Beta Testing and It's Importance The last time around, we saw a few things related to alpha testing. In this article, we will take a look at the concept of Beta testing and why is it important from the testing perspective. A software testing course in Pune, covers the concept of Beta testing as a part of its curriculum. For now, we will have a general idea about beta testing. Beta Testing is otherwise called as field testing. It is conducted at the client's end. It sends the software/system to the clients or the end users who go ahead with the installation and utilize it under real-time environment. Features of Beta testing:
The main objective of beta testing is to put your application in the hands of genuine users outside of your own development team to find any defects or issues from the client's point of view that you would not have any desire to have them in your final release version of the software product, E.g. : Microsoft and numerous different software giants release beta renditions of their software products to be tried and tested by the end users.
A beta test happens to be the second stage of software testing that includes a sampling of the target audience tries out the product out. (Beta is placed as the second letter of the Greek alphabet order.) Actually, the term alpha testing implied the first stage of testing in a software development cycle. The first of the phase incorporates unit testing, component testing and system testing. Beta testing can be called as the "pre-release” testing.
Types of Beta versions: Basically, it can be said that there are two types of beta versions namely open beta and closed beta. Open beta versions are from a bigger group to the overall population and anybody interested in it. The testers report any bugs that they discover, and at times recommend extra features they think ought to be present in the final release version. Closed beta variants are released to a select gathering of people for a user end test round and are strictly by invitation. Benefits of beta testing:
The beta testers can find defects with your application that you may have not seen, for example, befuddling application flow, and even system crashes. With the feedback you receive from these beta testing group, you can resolve the issues before it is released to the overall public. You have the chance to get your application tested from the end users before releasing it to the targeted population. End users can install, test your software application, and give the feedback to you amid this beta testing round.
Coming up with a higher-quality application when you release it to the target population will expand consumer loyalty towards you. These end users, who are early adopters of your application, will have excitement towards your application. The more number of issues or bugs you resolve that take care of genuine user related problems, the higher the quality of your application when you release it to the general population.
Quality is the fundamental reason behind beta testing as this stage permits the testers and developers to assess the general application experience from users' perspective. Functional testing ensures every one of the features of your application are working fine and they would execute as per expectations. Developers need to keep up the functionality and quality of their application all the while as once in a while an excessive amount of functionality can hurt the quality and user encounter. The right balance should be maintained. For more on this, take admission to a software testing institute in Pune, which conducts software testing classes in Pune.