Category: end-2-end

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Software Testing Before Launch: 5 Tips for a Smooth Launch Experience

All software must be tested before launch. If this part is omitted, a whole host of bugs and security gaps in the code remain undiscovered.

We at testup.io have already been involved in many projects and can confirm this: Problems can always be found before the release. And the more complex your product is, the more bugs there will be (best example: Windows). That’s why testing is a central part of software development. And this part has to be done right.

Here we share with you 5 tips on how to ensure a smooth launch experience with tests.

Tip 1: Test Right from the Start

This tip comes first because it is the most important.

If your software is already “finished” and you want to start testing it quickly before the launch, you have already made a critical mistake. Because testing software is not something that should only be done shortly before the launch. It has to be done right from the start. And on a regular basis.

Software products work in much the same way as buildings: there is a structure. Each building block builds on another. And if the foundation is not built properly, everything that builds on it has to be demolished.

If you find out 2 weeks before the rollout that the entire structure of your code needs to be reorganised, there is always the same consequence: a headache.

Employees have to work overtime, your superiors are stressed, clients are dissatisfied and the company builds up a bad reputation. Early testing prevents this.

Integrate Testing into the Product Roadmap

If you want to plan your testing strategically right from the start, you need to integrate it into the product roadmap. This allows you to determine at which points in the development process which tests are to be carried out.

A major advantage of this approach is also better time planning. One of the most common excuses for not testing is “too little time”. And it’s true that software development is stressful. But if you plan everything from the beginning, you can set realistic deadlines and schedule time for testing.

Also important: The coders should be involved in the creation of the product roadmap. This is because they are good at estimating how long certain tasks and processes will take.

And if you have particularly little time for testing, you can try automated testing as a service (TaaS).

Tip 2: Carry Out the 4 Most Important Tests

These 4 tests must never be omitted before the rollout:

  • Unit tests
  • Integration tests
  • End-to-End tests
  • Acceptance tests

They test different areas and complement each other. Once your software has passed these tests, you can have much more confidence and trust in the product. But what are these tests all about?

Unit Tests – Check Isolated Code Sections

Unit tests require you to scrutinise and check small sections of code (units). This type of test must be carried out particularly early on so that errors in one unit do not affect other units.

Integration Tests – Checking Harmony between Units

With complex software, different units have to communicate with each other (e.g. front-end and back-end modules).

You use integration tests to check whether these units are in harmony with each other. Because if the interfaces have errors, this usually hinders the flow of data in the system.

End-to-end Tests – Testing the Entire System

End-to-end tests are larger tests that check the behaviour of the entire system from start to finish.

As already mentioned, software consists of various components. And in end-to-end tests, it is not individual parts of the software that are tested, but the entire system. In such tests, the software has to prove itself in real-life scenarios.

Acceptance Tests – Checking the Client’s Needs

The acceptance test always comes at the end. It is not carried out by you, but by the customer or an end user. If the tester has no problems and can navigate the application without help, the test is considered passed.

Tip 3: Put your Software to the Test!

When a carpenter has finished his work, he hammers hard on his table. This is done to test the stability of the table. When testing software development, something similar is done to the finished application. It is called fuzzing.

When fuzzing, the system receives unexpected and invalid input data. An active attempt is made to overload the system. This has the following advantages:

Security Gaps Are Uncovered

If you actively overload your software with fuzzing, you can recognise vulnerabilities based on the system’s reactions. This is important because such vulnerabilities are exploited by attackers.

Resilience Is Tested

If the software crashes during fuzzing, this means that the code does not provide enough stability. You can use such stress tests to find out whether the software is robust enough for the launch.

A crash is often caused by the code being too long and not being kept simple.

Regression Can Be Detected

Regression means that old errors that have already been corrected reappear. Unfortunately, regression often goes unnoticed. But if you carry out fuzzing regularly, you can detect such errors.

Tip 4: Use Flaky Tests

Most developers don’t like flaky tests. Because they are confusing. A flaky test leads to different results under identical circumstances. This is why these tests are usually deleted.

But you can actually use flaky tests to your advantage. If you find out what causes the test to be “flaky”, you can get to the bottom of problems that other tests don’t reveal.

Tip 5: Write Test Reports that Everyone Understands

Automated test reports have become very popular. They save a lot of work. But there is one problem: they are not always reader-friendly and often require a lot of knowledge. There are always participants and decision-makers in the project who do not have a deep technical understanding. In order to make informed decisions, they need to be able to understand the test reports.

For example, there could be a bug that cannot be fixed before the launch. In such cases, the decision-makers need to understand the bug. They have to decide whether the launch has to be postponed or whether the software can be released despite the bug. And this is only possible if the test report is clear and comprehensible. Even if the reader does not have a great deal of technical understanding.

The good news: There are also automated test reports that are easy to understand. At testup.io, we produce image-based test reports. They are easily understood by everyone involved. Contact us if you want to know more about this.

#softwareengineering #programming #softwaredesign #datamining

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How Test Automa­tion Puts the Efficiency of Your Project in the Fast Lane

Imagine you are a passionate developer working on an exciting software project. The deadline is approaching and you feel the pressure to deliver a bug-free application that runs smoothly and delights users. But as you write the lines of code and perfect the functionalities, the fear of hidden bugs inevitably creeps in – those little imperfections that only become noticeable when the application gets into the hands of users.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if all these worries could just disappear? Imagine if you could rely on your tests to be thorough, comprehensive and accurate – without the hassle and uncertainty of manual testing.

The solution to these concerns lies in the world of test automation.

In this article, we’ll dive into the exciting world of test automation together and explore how it can put your project’s efficiency on the fast track. We’ll see how tedious manual testing can become a thing of the past and how you can achieve better test coverage with ease. But that’s not all – we’ll also learn about an innovative solution that not only automates your testing, but also introduces the concept of Testing-as-a-Service (TaaS) to make your development journey even more seamless.

Join us on this journey as we overcome the obstacles of manual testing, maximising the efficiency of your development while ensuring that your application meets the highest quality standards. Let’s dive into the world of test automation and discover how you can save time, resources and nerves – without compromising on quality.

