When a company is ready to launch a product or software, it needs to first assess whether the product or software will serve the purpose of its end user, its target audience and stakeholders or not. To ensure this the product has to undergo several rounds of testing to inform its stakeholders and end-users about its quality and use. This process of making assessment of the product is known as application testing.
The main purpose of this testing is to find defects or failures in the product or application. Also during the test planning it's decided what constitutes an "important defect". Usually an important defect is the one that influences the usability and functionality of an application and makes it hard for the customer to use the application.
The application must successfully pass all test conditions before it is ready for the general customer. However by testing one cannot establish the fact that the product will function properly under all conditions. Rather it will be able to highlight those specific conditions under which the product will not function properly.
There are various methods of conducting application testing namely static and dynamic testing. The process of dynamic testing is more often used than static testing. The process of dynamic testing is conducted when the application is run or executed for the first time. It is primarily used to test some specific sections of the code.
Application testing offers an independent viewpoint to the business to understand and evaluate the risks associated with the product or the software. The test procedure basically includes executing the application to find out software bugs, if any also answers questions like:
Does the application work as expected?
Does it meet the users' expectations?
Will the users like it and use it?
Is it ready for release?
How does it perform?
How does it work when more users are added to it?
Application testing can be carried out at any point of time during the development process. However, most of the testing takes place after each and every requirement is fulfilled and the coding process is completed.