Software Testing & QA Blog

"A risk is the probability of occurrence of an unexpected outcome that causes a negative impact. If a risk is not mitigated at the right time, then it can have catastrophic effects like loss of business revenue or even loss of life. From the first computer to the modern smartphone, automation has slowly become a part of every industry. It is also changing the way we look at our daily life. With the advent of robotics and the Internet of Things, we are in the midst of the technological revolution. When everything is pointing to automation as it seems to be the future of the world, but the surrounding hype has caused a cart-before-the-horse mentality where people invest heavily before making the specific reforms. Why is test automation important for businesses?In today’s digital age, applications are the primary mode of consuming most of the products and services and delivering a seamless user experience. Most of the companies have already adopted agile development and testing practices to test the new ecosystem of complex, interconnected, and cloud-driven applications. Surely, test automation can do wonders for businesses by reducing time, cost, and effort. But to get effective results, it is important to avoid challenges as they can lead to wastage of automation efforts. 8 most common test automation challenges (and how to overcome them)The good news is that these challenges can be handled with the right technology and tools. Here are the eight most common test automation challenges you should consider to mitigate the risks of test automation failures. Challenge 1: Selecting and using the appropriate toolsMany teams lack the expertise of using certain testing tools, or the tool does not offer complete test coverage, or the tool they want does not exist. Today, there are plenty of tools, ranging from commercial to open-source tools that support various technologies and types of testing. The testing product vendors have a common tendency to exaggerate the capabilities of the tool and assume that they have a “secret sauce” to all the test automation challenges. And this causes a lot of confusion and misconceptions about selecting an appropriate testing tool.Many times, we do not do sufficient research before selecting the right tool and tend to quickly buy popular commercial testing tools. It is always important to define a set of tool requirements based on the application under test and the experience of the team. When the testing tool is selected after extensive research and proper suitability assessment, the test is less likely to be failed. If the tool does not offer everything you need, consider a multi-tool solution. However, it is not possible to test everything, but you can use the tools to test the most crucial things. Lastly, if the tool is out of your budget, quickly conduct a cost vs. benefit analysis to measure the damages of earlier bugs and the time and money you could have saved by using the test automation tool. Challenge 2: Lack of expertise among team members The expertise of team members is one of the most common test automation challenges. While this concern cannot be resolved without gaining significant expertise and experience, some hacks can make the transition smoother and easier. For example, the testing frameworks can be leveraged that allow the team members to utilize their preferred programming language. A good example of a testing framework is Selenium. Selenium essentially automates the browsers while binding multiple languages. If an organization uses JavaScript, its team can use JavaScript to write test scripts. It can be initially challenging for the team to determine which test scripts need to be automated. But a proper training program on this topic will allow the team to identify the right components and decide the priority of test automation.Challenge 3: Lack of adequate test infrastructureAnother key test automation challenge is the lack of infrastructure to provide required test coverage and ensure adequate execution speed. Consider the situation where an application needs to be tested against different operating system and browser combinations. To run tests against multiple configurations in a reasonable time, it is important to run the test scripts in parallel. And to make that happen, the testing infrastructure has to be very strong to support the parallelization strategy.While an organization that gets started with test automation may not be well prepared to build a testing infrastructure of this nature internally, there are other options like cloud-based test infrastructure. Working with cloud-based infrastructure solutions allows you to access a testing environment with all the necessary configurations. This will help you to lead to a higher level of efficiency and test coverage while eliminating the additional cost that comes with building and maintaining the test environments. Challenge 4: Incorrect testing approachSo, let us consider that you already have the right tools and expertise to start test automation. But what do you automate and what is the process of automation? Unfortunately, the tools do not tell you what to automate. Will you raise a set of excellent automated tests or will they turn out to be unmanageable? Of course, you would hope for the former. The fact is that you cannot automate everything and need to be strategic. And for this purpose, you can use two approaches: automation pyramid and risk-based testing.Risk-based testing provides a higher priority to test the elements that are at high risk of failing and also carries great negative consequences if the test is failed. Here, it is important to consider the financial impact of potential errors, service level agreements, and the probability of failure. This provides a baseline to prioritize which test cases should be automated.Test automation pyramid is another recommended approach to address the test automation challenge. Here is a quick overview of