About Testing

Software testing is the process of checking software, to verify that it satisfies its requirements and to detect errors.

Software testing is an empirical investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test[1] , with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. This includes, but is not limited to, the process of executing a program or application with the intent of finding software bugs.

Testing can never completely establish the correctness of computer software. Instead, it furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behaviour of the product against a specification. Software testing should be distinguished from the separate discipline of Software Quality Assurance (S.Q.A.), which encompasses all business process areas, not just testing.[citation needed]

Over its existence, computer software has continued to grow in complexity and size. Every software product has a target audience. For example, the audience for video game software is completely different from banking software. Therefore, when an organization develops or otherwise invests in a software product, it presumably must assess whether the software product will be acceptable to its end users, its target audience, its purchasers, and other stakeholders. Software testing is the process of attempting to make this assessment.