This Non-Functional Testing course explores how software quality extends beyond functionality, focusing on the characteristics that directly affect user experience, system resilience and operational performance. You will develop an understanding of how to assess areas such as performance, security, usability and reliability, while gaining insight into the techniques used to evaluate quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
Software Testing Essentials Non Functional Testing
Performance-based testing skills for software delivery teams
This training is designed for testing professionals who want to strengthen their understanding of software quality and take on more specialised testing responsibilities. It introduces non-functional testing as an important part of the software lifecycle, helping teams evaluate quality throughout development and delivery. In traditional testing these areas are often overlooked, yet the non-functional attributes of a product are often those that critically affect its success.
Learning objectives
- Explain the principles of non-functional testing
- Understand how non-functional testing differs from functional testing
- Define key software quality attributes using the ISO 25000 SQuaRE framework
- Evaluate performance efficiency and reliability characteristics within software systems
- Explain security testing approaches and assess security quality attributes
- Assess usability and accessibility requirements against recognised quality criteria
- Evaluate availability and maintainability attributes across the development lifecycle
- Apply ISO 25000 SQuaRE quality criteria to evaluate non-functional requirements
Key facts
Certification
This is a skills and knowledge-based course with no formal accreditation.
Who it’s for
This course is suitable for software testers, test analysts, business analysts and other professionals involved in assessing software quality and system performance.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course, however experience working on IT projects is beneficial.
Exam information
There is no exam for this course.
Optional extras
There are no optional extras for this course.
Pre-course
There is no pre-course work.
Course syllabus
Dive into the detail of the course by looking at the syllabus below.
- Introduction to non-functional testing
- The role of non-functional testing
- ISO 25000 SQuaRE quality framework
- Performance testing
- Response times and throughput
- Load testing
- Scalability testing
- Stress testing
- Compatibility and portability testing
- Portability testing
- Compatibility testing
- Installability testing
- Interoperability testing
- Security testing
- Threat modelling
- Attack types and vectors
- Penetration testing
- Usability testing
- Heuristic evaluation
- Accessibility testing
- Reliability and dependability testing
- Reliability testing
- Availability testing
- Maintainability testing
- Supportability testing
FAQs
Professionals responsible for software quality often need to understand how non-functional characteristics influence system behaviour in production environments. The course examines how non-functional testing supports the wider software development lifecycle, helping teams define measurable quality requirements, identify risks earlier and improve confidence in the systems they deliver.
Why is non-functional testing important?
Non-functional testing helps ensure that systems meet quality standards beyond functional effectiveness. Evaluating attributes such as performance, reliability and usability helps organisations deliver systems that operate effectively under complex conditions.
What is the difference between functional and non-functional testing?
Functional testing verifies that a system performs the actions it is designed to carry out, such as processing transactions or validating inputs. Non-functional testing focuses on how well the system performs these functions by evaluating qualities such as security, portability and compatibility. Together, these approaches help ensure that software not only works correctly but also meets the quality expectations required for user satisfaction.
What are the ISO 25000 SQuaRE standards in software quality?
ISO 25000 Software Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) is a series of international standards that provide a structured framework for defining, specifying and evaluating software quality characteristics. The standards support the assessment of key non-functional attributes helping organisations evaluate whether systems meet defined quality expectations. ISO 25000 replaces the earlier ISO 9126 and ISO 14598 standards for software quality metrics and evaluation.
How can non-functional testing support career progression?
Developing skills in non-functional testing can broaden your role within software quality and testing teams. As such, these capabilities can support progression into more specialised testing roles, quality engineering positions or wider responsibilities within software development and delivery teams.
What our customers say
It was beneficial and clear explanation
Ayse Saribasak
Non Functional Testing
Non Functional Testing
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