The Challenges of Manual Testing

Ah, the human factor – it can be a blessing, but also a curse. Sloppy mistakes, fatigue and carelessness can affect your tests. Manual testing can be a significant challenge in software development for a number of reasons:

  • Time required: Manual tests require a lot of time and resources as they have to be carried out manually by testers or developers. This can be particularly time-consuming for complex or extensive applications.
  • Repeatability: Repeatability is a problem with manual tests. As people are involved, tests cannot always be carried out in exactly the same way, which can lead to inconsistencies in the test results.
  • Human error: Manual tests are prone to human error such as sloppiness, fatigue or lack of attention. These errors can lead to errors in the application being overlooked or incorrect results being reported.
  • Limited test coverage: Due to time and resource constraints, manual tests cannot cover all possible scenarios and combinations that may occur in a complex application. This can lead to critical errors remaining undetected.
  • Scalability: Manual tests are difficult to scale. As the application grows or new features are added, more tests are needed, further increasing the time and resources required.
  • Costs: Manual testing can be costly as it requires teams of testers to continuously perform and monitor tests. This can put a strain on development project budgets.
  • Slow feedback cycle: Manual testing delays the feedback cycle for developers as they have to wait for test results from testers. This can hinder development and lead to longer iteration times.
  • Lack of reproducibility: With manual tests, it is often difficult to reproduce and isolate errors, especially if they occur intermittently. This makes troubleshooting and verification more difficult.
  • Complexity: Manual testing can be difficult in complex applications as they may require testing of different platforms, devices or environments. This can complicate the testing strategy.

As you can see, manual tests pose a major challenge, especially in terms of efficiency, consistency, test coverage and quality assurance. But don’t worry! Test automation takes this human factor out of the equation. No more mistakes due to daily form or tired eyes. The machine takes over.

Why Test Automation?

You certainly know the importance of testing for the quality of your software. But imagine if all those tedious tests could be automated! This is where test automation comes into play. It’s not just about saving time, but also about improving test coverage. Because we all know that manual tests can only scale up to a certain point.

Test automation brings with it a wealth of benefits that can significantly increase the efficiency and quality of your software development. Here are some of the most important advantages:

1. Faster Test Execution

Manual tests can be time-consuming, especially if they have to be repeated regularly. Test automation makes it possible to carry out tests in less time and at a higher speed, which speeds up the development process.

2. Higher Test Coverage

Manual testing can leave gaps in test coverage as it is difficult to cover all possible scenarios. With automated testing, you can run a wider range of test cases to ensure that different aspects of your application are thoroughly tested.

3. Consistency and Repeatability

Automated tests deliver consistent results, regardless of factors such as daily form or fatigue. This ensures the repeatability of the tests, which is important for tracking changes in the code over time.

4. Early Detection of Errors:

Automated tests can be used in the early stages of development, leading to the early detection of errors. This makes it possible to identify and rectify problems at an early stage, which ultimately reduces the cost of later corrections.

5. Better Utilisation of Resources

Automated tests can be executed in parallel, which maximises the utilisation of available resources. As a result, tests can be completed more quickly without overloading the resources of developers and testers.

6. Reduction of the Human Factor

Manual testing is prone to errors due to sloppiness, fatigue or human error. Automation eliminates this human factor and helps to improve the accuracy of test results.

7. Cost Efficiency

Although the initial outlay for setting up test automation must be invested, it leads to cost savings in the long term. Automated tests reduce the time and resources required for repeated manual tests.

8. Support of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

Automated tests are a crucial component of CI/CD pipelines. They enable code changes to be checked quickly and reliably and transferred to the production environment.

9. Scalability

With automated tests, you can easily scale test coverage by adding new test cases or updating existing ones. This is particularly useful as the application grows or new features are added.

Overall, test automation offers a variety of benefits that can improve the quality of your software, speed up the development process and utilise your resources more efficiently. It is an investment that pays off in the long term and helps to bring high-quality software to market faster and more reliably.

How does Test Automation Work?

Test automation refers to the process of using automated tools and scripts to perform software tests instead of having them performed manually by testers. These tools can use different techniques and approaches to automate tests. Here is a basic idea of how test automation works:

1. test script creation: First, test scripts or test cases are created that describe how the application is to be tested. These scripts are usually written in a specific scripting language or an automated test framework.

2. test tool selection: Automated test tools are selected that can automate the desired test scenarios. These tools can range from general test automation platforms to specialised tools for specific types of tests.

3. Set up the test environment: The test environment, which contains the application to be tested and all necessary dependencies, is prepared. Depending on the type of application, this can include various aspects such as software versions, databases, operating systems and hardware configurations.

4. Automation of the tests: The test scripts created are executed in the selected test automation tools. These tools can simulate the application, execute user input, compare expected results and detect errors.

5. Test execution: The test automation tools execute the created test scripts by controlling the application, executing actions and checking expected results. They can manipulate GUI elements, call APIs, query databases and more.

6. Test reporting: On completion of the tests, the automation tools generate reports on the test results. These reports contain information about which tests were successful, which failed and any errors that occurred.

7. error detection and correction: If automated tests fail, they indicate potential errors or problems in the application. Developers can use the reports to determine the exact cause of the error and fix it.

8. Integration into CI/CD pipelines: Automated tests can be integrated into Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to enable seamless integration and deployment of code changes.

9. Scaling and maintenance: The test scripts can be updated and expanded as required to cover new functionalities or changed requirements. This enables continuous maintenance of the test automation.

Overall, test automation aims to reduce the manual effort involved in performing tests, increase test coverage, improve the accuracy of results and provide developers with quick feedback on the quality of their code. It also facilitates the execution of tests in different environments and ensures that repeated tests deliver consistent results.

testup.io: The Efficiency Revolution

And this is where testup.io comes into play. With testup.io, you can put your tests on autopilot. This means your developers can focus on the essentials while the machine in the background runs your tests quickly and thoroughly. No more bottlenecks caused by manual testing, and you can ensure that your software works together seamlessly. What does that mean? Let us explain:

The Turbo for your Development

With Testing-as-a-Service, or TaaS for short, you can sit back and relax because we take care of everything related to end-to-end testing for you: we create and manage your tests and document all defects found. This means that your developers can concentrate on the essentials while the machine in the background carries out your tests quickly and thoroughly. No more bottlenecks due to manual testing, and you can ensure that your software works seamlessly together.

