Software testing is an important part of developing a program or web based application. Testing the functionality and usability of your website or program is a crucial part of determining if your website or program will function well for users. Software testing usually includes executing a program or performing actions on a website for the purpose of finding software bugs, assessing how the software or website performs under different conditions, and determining if it can manage the amount of expected load when in operation.

Software testing cannot determine if a program, application, or website will function properly under all conditions, only for the conditions that the test simulates. A software test usually simulates the operation of a program or website by a user and analyzes how the program functions when a user follows a typical path or uses the expected commands. The analysis will show designers how the program or website responds and if there are any glitches or errors when expected actions are taken. Most software testing also includes an examination of the code used to write the program or website as well as an analysis of the execution of the code under various conditions.

The software and applications used in a website must be tested from different browsers, operating systems, from computers with different specifications, and under different variables that it might encounter from different users. To perform software testing without the aid of a software testing tool is nearly impossible because of the many different variables needed for different tests.

Software testing tools are available to programmers and webmasters that allow them to test their software, applications, and websites under many different conditions with different variables. Software tools such as Loadrunner, JMeter, Selenium, Webload, JUnit, and RSpec simulate typical users operating the software or website from many different browsers, operating systems, and with other variables and analyzes how the software or website performs so that programmers and webmasters can determine if their software or website functions properly for everyone.

Software testing is crucial if you want to ensure that your program or website functions correctly for most users and allows you to detect and fix any glitches, bugs, or errors encountered before your users experience them.