Different Types of Non-Functional tests

 

• What are the different types of non-functional tests:

Non-functional testing focuses on aspects of a software system beyond its specific behaviors or features. These tests evaluate how well a system performs under various conditions and its overall quality attributes. Here are some common types of non-functional tests:

1. Performance Testing:

Purpose: Performance testing assesses the responsiveness, scalability, reliability, and efficiency of a software application under various workload conditions.

Types:

• Load Testing: Evaluates the system's performance under anticipated load levels.
• Stress Testing: Tests the system's behavior under extreme load conditions to determine its breaking point.
• Scalability Testing: Measures the system's ability to handle increased workload by adding resources.
• Endurance Testing: Validates the system's performance over an extended period to identify any degradation over time.

2. Load Testing:

Purpose: Load testing evaluates the system's performance under expected levels of user activity or workload.

Objective: It verifies whether the system can handle the anticipated load without performance degradation, bottlenecks, or resource exhaustion.

Scenarios: Load testing scenarios simulate concurrent user interactions, data processing, and system transactions to measure response times, throughput, and resource utilization.

3. Stress Testing:

Purpose: Stress testing assesses the system's robustness and stability under extreme conditions beyond normal operational limits.

Objective: It identifies the system's breaking point, performance bottlenecks, and failure modes by subjecting it to load levels that exceed its capacity.

Scenarios: Stress testing scenarios involve increasing the load, traffic, or data volume until the system starts to exhibit performance degradation, errors, or failures.

4. Scalability Testing:

Purpose: Scalability testing evaluates the system's ability to accommodate growing user demand or increasing workload by adding resources such as servers, processors, or storage.

Objective: It assesses how well the system scales horizontally or vertically to handle additional users, data, or transactions without compromising performance or reliability.

Scenarios: Scalability testing scenarios involve gradually increasing the load or user concurrency while monitoring system performance metrics such as response time, throughput, and resource utilization.

5. Security Testing:

Purpose: Security testing identifies vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and threats to the software system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Objective: It ensures that the system is protected against unauthorized access, data breaches, injection attacks, and other security risks.

Types: Security testing includes techniques such as penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, security code reviews, and authentication/authorization testing.

6. Usability Testing:

Purpose: Usability testing evaluates the software's user interface, navigation, accessibility, and overall user experience.

Objective: It assesses how easily and effectively users can interact with the system to accomplish their tasks, identify usability issues, and improve user satisfaction.

Methods: Usability testing methods include user interviews, surveys, task-based evaluations, heuristic evaluations, and usability testing sessions with representative users.

7. Compatibility Testing:

Purpose: Compatibility testing ensures that the software functions correctly across different devices, browsers, operating systems, and network environments.

Objective: It validates the software's compatibility with a wide range of platforms, configurations, and environments to ensure consistent performance and functionality.

Scenarios: Compatibility testing scenarios involve testing the software on various devices, screen resolutions, browsers, and network conditions to identify any compatibility issues or inconsistencies.

8. Reliability Testing:

Purpose: Reliability testing evaluates the software's ability to perform consistently and predictably over time without failures or unexpected behavior.

Objective: It verifies the system's stability, fault tolerance, and error recovery mechanisms under normal and abnormal operating conditions.

Scenarios: Reliability testing scenarios involve subjecting the system to continuous operation, stress conditions, and failure scenarios to assess its resilience and reliability.

These are just a few examples of non-functional testing types, and there may be additional types based on specific project requirements, industry standards, and quality attributes of the software system.