness of testing.

3. Objective Assessment: Assessment of the cyclomatic complexity or nesting levels of a component (usually done with the help of a static analysis tool), coverage (coverage measurement tool), system behavior (by the help of monitoring tools) and incident statistics (done with the test management tool) are some of the examples of objective assessment which are done by the help of the automation tools. This helps to remove any biasness which may occur when the same objective assessment test is done manually by any human being.

4.  Ease of Access to Information about Tests or Testing: Information is well retained by human when they are depicted in the form of a picture. This is why information which is presented in the form of charts and graphs are easier to remember and analyze than mere numbers. Automatic tools help to convert the end results of the software testing procedures into charts and bars which can then be analyzed with ease by an individual. Information like the development of the procedure, advancement of the same, occurrence of various incidents repeatedly, is directly converted into images for better processing.

These are just some of the ways in which have helped in the process of performing effective testing of the software. However, although a huge progress has been made in the fields of the automation of the test procedure, the main part of the whole process, i.e. the planning of the test still have to be done manually and hence manual processes can’t be completely overlooked.