Testing-as-a-Service (TaaS): Your All-in-One-Partner

TaaS is the new magic word, and testup.io is a master of it. As a product manager or CTO, you can outsource your testing and still retain control. No more tying up internal resources, no more building expensive infrastructures. Test your software in different environments to ensure that it works flawlessly everywhere.

The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating: Time for the Future of Testing

It’s time to take the plunge into the world of test automation with testup.io. Test automation and the concept of TaaS will revolutionise the way you work. Don’t be afraid of new horizons – testup.io is at your side. Increase your efficiency, save time and money and deliver high-quality software. Let’s shape the future of testing together!

Let’s try it out and see the results first hand! Your software will thank you, and your users will feel the difference.

Book a demo now on testup.io!

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Best Practices for the Successful Transition from Manual Testing to Automation

The transition from manual testing to automation is crucial in today’s fast-paced software development world. By automating testing processes, organisations can increase efficiency, improve quality and reduce time-to-market. However, there are some challenges to overcome, including careful planning, strategic approaches and collaboration between all team members.

A successful transition requires recognising best practices and implementing appropriate steps. For example, clear objectives should be defined, suitable tools selected and test scripts developed. Regularly reviewing and updating automated tests and training team members are also important aspects of a successful transition. With a well-thought-out approach, a company can ensure that it realises all the benefits of automation and continuously improves its software quality.

1. Thorough Analysis and Planning

The first and most important step for a successful transition to test automation is thorough analysis and planning. This involves understanding the goals, requirements and scope of the automation project. By identifying the appropriate test cases, resources can be utilised effectively. The prioritisation of test cases is based on their importance and the expected ROI (return on investment). Examples of suitable test cases could be regression tests, where a large amount of repetitive tasks can be automated. Performance tests or tests in complex environments can also be automated well. Careful planning lays the foundation for efficient and successful test automation.

Create a detailed time and resource plan for the automation project. Firstly, you should estimate the time required for the actual automation, taking into account specific tasks such as identifying processes that can be automated, developing scripts or testing the automation. Furthermore, it is essential to plan enough time for training team members to ensure that they have the necessary skills to carry out the automation successfully.

The familiarisation with new tools and technologies should also be considered, as these may require additional training. It may make sense to bring in external expertise or offer training to ensure that the team has the necessary knowledge.

2. Selection of the Right Tools

Choosing the right automation tools is crucial to the success of the project. There are a variety of test automation tools on the market, from open source options such as

  • Selenium
  • Appium
  • JUnit

to commercial solutions such as

  • Applitools
  • TestCafe
  • UFT
  • TestComplete
  • testup.io
  • UIPath

Choose the tools that best suit the requirements and technologies of your project.

When selecting development and testing tools, copywriters should consider various aspects. Firstly, scalability is important – the selected tool should be able to keep pace with growing requirements. In addition, it should offer broad support for different platforms and technologies to ensure that a wide range of projects can be covered. The maintainability of the tool also plays a role, as it requires regular updates and bug fixes. An active community can help to clarify questions and solve problems. Finally, integration with other development tools is important to ensure a seamless workflow.

3. Gradual Introduction and Pilot Projects

A step-by-step approach is often recommended to make the transition from manual testing to automation a success. Start with a pilot project to familiarise the team with the new tools and methods and gain experience. Select test cases that are relatively easy to automate and offer a high benefit for the project.

After the pilot project has been completed and the results analysed, it is advisable to obtain feedback from the team members. This feedback can provide valuable insights and help to adapt the approach if necessary. If the pilot project is successful, it opens up the possibility of extending automation to other test cases and projects. This allows for more efficient testing and gives the team more time for other important tasks. Examples of possible extensions could be the integration of additional test tools or the automation of other project management processes.

4. Test Data Management

A critical aspect of test automation is test data management. Automated test cases require reliable and consistent test data in order to function correctly. Ensure that test data is managed in a clean and predictable environment.

Using mock data is an effective way to simulate databases and external dependencies in tests. By separating test data from production data, privacy regulations can be adhered to and potential data leaks can be avoided. Let’s imagine a developer is working on an e-commerce website and wants to test different scenarios, such as adding products to the shopping basket or completing an order.

Instead of using real customer data or credit card information, mock data can be generated, such as random names, addresses or credit card numbers. This mock data is realistic enough to perform realistic tests, but anonymised enough to protect user privacy. In addition, the use of mock data allows for greater flexibility in creating specific test cases and scenarios without compromising the actual production environment.

5. Code Quality and Versioning

Automated tests are essentially code, so code quality is critical. Follow best practices for software development, such as modular and well-structured code, clear commenting and consistency in the naming of variables and methods.

Effective version control is crucial for managing the code of automated tests. It enables the team to track changes and undo them if necessary. This not only minimises the risk of errors, but also improves collaboration. An example of a popular version control software is Git, which allows developers to create branches and work on different features or fixes in parallel.

In addition, Git provides features such as merging and rebasing to merge changes into the main code and resolve conflicts. With well-managed version control, the test team can go through faster feedback loops and ensure that all changes are properly documented.

6. Continuous Integration and Continuous Testing

Integrate test automation seamlessly into the CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) process. Automate the execution of tests when new code changes are submitted. This enables potential problems to be recognised and rectified at an early stage and the quality of the code to be improved.

By automating the deployment and execution of tests in different environments, a copywriter is able to ensure that an application works both consistently and reliably. This makes it possible to identify potential problems or incompatibilities at an early stage and take appropriate countermeasures. For example, it is possible to test whether a website is displayed correctly on different browsers or whether mobile apps run smoothly on different operating systems.

In addition, different network conditions can also be simulated to ensure that the application functions optimally under different connection qualities. Overall, the automation of tests in different environments helps to significantly improve the quality and performance of an application.