the automation pyramid. As the first pyramid indicates, the ice cream cone is tempting but it can spoil the automation appetite. Following this approach will result in high frustration levels as it emphasizes automation on the user interface level and employs the tests that can break easily. Whereas, if you focus on automated unit tests, you can prevent the bugs at an early stage and eliminate them immediately as you go through the lifecycle of software development. Challenge 5: High upfront investment costAutomated regression testing is considered the most useful and crucial method in most agile situations. But the cost can be a major concern here. As a matter of fact, the initial stage of test automation is the most expensive. It is important to analyze, design, and build the test automation framework, reusable functions, or libraries, etc. In many cases, it is crucial to consider licensing costs, operating costs including hardware and software costs.Even though there are free open-source tools that can reduce the cost of licensing, the team can spend some effort on learning, maintaining, and training them. Furthermore, the hidden costs should like meeting, communication, and collaborating also be taken into consideration. Although there is a huge payoff after running regression testing cycles in the long run, to have a consensus about this investment is a major challenge. Due to budget constraints, many organizations give up the idea of test automation even though they have a higher return on investment.Challenge 6: Data dependency problemsTest data management can be a primary test automation challenge. When the test script is run, it requires the data to be in a certain state otherwise, it can create major problems in different scenarios. For example, what happens if the test script is being run in multiple test environments and configurations at the same time? Will it fail in different instances of the script that utilizes the same data? Any modification of the data in one instance of test execution can cause another instance to fail. Or what happens where the data of a script is set up through another test script execution?The most effective way to manage these data management issues is to develop self-contained and independent test scripts. All the test scripts should be developed to create and clean all the data required for successful execution. In this context, the team needs to remove the test failure possibilities due to data-related issues. Challenge 7: Test automation in silosIt is a wrong notion that testing is an individual task. On the contrary, software development and testing should be done hand-in-hand. Testing should be a part of the development cycle and continuous integration process. One of the key reasons for the test automation failure is that testing teams work in silos without any interaction with other project teams. Would it not be a disaster if there are significant changes in the user experience of the product when the test team is simultaneously testing that product? It will eventually end up in the repetition of the work and cause a lot of frustration within the test team. Test automation should be a part of the overall development process. Whether the project uses conventional a water flow model or CI/CD for product development and testing, automated testing should be considered as an integral part of development. Another test automation challenge is that automation tests are considered to be important during the last stage of product development. In this case, the critical bugs (functional, performance, non-functional, etc.) are discovered at a later point in time. It can also delay the release of the product, which can eventually hurt the business. It is always recommended to test often and test more to generate the best test automation results.Challenge 8: Setting realistic expectations of automationNo matter how great your testing processes and tools you have, it is always important to remember that testing is never complete. The automation of tests is not a panacea for bug-laden systems and should not be used in place of non-automated tests. But it is recommended to use test automation in conjunction with manual testing processes. Initially, test automation seems to be a permanent fix but it is important to set appropriate expectations for an automated testing strategy and include other forms of testing as and when required. Even though automating tests will catch more bugs during the development phase, some errors can still make it into production. It can be due to scaling issues or oversight of automated script, etc. The lesson here is that testing is a continuous process and should exist at all stages - including production. Also, it is important to ensure that your team and management agree on the desired outcomes from the test automation plan so that everyone is on the same page.Your next step: Win the test automation strategy with QAonCloudNow when you know the test automation challenges and the ways to overcome them, it is time to prepare for all the hurdles and mitigate the risks of test automation failure. Well, test automation is not a rocket science and its success depends largely on the planning and execution of the test strategy. It is the best way to avoid automation testing failures since overlooking these points can result in the loss of test automation tasks. Here, the key is to tackle all the testing challenges and bottlenecks effectively to bring the best results.  Instead of rushing through the testing process, it is crucial to identify the roadblocks, analyze the project needs, skills, and experience of the team, available time and budget, before adopting a test automation approach to reap maximum benefits. Even if you had an epic failure or mixed failures with test automation in the past, it should not prevent you from trying it again. Take a look at your earlier mistakes, and use the recommendations to deliver a winning project."

