System Testing

Need Of System Testing

1. It is crucial to perform a complete test on the application, and System Testing is the stage where it is done.
    
2. It is performed in an environment similar to the production environment, and hence, the developers can predict the outcomes from a user’s point of view.
    
3. It also helps minimize the troubleshooting and support calls after deployment, which can be costly.
    
4. It ensures the end-to-end testing, which includes verifying the interaction between the components and the external peripherals to ensure that the system works fine in any scenario.
    
5. It verifies that all the functional & non–functional requirements are tested.

System Testing Process

As mentioned earlier, System Testing is a part of Software Testing. The Test Plan always contains specific space for this testing. To test the application, the requirements and expectations should be clear. Also, while testing, one should keep in mind that most used third-party tools, OS versions, and architectures can affect the system’s performance, functionality, security, or recoverability. A clear and updated requirement document can save the tester from many assumptions and misunderstandings.

The System Testing is performed in a planned and systematic manner as follows:

1. The first step is to create a test plan for better quality testing.
2. Generate test cases for the testing process.
3. Prepare the data required for the testing.
4. Execute the test cases and scripts.
5. Detects the defects and bugs in the system.
6. Retest and fix the defects.
7. Perform Regression testing to verify the impact of changes in the code.
8. The process is repeated if the test is unsuccessful.

Types Of System Testing

System Testing is also known as a superset of all testing as all the major tests are covered in it. Overall the types of System testing can be defined as follows:

1. Performance Testing: It tests the speed, scalability, reliability, and stability of the application. This testing also defines how quickly the server responds to a user request. This testing is performed when an application is functionally stable.
    
2. Usability Testing: It focuses on user ease to use the application, flexibility in control handling, and the ability of the system to meet its objectives. It identifies defects in the end-user communication of software products.
    
3. Scalability Testing: It is a type of software testing that checks the performance of a software application in terms of its capability to scale up or scale down the user request loads.
    
4. Load Testing: This type of software testing determines the system’s behaviour under extreme load. It helps in detecting the maximum capacity of an application. It testifies the number of users that can access the application concurrently.
    
5. Stress Testing: This software testing is performed to check the system's robustness under varying loads. It is also known as endurance testing. It verifies the application's dependability and makes sure that it doesn’t crash under disastrous circumstances.
    
6. Regression Testing: This software testing ensures that the new changes don't lead to new bugs. It also provides that no old bugs appear after adding new modules.
    
7. Recovery Testing: It demonstrates that the software solution is reliable and can recover from possible crashes. In this type of testing, we should first take the backup and save it to a secured location to prevent any data loss if it is not recovered successfully.
    
8. Migration Testing: It ensures that the software can be moved from the older system infrastructures to the current infrastructures without any issues.
    
9. Software/ Hardware Testing: It intends to check the hardware and software compatibility. The hardware must be compatible with the software to run it without issues. 
    
10. Security Testing: It ensures that the system doesn't allow unauthorized access to the data. It allows discovering the application's weaknesses, threats, and possible risks to prevent malicious attacks.

System Testing Tools

1. EggPlant: It enables robust end-to-end testing for an entire tech stack. It can test an application written in any language. It integrates into the CI/CD pipeline of a system and compresses testing cycles to allow quicker releases. It also reduces IT costs while improving quality and delivering a consistent experience across all devices.
    
2. Ranorex: It offers various testing automation tools applicable on desktops, mobile, and web applications. Ranorex's best feature includes GUI recognition, Bug detection, record and playback, reusable test codes, and integration with various tools.
    
3. TestingWhiz: It is a testing automation tool with codeless scripting. It offers a complete testing package, including API, software, web, and database, among others. These tools' important features include browser extension training, data-driven and distributed testing, integration with bug-tracking tools, centralized repository, etc.

FAQs

1. What do you understand by System Integration Testing?
   This type of testing checks the system’s ability to maintain data integrity and operations in coordination with other systems in the same environment.
    
2. What is the difference between System Testing and System Integration Testing?
   System Testing is concerned with a single system’s integrity with the relevant environment, whereas System Integration Testing deals with multiple systems’ integrity in the same environment.
    
3. What is the difference between static and dynamic testing?
   In the Static Testing method, the code is not executed. It is performed using software documentation, whereas, in Dynamic Testing, the code needs to be in an executable form.
    
4. Mention some common risks that might lead to a project failure.
   The common risks that might lead to a project failure include inadequate resources, inappropriate testing environment, limited budget, and time limitations. 

Key Takeaways

In this article, we have extensively discussed System Testing. Under the SDLC, system testing is the first level of testing where the entire system is checked. If the software satisfies all the conditions, it’s ready to be commercialized. Testing is a crucial part of the development process and needs to be done thoughtfully. We hope that this blog has helped you enhance your knowledge regarding System Testing and if you would like to learn more, you can follow our guided path. Do upvote our blog to help other ninjas grow. 

Recommended Readings:

• Sanity Testing vs Smoke Testing
   

Happy Coding!