Month: October 2015
Best Practices to Follow while Performing Functional Testing
Software testing consists of a vast number of procedures which are performed on the developed software as a precautionary measure to make it as flawless as possible. During the procedure, the software is checked for functionality, design, user friendly behavior, amount of stress it can handle as well as the security issues that the software may face.
Of the various test methods that comprises the software testing procedure, functional testing is the most important of the lot as people will use the particular software, majorly for the purpose of its functionality. Following are a list of practices that you can follow to attain the best result out of functional testing.
- Analysis of the obtained results and getting to the root of the “Fail” results is the most important task of all.
- It is practically impossible to make the software completely flawless; however you should aim at maximum test coverage so as to make it as perfect as possible.
- While you are checking the functional aspects, it is best to break down the software in small modules in order to increase the test coverage.
- While you are checking the functionality, make sure you test the software for unfavourable conditions.
- Don’t start testing your software with a mindset of gaining a completely bug free piece of product.
- Functional testing of the software should begin as early as possible in the developmental stage in order to solve the problems before it gets further complicated.
- Once you spot an error in the developed software, make sure to report it back to the developers as soon as possible.
- Check the software functionality with the help of critical time testing to enhance the performance of the same. Also, avoid rushing the test team and provide them with sufficient time to check the software.
- Make the software do things it is not meant to do to check the functioning of the software in such unfavourable or flawed conditions.
- Always make sure to check the latest functional testing results with the previously obtained one in order to get hang of the most repetitive function issues as well as the progress on the functional front.
- Keep a record of all the findings of the software tests for future references.
- Once the reported bugs has been rectified, you now need to check the software again to make sure that the software isn’t malfunctioning due to the rectification and also to check the development of new bugs.
- Avoids the entry of the developers in the test region and take special attention to write down all the changes in the final report of the software functional tests.
- A good conversation with the development team is absolutely essential to make them understand about the detected problem and what you expect them to do about it. Having a well bonded relationship with the developers team helps in smooth conversation.
- Start testing the software for its functionality as early as possible to avoid the piling up of the bugs or performance issues and always maintain an extensive report which will contain all the details of the procedures and results of the performed tests.
We hope that these few points will help you to conduct functional testing that are going to yield an almost perfect software for your customers.
Stress Testing and the Various Tools Used
Software testing is one of the most important parts of the software development life cycle which determines the success of the software in the user level. In this hectic world, no one has the time to spend on underrated software. People will not spare a minute to switch over to something new which has better performance level. Software testing ensures that your software is top notch and well accepted by the users.
Stress testing is the part of the software testing which deals with checking the robustness of the same. It checks the performance of the software under increased load or stressed situations, detects the glitches and reports back so that you can rectify them and create a better software. Various automated tools are available for the stress testing of the software and some of the bests are listed below.
- Apache JMeter: Apache JMeter is a stress testing tool which is specifically made for the applications which run on Java. It is equipped with an integrated test planning tool which helps in the testing of the software under various aggravated conditions.
- LoadRunner: LoadRunner has been manufactured by Hewlett Packard which can be utilised for checking the various performance issues of the software under various unfavourable conditions. One of the major advantages of the tool is that thousands of the users can utilize it at the same time.
- WebLOAD: Using the likes of Ajax, Adobe Flex, .NET, Oracle Forms, HTML5 etc, WebLOAD helps in checking the stress level of various web applications that are developed each day. It helps in checking performance of the web app in large scales with a huge number of users.
- Appvance: The unique design of Appvance allows people to produce codeless testing facilities which help in the stress testing procedure of the application. This tool can be used to stress test of the application from the beginning of the development.
- NeoLoad: If you are looking for a website which can be used to test and analyse the performance of any web applications under stressful or overloaded situations. It helps in the optimization of the various performance issues by evaluating the available results and thus helping you to rectify the various problems.
