Tuesday , June 10 2025

Differences: Functional vs. Non-functional Testing

Today, we will learn about Functional and Nonfunctional software testing. It is important to know the differences between Functional and Nonfunctional Testing.

Functional Testing

Functional testing is way of software testing where Quality assurance engineer test the software for its functionalities in respect to requirements. It allows to check and confirm that software is behaving same as expected in requirement.

What are the key features of Functional testing? 

  • Functional testing allows the checking of software applications against functional specifications.
  • It focuses on validating output based on the input provided and the behavior of the application.

What are the types of Functional Testing?

  • Unit Testing –  It allows the testing of individual components or Modules
  • Integration Testing – It allows the testing interaction of applications when modules are integrated
  • System Testing– It allows to test End to End integrated application
  • User Acceptance Testing – It allows to test and validated end-user expectations

Steps to Perform Functional Testing

  • Understand Requirements- Understand and analyze the requirements of the application
  • Create Test case – Create a test case with respect to the requirement
  • Input data preparation – Prepare test data to be used in testing
  • Execution- Perform test execution using test data prepared and validate the actual result and expected result
  • Defect Logging- If functionality is not behaving as per expected result the log the defect.

Name a few Tools for Functional Testing:

  • Selenium
  • QTP/UFT
  • TestComplete
  • Appium

NonFunctional testing

Non Functional Testing is a type of software testing where how well the product performs with respect to nonfunctional requirements is verified, instead of the functional behavior of the product. It includes usability, stability, performance, and security. etc.  The main purpose of the nonfunctional testing is to check if the product is ready as per nonfunctional requirements.

 

What are the key features of non-functional testing? 

  • It allows checking software against nonfunctional requirements
  • It allows us to find out early defects related to nonfunctional requirements
  • Performing nonfunctional testing allows us to get metrics and reach requirements for usability, efficiency, maintainability, and portability of the product.

What are the types of Non-Functional testing?

  • Security Testing – It allows checking if the software is secure or not identifying vulnerabilities in software and make it safe from malicious attacks.
  • Performance Testing- it allows to check software performance under different condition like Speed, Stability, Scalability, Reliability, and Resource Usage.
  • Usability Testing- It allows testing software for its ease of use by end users.
  • Recovery Testing- It allows to verify software recovery from failures.
  • Load Testing – It allows to test how software perform under use of a simultaneous load of users.
  • Stress Testing- It allows to test  how a system, infrastructure, or entity performs under extreme conditions
  • Volume Testing – It allows to test system with large amount of data.

What are the steps to perform Non Functional testing?

  1. Defining Objective- The objective of a Nonfunctional test is defined as Performance, Security & Usability
  2. Test plan – It allows to define scope, resources, schedule to be planned
  3. Ready test environment – This allows to set up test environment for the nonfunctional test which is the same as the production environment.
  4. Selection on Tools – Selection of the correct tool to be done in this step like for performance Load runner or JMeter
  5. Design Test case- A detailed test case is designed with actual and expected output
  6. Test execution: Here nonfunctional test is getting excused in respect to requirement and test case.
  7. Analyse and reporting:- Here test results are analyzed and the test report is prepared
  8. Retesting -If any retesting of nonfunctional tests if needed

 

What are the tools used for Non-Functional Testing

  • Performance Testing Tools:
    • JMeter: Open-source tool for performance and load testing.
    • LoadRunner: Commercial tool for performance testing and load testing.
    • Gatling: Open-source load testing framework based on Scala.
  • Security Testing Tools:
    • OWASP ZAP: Open-source web application security scanner.
    • Nessus: Vulnerability scanner for identifying security vulnerabilities.
    • Burp Suite: Integrated platform for performing security testing of web applications.
  • Usability Testing Tools:
    • UserZoom: Tool for user experience research and usability testing.
    • Optimal Workshop: Provides tools for tree testing and first-click testing.
    • UsabilityHub: Platform for conducting various usability tests.
  • Compatibility Testing Tools:
    • BrowserStack: Cross-browser testing and compatibility testing platform.
    • Sauce Labs: Cloud-based testing platform for web and mobile applications.
    • CrossBrowserTesting: Tool for testing websites across multiple browsers and devices.
  • Stress Testing Tools:
    • Apache JMeter: Can be used for stress testing by simulating heavy loads.
    • LoadImpact: Tool for stress testing and load testing.
  • Reliability Testing Tools:
    • Fault Injection: Tools like Chaos Monkey for testing system reliability by intentionally introducing faults.
    • Reliability Monitor: Monitors system reliability and generates reports.
  • Scalability Testing Tools:
    • Gatling: Can be used for scalability testing by simulating high loads.
    • BlazeMeter: Performance testing tool that supports scalability testing.
  • Volume Testing Tools:
    • Apache JMeter: Can be used for volume testing by simulating large volumes of data.
    • LoadRunner: Supports volume testing by generating high volumes of data.

 

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