Testing Software Systems Before Market Launch

Automated software testing (AST) defines seven key requirements for military and commercial software to pass with flying colors. It may be all Greek to many, but these requirements allow today's technology to be more versatile and handle more processing power at any given time. These traits become more significant as industries grow more dependent on technology.

The first of the seven requires software to be non-intrusive to the System Under Test (SUT), a separate test that determines whether or not the software is performing its intended tasks. Think of the SUT as a fancy term for "beta-testing." Over the course of the SUT, the developers find bugs in the system to fix before releasing the finished product.

Software must not make any changes to the SUT, otherwise it may mess up the computers as soon as it's installed. As a result, testers must not rely on third-party testing software to conduct an SUT; instead, a homegrown client must be used. This involves developing a virtual network computing server to serve as the software's testing grounds.

Overall, a field test is always necessary before the latest software or update enters the market. It's not a good program if it requires messing up the settings on your system.