Functional Testing evaluates individual and cohesive behavior functions of a software system to verify that they adhere to pre-defined specifications. It tests the functional accuracy, interoperability of subsystems, and compliance with pre-defined standards in the context of functional and business requirements.

Performance testing is a non-functional testing technique that exercises a system and then, measures validates and verifies the response time, stability, scalability, speed and reliability of the system in production-like environment. 

In this article, we will assess the differences between Performance and Functional testing.

 

  Performance Testing Functional Testing
Objective Validates performance  Validates behaviour 
Focus Area User expectations  User requirements 
Test data input Performance requirements Functional Requirements
Test Execution Sequence Done after functional testing Done before performance testing
Testing Approach Automation preferred Manual or Automated or Crowdsource
Production test environment emulation Preferred  Not mandatory
Infrastructural requirements High Minimal
Time taken for testing Less More
Impact of functional Requirement changes  No Yes
Testing Tools examples LoadRunner, Jmeter Selenium, QTP, WinRunner


Conclusion

On close observation of the above table, it can be noticed that both the testing types complement each other. Performance testing validates that application software can handle real-time scenarios and address issues, if any, to deliver a robust and efficient product to the end users. Functional testing on the other hand ensures the validity of software as per the functional and business requirements. Click to know more about this article: Performance Testing Vs Functional Testing

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