- LoadUI: LoadUI is an open source stress testing tool which works best along with performance testing tool SoapUI. This tool can be used to check the stress handling capability of various web applications. It is both flexible and interactive and eases the testing procedure.
- WAPT: This is one of those tools which give best value for money. WAPT allows you to test your various web applications under variable conditions. This stress testing tool allows you to check the application under variety of loads and is compatibility with all of the major browsers and operating systems.
- Loadster: The scripts produced by Loadster, by testing the various applications, is easy to figure out so that they can be rectified to produce a better application. It is based on HTTP functionality and stimulates large number of virtual users.
With the help of these tools, the stress testing procedure of the various software will be a lot easier and faster and the results produced will be more accurate in nature for better rectification of the same.
Some Common Testing Problems that needs to be mitigated
As long as software testing is concerned, there are certain common yet grave testing problems that the industry is facing and which requires immediate correction for the betterment of the lot. These problems are causing degradation in the product quality and hence needs to be attended to immediately for the sake of customer satisfaction.
- Selecting the Right Tests: One of the most major failures of the software testers is the detection of the correct software testing procedure that is required by a particular software which is being tested as well the stage of the software testing procedure. If the tester is incapable of detecting which test is required by a particular software or stage of the testing, he won’t be able to detect the probable bugs that may be causing rouble at the particular level.
- The Uncertainty Principle: The uncertainty principle is one of the major problems of software testing procedure. It is often seen that the software performance in a different way when it is being tested and when it is being released for use by the public. This usually occurs due to the fact that the environment in which the software is running plays a major role in the performance of the software. This problem, however, can be easily overcome by diminishing the differences between the testing and release environment.
- Manual Testing: Manual testing, although low in cost and effective to certain extent, is a problem for the software testing procedure as it consumes a lot of time of the tester and hence detects the bugs in a slow process, ultimately piling up the complications of the system. Manual testing is a must when it comes to software testing but must be confined o regions where it is an absolute must. Software testers should utilize the automation testing tools as much as possible as far as testing is concerned so as to save time and obtain highly accurate and reliable results.
- The Confused Test Team: One of the major issues which cause the test procedure to be dragged beyond the deadline or left unfinished is the inefficient team of testers who are confused about which test to do on a particular piece of software at the given stage of development. Although the issue is an easily fixable one, it is a pretty grave issue which has to be addressed to immediately. Hiring well experienced or well educated individuals as the team member, often suffices the job. Also ensure that he team is updated at all time about the latest processes in software testing.
- The Test Maintenance Failure: In most cases, it is seen that the test team fails to update the test requirement list along with the list of requirement specifications which is provided to the testers at various points of the software development life cycle. This issue can be easily overcome by designing the testing procedure in such a way that it can be upgraded as and when necessary to fit the requirement specifications provided by the developers.
These are some of the most problematic issues that the testing industry is facing at the point of time and needs to be mitigated ASAP so that the customers are not compromised of a good quality software for use.
Ways to Identify the Best Security Testing Tools for Your Organization
When it comes to the development of a software, its success depends hugely on the software testing lifecycle that is applied. The software testing procedure includes various processes which check the performance of the software under various conditions, reaction of the software under unfavourable conditions, security management of the software and much more. The results generated by the testing procedures helps in resolving the various bugs or the issues that may hamper the quality of the software and make it less popular. Rectifying these glitches will help you to make the software a better one and more acceptable to your customers.
Of the various types of testing procedures available, security testing of the software is one of the most important as it checks the developed software for the loopholes which can be utilized by the hackers to break into the system which can prove to be hazardous. Most of the software is used for storing some kind of personal data belonging to the customers and hacking into these systems may prove to be hazardous.
This makes selection of the perfect security tool absolute must for your organization. The internet as well as the various software testing companies are flooded with various types of security testing tools which does a marvellous job. However, depending on the type of software you are developing and the purpose for which it is going to be used will define the kind of software testing tools that will be employed to test it.
