List of Frequently Used Terms in Quality Assurance

1. Acceptance Testing: A type of testing performed to determine whether a system meets the acceptance criteria set by stakeholders. It aims to evaluate the system's functionality, usability, and compliance with business requirements before accepting it for use.
2. Bug: A defect or error in the software or system that causes it to malfunction or produce unexpected results. Bugs can range from minor issues impacting user experience to critical flaws affecting the system's functionality and security.
3. Compatibility Testing: The process of testing software to ensure its compatibility with different hardware, operating systems, browsers, and devices. It seeks to identify potential issues that may arise when software is used in diverse environments.
4. Defect Management: The process of identifying, documenting, prioritizing, and resolving defects found during testing. It involves tracking defects in a structured manner and managing their life cycle until they are fixed and verified.
5. Exploratory Testing: A testing approach where the tester simultaneously learns, designs, and executes test cases based on real-time exploration of the software. It is focused on uncovering unpredictable defects, enhancing test coverage, and validating the system's behavior under different scenarios.
6. Functional Testing: A type of testing performed to validate that the software or system fulfills its specified functional requirements. It checks if the application performs as expected, supporting the intended business processes without any functional deviations.
7. GUI Testing: Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing verifies the user interface elements of an application, ensuring they are visually appealing, responsive, and function as intended. It includes testing input fields, buttons, menus, dialog boxes, icons, etc.
8. High Severity: A classification given to defects that have a significant impact on the system's functionality, security, or user experience. These defects demand immediate attention and resolution to ensure the system's stability and reliability.
9. Integration Testing: The process of testing the interaction between different components, modules, or subsystems of a software or system. It aims to detect defects that may arise due to component interactions, data sharing, or interdependencies.
10. Load Testing: A type of performance testing that evaluates the system's behavior under expected and extreme load conditions. It assesses system response times, resource utilization, and capacity limits to ensure it can handle anticipated user demand.
11. Maintenance Testing: Testing activities performed after the software or system has been deployed to identify defects or issues that might arise during its operational phase. It ensures constant software stability, performance, and user satisfaction.
12. Non-Functional Testing: Testing that focuses on validating non-functional aspects of the software or system, including performance, security, scalability, reliability, and usability. It measures system behavior under various conditions rather than just functional requirements.
13. Regression Testing: The process of retesting parts of the system that have been modified, added, or fixed to ensure that no new defects have been introduced and that the existing functionality remains intact. It helps maintain system stability after changes are made.
14. Smoke Testing: A preliminary testing phase performed to verify that the critical functionalities of the software are working correctly after a new build or major changes. It aims to identify showstopper defects and ensure the system is stable enough for comprehensive testing.
15. Test Case: A set of conditions or steps designed to test a specific aspect of a software or system to verify it meets its requirements. Test cases outline the input, action, and expected output, along with preconditions and postconditions.
16. Usability Testing: A type of testing that evaluates how easy it is for users to learn, navigate, and perform tasks within the software or system. It focuses on assessing user-friendliness, efficiency, and user satisfaction.
17. Validation Testing: The process of evaluating a system or software during or at the end of the development process to determine whether it satisfies specified requirements. It ensures the final product meets the user's needs and expectations.
18. White Box Testing: A testing technique that assesses the internal structure and coding of the software. It requires knowledge of the codebase to design test cases that validate all logical paths and verify code coverage for maximum quality assurance.