7. Continuous Improvement and Training

Test automation is an ongoing process that requires continuous improvement. Gather feedback from team members and stakeholders to identify potential weaknesses and bottlenecks.

Continuous investment in training and development of the team is vital to ensure they always have the latest skills and technology. This enables team members to keep up with constantly evolving requirements and maximise their efficiency. For example, test automation training could be provided to ensure that the team has the necessary knowledge and skills to automate tests effectively.

It is also important to keep up to date with developments in the field of test automation and adapt the strategy and tools accordingly. New tools and techniques such as Continuous Integration or Behaviour Driven Development can help to further optimise the automation process. Overall, a well-trained team helps to ensure that tests can be carried out more efficiently, thereby improving the quality of the software.

Conclusion

The transition from manual testing to automation brings numerous advantages for companies. By using automated tests, they can optimise their software development and shorten the time-to-market. This enables faster delivery of updates and new features to customers. By thoroughly analysing the requirements and scope of testing, companies can ensure that they select the right tools for their test automation. A step-by-step approach is advisable to minimise the risk of errors and ensure a smooth transition. It is also important to integrate test automation into the already established CI/CD process to enable continuous integration and deployment. Examples of suitable tools are Selenium, Appium or JUnit, depending on the specific requirements of the project. The use of frameworks such as Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) can also help to create clear and understandable test scenarios.

Continuous improvement and training of the team is crucial to keep up with the latest technologies and best practices and to ensure efficient test automation. By regularly training the team, they can expand their knowledge of tools such as Selenium or Appium and develop new automation strategies. In addition, best practices such as setting up a continuous integration system or implementing code reviews can help improve the quality of the software. Costs can be reduced by recognising and correcting errors early on in the development process. This not only leads to higher customer satisfaction, as high-quality products are delivered, but also to a motivated team that is constantly developing and growing.

If you do not yet have the necessary expertise in-house to make the switch from manual to automated tests, you can also opt for a Testing-as-a-Service solution. The provider takes over the testing for you. You can find more information about this service at testup.io.

#innovation #digital #automation #softwareengineering #programming #data

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Important strategies to Succeed in End-to-End Testing

End to end testing is a method of software testing where a software application will be tested from start to end with the entire system flows with all dependencies related to the application. The purpose of the end-to-end testing is ensuring that an application is tested from a user perspective by stimulating real world scenarios so every operation will be validated with integration with components and data integrity.

End-to-end testing is one of the most complicated and challenging testing techniques in software quality assurance. End-to-end testing is important to any kind of software application as it ensures a quality user experience in the application which is a key objective of software applications.

The end-to-end testing process needs to be well planned in order to achieve success in the execution of the end-to-end testing. In order to be successful in end-to-end testing, organizations need to follow best practices and strategies.

Maximize Test coverage

Plan what needs to be tested before starting the end-to-end testing. The test coverage should touch upon all the end-user scenarios through the test cases so every feature will be tested through the end-to-end testing process. In order to maximize the test coverage, a detailed analysis of the requirement document and identify important user workflows in the given requirements documents. The focus should be on critical features of the system, the test coverage of the critical features should be higher than the non-critical features. Maintaining a requirement traceability matrix will be helpful to maximize the test coverage.

However, test coverage shouldn’t target only on the requirement itself; it should cover other aspects of the system such as alternative user workflows, how the system should respond during errors, how the system should respond to network failures and how the system is directing the user to use the system. A complete test coverage of the product can make the end to end testing process more useful for organizations. 

Walk in your end user’s shoes

During the test design phase, we should always think in a user perspective towards the application rather than focusing on implementation of the application.  Each user-based workflow should be defined properly in test plan/design flow targeting key features.

When defining the end-to-end testing scope for the application, be mindful about what the end goals of the user are? Are the goals achieved in a user-friendly manner? Are the applications up to the expectations of the user? Answers of these kinds of questions need to be analyzed thoroughly on planning the test plan of the end-to-end testing strategy.

Getting into the user’s mindset is complicated for a software development team. The best techniques to achieve this will be creating a mind map of user workflows and making the maximum use of user stories with personas so a clear understanding of the workflow can be derived through these techniques.

Use an efficient Test environment and meaningful test data

End to end testing needs a stable environment without interruptions in order to execute a successful end to end testing workflow. End to end testing needs an environment which has enough capacity to handle multiple test runs, multiple user stimulations and with zero down times during tests.  In order setup such environments it should be planned ahead considering the depth of the tests and environment

The data used for the testing should be meaningful where it should be generated from a user perspective. Using dummy data for end-to-end testing won’t be effective where those data are not meaningful and if the end user will never input such data for the system. In order to create meaningful data the domain of the application should be considered and it should be prepared based on it.

Organize the tests systemically in the right order

It’s important to find the defects in the system as early as possible where fixing defects in the final stages will be costly. Each type of testing should be planned and executed in the right order and end to testing will take place after unit, system, and integration testing.

The tests in the end-to-end suite need to be arranged based on the system priorities. The teams should decide the order of the tests to be executed in an efficient manner which makes sure that all the critical workflows are tested before mini features are tested. The critical failures can be identified early by setting up the tests in the write order.

The structure and organization of the tests based on the understanding of the system requirements are fundamental to the end-to-end testing process.

Make use of Automation tools

End to end testing is a time consuming task and there are instances where repetitive tasks are involved. Doing end to end testing manually requires lots of time and effort. The modern software systems get complicated day by day and there is a need for frequent releases with new updates based on the market requirements so testing teams need to perform frequent end to end testing multiple times.

In order to overcome such challenges, making use of automation tools can be beneficial.  Automating end-to-end testing through tools will save time and solve repetitive tasks in the process of end-to-end testing.

Automations tools can be selected based on company preferences and there are several tools in the industry to choose from. Automation tools can be categorized into two types: test automation tools require coding and codeless automation tools. The tools that require coding are powerful customizable based on the needs of the end-to-end strategy. However, there is a downside of using coding-based automation tools where it requires separate teams to write the code in a specific programming language and maintain it where manual testers need to be trained to be an automation engineer.