"Test Automation ROI : IntroductionWe are living in a technology-driven world where simple actions are interrelated with a huge web of applications and or websites. All business operations are entirely dependent on various software that need to be upgraded frequently, and bugs are fixed instantly for seamless operations. It is always necessary to adopt automated testing multiple fixed procedures to enhance all business operations because manual testing is challenging. Automated testing is an important aspect for any business to deliver a good return on investment (ROI). Practically, it is difficult to measure ROI in software testing, and measuring any test automation ROI is more challenging. Speed coupled with quality in a software development process is a continuing process, and it is impossible to ignore any of them. Every business needs to launch or update all the software products on time to offer greater customer satisfaction compared to other competitors.Manual testing is a slower process compared to automation testing, and it is necessary for faster development cycles. Automation testing helps in executing tests faster with regression testing. Automation testing requires no or minimum human interventions and can be performed in all odd hours. However, automation testing may not be the right approach for all scenarios. Manual testing is obligatory, and automation testing is optional due to the various variables involved. Introducing test automation to manual testing scripts justifies the value of test automation. Investing time and money in test automation offers numerous benefits for specific business needs. Software test automation is repetitive after each source code modification or before a new release. Manual testing increases test run time, testing time spent, and time to market. However, deploying test automation can considerably bring down the execution time and the time to market. Automated tests can be run multiple times with no additional cost after setting up. Advanced test automation tools provide innovative features such as the self-healing of scripts. They automatically detect or alter elements to detect the locators without any human intervention. The three most important parameters to consider in test automation ROI calculations are Speed, Quality, and Cost.How Do We Calculate ROI Calculating ROI on test automation is a measurement of how much QA time test automation saves. To measure tests automation to get the best data, all the test scripts need to be maintained. The most significant piece in test automation is to keep track of all the test scripts at all times and upgrade them whenever necessary. Calculating ROI for testing depends on the test scripts that are updated regularly—the number of scripts increases during the upgrading of all the test scripts with advanced features. Measuring ROI is a challenging task because the time taken to test something is unknown. To calculate ROI for any test automation, it is necessary to work with your developers to understand as best you can how much time they’re spending writing and maintaining tests. These measurements are critical to your cost calculations.Test automation helps in bridging the gaps in the QA department and saves time for manual testing. Adopting test automation involves testers who are well-versed in maximizing both software test coverage and are good at testing software in many ways. All the positive results in a testing phase are the keys to successful business operations. It is important to include the cost of training testers in test automation ROI calculations. Test automation is beneficial as it never skips any step; however, fewer things slip away, causing disruption. Test automation works at a galloping speed than a human mind. The speed of test automation helps in identifying problems before they become outages. Test automation provides visibility well as helps in anticipating a sudden demand in the spike of any software. QA teams are a critical part of every software development life cycle. However, QA specialists work on the same test cases every day, in the same ways, for weeks or months, making the testing process tedious. Test automation ROI calculations provided by QA increase the value of an organization. The best way to maximize test automation ROI is to minimize the time spent for writing and designing tests scripts.Agile software development is the newer and default trend for all software developers and QA’s. It is not possible to release any software solutions at rocket speed just to satisfy customers. The addition of test automation provides regular updates required for the software to keep up with the latest innovations and expectations. Significant metrics to consider before calculating test automation ROIThe three most important parameters to consider in test automation ROI calculations are Speed, Quality, and Cost.SpeedEvery manual tester manually executes test cases for a fixed time every day. However, test automation tools practically work 24 hours a day, executing test cases automatically. Advanced test automation tools run a significantly large number of test cases within a short time. They increase the chances of detecting defects easily, at a low cost, and bugs are easy to fix up. The testing cycle becomes robust with the adoption of test automation, saving time and money substantially. Speed enhances the product quality output with fewer or no bugs in a real environment and saves time during the testing phase. QualityThe testing life cycle involving test automation helps in minimizing defect leakages right from start to finish. The product quality increases by 25% with test automation when coupled with the right type of test automation. The risk of manual errors decreases, and it is easy to find bugs at an early stage. Test engineers who adopt test automation utilize the saved time to develop or execute new tests scripts and focus on more critical issues or features of the software.Test automation increases the frequency of testing, high-quality product, and customer satisfaction.CostCost is the most important factor involved in test automation RIO. The problem with Test Automation is that the monetary benefits are never marked immediate. Viewing from a long-term benefit, the cost of setting up an automated testing tool and testing engineers is expensive. Every testing process looks costlier compared to manual testing until the business reaches breakeven. The two major factors involved in this process are the cost of automation test engineers and investment in testing tools. However, it