Software Testing is the process of executing a program or system with the intent of finding errors. Or, it involves any activity aimed at evaluating an attribute or capability of a program or system and determining that it meets its required results. Software is not unlike other physical processes where inputs are received and outputs are produced. Where software differs is in the manner in which it fails. Most physical systems fail in a fixed (and reasonably small) set of ways. By contrast, software can fail in many bizarre ways. Detecting all of the different failure modes for software is generally infeasible. Unlike most physical systems, most of the defects in software are design errors, not manufacturing defects.

Manual Testing

Manual Testing is a process where in a tester often follows a written test plan that leads them through a set of important test cases. A test case in software testing is a set of conditions under which a tester will determine whether a software application is working correctly or not. In order to fully test that all the requirements of an application are met, there must be at least two test cases for each requirement: one positive test and one negative test.

Automated Testing

Many programming groups are relying more and more on automated testing, especially groups that use test-driven development. There are many frameworks to write tests in, and continuous integration software will run tests automatically every time code is checked into a version control system.

Testing Tools

Program testing and fault detection can be aided significantly by testing tools and debuggers. Testing/debug tools include features such as:
Winrunner: - Winrunner software was an automated functional GUI testing tool that allowed a user to record and play back UI interactions as test scripts. Is a functional testing tool. It captured, verified and replayed user interactions automatically, in order to identify defects and determine whether business processes worked as designed.
QTP: - Software provides functional and regression test automation for software applications and environments. Part of the HP Quality Center tool suite, HP Quick Test Professional can be used for enterprise quality assurance. HP Quick Test Professional supports keyword and scripting interfaces and features a graphical user interface.
Load Runner: - software is an automated performance and testing product from Hewlett-Packard for examining system behavior and performance, while generating actual load. HP Load Runner can emulate hundreds or thousands of concurrent users to put the application through the rigors of real-life user loads,
Test Director: - It is a Global Test Management tool, the industry’s first global test management solution. It helps organizations deploy high-quality applications more quickly and effectively. It has four modules: Requirements, Test Plan, and Defects. These modules are seamlessly integrated.
QC: - (QC) is a set of web-based test management software offerings from the HP Software Division of Hewlett-Packard, many of which were acquired from Mercury Interactive Corporation. HP Quality Center offers software quality assurance, including requirements management, test management and business process testing for IT and application environments.