 The codeless automation tools will solve problems such as programming skills in testers, debugging time and dependent on programming languages.  The codeless automation tools are easy to integrate, scripts can be created easily and testing reports can be generated easily.

Testup is a codeless automation tool that can solve many of the end-to-end testing faced by the organization. The tool is easy to set up in minutes and the tool is focused very much on usability aspects. Complex test scenarios can be easily manageable through it and tests will be robust which covers most of the quality aspects of end-to-end testing. Give it a try!

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7 Ways Automated Testing can Help You Save Time and Money

Introduction

One of the worst things that can happen to a web or mobile application is for it to be riddled with bugs upon deployment. This will limit the application’s ability to solve the problems for which it was built. But that’s not all, it will also negatively impact user experience and trust in your brand, making you lose users to competitors. However, there is one way forward, Testing!

Testing is the process of trying out the features of your application before deployment and they are majorly two types: Manual Testing and Automated Testing. Manual Testing involves an individual downloading or accessing the application, clicking on buttons, checking out features to see if they work, and navigating through pages to confirm if they are well linked. It is worthy of note that this method of testing is prone to inaccuracy due to human error or negligence.

Automated Testing, on the other hand, is a process that involves using an automation tool to execute test case suites and predefined actions on a software application. The testing tool takes real outcomes and compares them with the expected result to generate detailed test reports. This method is the most effective way of testing as it is fast, more reliable, and efficient.

In this article, we would be sharing ways through which Automated Testing can help you save time and money.

1. Grows User Retention

Users have a low tolerance for faulty applications. According to an article by TechCrunch, 88% of people say they would abandon an app if they encountered bugs or glitches. Results also show that most apps are buggy because they went through Manual Testing which was unable to properly spot possible bugs and errors before deployment.

With Automated Testing, there’s a significantly lower chance of encountering a bug or app failure. This is because Automated Testing is more meticulous and less prone to human error such as fatigue or loss of interest during testing. With Automated Testing, you get to keep your users and reduce your churn rate, thus helping you grow revenue.

2. Builds Confidence in Your Brand

Most of the apps in App stores are buggy. According to a survey by Compuware, 56% of app users say they have experienced one form of error or the other while using an app. They also said this led to them losing confidence in the app’s reputation and brand, prompting them to give bad reviews of the App.

Through Automated Testing, you can significantly reduce the chances of your app ever getting a bad review. This is because you will be able to detect bugs much earlier before deployment and fix them before making your app available online or in the App store.

3. Encourages Focus on Developing More Features

Automating your app testing gives your engineering/software team more time to be creative, think outside the box and come up with new, exciting features that will keep your users hooked. This is because less time is spent on testing. Furthermore, it boosts the confidence of the engineering/software team, giving them the necessary wherewithal to explore new ideas without fear of building a feature that could break the app.

4. Improves User Experience

The major reason anyone would want to use your app is that it solves a particular problem they currently face. A fundamental part of user experience is how well your app can solve the problems faced by your users. Above all else, this would be the factor that determines whether users come back to use your app or switch to a competitor.

With Automated Testing, you can ensure that your users do not experience an app failure that would compound their problem rather than help them solve it. This helps you increase the number of transactions and activities on your app, thus resulting in more revenue.

5. Encourages users to talk about your App

Because many apps are buggy, an app that does what it says it does and works without bugs will stand out in the marketplace. This alone could even be enough marketing for your business in the form of word of mouth.  And with this form of marketing comes a significant boost in sales and revenue. For instance Dropbox, a Google Drive competitor grew to become a $10 billion app majorly based on Word-of-Mouth alone. Getting the goodwill of your users also builds brand loyalty, scalability, retention rate and reduces the chances of your users jumping ship to use a competitor.

6. Faster release of App to market

Automated Testing saves you a lot of time. According to the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), software testing is the 5th Phase and it typically takes between 1-2months if performed manually by the QA and testing team. However, with Automated Testing, you can complete the Testing phase of the Software Development Life Cycle in days, not months hence giving your app a faster time to market.

If your app is developed to solve a novel problem, this could be the difference between you having a First Mover Advantage over your competitors and gaining market share without worrying about whether your app is bug-free or not.

7. Improved Return on Investment

Most times, the reason businesses are skeptical about using Automated Testing is because it is more expensive than Manual Testing, and this is reasonable in the short-term. However, the long-term benefits of using Automated Testing greatly supersedes the short-term benefits of saving cost by performing Manual Testing. This is because Automated Testing saves a lot of time, energy and gives you a bug-free version of your app. Furthermore, Automated Testing encourages scalability – enabling you to reach more users and grow revenue over a short period.

Conclusion

It is quite obvious that the benefits of Automated Testing greatly outweigh that of Manual Testing. So if you want to build scalable, bug-free apps faster, Automated Testing is the way to go. However, it is worthy of note that the success of your Automated Testing depends largely on the tool you choose to perform the test. There are so many out there that it can be very difficult to choose the one that is best for you.

Testup is a Visual Automation Testing Tool that makes it extremely easy to test your application. It is easy to set up, does not require coding, and can handle complex testing scenarios. You can get started with a free trial of Testup by clicking here.

Happy Testing!

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Why is it So Hard to Introduce Automated Testing in Your Development Process

Automated testing is all the rage in agile contexts these days. There’s no wonder since it works great for many types of testing and helps QAs execute complex test cases located on various platforms and involve a lot of data. It also benefits organizations in multiple ways, such as increasing the productivity of the test team, enhancing software quality, and reducing the time to market.

However, organizations have to face a lot of challenges when trying to apply automated testing into their development process. The seven most common challenges that make the transformation from manual testing to automation more difficult are the following:

  1. Not having a clear idea of what to automate
  2. Difficulties in picking up the right automation tool
  3. Lack of communication and collaboration within the team
  4. Difficulties in choosing a testing approach
  5. High upfront costs
  6. Not having skilled resources for automation
  7. Understanding the prospects of stakeholders and end-users

So let’s have a closer look at the challenges.