is important to invest in advanced infrastructure as a one-time investment for future success. Other factors involving cost-efficient are defect leakages and the choice of test coverage. Test automation tools implement test execution on their own, considerably saving time and money.Tips to improve Test Automation ROIFaster delivery Fixing defects is one of the highest unaccounted costs within a software development process. The testing cycle is a tight loop between the development of code and the testing process to produce the right outcome. Time plays a significant role while developing a code or while detecting a defect to obtain desired code intended. Manual testers take months to fix issues because they need to relearn the original codes; however, test automation takes minutes to run a program the moment code is complete.Test automation decreases the defect costs and reconsiders the market opportunities making way for success. The time taken before test automation and after test automation provides you with the fastest time of delivery. The total time includes all the time- developers, product owners, customer service, testers, and others spend on identifying, prioritizing, and fixing defects. To determine and compare the result after any test automation, all you need to consider is the total number of hours and multiply by a reasonable average hourly rate, including benefits. Therefore, the return on investment (ROI) will be the total return (the number we just found) minus the total invested, divided by the total invested. If the result is greater than 1, it is a profit else; it is a loss.Find more regressions After the introduction of test automation, it is typical to identify more regressions. The process of regression helps in identifying defects more quickly. This process may not be documented or recognized; however, a developer can view failed tests in the continuous integration (CI) environment. If the average cost of regression is fixed before automation, then you need to multiply by the count of regressions. This can be reworked after the introduction of test automation, showing the difference as the gain. Regression helps in reducing the average time required to fix defects. Generates more testable productsMore testable products are generated when you adopt test automation. Therefore, businesses need to define the product benefits both qualitatively and quantitatively. Sometimes, products can be tested at a jiffy with a single call from the client’s end. When a product is more testable, it can be displayed in the market very quickly, tested in n number of ways, and less chance of missing used cases. Businesses are attracted to more testable products because they have confidence in what the product does.Test automation helps in replacing manual checks with machine checks with several benefits. Repeating the same test scripts or cases over and over is a mind-numbing task for the testers. Test automation energizes testers and fuels them to find valuable defects. It enables to run regression anytime with a single click and get instant results rather than wait days or weeks. Formula To Measure Test Automation ROI Calculating test automation ROI can happen only on real browsers and devices, not emulators and simulators. Device fragmentation is a significant concern for every developer or tester involved. The software needs to be tested on real devices to help it function accurately in real-world circumstances such as a low battery, incoming calls, weak network strength, and many other factors. This allows users to run the software on multiple devices or browsers by simply signing up, logging in, and selecting the required combinations. Calculation of Test Automation ROI through formulaThe most commonly accepted method of calculating test automation ROI is the formula below:ROI = Savings ÷ InvestmentWhere Savings Denotes : The amount gained by substituting manual tests with automated tests.It is the difference between the cost of running manual tests with the automated tests. Saving = [Time to run a single manual test - time to run the same test in automation]x Number of test x Number of test runs.  & Investment Denotes: The costs poured into setting up test automation pipelines.ROI can denote either unit for savings or investment – usually related to money or time.Calculation of efficiency of ROI Ideally, it is calculated in hours , however manually, it is expected to test for 18-20 hours a day while automated tests can be run through 24 hours a day. There might be some interferences expected like pause or delay. Automated test script development time = (Hourly automation time per test * Number of automated test cases) / 8Automated test script execution time = (Automated test execution time per test * Number of automated test cases * Period of ROI) / 18Automated test analysis time = (Test Analysis time * Period of ROI) / 8Automated test maintenance time = (Maintenance time * Period of ROI) / 8Manual Execution Time = (Manual test execution time * Number of manual test cases * Period of ROI) / 8The ROI in test automation is a vast process, and the teams only consider the amount of time it takes to run a suite of tests compared to manual testing. Test automation offers other benefits, both qualitative and quantitative. Every test engineer is aware of how to draft the test scripts to achieve a profitable return on your investment.The need to raise the standards of business websites has paved the way for much-advanced software in the tech world and testing procedures. To thrive in the cut-throat competition among businesses, advanced test automation procedures and optimizations keep business websites fast as well as smooth. Therefore, adopting automation testing is necessary not to lag.How Our Services Can Help You Increase Your ROIWe’ve gone through some methods to build excellent ROI calculations for your testing automation. While it’s all well and good to ensure extraordinary measures, your goal is to maximize that ROI. This is where QAoncloud comes into the picture as we offer the best way to maximize your ROI, which will always minimize the time spent writing and designing tests. That’s what QAonCloud is here to help with.If you’re thinking about test automation but are concerned about maximizing your ROI, QAoncloud can help you identify the options to cut that initial cost. You’ll optimize your long-term costs and maximize the quality of your testing architecture to fulfill the needs of today and tomorrow. Contact QAoncloud and determine how you can maximize your team’s testing ROI today."

