Functional Testing - Why it is important?

If you're new to the software development industry, you might be unsure of what functional testing is or its significance. Functional testing basically confirms that a system can carry out the necessary activities. This might range from making sure a button functions as expected to ensuring an entire application operates as intended.

What is Functional Testing?

Functional testing is a type of black-box testing in which each component of the software is tested in relation to functional specifications or requirements. For example, what would happen if you add more memory? How does this impact how well your system performs while using particular applications or operating systems? You can get the answers to these questions through functional testing.

What are the types of Functional Testing?

Unit testing, Integration testing, System testing, and User Acceptance testing are the four types of functional testing that any software engineer should be familiar with. Now let’s understand them one by one.

1. Unit Testing - It is essential to test each component or element of a software separately. Hence, software engineers employ the unit testing method to do that.
For instance, if the QA engineers are developing a calculator application with some functional scenario like multiplication of two integers. Therefore, they must run a unit test to see if multiplication of two integers is happening or not. This is the best use case of unit testing.

2. Integration Testing - In this type of testing, the group of software engineers tests two or more than two components or elements of a software as one using two major approaches namely top-down and bottom-up to integrate the components which are chosen for testing.

For instance, if the QA engineers are developing an e-commerce website with some functional scenario like if any random user goes to that particular shopping website and likes a dress. Therefore, for the user to finish his/her purchase, there should be a seamless interaction between the shopping website and the payment processing system. Hence, the test engineers must run an integration test to see that the functionality is properly working or not. This is the best use case of integration testing.

3. System Testing - This type of testing is done by QA engineers to test the entire system of any software product or application. In order to do that, the QA engineers generally use these following four testing approaches:

a. End-to-End Testing: In this sort of testing, the test engineers simulate a real-world environment while testing a software application's complete system.
For example, if the test engineers are testing a medical insurance website. Hence, to implement end-to-end testing entails going through the complete process of buying an insurance policy, adding pertinent credit card information, entering your contact information, etc.

b. Smoke Testing: In this sort of testing, the test engineers validates the essential and fundamental features of the application system that is being tested. A smoke test will make sure that every aspect of purchasing medical insurance operates without an issue, just like in the example given above.

c. Sanity Testing: In this sort of testing, the test engineers run sanity tests on any new functions introduced from the developer side to the system of a software in order to make sure everything is still working fine or not in the software application. This type of testing is also known as regression testing for this reason.

d. Monkey Testing: A monkey test, as the name implies, is carried out by test engineers to determine how the application would function if a real monkey, ignorant of the application, entered random values and inputs into the system.

4. User Acceptance Testing - User acceptance testing is carried out from the client side or end-user of that specific software application to determine whether the software that was developed is 100% working as per the expectations and requirements of the end-user or not.
For instance, if a client is testing a shopping website, they may simulate real-world scenarios during alpha testing, such as making purchases, updating payment information, etc.

What are the tools used to perform Functional Testing?

The aspects that are most crucial for your specific testing requirements should be taken into account when selecting a functional testing tool. The most crucial characteristics to look for in a functional testing tool are object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

When selecting a functional testing tool, you should also take into account the kind of application you're testing, the platform on which you'll be running your tests, and the programming language you'll be employing.

There are numerous functional testing tools on the market, each with unique advantages and disadvantages. Some of the most well-liked functional testing tools are listed below: -

1. Selenium - For testing the functionalities of web based software applications, Selenium is the best tool in the market because of the following reasons: -

a. Selenium is open source means its free to use and readily available in the market.

b. Selenium can be used to test web based software applications across a number of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

c. Selenium supports the use of different programming or coding languages like Java, Python, Ruby, C# etc., to automate all the complex functionalities of web based software applications.

2. HPE Unified Functional Tester - A commercial functional testing tool called HPE Unified Functional Tester can be used to evaluate a wide range of desktop, mobile, and web apps. Data-driven testing, object identification, and check pointing are just a few of the many features offered by HPE Unified Functional Tester.

3. IBM Rational Functional Tester - A commercial functional testing tool called IBM Rational Functional Tester can be used to test a range of applications, including desktop, mobile, and web-based ones. Numerous features of IBM Rational Functional Tester include object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

4. Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional - A commercial tool for functional testing services, Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional, can be used to test a range of applications, including desktop, mobile, and web-based ones. There are many capabilities in Microsoft Visual Studio Test Professional, such as object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

5. SoapUI - An open-source tool for web service functional testing is called SoapUI. It may be used to test message queues based on JMS, RESTful web services, and SOAP-based web services. A number of features are supported by SoapUI, including WS-Security, WS-Addressing, and MTOM.

6. TestComplete - A commercial functional testing tool called TestComplete can be used to test a range of apps, including desktop, mobile, and web-based ones. There are many features in TestComplete, such as object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

7. Tricentis Tosca Testsuite - A commercial functional testing tool called Tricentis Tosca Testsuite may be used to test a range of applications, including desktop, mobile, and web-based ones. Numerous aspects of Tricentis Tosca Testsuite include object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

8. Watir - An open-source tool for testing the functionality of web applications is called Watir. It may be used to test the software across a number of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Given that it supports a variety of browser types, Watir is especially well suited for testing web applications.

9. WebInject - An open-source tool for testing the functionality of web applications is called WebInject.
It may be used to test the software across a number of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. Given that it supports a variety of browser types, WebInject is especially well suited for testing web applications.

10. TestingWhiz - A commercial functional testing tool called TestingWhiz may be used to test a range of apps, including desktop, mobile, and web-based ones. There are many features in TestingWhiz, such as object identification, check pointing, and data-driven testing.

What are the best practices in Functional Testing?

Following are some of the best practices that can be adopted by test engineers while executing functional testing on any software product or application: -

1. Proper Test Case Documentation - To keep organized and avoid missing anything significant will be much easier by doing this. The test engineers must be thorough in their approach while writing both simple and complex test cases.

2. Use of Quality Test Data - The test engineers will get poor test results if their test data is poor. Ensure that the test data used by the test engineers is reliable and a representation of actual world.

3. Use of Automation Approach - Long-term time savings come from automating your tests. It's an excellent approach to guarantee that your tests are run accurately and consistently as well.

4. Use of Continuous Integration - Continuous integration is a technique where test engineers frequently integrate their code into a shared repository. This method can lessen the amount of potential issues while also simplifying their detection and remediation.
5. Tracking the Software’s Performance - It's crucial to keep track of the application's performance so that the test engineers can see any problems right away. The tools we have already described above are just a few of the resources available to test engineers.

Conclusion

Hence, from the above discussion, we can conclude this blog post by saying that before software are made available to users, functional testing plays a crucial role in the software development process since it helps guarantee that the systems do the necessary functions correctly.
Send us an email and request a free consultation call with one of our QA experts at Precise Testing Solution if you want to test the functioning of your product or app or if you are having any other testing-related problems.