1. Not Having a Clear Idea of What to Automate

If you believe that 100% automation is possible, you are dreaming. You can’t automate each and every single test case. Some tests will be difficult to automate due to technology constraints. Specifically, in areas such as compatibility, user interface, or recovery, most of the testing needs to be done manually. For example, some testing frameworks will not support test cases that run across several browser sessions or different devices. Therefore, before you start thinking about automation, you have to come up with a list of criteria that test cases must fulfil in order to be automatized.

The ROI on automated tests varies depending on several factors. Thus, you have to decide which test cases are critical and need to be given a high priority when automating. Normally, it’s the areas that are

  • exposed to risk,
  • of importance to clients,
  • or feature complex business logic.

Recognize these application areas and test case specifications to ensure that your automation efforts payback.

It’s a good idea to automate test cases that run in different environments, with different sets of data or large volumes of data. In contrast, you shouldn’t try to automate test cases that needed to be run once or twice like test cases for a rarely used feature. 

2. Difficulties in Picking up the Right Automation Tool

This is a major challenge most development companies go through when introducing automated testing. Test automation requires tools and development teams to find it difficult to choose the right tool for various reasons, as listed below.

  • Testers are lacking the necessary skills to make the most out of a particular automation tool.
  • Selected tools are not offering 100% test coverage.
  • The cost of automation tools exceeding the test budget.
  • Not knowing if the tool they need exists.

Various steps can be followed in order to mitigate these issues. For instance, if your testers don’t know how to use a specific automation tool effectively, you can arrange a training session with its provider, prepare an online course for them, or recruit a consultant who can help your testers to master it. If you’re still searching for the right automation tool, reach out to the testing community.  Forums like Stack Exchange are a valuable source of information.

Among numerous automated testing tools available in the market today, Testup is a new player that stands out of all the rest due to its excellent and unique features. It enables easy setup for users with a high focus on usability and supports complex test scenarios to boost your software quality. 

Testup covers all the essential use cases such as Front-end testing, End-to-End testing, CI/CD, Test-driven development (TDD), Robotic Process Automation(RPA) and many more. Codeless test automation is one most impressive features of Testup that saves enormous time for developers. In the future, Testup is likely to address most of the challenges organizations face when trying to adapt to automated testing.

3. Lack of Communication and Collaboration within the Team

Automated testing usually requires more communication and collaboration between team members than manual testing. You cannot run a successful testing process if the team fails to get involved adequately in setting automation targets and goals. Therefore, the team members need to be actively involved there.

Automation depends on historical test data, experience, and sometimes even proof of concept that can be obtained only through your team. Thus, the entire team should stay on the same page for automated testing to work properly.

Furthermore, you need to gain solid team management support on hand before you start with automated testing. It is also important to build a collaborative working environment where team members can communicate with each other regularly to deliver test results timely with minimum risk.

4. Difficulties in Choosing a Testing Approach

This is another most significant challenge automation engineers face when trying to go ahead with automated testing. They need to find out the right test automation approach to suit their needs. For that, they may need to ask the following questions from themselves:

  • How can we reduce the implementation and maintenance cost of test suites?
  • Will the selected automation tool be able to generate useful test reports?
  • Will these test suites last a long period of time at our company?

The above points are highly important when it comes to an agile development environment where the testing application constantly changes, and test automation should be implemented to identify these changes, helping the team stick into a cost-effective maintenance strategy. Therefore, you should consider embracing an automation solution that automatically detects these changes and updates or re-validates the test.

5. High Upfront Costs

Test automation will involve high costs at its initial phase. These costs associated with setting up a test automation suite hold back many companies from incorporating automated testing into their development process.

Therefore, make sure to analyze and create a test automation framework including elements like libraries of reusable functions before proposing the automation suite to the management. You need to add hardware costs as well as software costs, including licensing costs if you intend to use paid software. Even if you pick an open-source solution, you still have to consider some costs, such as maintaining and providing training. 

Convincing the management that test automation is worth all the effort might be a difficult task. However, the potential ROI is a clever argument there, so prepare an automation strategy along with a complete budget and go for it.

6. Not Having Skilled Resources for Automation

In automated testing, the teams have to design and maintain the necessary test automation frameworks, along with test scripts, build solutions, and many other vital elements. Therefore, the teams need to have a solid understanding of the design and implementation of the automated testing framework to work as expected. That’s the reason why you should build your team with testing resources who possess strong programming skills and test automation skills.

However, with Testup, organizations can eliminate the demand for skilled resources in automated testing since it is a no-code automation tool.

7. Understanding the Prospects of Stakeholders and End-Users

It doesn’t matter how perfect your testing tools or resources are – you have to always bear in mind that testing can’t be conducted in a vacuum. It serves a specific objective which is basically improving your software product.

While automated testing is a great option for automatically checking your software for bugs, humans still need to carry out non-automated testing scenarios. These tests return plenty of useful information to make optimal decisions for improving the system, not in the view of developers but the end-users.

Because of that, it’s important to make sure that the management, your testing team, and other stakeholders all understand and accept the expected results of your test automation strategy before implementing it.

Bottom Line

While test automation can bring plenty of benefits to testing teams and organizations, it can be difficult to implement due to various issues and constraints. Anyway, if you identify the challenges involved in introducing automated testing and prepare well for them, your organization can reap the benefits of it.

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Why did Automated Testing Disappoint so many Companies?

Introduction

To guarantee the quality of products, it is important that product development companies embrace testing. That’s not all, the way this test happens is also crucial. Over the years, manual testing has proven to be an approach laden with so many cons than pros. A way forward out of this is test automation. With test automation, companies have an incredible opportunity to increase the efficiency and coverage of software and product testing. Among many other benefits, test automation reduces time, gets rid of human error, reduces expenses, and provides better insights for product improvement.

However, just like every technological solution, test automation comes with its complexities. Therefore, if not implemented properly, it can bring disappointment. In this article, we will explore the possible reasons why test automation may fail you and thereafter provide a viable solution that you can leverage on, moving forward.

Test Automation Failed You: Why?

