What is an example of performance testing in software assurance?

Load testing is an essential type of performance testing in software assurance focused on evaluating how a system performs under expected and peak load conditions. It involves simulating a realistic number of users accessing the application simultaneously to determine how the system behaves when subjected to heavy workloads. This helps identify potential bottlenecks, performance degradation, and assesses the robustness and scalability of the application.

Effective load testing ensures that users have a positive experience, confirming that the software can manage large volumes of transactions or requests without performance issues. This kind of testing is crucial for applications expected to handle high traffic, such as e-commerce sites, and helps in planning for capacity and infrastructure requirements.

In contrast, the other types of testing mentioned serve different purposes. Unit testing focuses on individual components to ensure they function correctly in isolation. Regression testing verifies that new code changes do not adversely affect existing functionalities. Functional testing checks if the software behaves according to the specified requirements, ensuring that the expected input yields the desired output. All these types of testing are important but do not primarily assess performance under load like load testing does.