Functional testing is an efficient method of testing an application to validate its stability. It is almost similar to black box testing. Functional testing is a common method that almost all software testers use to validate a given set of software applications. This is a popular testing method just like white and black box testing.

Functional testing is even more popular than other kinds of testing techniques, because this is one of the first tests conducted during the software development phase. Functional testing is also an essential test to determine, whether the software really has the necessary capability to enable organizations to use it without any problems.

Importance of Functional Testing

The basic concept behind functional testing is quite simple: the objective is to test the functionality of a system.  When programmers add a new code or program, the software, including its new and previous functionality will need to undergo functional testing to know, whether the software is indeed, really working even after the said modifications.

The set of test for functional testing will have to include the network, the application components, and the database of codes for the entire system software. The functional test will also verify that everything within the software including the code and its design structure are working together smoothly.

Problems with Functional Testing

You can realize a number of benefits when you employ functional testing. In addition, there are many disadvantages to this test as well. For example, functional testing cannot verify that all the paths in the software are working properly. Even though functional testing is one of the most widely used software testing techniques today, very few organizations have automated the way in which they work with functional testing tools.

Organizations that do not really know how to implement functional testing in a proper manner usually suffer the consequences of incomplete, inefficient, and inaccurate results arising out of bad and inefficient application of tests. The major challenge in conducting functional testing is determining the areas that are yet to undergo testing.

Therefore, it is essential that testers conduct quality assurance inspections to meet the growing demands of the market. While automating functional testing is very important for immediate adaptation, you should also note that it might never guarantee software’s full functionality. You may also want to establish a practice that can utilize its complete capability. In addition, designing a plan to integrate the automated functional testing tools into the software development process will help the software professionals.

Even when an organization owns a great system with automated tools to support it, they usually encounter numerous problems in their utilization. This is because the level of commitment by the staff and its skills and techniques are often in question, which would eventually lead to poor results. Some organizations have automated functional testing tools that can go back to manual mode, because they may not be able to conduct the automated testing properly due to the lack of knowledge, skills and commitment.

Effective Functional Testing Practices

An organization will need to apply an effective functional testing practice to ensure that their software products would always satisfy necessary requirements and produce the needed results. This will enable them to follow an objective way of knowing whether each of the functional requirements is integrated into the code base. In this kind of functional testing, the software developers will be able to know whether the code tested really satisfies the necessary requirements.

It would also provide an objective insight into the status of the requirement and prevent the implementation of inaccurate functionalities in the software. Thus, satisfying all these measures would prevent unnecessary rewrites, client dissatisfaction, and even project failure.

To have a successful and result oriented functional testing, you should also consider an extension of the requirements in the management policy. Usually, a working management policy should be able to describe how to develop test cases to test the features planned for release into the market.

In addition, the management should be able to describe the ways to map the said cases to convert into verifiable test cases. The test set will be used to determine whether the software has the ability to pass the functionality requirements. Likewise, the same test case will ensure that the functionality of the software will not change even after introducing modifications.

At times, any changes or modifications introduced to the software can affect its overall functionality. Therefore, functional testing is definitely necessary to prove that changes did not cause an adverse reaction to a previously verified functionality. You may need to carry out test cases regularly to make sure that the software is still performing the required functions.

Functional Testing Guidelines

It is possible to conduct functional testing on software applications, based on its functional needs and requirements. It will guarantee that the program works the way and manner for which it was created, and it contains all required menu options. It also provides an assurance that the program will confirm to the industry standards relevant to that particular environment. Guidelines to conduct functional testing are important when you want to conduct an effective test.

The stipulated guidelines, together with the supporting technology and other configurations, should merge into the software development cycle. When you integrate such guidelines into the software development process, you can expect to see good and viable results. You should also remember that these tests should be conducted properly and regularly to ensure the stability and the reliability of the said software.

Functional Testing Tools

List of features and tools you must look into while conduct functional testing in the GUI are:

   1. Its scripting capabilities
   2. Its portability
   3. Validation and verification
   4. The playback
   5. The reporting function

While working with scripting capabilities, software developers will need to look at the script creation process to determine whether the processes they are using are simplified or not. The scripting capabilities should also include developing an ability to record the parent or child frames, the modal, the pop-up, and the modeless dialogs. A learn mode is also essential in developing the scripting capability together with the Unicode support.

On the other hand, portability means that the software will be able to record the scripts in Windows. However, it can later run in a Linux operating system too. Portability also allows the program to run on different web browsers. You will also need to consider validation and verification. These two functions will enable the software to develop handling capabilities, such as database handling, file handling, screen handling, dynamic property handling and date handling.

Conclusion

There are many considerations you need to look to when you want to conduct functional testing. But overall, the time and effort you spend it preparing for the functional test will be worth it because functional testing is probably one of the most important software testing techniques you need to conduct.

It is no wonder then that functional testing is one of the first software tests that are usually conducted to help you verify whether the software product under testing has some desirable advantages those make it quite useful in the actual environment. In addition, functional testing will reveal at an earlier stage, whether the software needs major revisions and rewriting or not.

With this approach, the software developers will know if the software they developed actually has the potential and caliber or not. Overall, the functional testing probably plays the most crucial role in the development of the software, together with white-box and black-box testing methods which may reveal bugs or errors that may have gone un-noticed during functional testing thus ensuring that the entire system has met its specified functionality.