Selection of the right security testing tool for your organization is not a matter of joke. However you could ask certain questions which will ease the process to a certain limit.
- What is the base of the software that is being developed and how is the architecture of the same planned?
- Which development stage is the software currently in?
- What kind of security testing are you interested in? Do you want a basic scan or a complete penetration test?
While these questions are going to take you through to a certain extent into the selection process, you must keep in mind that a single tool will never suffice to completely check the security issues of the software. You have to engage various security testing tools for checking the various vulnerability of the software under consideration. One of the main problems faced during the selection of the security testing tools for your organization is the fact that they will not cover all the vulnerability issues that are cropping up each day. Even more problem occurs with the software which are open source in nature because they can be accessed by anyone and everyone. As more and more organizations are opting towards the development of open source so only a set of tools will not suffice to check the security issues of the same. In order to prevent the security issues like cross-site scripting or SQL injection attacks you need to imply a set of extensive experiments which will be coupled by manual checking of the source code at regular intervals. The testing tools are a great way to check the various security testing issues that are prevailing but in case of open source software, special care will be needed.
We hope that this article has aided you in the process of identification of the best security testing tools for your software. However, it is best to take the help of a security testing expert if you want to make your software full proof against the various techniques of the hackers to break into your system.
Tips to Choose your QA Testing Partner Wisely
Most of the large organizations these days are in favour of outsourcing the QA department to a specialized organization so that their team can concentrate solely on the developmental features of the product. As the software testing procedure is a prime factor in the success of the software and hence its popularity, choosing a good QA testing partner for your firm is of utmost importance. The following tips will lead you to a wise selection of QA testing partner.
- Look at their Client Portfolio and Testimonials: One of the best ways to judge the work of an organization is by reviewing their past works. Their portfolio will give you the various works that have been done by them which will show how experienced and skilled the workers are and then you can judge whether they will be able to fulfil you criteria or not. Software development is a vast region and your QA testing partner should be able to provide you service irrespective of the topic you work in.
- Cross-Cultural Compatibility Study: Many IT companies are now choosing QA partners at a country which is different from where the development team hails from. In such cases, it is absolutely necessary that the management pays close attention to the cultural, social, economical and political situation of your partner country. Also check out if other companies are outsourcing their work to the country you have selected. If a large number of other companies have selected your choice, it simply shows that you choice deliver trustworthy services.
- Cost of Contract: When you are in a business organization, your primary concern should be profit of the organization. Outsourcing the QA department often helps in saving funds ultimately adding up to the profit of your company. While choosing a QA testing partner, you must take notice of the cost at which the service is provided. Offshore QA testing partners (especially in the Asian countries) offer highly skilled labours at cheaper rate than in USA or UK.
- Work with Project Management and Collaboration Tools: Most of the large QA testing firms usually work with project management and collaboration tools in the first place. However, as precaution is always better than cure, you should be clear on the terms that your partner should use project management software like GIT and collaboration tool like MediaWiki or Collaboration in order to yield better results out of the testing procedure. It also makes the procedure easier and a lot faster.
- Insist on a Project Manager: When you are selecting your QA testing partner, you must make sure that your project is being handled by a senior official who is experienced in his job and is capable of taking major decision as and when required. If your project is being handled by a novice, chances are that it may go haywires due to the lack of experience and leadership qualities of the same.
- Proper Documentation: Detailed documentation of the work that has been done by your QA testing partner is an absolute must as it will help you in future references.
These pointers should suffice to help you to choose a good QA testing partner who will help you to prepare a better product that will gain customer satisfaction, ultimately leading to the goodwill of your company.
Things to consider while adopting mobile test automation
Number of new Android and iOS gadget models is developing, more organizations begin utilizing versatile automation tests in order to deal with the quality affirmation of their mobile applications.
