Software testing is one of the pillars of software development. Without a robust and detailed testing methodology, it’s easy to produce software which features bugs, functionality issues, UI flaws and UX mistakes. With this in mind, the team here at BSPOKE Software make software testing one of our core priorities, ensuring we keep our clients up-to-date at every stage of the process so that they know exactly where we’re at and what we’re doing.
Despite this, we often find clients querying how long software testing takes, what it entails and why we emphasise its important so much. So, the BSPOKE Software QA team have come together to deliver an introduction software testing, what it involves and how long it takes to be completed.
What is Software Testing?
Software testing is the act of routinely and intricately checking a software’s functionality, usability and interconnectivity through a series of rigorous testing procedures. The order of the procedures and methodology for testing can vary but generally, software testing always involves running test cases of specific features, analysing whether they work as functioned and then reporting on those that do not.
Issues highlighted are known as bugs, which are then reported back to the development team with reproducible steps who, in turn, analyse the code and rewrite what is needed to amend the issue.
Why is Software Testing Important?
Software testing is essential because it saves time, money and heartache for all parties. From a business or organisation’s perspective, testing ensures that once they receive the final product it works as intended with little-to-no hiccups.
This is particularly essential for larger organisations where rolling out new software can be incredibly disruptive and challenging. For these businesses, faulty software that hasn’t been tested fully can completely hamper business operations and generate a negative relationship between employees and the new system. This negative relationship will only lead to low productivity and dissatisfaction – the opposite of what the new bespoke software was likely designed to do, especially as this can lead to lost revenue and wasted time.
For a software house or development company, testing guarantees the best client experience possible and reduces time spent on support queries, leading to more resource being spent where it counts.
How Long Does Software Testing Take?
Unfortunately, there is no foolproof, guaranteed method of calculating how long software testing should take. The most accurate answer is, it depends on the project. We incorporate both automated tests and utilise a dedicated Quality Assurance team to ensure that testing is woven directly into our development process. For us, this is an essential part of delivering a high-quality product. Ultimately, nobody wants to receive a sparkly new tool only to find that it’s partly broken and needs repair.
That said we can give you a vague idea of what influences the length of the software testing process. Primarily, the size, scope and complexity of your project are going to have the largest impacts on its testing timeline.
Larger, more complicated bespoke software with additional features, variables and systems are going to require additional testing. Not only that but with more moving parts comes a greater likelihood of bugs and problems, which require the most resources as if a bug is found during testing, it requires reproducibility tests and a detailed bug report to be resolved successfully – both of which add time to the process.
Ensure Your Bespoke Software Solution is Comprehensively Tested with BSPOKE Software
There’s no doubt that testing is one of the fundamental tenets of software development, which is why the team at BSPOKE Software swear by it. If you are beginning a software project in the future and require a dedicated team that provides unlimited consultations, alongside experienced experts across all fields of software development, we can help. Contact our team today for bespoke advice tailored to your needs and requirements.
