Typical Objectives of Testing

The Objective of Testing varies depending upon the context of the component or system being tested, the test level, and the software development life cycle model. For example, during component testing objective is to find as many defects, and in acceptance testing objective is to confirm that system is built as per the requirement.

Following are the objectives of Testing:

Defect Prevention: For Preventing defects, there are different activities such as Software Requirement Analysis, Review and Inspection, Defect Logging and Documentation, and Root Cause Analysis. We can prevent defects by evaluating work products such as requirements, user stories, design, and code. Also, do the root cause analysis of the defects found and take specific measures to prevent the occurrence of those types of errors in the future.
Verify Requirements: This objective demonstrates that one of the most critical aspects of testing should be to meet the client's needs. Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is an effective way to ensure that test cases have got the right requirement coverage.
Validate Test Object: Validate whether the test object is complete and works as per the user's and stakeholders' expectations where the test object is the item to be tested. For example, Code, APIs, Databases, Applications, or Systems under test. These all are test objects. The tester can apply different White Box and Black Box box testing techniques to validate the test object.
Build Confidence in Test Object: Quality Assurance is typically focused on adherence to suitable processes to provide confidence that the appropriate levels of quality will be achieved. For example, In iterative development, regression tests play a crucial role in building confidence that changes have not broken existing components. Operational acceptance testing builds confidence that the system administrators can keep the system working correctly even under challenging conditions. Contractual and regulatory acceptance testing builds confidence that contractual or regulatory compliance has been achieved. One aim of alpha and beta testing is to build trust among potential or existing customers.
Find Defects and Failure: The primary goal of testing is to find as many defects as possible in a software product while verifying whether or not the application satisfies the user's requirements. Defects should be identified as early as possible in the testing cycle.
Provide Information to Stakeholders: To provide sufficient information to stakeholders to make informed decisions, especially regarding the test object's quality level, so that they can use this information to analyze the risk of releasing the system at a given time.
Verify Test Object Meets Compliance and Regulatory Requirement: Testing ensures that the test object complies with contractual, legal, or regulatory requirements or standards.