"Automation test criteria: From withdrawing cash from ATMs, taking medical appointments, to buying parking lot tickets and groceries, automation is everywhere. The automation of straightforward tasks as well as complex activities like self-driving cars promises to save you a lot of time and costs.The same is the case with testing practices. Back in the old days, software testing was only about finding application errors. But today, the scope of testing has broadened like never. Most common testing approaches like functional testing, regression testing, integration testing, are being replaced with automation tools.“A quick fact: More than 50% of the projects are tested automatically - (Test automation landscape 2020 report)”Automation has surely changed the whole testing scenario but having said that, the most difficult task is to decide whether test automation is required or not. Of course, everything can be automated, but it is important to consider automation test criteria before you rush to the decision.So, the smartest move is to automate the right test cases to maximize your testing journey. Before we move ahead to the selection of test cases, let’s quickly understand what a test case means. How to identify the right test cases for automation? If you wish to select just the right automation test criteria, you need to have a plan that helps you to get the most benefit out of your automation testing efforts. Well, you do not have to start from scratch while determining the test cases for automation but there are a few crucial factors that need to be considered while identifying the right automation test cases. If the testing frequency and execution time are significant, automation is a must-have for these test cases. In context to resource requirements, it is crucial to check the involvement of devices, operating systems, browsers, databases, and platforms while running the test cases. It also depends on the involvement level of users (the higher involvement means less likelihood of automation). Another factor is the identification of test cases that require complex and flaky features or have a defined outcome for testing software (the more complex features lead to more likelihood of automation to avoid human error). Lastly, the automation downsides should not outweigh the value derived by automation testing. Here, the value includes the saved manual resources, time, and insights. And the downsides of automation include the cost of implementation and maintenance, human flexibility.Now that you know the automation test criteria, it is time to choose the right test cases for automation.  These test cases need to be compared carefully with the criteria. Check below to understand which test cases you should automate and when to test to avoid automation. Test types fit for automation Regression test (sanity and smoke test): These tests consume a lot of resources and time as they are the backbone of every release of the testing process.Performance tests (stress and load test): These tests are very repetitive and consume a lot of time to reach the desired test coverage.Data-driven tests: These tests are conducted on the crucial features of the application under test (AUT). It utilizes automation to minimize the human error potential on the critical components and data related to the product.Repetitive test runs: This is the golden rule of automation that if the test run is repetitive, it should be automated. It will help you derive precise and accurate results, every time.High-risk test cases: If the involvement of risk is high, the test cases should be automated. It will help you prioritize the test cases based on the potential of human error hazards.Web application with critical parts: It is recommended to automate the critical parts of the application as it will help you to avoid possibilities of human errors. It is especially important for test cases that can jeopardize the overall web application.Extensive tests: The test cases that imply large data sets need to be automated. It also increases the possibility of making mistakes in the case of manual testing.Complex test cases: Automation is almost a rule when it comes to complex test cases. It helps you to be on the safe side while saving a lot of time.Other tests: Some test cases that need to be automated are API tests, integration tests, cross-browser tests, unit tests, etc. Test types not suitable for automation Although automation is a promising solution for the speedy and high-quality testing process, automating everything will do you more harm than good. To overdo or misuse automation testing, stick to these four principles: always automate repetitive tests, risky tests, complex tests, and time-consuming tests.  This will help you focus on specific automation test criteria and leave some valuable time for dealing with tasks that cannot be automated. Here are some tests you should not automate:Ad-hoc tests: There are no concrete criteria for evaluating the software application and therefore, automation can result in false outcomes.Usability testing or User experience tests: Automation cannot mimic the exact emotions and expressions of humans. For the same reason, these test cases should not be automated.Intermittent or low-risk tests: These test cases produce unreliable results when they are automated.Anti-automation: Some anti-automation features like CAPTCHA should never be automated as they can hamper the whole purpose of the feature. Steps to identify the right test cases for Automation Step 1: Identification of the parameters on which the test case is based for automation. Below are some identified parameters. However, you can identify your specific parameters based on your application.Tests that can cause human errorsRepetitive tests that are used for multiple buildsTests that are performed on multiple software or hardware platforms, and configurationsTests that require different multiple data setsFrequently used functionality with high-risk conditionsTests that take a lot of manual testing efforts and timeTests that are stable, low risk, and unlikely to change oftenTests that have a significant downtime between steps. Step 2: Break the application into specific modules. For every module, it is important to analyze and identify the test cases that should be automated. The below list will vary depending on the project and can be further enhanced to suit your needs:Y – YesN – NoStep 3: Consolidate various test cases for every module as shown below. Here, the details are quantified and provide an estimate to finish the testing process manually.Step 4: Once the granular level details are identified, they can be presented in the below manner. Step 5: Consider the below attributes that form the basis for determining the return on investment. Time to develop and maintain the scriptsPurchasing and licensing cost of the automation toolManagement of overheadsCost and time to train the resourcesBased on the above factors, below is an example of test automation ROI calculation for 5 years.