Beginner and advanced tutorial of manual testing in 2023

Manual testing plays a crucial role in the software development process. Though some of the software testing types can be easily carried out through the test automation mode, there are a few other testing types that rely on manual tests. Certain bugs and issues in a software application can only be solved manually. In this article, you will get a comprehensive idea about the working of manual tests.

What is Manual testing?

It is a testing method where a tester executes test cases manually without using automated tools. The objective of manual testing is to identify defects, issues and bugs in the software application. It is the most primitive software testing technique used for finding bugs in an application. Any new application can be manually tested before it is passed on to the test automation phase. To conduct testing manually, there is also an option to conduct testing through some tools that supports manual test.

The following are the roles and responsibilities of a manual tester:
The client requirements need to be gathered and analyzed
The test environment should be established for carrying out test case execution
The test cases should be analyzed and run accordingly
Review meetings need to be arranged
Interact with users to know about the product requirements
Meet up with the test manager to discuss relevant points
Track the defects
The testing results on database impacts, errors, bugs and usability should be evaluated
Specific reports pertaining to all the software testing activities should be prepared.

Following are the six simple steps required to perform manual testing:

1. The software documents need to be reviewed for selecting the testing areas
2. The required documents should be properly analyzed so that the end-user requirements can be properly obtained
3. The test cases need to be built as per the requirements document
4. The test cases should be executed manually by using white-box testing and black-box testing
5. If any bugs been detected then report them to the development team
6. The developer should fix the bug and retest it again. Post manual testing, there might be a scenario where the project team members would want to test further through the test automation platform. In such scenarios, test automation can also be performed.

Following are the three types of manual testing:

1. White box testing: The internal structure of the system like coding, designs etc. is manually checked. The entire coding part is checked by the development team line by line to make sure that the code is correct. If there are any errors or dissimilarities found in the code, then the team will fix and correct the errors. The entire process of checking design and code is carried out manually.

2. Black box testing: In this type, the functionality of the particular method or the particular module is checked by the tester or in some scenarios, the whole application is checked by providing the different test cases manually.
The input for the application is provided by the tester and then tested manually. If the expected output is returned, then the tester will move forward with another set of inputs and thus all the results are reported to the team. If the input provided by the user has failed during testing, then this issue will be reported to the development team.

3. Gray box testing: It combines both black box and white box testing. The application’s internal structure is partially known by the tester. The tester will check both the application’s functionality and internal structure manually.

Conclusion:If you are looking forward to implementing test automation or want to test manually, then do get connected with a competent software testing services company that will provide you with in-depth and tactical testing solutions that are in line with your project specific requirements.