Software Testing - Reliability Testing
Software testing is very important to improve the quality, and reliability of the software. The reliability testing is testing methodology that deals with the capacity of the software to work under specified environmental circumstances that help in determining the problems in the architecture, and functionalities of the software.
What is Software Reliability Testing?
The reliability testing is a testing technique that analyzes the capacity of the software to perform its desired function persistently, and without errors for a prolonged period of time. It determines, and fixes problems that can cause the software to fail or to become unusable. The reliability testing is segregated into three groups such as modeling, measurement and improvement.
The reliability testing is done to identify if the software can execute without any bugs for a particular duration of time in a fixed environment. It confirms whether the software is performing as expected without any issues, and is reliable to use. It is a very critical part of software testing as it helps to confirm if the system meets customer requirements for an extended period of time. Moreover, the reliability testing enables determination of the defects namely performance problems, memory leaks that may not get detected at the time of functional testing.
Perform Software Reliability Testing
The different ways to perform the software reliability testing are listed below −
Stress Testing
In this type of testing, the ability of the software is analyzed under a bigger load which is above the normal limits.
Endurance Testing
It is performed at the time of performance testing to verify whether the software is capable of withstanding the load it is expected to bear for a long period of time.
Recovery Testing
It is conducted to test how well a software can handle crashes, and other unanticipated circumstances.
To get more details on the recovery testing, please visit the below link −
Environmental Testing
It is conducted to test if the software works well in environmental configurations namely temperature and humidity changes, vibrations etc.
Performance Testing
It is conducted to verify the performance of software, and identify issues related to it.
Regression Testing
It is conducted to verify if a new defect is introduced due to new code changes introduced in the software.
Fault Tree Analysis
It is conducted to evaluate the factors that lead to the software failures by determining the potential failure modes, and analyzing the links among them.
Objectives of Software Reliability Testing
The different objectives of the software reliability testing are listed below −
- The reliability testing determines the permanent structure of the repeated errors in the software.
- The software reliability testing counts the total number of failures encountered in a particular period of time.
- The software reliability testing identifies the root cause of the failures.
- The reliability testing helps to perform performance testing of numerous components of the software after resolving the bugs.
- The reliability testing builds the trust, confidence, and faith of the stakeholders, and customers on the software by delivering quality, and solving the customers needs.
- The reliability testing analyzes whether the software can be used consistently without compromising on the security, reliability, performance, dependability etc.
- The reliability testing ensures that in the absence of unforeseen shutdown or degradation, the software operates with a constant performance level under certain operating conditions.
Types of Software Reliability Testing
The different types of the software reliability testing are listed below −
- Feature Testing
- Regression Testing
- Load Testing
- Stress Testing
- Endurance Testing
- Volume Testing
- Spike Testing
Measurement of Reliability Testing
The different measurements of the software reliability testing are listed below −
- Mean Time Between Failures(MTBF) − It measures the mean time between failures.
- Mean Time To Failures(MTTF) − It measures the duration between two back to back failures.
- Mean Time To Repair(MTTR) − It measures the duration to fix issues in the software.
MTBF = MTTF + MTTRmgetty
Conclusion
This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Reliability Testing. Weve started with describing what is software reliability testing, what are the different ways to perform the software reliability testing, what are the different objectives of the software reliability testing, what are the different types of the software reliability testing, and measurement of reliability testing. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Reliability Testing. It is wise to keep practicing what youve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.