*ROI = (Cumulative saving / Investment through automation) *100Defining entry and exit criteria for test automationEntry and exit criteria are specific conditions that need to be satisfied to enter or exit the project cycle. In context to automation test criteria, entry criteria are the conditions that should be satisfied for the testing to begin. And the exit criteria are the conditions that should be satisfied to stop the testing process. Entry criteria: Once the design document is approved, the test plans need to be prepared in the planning phase. The necessary hardware should be installed and configured, and their functionality should be checked properly. The software code should be unit tested and signed off by the developer team. The test data and test cases should be prepared in advance and the resources should be well trained about the tools and their functionalities.Exit criteria: When at least 95% of the test cases are passed, the tester can exit the testing phase. However, it is very challenging to determine when software testing can be stopped. Some of the primary criteria include:When all bugs are fixed.When more than 95% of test cases are passedWhen the deadline is reached, or agreement is signed off.When alpha and beta testing is completed.Well, there is no thumb rule for deciding the exit criteria. When the testing of primary functions is achieved, the testing usually stops, and the team looks for minor bugs that can create trouble later.Test automation tool selection criteriaThe selection of a test automation tool is one of the most important steps as it greatly affects the whole automation effort. If you select the right tool, it leads to an easier and effective automation process. Here is the list of the most important aspects to consider while selecting the automation tool.Technology and platform support - Are you testing WPF, C#, or .NET application and their respective operating systems? Do you need mobile application or web application support? Do you work with different operating systems, Android or iOS?                  Skill level flexibility - Is your QA department comfortable in writing automated test scripts or is there any need for keyword testing?Feature-rich - Does the automation tool support record and playback test creation and manual creation of automated tests. Does the tool have the right set of features for implanting the checkpoints to verify the database, values, and key functionality of the application?Maintenance - Create automated tests that are maintainable, reusable, and resistant to change in the user interface of the application. Will the automated tests break if there are any changes in the UI of the application?Integration with the ecosystem - Does the automation testing tool integrate with CI/CD pipelines such as Azure DevOps? Does the tool support test management frameworks like Zephyr and defect management systems like Jira?Testing of enterprise applications - Does the tool offer out-of-the-box support to test the enterprise applications like Oracle, SAP, Salesforce, etc.Automate your testing strategy with QAonCloudJust because you can automate every test, does not mean you should always do it. If everything will be automated, it will require a lot of software maintenance, additional money, and time. It is crucial to take great care of automation test criteria while selecting the test cases to ensure sustainable automation.No doubt, automation testing is one of the best ways to accomplish all the testing goals and effective utilization of time and resources. But you need to be very cautious about selecting the right test cases and automation tools otherwise you will end up remaining on the shelf and with no return on investment. If you are looking for just the right match for your automation testing requirements, QAonCloud is your one-stop solution. It makes the automation, execution, and maintenance of automation seamless - all from the cloud. With QAonCloud, you can easily automate advanced test scenarios on multiple browsers and devices in the cloud anywhere across the world. See how we work to build a cutting-edge automation process and ensure maximum test coverage at scale. Contact our QA experts today. "

"AI automation testing: We live in the age of disruption. Our daily lives have changed. Industries are getting transformed. From large to small businesses, AI is being used widely across the world. Let’s look at the key statistics about Artificial Intelligence.  “Artificial Intelligence” and “Software Testing”As the usage of AI has hit our day-to-day life, its impact on the software industry is not far away. And AI automation testing is one of the hottest trends of the industry.  