Overview
Alpha testing is among the most common software testing strategies in the software industry. It takes place in the developer’s controlled environment. Developers observe the users and note the problems and issues.
Alpha Testing
Alpha testing is the simulated testing done by an in-house independent QA team at the developers’ site. It happens at the development site just before the rollout of the application to the customer. Alpha tests are conducted by replicating the live environment where the application would be installed and running.
Alpha Testing is a type of software testing that takes place during the development phase, where the primary objective is to identify bugs before the product goes into the beta testing stage. It is typically performed in a lab environment or otherwise controlled setting, often by internal staff like testers, QA, and other project members, but not by the end-users.
Alpha testing is the testing of an application when development is about to complete. Minor design changes can still be made as a result of alpha testing. Alpha testing is typically performed by in-house staff independent of the design team—for example, in-house software test engineers or QA engineers.
Phases
Alpha testing can be performed in many stages.
In the pre-alpha phase, in-house developers test the software. They conduct unit and integration testing as part of their regular development process to ensure individual components work as intended independently and in conjunction with one another. The goal is to catch bugs quickly.
In the second alpha testing phase, the software is handed over to the QA team for additional testing in an environment similar to the intended use. This stage typically involves software testing by organization members such as QA testers, developers, or internal employees of other projects, etc.
Alpha testing is often done for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing before the software goes to beta testing.
After alpha testing, the software typically moves into beta testing, where it is tested in real-world conditions by a larger group of end-users to find any remaining issues from a user-experience perspective. Beta testing is broader and helps catch any issues missed during the alpha testing.
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