Why Having an Automated Test System is Essential

Software testing is something software development companies can never do without in their industry. What customer would want to purchase software that comes with a lot of bugs and glitches? Software testing then plays a vital role in ferreting out these bugs and glitches so that they can be removed before the software is even released to be tried and tested by a select few in the consumer market. This process is actually very long and tedious when done manually for you would have to go through a lot of tests over and over again – and by a lot, we mean thousands upon thousands. This is precisely why aside from software testing, there is also the need for an automated test system.

In a nutshell, software testing pertains to the overall procedure of evaluating virtually each and every attribute of the software being developed. With each attribute tried and tested, the results of which would then be integrated and analyzed, to determine whether or not the software does meet all of the required results. Only then can the software be released to the anxious waiting arms of the buying public.

The problem commonly experience by software development companies is in the fact that software testing is a complicated process that only seasoned testers can carry out successfully. This is true, in spite of the fact that software testing has become widely used and equally widely available today. This is simply because not all people have the knowledge that it takes to conduct these tests. And it is then because of this complexity that automated testing systems have been developed.

The difficulty that comes with the testing process comes from the complicated nature of the software or application being developed itself. These applications do not just come with one or two functions, you know. Imagine the regular calculator, where you would have a number of functions, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Not to mention the fact that scientific calculators come with a more robust set of functions that include computing for the sine, cosine, or the tangent of a given figure. These complex functions are rendered simple when you compare it to the even-more complicated nature of software applications and programs. And all of these have to be tested numerous times so as to check whether all are functioning as they should be. Manually testing each and every function would take literally months, even years, to complete. That is, if the software you are developing is huge, like if you are developing another version of an operating system and the like.

Testing is not really just about determining and detecting the glitches and bugs in software. It is also about checking quality and assuring quality, as well as function verification, reliability estimation, function validation, and final evaluations. At this point in time, automated test system tools are still pretty expensive on the pocket, and this is what keeps companies from investing in them. However, in spite of the steep price these tools may come at, it remains vital that companies to make this worth investment, especially software development companies that are constantly on the rampage in producing more gadgets and gizmos in the techie world.