The Importance of Regression Testing
Tags: regression, testing
Published: 2023-08-01 11:01:34

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The world is technologically advancing day by day, and with the adoption of these advancements, it becomes necessary to ensure the results as well. And to get the results, regression tests are performed. So, what exactly these tests are? 

These tests are basically executed when software is updated or a new change is done to the existing system. To make sure that these changes have not caused any unforeseen effects on the current functionality of the system or application, these tests are done. 

To make things clear, let’s take an example of a financial institution that provides an online payment platform to its users. Suppose, the developers of that payment application want to add a new feature in their app called the “electricity bill payment” option. Now, before implementing the feature for the user interface, it will go through a regression test to make sure that the revision made to the application has not affected the other services of the app. 

Read and learn the reasons why these tests are important. 

**For Detecting Defects**
The primary and most important reason why these tests are performed is to detect errors or defects in the system. This method is the most efficient to identify the bugs that might occur during the updations. As these errors or defects can corrupt the system or affect the user experience, it gets important to determine the flaws in the beginning in order to rectify them. 

**Ensuring the Stability of the System** 
The users expect their operating systems to always be stable, and any disruption to the old features, such as performance issues, crashes, or downtime, caused by new changes, is likely to seriously affect their experience. Regression testing ensures the stability of the smooth processing of the system. Even if any error occurs during the experimenting phase, it can be rectified at the earliest.

**Cost-effective and Time-saving**
This testing after every software update can help save both time and money by identifying bugs or defects very early in the development process. If It is still at the stage to get rid of the possible defect without spending too much money or effort. 

**Risk Moderation Strategy**
These evaluations not only help in identifying errors and fixing them but also help the organizations to make strategies for the future based on their present experience. To make sure that the same glitch won’t happen again, related teams can make blueprints according to their past encounters.

**Software Quality Management**
Regression testing is an effective software quality control that can help ensure that the older OS experience is not affected by the changes made in the latest version. Customers often associate the brand value with their experience with the company’s software or app, and thus system quality is of paramount importance. 

**Customer Experience**
Better-performing software with low downtime creates trust with the customers and the end-users of the system as well. In the digital world, competition is only one click away, and the only way to ensure that the customers won’t make that single click is to offer them the best experience all the time. These assessments can help you do that.

**Security and Regulatory Compliance**
Regression testing is also critically important from a security perspective, as a bug or defect introduced by new changes may expose the private or sensitive data of the enterprise and its customers; or affect critical functionality. An experiment can help ensure that won’t happen.

**Regulatory Compliance**
In many industries, enterprises may need to conduct regression tests to comply with the rules and laws governing the industry as a measure against possible security threats. 

**Cons of Regression Testing**

While these tests are crucial to perform, there are some disadvantages associated with them as well. Let’s take a brief on that too. 

- The tests require a lot of effort and are time-consuming.

- The experiments have to be performed even for the small changes in the system.

- Sometimes, due to the tests, the execution process gets delayed. 

- The experiments need to be repeatedly done on a time interval to make sure the operating systems are working fine.

Though there are some cons allied with this process, it still holds the same importance in any upgrade. 

**The Bottom Line**

When a system is newly developed or updated it takes time to get better, no machinery works right from the start. There are several things that should be considered before experimenting like, what test cases are to be executed, what has to be changed or fixed, how it should be automated, etc.

This discussion can be concluded with the reassertion of the fact that these testing remains of critical importance. Luckily one can automate using test automation software. Opkey comes first in the list of the best test automation platforms currently in the market based on powerful AI; its no-code test creation capability allows you to create tests with a single click.