What are the different levels of manual testing?

Manual testing involves human intervention to evaluate the functionality of a software application without the use of automated testing tools. Different levels of manual testing are performed throughout the software development life cycle. Here are some common levels of manual testing:

Unit Testing:
- Scope: Individual units or components of the software.
- Objective: Verify that each unit functions correctly in isolation.
- Activities: Developers or testers execute test cases on specific functions or methods to ensure they produce the expected outcomes.
Integration Testing:
- Scope: Interactions between integrated components or systems.
- Objective: Verify that integrated components work together as expected.
- Activities: Testers execute test cases to ensure the correct integration of various components and identify any issues in communication or data flow.
System Testing:
- Scope: The entire system as a whole.
- Objective: Verify that the entire system meets specified requirements.
- Activities: Testers perform end-to-end testing, covering all functionalities to ensure that the system behaves as expected.
Acceptance Testing:
- Scope: Validating that the software meets acceptance criteria.
- Objective: Verify that the software satisfies user requirements.
- Types: User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Alpha Testing, Beta Testing.
- Activities: Testers execute test cases based on user scenarios to ensure the software is ready for release.
Regression Testing:
- Scope: Ensuring that new changes do not adversely affect existing functionalities.
- Objective: Verify that the software remains stable after modifications.
- Activities: Re-executing selected test cases to check for any unintended side effects.
Smoke Testing:
- Scope: Basic functionality to determine if further testing is needed.
- Objective: Quickly assess whether the most critical functionalities work.
- Activities: A subset of test cases is executed to verify that the software build is stable enough for more extensive testing.
Exploratory Testing:
- Scope: Investigative testing without predefined test cases.
- Objective: Uncover defects through exploration and creativity.
- Activities: Testers explore the application, looking for defects and gaining a deeper understanding of its behavior.
Usability Testing:
- Scope: User interface and overall user experience.
- Objective: Evaluate the software’s user-friendliness and ease of use.
- Activities: Testers assess the software’s intuitiveness and overall usability from an end-user perspective.

These manual testing levels can be applied iteratively throughout the software development life cycle, with testers adapting their approach based on project requirements and the specific needs of each testing phase. Manual testing is a crucial component of the overall testing strategy, complementing automated testing efforts to ensure the thorough validation of a software application.