Setting unrealistic Expectations

Expecting 100% automation is practically impossible. Therefore, the beginning of the failure of test automation is when a team sets their expectations so high that they cannot be achieved. As much as possible, expectations should be realistic. This fundamental axiom also applies to test automation.

Use of a Poor Test Automation Tool

If we start counting the number of test automation tools available today, we will lose count. The market is flooded with too many tools than you can imagine. For this reason, it becomes difficult to separate the quality ones from the noisemakers. However, while it may be difficult, it is not impossible. The most important factor to consider when choosing a test automation tool is your testing needs and primary goals. The reality is that every tool has its unique capabilities and your team needs to focus on finding the one that effectively aligns with your needs and requirements. Generally, we recommend Testup as a viable and affordable no-code test automation tool. Later in this piece, we will highlight the reasons why you may want to consider using Testup.

Disregard for Parallel Execution

One reason why some companies fail at test automation is that they get themselves caught in complex test suites that take forever to execute. In such a situation, test cases that are on queue end abruptly after timeout. Ultimately, the quality of the test gets compromised. In a nutshell, what this implies is that sequential execution of test cases offers nothing but a fast way to fail at test automation. A proven strategy is to embrace parallel execution as this allows multiple tests at the same time.

Buggy Test Environment

It’s often said that proper prior planning prevents poor performance. Every action in this world requires proper planning. This is even truer when it comes to test environments. If what you have is a buggy test environment, that’s already a turn-off for your test operations and a disappointment is inevitable. Therefore, you need to test on a staging environment to ensure that your code works perfectly well before proceeding to the production pipeline.

Ignoring Important Test Reports and Metrics

It’s surprising that some developers are willing to carry out a test on their product but are too much in a hurry to pay attention to critical test reports. Your guess is as good as ours, a failure of the test automation is imminent in such a scenario. Why carry out a test in the first place if the test reports will eventually get ignored? The best approach is to critically examine test reports to analyse possible faults and errors that lead to test failures. By doing this, you can address such errors and faults and make the test better on the next try. After all, the beauty of failure is the opportunity it offers you to make necessary improvement. Beyond getting a successful test result, a critical analysis of your test reports and metrics also helps you and your team to save time and resources.

Web Elements with Undefined IDs

With a non-computer vision approach to testing, it is compulsory for developers to assign IDs to web elements. Not doing this is a recipe for test failure because it becomes problematic for automated scripts to find the web elements on time. Therefore, to make sure that there is a seamless synchronization of the script, you need to assign IDs to web elements. A better way, however, is to use a test tool with computer vision and which requires no interaction with developers.

Inadequate Understanding of Test Procedure

When the testing tool being used requires human interaction, then, it becomes important for the tester to have a thorough understanding of the test procedure. Otherwise, failure is assured. When this happens, it is even costlier for companies. This is the reason why it is crucial for institutions to assign test automation to those who know how to implement it. Another issue is the inability to identify when test automation is necessary. Fortunately, there are test tools that require little or no human interaction these days especially with the success of codeless test automation tools like Testup and others.

Selecting the Best Test Automation Tool

As stated earlier, we recommend Testup as a robust test automation tool to choose for testing your product or software. Why Testup?

Succinctly put, Testup offers a brand new, computer-vision and codeless testing approach that mimics human actions. As a result, end-to-end tests become easy to maintain and highly understandable. Most test automation tools use a non-computer vision approach which means they require human interaction before they can be effectively used.

Also, code-based testing approaches like Selenium Python requires a developer to create and run the test; this in itself defeats the existence of test-automation in the first place. In addition, the approach is very expensive. Testup solves this challenge as it leverages a no-code approach to test automation.

What’s more? Unlike many test tools, Testup’s visual approach creates an easy to understand, easy to debug and easy to maintain series of actions with clear images.

Conclusion

As you have read in this article, there are great possibilities to fail at test automation if things are not done properly. As we have listed a few reasons why companies get disappointed, we have recommended a viable solution to avoid all possible pitfalls and enjoy the sumptuous benefits of test automation. To get started, check out Testup!

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No Code Automated Testing for Shopify (Case Study)

Introduction

It’s no longer news that coding skills are becoming less of a barrier to building, launching, and testing a great website or application. Today, no code tools offer businesses the opportunity to achieve sustainable digital transformation. As succinctly put by Forbes, no-code or low-code solutions help in building powerful applications that can help any organization scale, without the need to write any code.

One of the no-code tools shaping the e-commerce world is Shopify. If small businesses can build an online presence by creating a website through Shopify, it also makes a lot of sense for them to have an opportunity to test their websites through a no-code test tool. Testup has now addressed this concern. Therefore, this article will give you a practical guide that you can follow to test your Shopify website. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Testing a Website Built with Shopify

The first step is to have a website created using Shopify. We have developed that already, and it is named Jamiu Marketplace. The website is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1

Now, let’ get started with testing the website.

Sign up and log in to your Testup account. Click on Go to App, which is displayed at the top right-hand corner of the page. Then, click Create Project; afterwards, click Create Test. Complete the necessary details requested under the Settings tab. These include the website’s URL and name of the test case. After this, click Edit to begin the testing. The testing page appears as follows; with the Jamiu Marketplace on the left-hand side and while a list of checks and inputs are on the right-hand side.

To check if the website is correctly loaded and to allow us to move on to the next action, we will select an anchor area and click play as check. As seen in figure 2, the Testup AI finds every area recorded; therefore, the page is good.

Figure 2

Now, let’s see if the search button is working. To do this, we first need to check that the search input field is visible. Therefore, we select an anchor area for the search button. Then, we schedule a click and play the action. The search field appears. The result is shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 3
Figure 4

Afterwards, we schedule a text input for the search field by typing a search term, say cloth and pressing the play button.

The suggestion “Search for ‘Cloth'” appears. WE can select it as an anchor area and click on it. After playing the action the search results for “cloth” appear on the browser page as shown in Figure 5.

This indicates that the search feature on Shopify’s Jamiu Marketplace is working.

