Debunking Six Myths About Software Testing


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Software is determined by functionality, performance, accessibility, usability and security protection. Many companies are implementing software testing campaign to ensure the quality of software. There are some conceptions about software testing, here are some of them.

  1. Testing delays official software launch: Software companies and enterprises seek to beat the competition by speeding up the launch schedule. However, software testers need to ensure that a software is working under varying conditions based on predefined requirements. The testing phase delays the product launch schedule only if it’s not integrated seamlessly with the whole plan. Agile methodology is often used to integrate coding and testing phases as a single unit.
  2. Testing increases costs: Skilled testers are needed to evaluate software quality comprehensively. However, by hiring more people, it also means that more money is needed. Automation tools can help to reduce time and the number of testers. Poor testing procedure may cause some major bugs to remain inside the software. This could prove expensive, because business operations can be disrupted and fixes after deployment will require organizations to re-hire the development team. This situation is also bad for your brand and market reputation.
  3. Manual testing is obsolete: Automated tools the testing team to produce more results without putting more effort and time. However, there are some shortcomings of automation test tools. It’s human who use software, not machine. Automated tools can’t make decisions and be imaginative. Although common functions may work, automated test tools could not assess user experience and usability accurately. To become usable, the software should be tested by both automated tools and real, human testers.
  4. Elaborate testing will detect everything: The testing phase is often thorough and elaborate to evaluate functionality, accessibility, usability, performance, user experience and security of a software. When errors are identified and reproduced well, they can be repaired immediately. However, automated test tools are not perfect and human testers will miss something. A few bugs will escape and they can be quite elusive. New bugs are even introduced after developers fix previous bugs. When design and code are changed, mistakes may happen.
  5. Testing phase takes places after the development phase: In a conventional model, testing phase follows the development phase. Software engineers and testers need to work as a single unit. It is possible that each module or component is tested before the integration phase.
  6. Skilled software testers are not necessary: It’s easy to assume that any average person can perform the test process. However, it takes knowledge, experience and intuition to comprehensively find bugs and defects. Skilled testers follow proven and efficient methodology to find as many errors as possible in the shortest time and with the least effort. Skilled testers know how to evaluate software under varying environments and user conditions. Performance issues and defects can be quite elusive. Sometimes, they can be discovered only under multiple test scenarios. Elaborate test results will facilitate essential decision-making process. Skilled software testers will provide the greatest value for the money spent.