Objectives of Performing Functional Testing

Software testing is one of the most important and integral part of the software development life cycle, which is gaining importance day by day. Not only does it checks the performance, efficacy of the system, but also strives to make the system a better one. People are starting to take heed of the fact that the success of a software depends hugely on the testing procedure performed on it. The software testing procedure starts off before the development process and lasts till after the development has been finished. While the whole process is an elaborate one, functional testing is an integral part of the process.

Functional testing basically deals with the checking of the functionality of a particular product, but it packs a little more punch to the process. It not only checks how the software is functioning or the defects that are produced in the result, but also other related things which may affect the function of the same. Certain objectives are to be kept in mind while performing the functional tests on a product.

1. The main aim of the functional testing is to check of the given piece of product is delivering the results which it was desired to i.e. it is functioning properly.
2. Just checking the functionality at a controlled environment is not enough. The product should be checked for proper functioning at adverse situations which it may face in the real world.
3. It is not uncommon for the end users to mal handle the product, hence the functionality of the same may get affected in such situations. Functionality testing checks the software for such adverse occurrences.
4. Often, it may so happen that the product is being utilized for a long period of time. This may cause overloading of the system which in turn affects functionality. Functional testing checks how the product works even after prolonged utilization.
5. Functionality testing checks how the system is behaving when a wide range of valid inputs are supplied to it in a chronological or haphazard method to see whether it provides the correct output or not.
6. At times, the end users may end up feeding the product with invalid inputs. The behaviour of the product in such cases is also tested by functionality testing.
7. Apart from testing the individual components of the software, functional testing also checks how the system is working as a whole when the various components will have to depend on each other.
8. It also checks the system of the product to see whether it delivers the desired results.
9. Another major job of the functional testing is to detect all the simple failures that may cause rejection of the product at the very basic level.
10. Functional testing is done to check the modifications that will make the product more acceptable to the targeted customers. It basically concentrates more on how to satisfy the customers with the functional aspect of the product than the designing aspect.

While you are performing a functional test on the system, it is best to keep the above objectives in mind in order to get the maximum output from the procedure. However, there are many more aspects which you can take heed of while performing the test apart from those mentioned in the article.