What is the Difference Between Beta and Alpha Testing in Software Engineering?
There are two main types of testing in software development: alpha testing and beta testing. In Alpha Testing, companies let a closed group of users test products determine how well they work as part of the production process. Beta Testing is similar to alpha testing but in this case, more people can take part in the test.
In both cases, there are two objectives of these tests. The first is to find bugs and errors in the software before releasing a product for public use. When testing a new version of an operating system or any other software, it is important that all the possible issues be resolved before putting it out to customers. The second objective is to get feedback from users on how they like the overall user experience of the product. This type of testing is done by marketers to get a feel for customer satisfaction levels and how customers perceive the company in general.
Testing can be an integral part of software development because it helps eliminate bugs in a program, find flaws, improve performance or usability and evaluate compatibility with other devices and programs. It helps companies ensure that their new products will work well with existing software and computers. Alpha and Beta testing are just two forms of software testing that can be used to achieve the objectives mentioned above.
What are the Key Differences Between Alpha and Beta Testing?
The main difference between alpha and beta testing comes down to who is involved in the process. In both types of software development, you have developers designing software for a company that will go through lots of changes over time as users become more acquainted with the product.
However, alpha testing involves only a select group of users called testers. These testers may be software developers from within the company or clients that are testing out the new software on behalf of the company. Sometimes you have external companies conduct alpha tests for expert opinions on how certain features work for people who are not very familiar with the technology.
Beta testing involves users outside of the company who are generally selected because they are more mainstream consumers. When selecting beta testers, it is important to have a wide range of people that represent different age groups, genders, and ethnicities. Beta testers provide companies with an idea of how the public will interact with the product when it’s released to the general public. New features and changes that have been made to the software are evaluated by these testers to provide feedback on how well the product is functioning for a majority of people.
Beta and Alpha Testing
Now We are going to discuss Beta and Alpha testing’s major differences and also find out how they are different from one other.
Alpha Testing
- Alpha testing is conducted with small group of internal users and external testers to find bugs in the software before it goes out for public use.
- In this testing we doesn’t involve a large sample of users since it involves only internal staff and external testers.
- Alpha testing is conducted before beta testing to determine how stable the software is and to find bugs.
- Only internal staff or external testers are involved in Alpha testing.
- Alpha testing is conducted to find problems with the product before it reaches consumers.
- Alpha testing is done to test the functionality of a product.
- Alpha testing is used to identify problems in the design of a website or software.
- Alpha testing is used to determine if the website or software is performing as expected.
- Alpha testing is done by the staff from within a company.
For Example: Google Chrome, Microsoft Windows and Mozilla Firefox are the examples of Alpha Testing.
Beta Testing
- Beta testing is performed with a large group of users who are selected from the general public after the alpha phase.
- Beta testing is conducted by the company that developed the software to find bugs and determine how well they can handle specific tasks.
- Beta testing is done with a sample of the public to test how well the product works for a wide range of users.
- Beta testing involves a larger group of testers than alpha testing.
- Beta testing is conducted when the software is almost complete and can be used by the public.
- The purpose of Beta testing is to find problems with the software.
- Beta testing is done by expert users and people who understand the ins and outs of a particular software.
- Beta testing is used to confirm if a product meets the requirements of the client or user.
For Example: Gmail, Windows 8, Apple iCloud are examples of Beta Testing.
Conclusion:
Now After reading the above difference between Beta and Alpha testing you can understand that both the testing differ from each other but these are two of the most important phases of software testing.
We hope this article will help you in understanding the very basic difference between Beta and Alpha software testing. If you want to share your opinion or want to add some missing point then you can add comment in the comment section.
