Nonfunctional testing is a crucial evaluation method within software testing that assesses various aspects of a software application, including performance, usability, and reliability, beyond its core functionalities. This type of testing examines whether a system meets specific readiness criteria that are often overlooked in functional testing.
Essential for validating the software’s overall dependability, nonfunctional testing relies on the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) to guide the quality assurance process. By ensuring compliance with user needs, it aims to enhance the product’s usability, efficiency, maintainability, and portability. Additionally, nonfunctional testing helps mitigate risks associated with the software’s non-functional attributes, contributing to a more robust final product.
Types Of Non-Functional Testing
Load Testing
- Assesses the system’s ability to handle increasing numbers of simultaneous users.
- Essential for determining loading capacity and ensuring optimal website speed.
- Tools Used: Neoload, Load Multiplier.
Performance Testing
- Aims to identify and eliminate factors contributing to sluggish software performance.
- Requires a clear specification of desired speed; success is measured against these criteria (e.g., a maximum load time of 5 seconds for 1000 simultaneous users).
- Tools Used: LoadRunner, Apache JMeter, WebLOAD.
Portability Testing
- Evaluates the software’s ability to operate across different operating systems without issues.
- Also tests functionality across various hardware configurations within the same OS.
- Tools Used: SQLMap.
Security Testing
- Identifies vulnerabilities within the software application by analyzing system design and potential attack vectors.
- Focuses on creating test cases for areas most susceptible to attacks.
- Tools Used: ImmuniWeb, Vega, Wapiti.
Reliability Testing
- Assesses whether the software operates correctly under specified conditions over time.
- Fails if the system experiences errors in defined scenarios, such as broken links or pages.
- Tools Used: Test-retest, Inter-rater.
Accountability Testing
- Verifies that the system performs as intended, producing consistent and expected results.
- Passes if the outcomes align with the designed functionality; otherwise, it fails.
- Tools Used: Mentimeter.
Volume Testing
- Tests the software’s performance under large volumes of data, also known as flood testing.
- Evaluates how well the system manages increased data loads in the database.
- Tools Used: HammerDB, JdbcSlim.
Efficiency Testing
- Examines resource usage against what is required for optimal software performance.
- Focuses on maximizing resource efficiency in system operations.
- Tools Used: WebLOAD, LoadNinja.
Visual Testing
- Also known as visual UI testing, it checks the accuracy of the user interface as perceived by users.
- Verifies that UI elements are correctly shaped, sized, and positioned according to design specifications.
- Helps identify “visual bugs” distinct from functional issues.
- Tools Used: Percy, PhantomCSS, FBSnapshotTestCase, Gemini, Needle (Python).
Recovery Testing
- Assesses the application’s ability to recover from crashes or hardware failures.
- Involves intentionally causing failures to evaluate recovery mechanisms.
- Tools Used: Box Backup, Bacula.
Responsive Testing
- Evaluates how well a design adapts across various screen widths in real time.
- Tests the user interface to ensure a smooth experience on different devices.
- Tools Used: Responsinator, Screenfly, Google DevTools Device Mode.
Non-Functional Testing Parameters
Non-functional testing parameters are essential for evaluating various attributes of a software system.
- Usability: This pertains to how easily users can interact with the system, learn its functionalities, and manage inputs and outputs. Usability testing is employed to verify this aspect.
- Availability: This parameter indicates the user’s reliance on the system during its operation, which is confirmed through stability testing.
- Scalability: This term describes the software’s capability to expand its processing power in response to increased demand, assessed through scalability testing.
- Security: This parameter assesses the system’s defenses against both intentional and unintentional intrusions from internal and external threats, evaluated through security testing.
- Reliability: This measures the system’s ability to consistently perform required tasks without errors, validated through reliability testing.
- Efficiency: This reflects the system’s capacity, throughput, and response times under various conditions.
Key Benefits of Non-Functional Testing
- Enhanced Security: Protects the system from cyber-attacks by assessing security measures.
- Load Capacity Evaluation: Ensures the system can handle multiple users simultaneously without performance issues.
- Performance Improvement: Identifies areas for optimization, leading to better overall system performance.
- Consistent Test Cases: Test cases remain unchanged, reducing the need for frequent revisions.
- Reduced Time Investment: Overall time consumption is lower compared to other testing processes, streamlining the testing workflow.
Example of Non-Functional Testing
Scenario: An e-commerce platform is preparing for a major seasonal sale. The development team conducts non-functional testing to ensure the platform operates efficiently, securely, and provides an excellent user experience.
- Security Testing: The team performs rigorous assessments to identify potential vulnerabilities, ensuring that customer payment information and personal data are safeguarded against cyber threats.
- Performance Testing: The application is subjected to stress tests simulating a surge in traffic during the sale, verifying that it can handle thousands of simultaneous transactions without slowdowns or crashes.
- Usability Testing: Input is gathered from a diverse group of users to evaluate the website’s navigation and layout, ensuring that the shopping experience is intuitive and seamless for all demographics.
This comprehensive approach to non-functional testing guarantees that the e-commerce platform is secure, performs well under pressure, and offers a user-friendly interface, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and trust during the high-stakes sales event.
In Conclusion
As user expectations evolve and the demand for high-quality, secure, and reliable software grows, non-functional testing emerges as a crucial differentiator. It guarantees that software applications are not only robust and efficient but also provide a seamless and engaging user experience.
To maximize ROI from non-functional testing initiatives, enterprises must implement automation throughout the non-functional testing landscape. AGEST can serve as a transformative partner, offering an effective and rapid testing process. Reach out to us for a free trial of our test automation platform.