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Testing IT systems in quality control

Short answer

Testing executes a system to find defects and verify requirements. Levels are unit, integration, system, and acceptance testing; types include functional, performance, security, usability, and regression. It provides evidence of conformance, and defects are logged, tracked, and retested until fixed.

What are testing IT systems in the quality control process?

Testing is the process of executing a system or component with the purpose of finding defects and verifying that it meets requirements. In project quality control, testing is the main way of checking IT deliverables. The testing activities are organised in levels and types.

Levels of testing

Requirements <-------------> Acceptance test
Design       <-------------> System test
Module design<-------------> Integration test
Coding       <-------------> Unit test
         (V-model)
  1. Unit testing: tests individual modules/functions in isolation, done by developers (white-box).
  2. Integration testing: tests interfaces between modules (top-down, bottom-up, big-bang).
  3. System testing: tests the complete integrated system against the requirements specification (functional and non-functional).
  4. Acceptance testing: customer or users check the system meets business needs; alpha (at developer site) and beta (at user site) testing; UAT.

Types of testing

TypePurpose
FunctionalFeatures work as specified
Performance / load / stressSpeed and behaviour under heavy load
SecurityResistance to attacks, access control
UsabilityEase of use
CompatibilityDifferent browsers, devices, OS
RegressionPrevious features still work after change
RecoverySystem recovers after failure
Black-box / white-boxWithout/with knowledge of code

Role in quality control

  • Provides evidence of conformance to requirements.
  • Defects are logged, prioritised and tracked until fixed and retested.
  • Test results go into quality control measurements and decisions on acceptance.

Test management

Test plan, test cases, test data, test environment, test tools (automation), defect tracking tool, test reports.

Example: A banking portal passes unit tests by developers, integration tests for the payment gateway, a load test for 5,000 users and UAT by bank staff before go-live.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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