Software companies face serious challenges in testing their products, and these challenges are growing bigger as software grows more complex. All developers know the frustration of having software bugs reported by users. The first and most important thing to be done is to recognize the complex nature of testing and take it seriously. This part of software testing article gives you a basic idea of software testing, why it is required, what steps to follow, and how it is different etc.

• Software testing is often used in association with the terms verification and validation. Verification is the checking or testing of items, including software, for conformance and consistency with an associated specification. Software testing is just one kind of verification which also uses techniques such as reviews, analysis, inspections, and walkthroughs. Validation is the process of checking that what has been specified is what the user actually wanted. Validation ensures if we are doing the right job and verification ensures if we are doing the job right.

• Debugging is different from software testing and should not be confused. Debugging is the process of analyzing and locating bugs when software fail to behave as expected. Debugging is therefore an activity which supports testing, but cannot replace testing.

• Static analysis and dynamic analysis are other activities which are often associated with software testing. Static analysis investigates the source code and dynamic analysis looks at the behaviour of the software while executing.

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