How To Do Regression Testing? Beginner's Guide And Tips

By Author: Jessica Wood
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Most of the organizations practice and implement regression testing in line with improving the overall quality and efficiency of the software product or application. Each team may have its own approaches and procedures. The QA team must know what are the steps required to perform regression testing, as there is a certain structure that needs to be followed while performing regression testing. In this article, you will get to know about the steps required to perform regression testing.

What is Regression testing?

It is a testing method that ensures the new changes done to the code do not affect or alter the functionalities of the existing software application. When new features are added, the application evolves and thus regression testing is performed by the team in order to evaluate whether the existing features are working as expected. Upon that, this testing method makes sure that no new bugs have been introduced after adding new features. If in case any bugs have been found then they are fixed immediately.

Following are the four steps ...
... required to perform regression testing:
1. Analyzing the impact: The recently implemented module is assessed by the developer or a business analyst. The developer will scrutinize as to how the recently implemented module can be integrated with other parts of the application. The state of the current build being affected or not will also be taken into consideration.

Each test case can be evaluated against the bug severity and regression by creating a risk assessment matrix. Risks are assessed and mitigation plans are developed that can help in both preparing possible contingencies and prioritizing test cases.

2. Incorporating the re-test everything method: This method is one the most important regression testing method and provides accurate results. A lot of time is consumed if the whole system needs to be re-tested and hence this testing method is best suited for specific testing scenarios. Before a major release, it is considered to be a wise move to re-test everything such as rolling out a new localization or the system being migrated to a new platform.

3. Test cases should be selected: In order to save time, the test scope should have certain limitations. One way is where only the modified functionality is re-tested and those parts of the application that have gone through recent changes might get affected.

According to Wikipedia, Regression testing is an important type of software testing that revolves around re-running functional and non-functional tests. These tests are conducted to ensure and check the previously developed and tested software still perform well even after a change is made in the software. Primarily, it checks whether the previous functionality of an application is working as intended even with a new feature added.

It checks for any new bug or error in the existing software and is a verification process that takes place in the software.
Whenever the new software is released, there is an essential need to test the new functionality. There is a necessity to re-run the old tests to ensure that new software does not re-introduce any old defects or create new ones that might affect the existing functionality. Though software regression testing seems to be a simple concept, it is quite challenging as it tests the functionality of the added features. This verification process effectively holds immense importance, especially when there are continuous changes or improvements that are made in the application.

Software regression testing should be performed and taken up as soon as the programmer adds new functionality to an application. This is because of the dependency between the newly added and previous functionality that is critical for the software to function according to the requirements defined.

The regression test selection process is where all the test cases are divided by the team into obsolete and reusable (i.e., cases that can be easily used in subsequent cycles) cases, that can be executed only once.

4. Prioritize test cases: Every case can be prioritized according to its frequency of usage, failure rate, business impact and bug fix cost. Work upon as many top-priority cases as possible within the necessary timeframe. In this manner, a huge number of regressions can be detected, while being attuned to the fast-paced agile development.

Following are a few key points that need to be considered while performing regression testing:

•A modification in the application’s code needs to be discovered and the affected modules need to be detected
•The appropriate tools and test cases need to be picked
•The entry point is defined in order to make sure that your application meets the entry criteria before the regression tests are initiated
•The specific exit point criteria need to be ascertained
•Those components that need to be tested should be selected and a test schedule needs to be designed.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing regression testing for your specific software development project, then do get connected with a professionally acclaimed software testing services company that will provide you with a clear testing implementation plan that is precisely in line with your project specific requirements.
About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.