But there are things that are needed to be considered wisely while adopting the mobile test automation. As if not given due attention, it may lead to programming disappointments – bugs, crashes or other sudden conduct – with mobile applications can rapidly cost their makers its reputation, and push the application down in a search request.
Thus, there are few things that are to be considered while adopting mobile test automation:
Cost and Investment
Mobile application testing is one of the most important aspect of app development. Many huge app developing companies lay great impetus on it. But even they have to go with the budget. Thus an effective cost and Investment plan needs to be adopted.
Time, people, Money, Infrastructure& Trainings are the basic requirements to conduct a test- manual or automated. It’s quite obvious that in today’s time one prefers automated testing as it provides better ROI.
App development & testing Cycles
App development requires efficiency and that efficiency is provided by a regular testing cycle which is frequently carried out during every stage of the app development.
Machines that carry out this Automation process though man-made are pretty much more error free than that of human themselves. Under Automation mobile testing each and every step is carried out efficiently with almost zero error. It saves time as well as manual energy.
Tools & Technology
Modern day app developing companies prefer Automation testing over manual one and that’s in fact right. But although the vast majority is carried out through Automation. They must not forget the importance of manual one.
There are various testing tools such as Robotium, uiautimator, Catabash, Selenium and Appium are just some of the wide range of methods available in a tester’s hand. Jenkins is one of the most commonly used open source continuous integration used for conducting automated testing.
Test coverage & reusability
Test Automation for Mobile apps turns out to be cost and time effective as lengthy tests are carried out in a short period of time and expense factor is reduced as less and less manpower is required to carry out the testing.
The testers and developers are required to abide by the open standards and are required to stick to those standards. Transparent APIs should be brought into use so that it can be used later on.
Outcome
Improving efficiency, effectiveness and stability are the desired outcome expected after a considerable mobile Automation testing. All the emphasis is laid down how to produce high quality, robust apps which are reliable in the ever growing complex environment.
Testing efficiency relates to average number of tests done in an hour. The better the efficiency, the more cost effective and less time consuming it will be. So in order to satisfy your consumers and building a customer base, it’s quite essential that you stay awake in this dynamic mobile ecosystem.
Top Reasons to Outsource Software Testing to India
Although software testing is one of the most important phase of developing your software, it definitely doesn’t come under the core developmental area and can be easily outsourced. The process of outsourcing the method will help you to relieve the pressure of the process so that you can focus completely on the functionality and performance of the software. In present day, India holds 40% of the total outsourced services and the following reasons are exactly why India is your best choice to outsource software testing.
- Pay Less, Get More: The main aim of any business is to gain maximum profit and benefit out of the existing staff which is at your disposal. When you outsource a part of your project to a place like India, you get your core team to manage the outsourced lot and it will help them to focus well on their part of the job as it will relieve the pressure. You can also get the job done at a cheaper rate and hence increase the net gain of the company in terms of money and also in terms of staff productivity.
- Skilled People, Cheaper Rates: One of the top notch reasons why most of the leading technological companies are choosing India for the purpose of outsourcing the software testing is because you get highly skilled people at your disposal. You get the service of these skilled people for much cheaper rates than you would get at your home grounds. This ultimately ensures that your ultimate cost is cut down improving the profit of your company yet you get the same quality of service as you would get in your hometown. In India you will get perfect product satisfaction from the workers.
- Focusing on Core Business: Many large companies have a software division as a side dish of their main business. On one hand, you need to produce the best software for your customers, but on the other hand, you also need to focus more on your actual business. Outsourcing the side business to India will make sure that you get high quality product to serve to your customers and at the same time you will also get to keep your staff focused on the main business that you own.
- Negotiable Pricing: As we have already said, India offers a much diminished pricing range for the same quality (sometimes better) job as in USA or UK. Thus, outsourcing your testing part of your software to India will save a lot when it comes to money and will show a huge profit on the annual report of your business. Where any labour in the US will cost you around $80 per hour for full time software testing project, an Indian counterpart might only cost you $25 per hour for the same job. See the difference?
