Software Testing has variety of areas to be concentrated. Major varieties are functional and non functional testing. Functional testing is the procedural way to make sure so that the functionality developed works as anticipated. Non-functional testing is the approach by which the non functional aspects like enhanced or performance at an accepted level can be ensured.

ETL testing is one another kind of testing that is ideal in the Business case where a kind of reporting need is sought by the clients. The reporting is sought in order to analyze the demands, needs and the supply so that clients, business and the end users are very well served and benefited.

There is another flavor of testing called DB testing. Data is organized in the database in the form of tables. For business there can be flows where the data from the multiple tables can be merged or processed on to a single table and vice versa.

DB Testing vs. ETL Testing

Most of us are little confused over considering that both database testing and the ETL testing are similar and same. The fact is they are similar but not same.

DB Testing is usually used widely in the business flows where there are multiple data flows occurring in the application from multiple data sources on to a single table. The data source can be a table, flat file, application or anything else that can yield some output data. In turn the output data obtained can still be used as input for the sequential business flow. Hence when we perform DB testing the most essential thing that has to be captured is the way the data can get transformed from the source along with how it gets saved in the destination location.

In database testing we perform the following:

• Validations on the target tables which are created with columns with logical calculations as described in the logical mapping sheet and the data routing document.
• Manipulations like Inserting, updating and deletion of the customer data can be performed on the any end user POS application in an integrated system along with the back end database so that the same changes are reflected in the end system.
• DB testing has to ensure that there is no customer data that has been misinterpreted or even truncated. This might lead to serious issues like in correct mapping of customer data with their loyalty.

ETL testing is a special type of testing that the client wants to have it done for their forecasting and analysis of their business. This is mostly used for the reporting purposes. In case if the clients need to have reports on the customers who use or go for their product based on the day they purchase, they have to make use of the ETL reports. Post analysis and reporting, this data is data warehoused to a data warehouse where the old historical business data has to be moved. This is a multiple level testing as the data from the source is transformed into multiple environments before it reaches the final destined location.

In ETL testing we check for the following:

• Assuming there are 1000 customers in the source, you will check whether all these customers along with their data from the 1000 rows have been moved from the source system to the target. This is known as verification of Data completeness check.
• Checking if the customer data has been properly manipulated and demonstrated in the 1000 rows. This is simply called as verification of Data accuracy check.
• Reports for the customers who have gained points more than x values within the particular period.

 Why should the business go for ETL?

Plenty of business needs are available for them to consider ETL testing. Every business has to have their unique mission and the line of business. All business has their product life cycle which takes the generic form:

It is very clear that any new product enters the market with a remarkable growth in sales and till a stage called maturity and thereafter it declines in sales. This steady change witnesses a explicit drop in business growth. Hence it is more important to analyze the customer needs for the business growth and other factors required to make the organization more beneficial. So in reality, the clients want to analyze the historical data and come up with some reports strategically.

Due to this there is a significant demand for ETL Testers in the market. You can also read here on Why ETL Testing is a better Career Upgrade for testers! You can also learn more about Tek Classes ETL Testing Training and upgrade your testing skills.