Test Data in Software Testing

In this era, the Software industry [IT] is very progressive, giant, rich, and updated. IT is a field where IT and non-IT people both can get better opportunities to build a career. There are various profiles in IT to pursue careers like s/w Development, QA, S/W Engineer, etc. 
 
Development is the primary designation of IT, after development second profile is QA which is Software Testing. which is also a very progressive, challenging profile. 
 
Basically ‘Software Testing’ is a profile where a developed software is verified and validated by a qualified software QA or Tester. In Software testing tester needs to play with various types of data which is called ‘Test Data’. 

1. What is Test Data in Software Testing?

Software testing is not a role where a tester can test software as per his own choice. There are certain rules and regulations which need to be followed by a QA person. Sometimes it is the client’s requirement about which kind of test data needs to be used while testing. It is very basic knowledge that a QA person should not use his/her personal record while testing any project.

2. The different types of test data: 

While Testing Software a QA person need to think from various perspective. Software needs to be tested with every aspect of the system. While testing a project a QA person needs to think about the positive flow as well as the negative flow of the system. To prepare the software to function accurately and speedily all the scenarios need to be covered while testing. 

To cover all the scenario of testing tester need to do ‘POSITIVE TESTING’ and ‘NEGATIVE TESTING’. 

2.1 POSITIVE TEST DATA: 

Positive testing is easier than negative testing. A QA person need not think in a complex manner. Just think about the happy path of the system, test it, and make sure that it is working as per the requirement. 

For positive testing which test data is used, those are ‘POSITIVE TEST DATA’. 

Example: A mobile number should have 10 digits only. 

Positive test data: 9145856525 

2.2 NEGATIVE TEST DATA: 

This testing requires a bit more attention than positive testing. A tester needs to think about the behavior of the user toward the application. Tester need to think about which kind of invalid data user can enter into this system which causes problems. If any difficulty occurs in the system then the system is able to handle it with care and precaution. 

For negative testing which data are used, those are ‘NEGATIVE TEST DATA’. 

Example: Attachment should be of .pdf extension only. 

Negative Test data: The user has uploaded an Excel file type.

3. Test data & software testing: 

As mentioned above, primary test data types are positive test data and negative test data.. Secondary types of test data are documents, pictures, videos, and media. Test data can be any form of data. 

Now let’s focus on some latest filtered Test Data. 

Like: Normal Test Data, Extreme Test Data, Boundary Value Test data, and abnormal/enormous data. 

3.1 Normal Test Data: Simple data that are easily accepted by the system. 

3.2 Extreme Test Data: Data from the Upper and lower limits accepted by the system are ‘Extreme Test Data’. 

3.3 Boundary Value Test Data: It is a pair of Test data with Negative test data and Positive Test data. 

Example: PIN code should have 5 digits only. 

3.3.1: Boundary Value Positive Test Data: 1 and 5 

3.3.2: Boundary Value Negative Test Data: 0 and 6 

3.4 Abnormal /Enormous Data: Test data that are invalid for the system are Abnormal or Enormous Data. 

Example: Pin code should have 6 digits only and user is entering 7 digits. 

Conclusion:

In This article, we have explored what is Test data, How it can be used, and where it can be used. 

To conclude this article I like to convey a message to newcomers in Software testing that the use of Test data is very important because using test data only a tester can make well-featured and quality software.