If you remember the days when testers used to take several hours to manually test the software but still, it could not be tested comprehensively. Thanks to test automation that allows conducting software testing with reduced manual effort and high-quality results. AI continues to permeate the modern world, it has become more crucial to validate that the systems are safe, secure, resilient, and functional. Fortunately, the application of artificial intelligence in software testing is focused on reducing mundane and tedious tasks in the software development lifecycle. You must be wondering that test automation tools already do it. And the answer is - “Yes! They do” but their usage is limited. A few decades ago, manual testing ruled the testing world but today, AI automation testing has made a substantial contribution in the testing environment. Let’s understand more about AI-driven testing.Before we dive into the details, here is everything you need to know about AI-based testing, approaches and tools of AI automation testing, AI-based software testing case studies, and more.What is AI-based Testing?AI-based testing is a technique of software testing using AI and machine learning algorithms. The objective of this technique is to make the testing process more effective and smarter. With the inclusion of artificial intelligence in testing, innovative problem-solving and logical reasoning can be used to improve the overall process of testing. Need of Artificial Intelligence in Software TestingOften, software developers cannot do exhaustive testing of the application due to a lack of time and resources. For the same reason, there is a dire need for AI-based software testing that can automate the processes efficiently instead of human testers that unnecessarily inflates effort and costs. The smart algorithms of AI automation testing help testers in funding the maximum number of bugs in less time and will make the application more accurate and reliable. Moreover, AI-based testing is tremendously helpful in safeguarding the software breakdowns while making more productive and smarter software for the end-users.Use cases of Artificial Intelligence in software testingOn the bright side, testers have recognized the potential of Artificial Intelligence to bridge the gap between human and machine-driven testing capabilities. Here are some examples of how AI is used in the software testing process.Detection of mobile app crashesThere are many frameworks that are used to index the software automatically after every crash so that the testers can focus on more human-centric tests. It allows the test engineers to accomplish more crucial tests like automating the detection of memory leaks (iOS) or troubleshooting the JNI integration (Android).Review of static programsSymbolic Artificial Intelligence is a smart decision-making tactic that employs rules. For example, Deepcode.ai leverages symbolic AI to review the software code that does not adhere to best coding practices but also extracts the potential attack vectors within the code.Leveraging the user traffic to analyze the test coverage and automated test generationNot every test can be assigned with equal weight. Some tests are more likely to result in user error than others. AI automation testing allows to assemble click data, and use the data analytics to determine which key user flows need to be examined. It automatically creates the test code to produce a comprehensive test suite.Leveraging AI to decide whether to conduct a recall in case of faulty test implementationA key issue with Continuous Development (CD) is related to the rolling back of deployment after the identification of any mistake. Harness.io helps in solving this issue by analyzing the observability data from application performance management tools such as New Relics, Sumo Logic to determine the need for rollback.Monitoring and forecastingSystem observability is one of the most common needs in the testing environment. The primary application in this context is log aggregation and analysis. It enables users to configure standard machine learning algorithms such as logistics and linear regression, and so on to Splunk the data. The Machine Learning Toolkit smart assistants make this process even more simple.Searching errorsPerfection does not exist and cannot be attained, and this is why the developers and tests can write erroneous test codes. The flaky test codes have a direct impact on quality assurance and kill a lot of time. Mostly, the process of identifying the error code placement could be onerous. AI automation testing helps in examining the codes in real-time, identifying the errors, and making corrections in specific scenarios.Approaches of AI Automation testingContext-driven testingIt is a context-based model rather than going by the method of testing or fixed best practices. It allows testers to choose their techniques, objectives, documentation, and deliverables by looking into the details of the particular situation. It is not just a technique but a set of values related to the test methodology. So, no thumb rule applies to all cases when it comes to context-driven testing.Model-based testingIt means using models for describing the test strategies, environment, generating test cases, executing tests, and evaluating the overall design quality. This approach ensures the possibility to trace the relationship between models, requirements, test cases, and codes used for the tested system. The models are utilized to generate the test cases automatically and represent the expected behavior of the system under test.Linear scriptingThis approach is based on the record and playback testing process which always leads to linear results. In this script-driven framework, the test scripts are created and executed individually to perform the tests. The automation scripting is also conducted in an incremental manner where the new interactions are added to the automation tests.Modular testingThis framework is built on modules. The independent test scripts are developed based on modules to test the software. The abstraction layer is built specifically for the components and ensures that the changes made to a part of the application do not affect the other related components.Data-driven testingIn this framework, an individual file is used to store the input and expected output. A single driver script executes all test cases with multiple data sets. This script includes navigation to spread through the program and covers the reading of data files and information about the logging of test status.Keyword-driven testingIt is an application-independent framework and