Best Practices for Testing and Debugging a Software

Software testing and debugging are the two essential steps of the software development life cycle. Both parts ensure that the business software works correctly and meets the needs of the customers. Although testing and debugging is a challenging and time-consuming process, some mistakes can cost more. 

Therefore, it is essential to focus on some practices that can streamline the business process and improve testing and debugging effectiveness. In this write-up, our software development Company in Bangalore has discussed the top practices for software debugging or testing software. But before we start let us know how to properly test and debug software.

How to Test a Software 

Testing is necessary to assure that the software works as expected. By testing, you can easily find bugs and prevent them from becoming complex and hard to fix later.

So, to test software, here are some different types of tests to use-

• Unit Testing

Unit testing is testing individual components in isolation. Through individual testing of the components, it can be assured that each component works as accepted and there are no regressions. To write unit test code, you can make use of testing frameworks like Mocha or Jest.  

• Integration Testing

Integration testing includes testing the interaction between various components of the software. The testing of how components work together can help you know the software as a whole and how different components connect. For writing an integration test, you will require testing frameworks like Enzyme and Cypress.

How to Debug a Software

Debugging is the process of finding and fixing bugs in software. By debugging, it is easy to identify the cause of bugs and how to fix them. Here is the way to debug software-

• Use of Debugging Tools

The software includes a set of built-in debugging tools that can help you debug and inspect it. The software developer tools extension for Firefox or Chrome is a popular debugging tool that lets you hierarchically inspect the software and view the status of each component.

Top Practices for Testing and Debugging a Software

Here are some of the top practices that you can follow for testing and debugging software. Scroll down and know more about them.

Practices to Test Software 

Here are some of the top practices that you can follow for testing and debugging an application. Scroll down and know more about them.

1. Utilize Continuous Testing 

Continuous testing is the process of testing the software continuously within the development process. The testing practice ensures that the software is working as expected according to every change done to it. To use continuous testing, the software developers integrate testing into the development process, perform tests, and use tools that support the testing method. This type of testing can easily catch issues reducing the risk of time-consuming and costly errors.

2. Focus on Writing Test Cases 

Writing test cases is one of the essential elements in software testing to cover all scenarios. Test cases ensure that the software meets all the requirements and works as needed. Proper writing of test cases is time-consuming, but it is also essential for efficient software testing.

To streamline the process, automate the tests to the fullest to save time and reduce the possibility of risks that can be done in manual testing.  Also, with automated tests running continuously, ensure that the software is working as expected with every change done to it.

3. Conduct Root Cause Analysis 

Root cause analysis is the method that lets you identify the cause of a problem. It is necessary for debugging and preventing issues from occurring in the coming future. To perform root cause analysis, the software developers have to investigate the problem, gather all the necessary data, and analyze it to know the root cause. And, once it is identified, developers fix the problem and develop steps to prevent such causes in the future.

4. Use Peer Code Review 

Peer code review is the process to let other developers review the code to find issues and provide the necessary feedback.  It is the best way to find out about errors and improve the quality of the code. The peer-code review practice helps in ensuring that the code meets all the coding standards and works accordingly. It also improves communication and collaboration amongst teams for a perfect software development process. 

Practices to Debug Software

1. Commenting Out

Commenting Out is one of the most convenient methods to debug software. The practice involves converting codes and functions into codes that will not get executed, codes will only be commented out on the website. This way, the commented part is not executed.

To comment use /* at the start and */ at the end of the code that you want to comment out. This comment format is commonly seen in JavaScript and C++ codes. And, there are more different formats followed for comments in different languages.

2. Black Boxing

Black boxing is a method to hide concepts or functions while debugging the code. The functions are made error free by the software developers to reduce some efforts while debugging the code. And black boxing, these methods will let you focus on the new written codes.

The same process is conducted when all the existing codes are used when they were tested for other applications. The black box practices test scripts in a short or long manner to save time and energy.

3. Use of Breakpoints

It is always said that web designs or software designs have to adapt to all platforms. Therefore, having a responsive design breakpoint will help you adapt the right way to provide the best user experience to the customers. It is essential to add breakpoints at a proper place within the website for debugging.

For a designer or developer, breakpoints are defined as pixel values. A breakpoint is a media query for a developer, whereas, for a designer, it is a point where the user’s perception of the website design is altered. And, if breakpoints are not checked, then it can create issues. For instance- if the breakpoint is placed in the wrong place, then the code will pause automatically.

4. Bug Tracking and Reporting

A bug tracking system will let you find bugs and analyze their effect on the execution and preparation of reports. The reports created include many indicators that locate the bug, track their work, and check how they perform. All these reports are then changed in PDF or CSV format to send to the testing or QA team. You also get the opportunity to analyze these reports using different filters.

So, to write effective bug reports, you can connect with the team of the best software development company in Bangalore, Indglobal where the developers try to help every customer according to their needs and business requirements. All you have to do is connect with the team and let them know your issues.

Wrapping Up

It is essential to have good testing and debugging of software for advanced quality user experience. The practices mentioned above are the best way to assure great testing and debugging that you should use to fix issues within the software. They enhance performance and protect the software from unwanted defects and crashes. These practices also help business organizations to focus on production and earn a high reputation for their brand among customers.

Testing and debugging can be a complex process, but following these practices will help you save time and effort and increase the functioning of the business. With all this, it is also recommended to perform tests on real devices and ensure all the conditions are taken into account while testing. This will also give you better accuracy of results and improvement in the debugging process.

Therefore, contact Indglobal’s software development team in Bangalore to use testing and debugging practices on your latest browsers and devices. The software developers in Bangalore working at our company help you in testing and debugging websites in real-time using Safari and Chrome DevTools for the best performance of the website.