Software testing is a process that verifies and validates an application to and provides a robust, error-free, functionally correct, secure, and high-quality end product. Ideally, the testing process should be efficient, cost-effective, and resource-friendly. To achieve that, it is imperative to combine a variety of testing techniques to formulate the testing strategy based on the “Operability” and “Efficiency” of the software under test. “Operability” parameter is taken care of by functional testing and “Efficiency” is taken care of by non-functional testing.
Functional testing verifies and validates the functionality of the application against the specified requirements. It ensures that the application adheres to all the approved specifications and works as per the expectations. It tests the functional accuracy, interoperability of subsystems, and compliance with pre-defined standards in the context of functional and business requirements. For example, the mandatory fields on a user registration page are filled or not. If filled, does the submit button perform the desired action, etc.
Non-functional testing validates the readiness of the application by testing its behavior under different conditions. It tests for stability, durability, security, performance, etc. For example, what if the system works fine when a limited number of users try to access it. But what will happen on extremely high traffic days? Will the system slow down? Will it crash? Or it starts behaving abnormally. All such conditions are tested during non-functional testing.
| Functional Testing | Non-Functional Testing | |
| Testing Target | Verifies and validates system behavior with respect to the expected behavior | Verifies and validates the system’s performance |
| Focus area | Business requirements | End user’s expectations |
| Objectives | Usability, GUI, Correct requirement interpretation, Error Conditions, Boundary Conditions, Correct process flow, Data Validation | Performance, Scalability, Reliability, Efficiency, Portability |
| Order of execution | Conducted before Non-functional testing | Preferably after functional testing is done |
| Knowledge of source code | Not required | Optional |
| Test Automation level | Manual and/or automated | Automated |
| Ease of conducting testing | Easy | Comparatively tough |
| Testing types covered | Unit Testing Ad-hoc Testing Exploratory Testing Integration Testing Smoke Testing Sanity Testing UAT Testing Regression Testing | Performance Testing Load Testing Endurance Testing Security Testing Compatibility TestingCompliance TestingMaintainability Testing |
| Examples | Are all inputs valid in the registration form?Was a proper error message shown?If multiple users are registering at the same time, does the system generate correct ids for them?The upload file function adheres to all rules for upload and the file is correctly uploaded | How long did it take to submit the form?How long did it take to show an error message?Does the system hang in case of multiple users submit the form at the same time?If multiple files are uploaded from different windows, then how does the system behave? |
It is quite evident from the table in the previous section that Functional testing and Non-functional testing complement each other to provide a complete and well-rounded testing solution. Combining both testing types not only optimizes the resources, time, and efforts but also ensures that the end product is stable, reliable, secure, and functionally robust.
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Tags: Functional Testing, Non functional testing, Performance Testing, Regression Testing, Smoke testing, Software Testing
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