Introduction:

In this blog, we will take a look at what is Regression Testing, Need for and Importance of Regression Testing, how it differs from Retesting and what are all the techniques available to perform Regression Testing.

Definition of Regression Testing:

Regression testing is defined as a type of software testing to validate that a recent program or code change has not adversely affected features which are already developed and tested.

During regression testing, all or a set of already executed test cases are re-executed. This is done in order to ensure that the existing features/functionalities are working fine after doing some code enhancements.

Importance of Regression Testing:

We need to perform Regression Testing when you meet any of the below criteria in your project/product development:

• Requirements change and we modify code based on the new requirement
• Addition of New Feature in your project/product
• Fixing of critical defects
• Fixing any performance related issues

Difference between Retesting & Regression Testing?

In our initial stages of IT Career, one of the most common question which arises is,

“What is the difference between Retesting and Regression Testing?”

Let me try to explain the difference in my point of view.
Retesting is a type of testing which is performed when the functionality or bug is fixed and tester is testing the functionality or bug again to ensure the code fix is working as expected.
Regression testing is carried out when your application undergoes a code change. The purpose is to ensure that the new code has not affected other parts of the software application.

Types of Regression Testing Techniques:

There are 4 types/strategies of Regression Testing Techniques,

1. Corrective Regression Testing – It applies when there is no change in code and we can reuse test cases without using any modification.
2. Progressive Regression Testing – It applies when there is a code change and we need to add test cases or modify existing test cases.
3. The Retest All Strategy – In this technique, we have to run our entire test suite to ensure nothing breaks in our application even though modification of code happened only in few parts of the program.
4. The Selective Strategy – In this technique, we have to run only those test cases of the modules for which the code is changed, instead of running the entire test suite.

Benefits of Regression Testing:

Here I’m listing down some of the benefits of performing Regression Testing:

1. This form of testing increases our chances of identifying the bugs that occur due to change in code.
2. It will help us to detect the adverse effects caused by changing the operating environment.
3. Regression testing will increase the Product Quality.
4. It will be more useful to include Regression Testing whenever you do an integration test in your application.

Conclusion:

I hope this blog provides you a fair amount of knowledge about the importance of Regression Testing in the Software Testing Life Cycle and how it benefits your project when you include it in your testing plan. Automating the regression testing will be more effective in terms of productivity for those teams who have resource crunch.

“Software Testing is must and so the Regression Testing”