Software development has come to a point where it is highly pricey and complex. However, open-source testing tools are available to decrease the overall app’s development cost. But then again, the software can go wrong with more components in its structure. That is why most QA engineers now use regression testing techniques in software testing.
Software regression testing ensures each component is stable whenever the software undergoes an update. It keeps the software quality intact and high-performing. As a result, regression testing is integral for the software development cycle since it allows the developers to find defects caused due to changing codebase.
So, we will discuss the following subject matters:
- What is regression testing?
- What are the different types of regression testing?
- How do you perform regression testing on software?
- What are the core regression testing techniques in software testing?
What is software regression testing?
Software regression testing ensures an app’s current features are intact even after news changes are introduced to its code base. Besides, it involves performing functional and non-functional tests after every code update. Hence, you can ensure stable performance for your software even with minor changes in its source code. As a result, regression testing ensures the existing software will keep working even after the current code changes.
Introducing new changes to the source code can often cause defects in the software. However, if you can execute the regression testing efficiently, you can minimize these defects. With the help of proper professional guidance, you can run the regression testing effectively. That is why you must hire highly skilled developers to run the regression tests. They verify if the code stays operational when you introduce new features or change the codebase in the app.
Besides, you will get informative feedback about your app development from regression testing. Hence, you can instantly modify your software code to get better performance. Thus, regression testing is inevitable in the SDLC since it helps your software withstand recurring improvements.
In short, regression testing techniques in software testing benefit your software in the following ways:
- It allows you to find bugs in the app because of code changes.
- It checks the result of code improvements on the software.
- Regression tests ensure the software’s performance and resilience.
- It enables you to detect bugs and errors in the early stage of SDLC.
What are the different types of regression testing?
Most testers use regression testing after they update or change code. Employing the regression test ensures the software is stable and intact. However, since regression takes different forms, you must pick the right types of regression testing that suit your testing needs. So, let us dive deep into the different regression testing types. They are as follows:
Corrective
Corrective regression testing takes place when no changes are made to the existing software codebase. As a result, the corrective regression testing techniques in software testing take less time and resources. Besides, it reuses the test cases to validate the functionality of the features.
Progressive
Progressive regression testing is helpful when introducing new system components to your software product that require new test cases. As a result, this testing ensures the updates or changes never affect the existing components.
Selective
Selective regression testing is an optimal method that involves retesting selected components in a system to check their impact on the existing components. Hence, this testing saves the time and resources for retesting the entire system.
Complete
As the name suggests, complete regression testing tests the entire software structure. Besides, it checks the UI/UX designs of the app to see if the new component has caused any damage to its user interface. Hence, most testers typically run the complete regression testing before a product launch.
Retest-all
Retest-all is one of the efficient regression testing techniques in software testing. It is a testing approach that involves retesting all the components in the software again. As a result, this technique allows you to build highly-performing software.
Partial
Partial testing assesses the impact of adding new features to the system. For example, if you add a new programming line in the code, you can run partial testing to check the stability of your app’s performance.
What are the steps in software regression testing?
The steps for running software regression tests may vary for companies since each has its own testing requirements. However, you can follow the below-mentioned steps to perform regression testing:
Step 1: Regression test case selection
The first step in regression testing is determining the test cases that require regression runs. Also, you can find test cases that are inclined to defects or consistent updates. You can also select the test cases that have modified source code or program elements.
Step 2: Determine test execution time
This stage helps you decide the specific time for running test cases. As a result, you can find the core aspects in the regression test that affect the execution duration. For example, preparing test data or designing the regression test can highly impact execution time.
Step 3: Categorize automated and manual test cases
In this step, you can separate test cases into automated and manual ones based on the requirements of exploratory testing. Besides, automated tests allow one to reuse the test code several times. As a result, automated tests are faster than manual tests operated by humans.
Step 4: Prioritize test cases
After collecting the test cases, you can rank them based on their importance and urgency. As a result, you can perform urgent test cases first, followed by those of medium and low value.
Step 5: Test case execution
Lastly, you can conduct each test case individually at the scheduled time to check if the software is performing as expected. You can perform automated and manual testing based on the testing needs.
What are the core regression testing techniques in software testing?
You can perform regression testing in different techniques based on the testing needs. They are as follows:
Retest everything
As the name suggests, ‘retest everything’ involves conducting regression testing all across the test cases. You can pick this technique when multiple changes are made to the source code. As a result, you can identify and fix all the bugs early in the software app development.
Regression test selection
This is one of the core regression testing techniques in software testing. It involves choosing parts of the software to run tests. You can pick these software parts based on the level of impact a code change has made on the software app.
Test case prioritization
Prioritizing test cases is a technique that involves choosing test cases of high importance in the testing process. You can pick these test cases based on the feature failure rate or technical complexity.
Hybrid strategy
This technique is a combined version of test case prioritization and test case selection. So, instead of picking all the test suites, you can perform test cases based on the testing requirements and needs. As a result, hybrid strategies are the most successful regression testing techniques in software testing.
The Bottom Line
Leveraging regression testing in SDLC helps build high-quality and user-centric software apps for your business. You can build future-proof software apps that adapt to changing market trends. As a result, businesses employing regression testing techniques in software testing will have better control over expenses and time. Besides, they will get highly performing and secure software apps for their business.
Additional Reads
Understanding the Role of Regression Testing (spiceworks.com)
What is Regression testing : Types, Techniques, Best Practices – TatvaSoft Blog
What Is Regression Testing? (With Benefits and Example) | Indeed.com
Types of regression testing: easily explained, expertly done by UTOR – UTOR (u-tor.com)
What is Regression Testing, Types, Need, Techniques and Tools – Reqtest