Figure 5

Conclusion

Codeless test automation is an opportunity that businesses and organizations need to seize and utilize well as it is already shaping the test automation landscape. Fortunately, tools like Testup offers an affordable option without compromising the quality of the test. Getting started is easy, and you can start with a free trial; just make a single click.

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No Code Automated Testing for Bubble.io (Case Study)

Introduction

Long before now, test automation tools and frameworks have made testers to spend a significant amount of time on programming. As a matter of fact, most testing automation tools were developed with programming in mind. Unfortunately, testers are not programmers, and it is incredibly time-consuming to make testers go through the rigour of programming to test websites and applications. This led to the question; why not take coding away from testing? In a bid to answering that question, Testup has provided an excellent avenue for testers to enjoy a no-code test automation tool. With Testup, testers can test their websites and applications very fast and without the need to master programming.

Therefore, in this article, we will look at how you can leverage Testup to test websites built with Bubble. As you may already know, Bubble itself is a no-code tool for building sites. Many businesses and organizations are already using Bubble. It will be an excellent opportunity for such businesses to know that they can also test their no-code websites using a no-code test automation tool (Testup).

Testing Website built with Bubble

First, we have developed a website named Jamiu Marketplace using the Bubble no-code tool. The process of building the website is shown in Figure 1, while the completed website is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1
Figure 2

Testing Bubble’s Jamiu Marketplace

The first step is to register on Testup. Then, log in and click on Go to App which can be seen at the top right-hand corner of the page. After that, click on Create Project, then, click Create Test.

Fill in the necessary details like URL and name of the test case under the Settings tab. Once you have done that, click Edit to start testing.

The testing page will appear as follows (figure 3); with the Jamiu Marketplace on the left-hand side and while a list of checks and inputs are on the right-hand side.

Figure 3

To check if the website is correctly loaded and to allow us to move on to the next action, we will select an anchor area and click play as check. As seen in figure 4, the Testup AI finds every area recorded; therefore, the page is good.

Figure 4

Testing Clickable Buttons

Let’s check if a SIGN UP OR LOG IN clickable button is working. First, we select an anchor area covering the button. After that, click on the selected area; a circle icon with a plus sign will appear on it as shown in figure 5.

Figure 5

Clicking on the play it button will search the circle icon and click it. The result is shown in figure 6, which shows that the SIGN UP OR LOG IN command on Bubble’s Jamiu Marketplace is working.

Figure 6

Now, let’s take the testing a step further by trying to sign up. This means we want to input our email and password.

The text input field is already active. So we can schedule a text input for the email field just by typing the email address and pressing the play button afterwards. The email will appear in the input field. To move to the next text input field we can press enter or tab on the keyboard. The process is shown in figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7
Figure 8

Guess what? We can also test if the password field is working by repeating the same procedures, we followed for the email address. This is shown in figures 9 and 10.

Figure 9
Figure 10

Now, we will select the SIGN UP button as an anchor area; schedule a click and play it. Once we do this, the following page appears (figure 11). Notice that there is a LOG OUT button at the top right corner of the browser page; it means that the account has been created. Perfect! The SIGN UP feature on Bubble’s Jamiu Marketplace is working.

Figure 11

Conclusion

Testup has made it clear that with codeless automation, there is no need for you to understand coding to automate tests on the go and without a waste of time. In essence, we can say that codeless test automation is now within reach. By leveraging Testup, you can test any website or application. Get started here.

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No Code Automated Testing for WordPress (Case Study)

Introduction

Just like any other craft, coding takes months or even years to master. Therefore, it is challenging to make businesses and testers go through a bunch of codes and fix lots of errors in applications. Codeless automation testing tools is the perfect solution to this challenge. In a nutshell, codeless test automation involves making automated tests without the need to write or understand a single line of code. With this, anyone even with no programming skills will be able to test websites and applications seamlessly.

WordPress is a very common codeless tool for building websites. With WordPress, many businesses have built functional websites that have helped in boosting revenue. Won’t it be an excellent opportunity to have a codeless test automation tool to test a website built by a codeless tool like WordPress? Your answer is as correct as ours; it’s a defining moment in the technological world as we now have several codeless test automation tools for this purpose. One of the most amazing among these no code tools is Testup.

Testup is simple to use and user-friendly. It also allows you to maximize test reliability. Read on to see a practical process of how you can use Testup for a website built with WordPress.

Testing a WordPress Website with Testup

To do this testing, we need a website built with WordPress. Therefore, we have developed a website called Jamiu Marketplace using the WordPress no code tool. The website is shown in figure 1 below.

Figure 1

It’s time to test the website using the Testup no code automation tool. First, register on Testup and log in; afterwards, click on Go to App at the top right-hand corner. Then, click on Create Project and subsequently, Create Test.

Under settings, you will be required to fill in details like the URL and name of the test. For our WordPress website, the details have been filled, as shown in Figure 2 below. Let’s name the test ‘WordPress Test’.

Figure 2

After filling the details, the next thing is to click Edit to start testing.

Testing Jamiu’s Marketplace

After clicking Edit, the testing page will appear, as shown in Figure 3. Here, you will see the browser window of Jamiu Marketplace on the left-hand side of the editor. On the right-hand side, you will see a list of checks and inputs.

Figure 3

To check if the website is correctly loaded and to allow us to move on to the next action, we will select an anchor area. Anchor areas can be quickly recorded by selecting a desired area with the mouse. This is shown in figure 4.

Figure 4

Click the play as check button to carry out the check. Afterwards, you can move on the next check. If the Testup AI finds every area you record, then the page is good.

Testing Clickable Buttons

You can also use Testup to test if a clickable button is working. First is to ensure that the particular button is visible on the website. To do this, select an anchor area that covers the button. After that, click on the selected area; a circle icon with a plus sign will appear on it as shown in figure 5.

Figure 5

Clicking on the play it button will search the circle icon and click it. The result is shown in figure 6, which shows that the Learn more command on Jamiu Marketplace is working.

Figure 6

Conclusion

No code test automation is growing at an exponential rate. Having read this article, you will realise that Testup gives every tester a significant relief from the burden of mastering complex testing codes or frameworks. Visit Testup today to get started without any delay.