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You want to know more about the benefits of working with a regression testing team? Learn more in our article below.
Quality assurance, also known as QA testing, is a crucial part of every software development process. QA testing represents a set of activities that ensure software quality. Quality assurance encompasses the entire software development lifecycle, making sure that each component of software runs smoothly, each functionality is performing as it should be and all other software quality standards are being met. In other words, the QA team is responsible for identifying any bugs, errors, and defects in a software application, without correcting them. After such bugs, defects or errors have been detected, they are being isolated and fixed by the developers who code the software application.
Yet, software applications change frequently, no matter if we speak about adding new functionalities or just updating the software. Each of these changes and modifications, even the minor ones, can have unforeseen consequences on a software. And this is where the regression testing process steps in. This type of software testing is performed on already developed software applications and its purpose is to ensure that once the software has undergone any changes, no matter if they are smaller or bigger ones, it has not caused any functionality breaks. By performing regression testing, the QA team will make sure that any issues and bugs have been discovered and resolved in time. Regression testing must be performed regularly. Otherwise, you risk your entire software to break at some point in time.
Even if some functionalities are not directly modified or changed, unexpected bugs in these functionalities can occur anyway. These bugs can be new ones, which have occurred as a result of a new built or release, or they can be past ones, which have occurred once again. So, assuming that that the functionality which has not been modified will not break after the changes applied in the software application, is wrong. That is why it is not enough to make a change, to test that change and to move on. It is easy to catch any bugs you were expecting but it is also crucial to catch all the bugs you were not looking for, as well. Regression testing should also be performed each time when a defect or a performance issue have been fixed.
There are two types of regression testing – a manual and an automated ones. Manual testing is perfect for small projects but for larger ones with many functionalities, manual testing can be quite time-consuming and expensive. That is why regression testing in such cases is performed via automated testing tools. These regression testing tools make it relatively easy to set testing parameters and to check for any unexpected inconsistencies, and to specify their exact location. The automation process includes creating very detailed test cases and expected results, which are obtained from the software specifications documentation or any design documentation. When these testing parameters are set, they should be retested each time when some change, update or modification has been made to the existing software application.
There are many testing tools available, which are designed to manage very specific tasks or more universal ones. That is why it is important to consider the project requirements prior to choosing what type of regression testing tool you will use. A mistake in the type of the testing tool can waste your time and money, as well. Also, you need to be careful when using automated regression testing tools. Indeed, they are a huge help and they may save you a lot of time. However, you will constantly need to maintain the data files. Even the smallest changes in the user interface mean that the test script should be either recorded once again, or replaced with a new script.
Yet, no matter of the type and tool of regression testing that you choose for your project, retesting becomes a necessity each time there is any change in the software application.