- Easy Start Off: As India is one of the giants when it comes to outsourced jobs, holding around 40% of the net outsourced job in the world, finding a perfect company to outsource your job to is very easy out there. All you need to do is take care of the various criteria you have, choose a vendor according to your required terms (which is pretty easy as the country is loaded with such vendors) and sign a contract with them and voila! You have now outsourced the software testing to India. Yes! It is actually as simple as that.
So, now that you know about all the benefits you can get from outsourcing the software testing to India, you should immediately consider doing so.
Ways to improve performance testing
Programming testing is a method for quality affirmation (QA).Before any software or app is made public. Proper testing is conducted regarding its performance. It is one of the most pivotal factors in determining how successful an app or software will turn out to be. It includes testing programming applications to guarantee they will perform well under their normal workload.
Elements and Functionality upheld by a product framework are by all account not the only concern. A product application’s execution like its reaction time, do make a difference. The objective of performance testing is not to discover bugs, but rather to dispense with execution bottlenecks:
The center of Performance testing is checking a product program’s which includes the following:
- Speed – Determines whether the application reacts rapidly
- Versatility – Determines most extreme client stack the product application can deal with.
- Security – Determines if the application is steady under differing burdens.
Execution testing is done to give partners data about their application with respect to speed, dependability and versatility. All the more significantly, execution testing reveals what should be enhanced before the item goes to showcase.
Without execution testing, programming is prone to experience the ill effects of issues, for example, running moderate while a few clients use it at the same time, irregularities crosswise over distinctive working frameworks and poor ease of use. Execution testing will figure out if or not their product meets velocity, versatility and steadiness prerequisites under expected workloads.
Applications sent to showcase with poor execution measurements because of non existent or poor execution testing are prone to pick up an awful notoriety and neglect to meet expected deals goals. Also, mission basic applications like space dispatch projects or life sparing medicinal types of gear ought to be execution tried to guarantee that they keep running for a drawn out stretch of time without deviations.
There are various types of performance testing such as Load Testing, Endurance testing, Stress testing, spike testing. Scalability testing.
In order to improve the performance testing there are various steps that one should follow. The first thing is identifying the testing environment. The environment in which the test is being conducted is very essentially needed to be read and surveyed about. The criteria of the Performance acceptance is quite essential.
Planning and designing performance tests determine the audience and your target. Thus, it plays a very important role initially to determine the course of action. The testing environment is required to be configured. Finally the test needs to be run and then the output is required to be analyzed. Once analyzed the software is required to put through a retest to make sure that all the components of the Performance testing process are alright.
Performance testing is preliminary for any app or software development in today’s time as it enables the developer to be aware and gain knowledge about his creation. The aforementioned ways are some of the crucial points which, if considered in performance testing can get an organizational invaluable benefit.
Types of Automation Testing Tool for Native Mobile Application
Native mobile applications are those which have been developed based on the iOS and Android SDKs. Like all other apps, these too need to be tested before made available for public use in order to ensure that they are devoid of major faults or bugs which might cause people to stop using them. Following are a list of automated testing tools which you can use to test your native mobile apps with ease and reliability as they provide you with highly accurate feedbacks.
- Calabash (Android and iOS): Comparable to the likes of Selenium, Calabash (Android and iOS) is one of the best automated mobile testing tools which understands and tackles the difference between web app and mobile app smoothly.
- Frank (iOS): With the help of Frank (IOS), you can now create your very own text test/acceptance tests/requirements tests which can be executed with ease and detailed test results can be easily obtained. It also allows you to use an app inspector.
- MonkeyTalk (Android and iOS): Be it simple software tests like smoke test or complex texts which are driven by various data profiles, MonkeyTalk makes everything super easy on all sorts of systems like simulators or real devices.
