What Is The Assurance Software Testing Process?

Everyday, throughout the world, new software is being developed in various fields and improvements to the existing software are also made. These are marketed to the various users such as individuals, companies, corporate etc. and such software require testing before releasing to the public at large.  Why should we test the software? This is basically to avoid any major system failure while using in realtime situations. Some major software failures have resulted in the following occurrences.

 

	In February 2008 thousands of passengers could not check in their baggage for their flights due to problems in the automated baggage sorting system of a major airport
	In April 2007 a rail car fire happened in a major underground metro system
	In December 1999 the NASA Mars Polar Lander failed due to software problems that caused improper functioning of retro rockets utilized by the Lander as it entered the Martian atmosphere.
	Software bugs caused the bank accounts of 823 customers of a major U.S. bank to be credited with $924,844,208.32 each in May of 1996
	Software bugs in a Soviet early-warning monitoring system nearly brought on nuclear war in 1983

The above are only examples and there are many more such incidents that have occurred over a period. Hence, one need not overemphasize on the need for assurance software testing. The assurance software testing process is also one of the many sectors which are encompassed within the technology industry.

Before trying to understand the assurance software testing process, one should familiarize himself with the process of software testing. The software testing process consists of a large number of functions. But the following two are the main reasons which warrant testing of software on a product or equipment.

	The software system developed should be free from errors and should not cause any malfunctioning of the system at the manufacturer’s site
	The software developed by any individual or organization is bound to have bugs which cannot be found at the programming stage. Such errors can occur due to miscommunication or no communication, complexity of software, errors in programming, changing specifications, time pressures etc. Such errors can come out during testing and not on live use.

After identifying the bugs, you have to remove the bugs and retest the software.

One of the components of a software testing process is the assurance software testing.  The assurance testing process is meant to check the credibility and quality of the software. The development of software for various applications is constantly done by software houses. Different vendors develop software for the same application which necessarily means acute competition for the same user. In a competitive environment like this, it becomes a question of survival of the fittest. Your product must be the best in quality to attract consideration. Assurance tests help in bringing your product to top quality.

The software testing process is also expected to meet the expectations and requirements of the target audience. Because of the innumerable number of software products that are being developed day in day out, the options available for the target audience are large and software testing gives your product an edge over others. For example, if you are developing software for an editorial system for newspapers it should be accepted by the users such as sub editors, reporters, photographers, artists etc. The assurance testing process helps the developer to ensure that the editorial system software product will be acceptable in the newspaper publishing environment.

For getting detailed information on assurance software testing process, you should search the Internet using various search engines. Websites with more information and interactive in nature are available on the Internet.