Software testability - what it is and how to improve it

Quality assurance testing is essential if you want to eliminate bugs from your software.

But how easy is it to test your software?

Often overlooked, software testability is crucial to guaranteeing the quality, reliability and efficient maintenance of applications.

In this article, we'll explore the notion of software testability and talk about how to improve it to optimize your testing processes.

What is software testability?

In the development ecosystem, testability measures the ease of confirming the success/failure of each software module, subsystem, component and requirement.

Testability is highly dependent on software architecture; the more complex a system, the more difficult it is to test.

The main characteristics that make up software testability include :

1. Observability: the ability to detect the response of each software module and component to user input, including changes in the system's internal processes.

2. Controllability: the ability to control each software module in isolation.

3. Simplicity: the effort required to test an application, assessed in terms of functional, structural and code-level simplicity.

4. Stability: the number of modifications required after appropriate tests.

How do you check software testability?

Check module capacities

Test cases must be designed to evaluate each module and the interaction between them, including :

• Can each module be tested in isolation?
• Can each module be tested with all other relevant modules?
• Can each module be tested with third-party hardware and software modules?
• Can each module be tested with its own data?
  

Check test support capabilities

During active testing, record the entry point for testing drivers and the root for each tester working on the system, each test interface and test scenario.

This makes it easier to evaluate the root and the test driver during incremental testing.

Check defect disclosure capabilities

Minimize system errors so that they don't become major obstacles to more extensive testing.

Testers need to be aware of the faults that can cause system anomalies.

Check observation capabilities with your test tool

To ensure full observability of your software in a testing context, you need a testing tool that can handle the following tasks:

Automatic data collection: Automated test tools can automatically collect data on software behavior during test execution.

This includes monitoring inputs, outputs, internal software states and other relevant indicators.

Results analysis: These tools are often equipped with results analysis functions, enabling QA teams to easily visualize and interpret the data collected. They provide detailed reports on software performance, errors encountered and other important metrics.

Error traceability: automated testing tools can automatically track and record errors detected during test execution. This facilitates the debugging process by quickly identifying problem areas in the code.

Continuous monitoring: Some tools offer continuous software monitoring even outside test scenarios. This enables potential problems to be detected under real-life conditions, contributing to increased software observability.

Integration with other monitoring tools: Automated test tools can be integrated with other system monitoring solutions. This provides a complete picture of software health and performance, by combining test-generated data with other sources of information.

Log generation: Automated tools often produce detailed logs of test execution, recording actions taken, results obtained and errors encountered.

Why is software testability important?

1. Earlier detection of bugs

High testability means more testing from the outset, identifying more bugs in the early stages of the test cycle. Bugs detected early are easier to eradicate.

2. Makes life easier for testers

High testability makes software easier to test, reducing the time and effort needed to create tests, detect bugs and report them to developers.

Improving software testability - best practices

At all stages of testing, aim for 100% test coverage. However, given the complexity of modern software, this remains a challenge.

One way of extending test coverage is to improve the testability of your software by following best practice:

Naming elements in an obvious way

Make sure that every element is named in a predictable and unique way, even when developing user interfaces for different platforms.

Test in a realistic environment

Manual and automatic testing will be more accurate if the test environment faithfully reflects the production environment, using similar software versions and compatible server/virtual container specifications.

Stable, consistent UI design

A consistent user interface design facilitates the creation of tests with sufficient test and code coverage.

Using an automated test tool for improved observability

An automated test tool improves software observability by closely examining the results in response to each input.

Mr Suricate - No-code automated test tool

Software testability is a fundamental component of software quality.

By investing in testability-oriented development practices, your teams can reduce error-related costs, speed up the development process, make better use of your testing tools, and deliver more reliable software for your users.

The SaaS no-code Mr Suricate solution covers a wide range of automated tests, so you can control your acceptance testing and offer your users the best possible experience.

Take control of your applications and detect bugs in real time on your websites, applications and APIs by reproducing your user paths at regular intervals.