- Robotium (Android): Native or hybrid apps, Robotium (Android) is up for testing all sorts of mobile apps. You can write your own tests and can apply them to span them for multiple Android applications at the same time.
- iOS UI Automation (iOS): You write the test scripts and iOS UI Automation (iOS) applies them to test the developed app so as to make it as error free as possible. You will get regular log information during the test procedure from the tool.
- Ui Automator (Android): Ui Automator (Android) specifically checks the native mobile app for the user interface and the ease with which the customers are able to handle the apps on touch screen devices.
- IOS-Driver (iOS): Completely workable with the likes of Selenium and other automated app testers, iOS-Driver (iOS) helps in the testing of both native and hybrid apps in order to detect the probable flaws in the developed apps in order to avoid customer’s dissatisfaction.
- Selendroid (Android): In case of Selendroid (Android), the tests have to written with the help of Selenium. It helps in testing both native as well as the hybrid apps and drives off, especially the user interface of the apps.
- Keep It Functional (iOS): KeepItFunctional (iOS) is an automated testing tool for native apps which pays special attention to the performance issues of the iOS apps. This framework specifically leverages the integration and utilises XCTest testing target to build and perform the specific tests.
- Appium (Android and iOS): If you are looking for a automated testing tool for your mobile apps which is written on codes with an open source then you must try Appium (Android and iOS). This is one of the best automated testing tools which test native apps perfectly.
These are some of the best automated testing tools which can be used for the detection of the probable flaws or bugs in the native apps of mobile which you have developed. The highly precise test results can be used for error rectification so that superior products are delivered.
Some Myths about QA Testing
QA testing is one of the most important parts of product development process and should not be avoided at any cost. Following are some of the myths that surround the process of QA testing which should be avoided.
- Quality Assurance = Testing: The moment people start confusing quality assurance or QA with testing, problems start creeping in. While testing is only done when the whole process has been ended, QA starts from the very beginning of the process and continues till the process has been completed and the products have been shipped off.
- Creating Bug Free Software: Ok! So it’s time to curb down the expectations. You simply can’t eliminate all the bugs present in a system. At most you can just diminish the number of bugs to a level where it can be tolerated.
- Automation of Testing: While automatic testing is good for some of the processes of QA, it is not fit for all the software testing techniques. Certain software testing procedures like usability and exploratory tests requires manual interference. Although automatic testing has made some marked developments, manual testing can’t be completely abolished.
- Testing is Easy:You think that QA testing is a child’s play? Think again! Software testing is not a piece of cake. It requires a specific set of skills and mindset to become a good tester and a good QA tester is a rare breed. These people improve the testing process a lot.
- Quality Assurance Team is Separate: Although quality assurance people care a lot about customer satisfaction. However, leaving the entire procedure in the hands of the QA people is not a wise thing to do. Testing should be done by all the people involved in the process so that the entire process can be done smoothly.
- 100% QA Testing is Best: You may start off your project with the idea of testing the process for 100% coverage. However, this is not a plausible thing to do as it can never be achieved. The progress on a project reduces the test coverage of the same.
- QA should be Left for the End: This is one of the most erroneous mistakes in the process. QA testing should be starts from the very commencement of the process in order to avoid piling up of bugs. This will also prevent the process from being rushed.
- Performance Testing is Left for the End: If you leave the performance testing for the end, then only the tail end glitches will be detected and rectified. However, performance testing through out of the software development life cycle will help in building a strong and glitch free software.
- Security is Different from Quality: In reality, only a quality product will be able to provide customers with the right amount of security. A low quality of product will always tend to be less secure. Hence, quality testing and security testing should go hand in hand.
- QA Testing adds up to the Cost: In reality, however, QA testing helps in saving up as it prevents error in production. It will rectify the error before the product is into production or shipment as after production rectification ups the cost. Hence QA testing should not be seen as an extra expenditure.
These are a few myths of the QA testing procedure which should be abolished as soon as possible.
JackMartin 