In today’s world of computing, Application comprises a lot of components that makes application complex. The more complex the front ends, the back ends are even more difficult. Therefore, it is more important to learn about the database testing. Along with this also must be able to validate the databases effectively to ensure security, reliability, and quality of databases. According to Wikipedia “Database testing usually consists of a layered process, including the user interface (UI) layer, the business layer, the data access layer and the database itself. The UI layer deals with the interface design of the database, while the business layer includes databases supporting business strategies.”

Types of Database Testing

There are mainly three types of database testing i.e. Structural Testing, Functional Testing and Non-functional Testing. Let’s have a look into it.

Structural Database Testing

Structural database testing involves verifying components of the database, which are not opened for end users. It also involves the validation of all those elements that are used primarily for storage of data. Hence, it includes table and column testing, schema testing, stored procedures, views testing, checking triggers, etc.

Schema / Mapping Testing

It involves validating the elements of front-end application with database object mapping. Schema testing includes validation of the various schema formats associated with the databases and also finding the unmapped objects in a database, like tables, views, columns etc.

Stored Procedures Testing

Stored procedures are more or less similar to user-defined functions. Here I going to derive a list for the most important things which are to be validated for the stored procedures.

1. Whether the development team followed the standard coding conventions and exception handling.
2. Whether the developer tested all the conditional loops by applying various input test cases.
3. To validate that stored procedure gives the end user with the required result or not.
4. Validation of the integration of the stored procedure modules as per the requirements of the application under test.

Trigger Testing

In trigger testing, a tester needs to ensure the following-

1. Whether the standard coding conventions have been followed during the coding phase of the Triggers.
2. To ensure that trigger updates the data correctly.

Functional Database Testing

Functional database testing ensures whether the required transactions and operations run by the end-users meet the business specifications. Therefore, It is only for checking data integrity and consistency. However, functional testing includes Black Box Testing and White Box Testing of the database.

Non-Functional Database Testing

Non- functional database testing is just a performance testing. It includes Load Testing and Stress Testing of the database.

In Load Testing, the tester checks-
1. The response time for multiple transactions for all the remote users.
2. Data fetching time from the database.

In Stress Testing, tester observes the stability of the application. The main purpose of this testing is to identify the breaking point of the system.

Conclusion

In the present era of database technology, a database application with high response time and poor performance can lead to huge problems. Therefore, Database testing helps in identifying the performance problems before you deploy your database applications for end users. Hence, No need to test your luck and use appropriate database load testing tool for your database application. However, a lot of load testing tools available for the database testing in the market. AppPerfect Load Test is one of the best choices among all the choices. AppPerfect Load Test supports load testing for database applications using JDBC protocol. If you want to get more information about the database load testing then click here.