utilizes the keywords and tables to explain the actions to be performed within the testing environment. This approach can be considered as an extension of the data-driven testing framework.Behavior-driven development (BDD)In this method, the tests are more focused on the behavior of the system. The testers can easily create the test cases in the English language. It helps the non-technical users to easily understand and analyze the test cases.AI Test automation toolsWhile the first wave of testing was filled with manual testing methods, Selenium began the second wave of test automation in the world of software testing. Now, the current buzz is around AI automated testing. Businesses are rushing to use AI-based testing tools and taking the move to the next wave of test automation. Here are a few of the new wave automation tools that are leveraging AI technology. Differential toolsLaunchableThe tool is based on a machine-learning algorithm and predicts the likelihood of the failure of each test. The tool enables the user to record the test suite so that the tests that are likely to fail can be identified.Google OSS-FuzzThis tool combines the modern techniques of fuzzing with distributed and scalable execution. The tool is well-supported by Rust, C/C++, and Python.Visual AI testing toolsApplitoolsIt is an AI-based visual testing tool. Applitools is a next-generation platform for test automation powered by visual AI. The grid helps in cross-device and cross-browser testing to accelerate visual and functional testing by 30 times.Percy by BrowserStackIt helps in high-speed and cross-browser rendering along with parallelization capabilities. BrowserStack is typically used to capture screenshots and compare them against the display visual changes and baselines.Declarative toolsTricentisThis tool combines different aspects of software testing like the design of test cases, test automation, generation of test data, and analytics to test APIs and graphic user interfaces from business perspectives.UiPath Test SuiteThis tool is used to automate tests and helps in managing and executing the tests. This tool is helping businesses with 360-degree testing and helping robotic process automation developers to build and test better.Self-healing toolsMablIt is one of the leading AI automation testing platforms built for continuous delivery and continuous integration. It crawls the application screens and runs the default tests while using machine learning algorithms to detect defects and improve test execution.TestimThis tool utilizes machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to automate testing. The AI automation testing helps in the authoring, execution, and maintenance of the tests rapidly. The tools also include the self-maintenance of machine learning-based tests.The Future of AI in Software TestingThe use of AI in software testing is not a new concept anymore. Initially, it started with visual testing of user interfaces, auto-correction of element selectors, locating the UI elements, and alike. AI has continued to evolve by enhancing the existing tools and frameworks of the testing environment. As technology progresses and machines are getting trained on higher-order tasks, AI is likely to take over all the activities and tackle the contextual problems smartly. Let’s see how AI testing is progressing into the next decade. With the progress of AI automation testing, the fact remains that mimicking the human brain is not an easy task. After all, humans are the users of technological innovations and for the same reason, human understanding and creativity are required to ensure the best product quality. Manual testing remains essential in the future, but it is more likely to be complemented with automation and AI. Rather than AI replacing the human testers, AI can augment the software testing practices and infuse human testers with the efficiency of superhumans. So, the leaders and innovators in the industry will continue to discover and dissolve new boundaries with machine learning and AI. Now is your turn to take the test automation strategy to the next phase. Whether you are just beginning automating tests or reaching continuous testing, QAonCloud can help you with end-to-end test automation. Don’t wait anymore to step into the future of the software testing world."

"What is Automation Testing?Automation test is a software testing process that uses test scripts to simulate software testing in a test environment. It is a set of techniques, technologies, and tools that automate software testing. They help the tester to test software effectively and systematically.Test Automation methodAutomated testing works by recording what you do, running the program under test and checking the results.The manual testing process may take multiple iterations, with each iteration being an opportunity to find additional defects. But using an automated test harness to exercise the software under test (SUT). Automation testing covers a wide range. It includes in-depth and broad testing. Deep- and broad-testing is a process of testing the application thoroughly. The tester goes through the application, considering all the essential functionalities, from the database to the user interface. The goal of an automation test harness is to exercise the system under test under a controlled, repeatable, and known environment. This can be as simple as automating a simple test script or as complex as automating a complete regression automated testing is not the only kind of software testing.Automation testing is a quick and effective way to ensure that your products work correctly and do not have bugs.Automation Testing is a procedure that is considered a key to increasing the quality of a product.Automation testing helps to:Eliminate human errorsIncrease test coverageImprove test efficiencyIncrease product qualityIncrease the reliability and security of softwareEnsure the sustainability & maintainability of softwareHow Automated Testing Can Be Used To Reduce Costs and RiskAutomation testing aims at increasing software quality and reducing the cost of testing. Automation testing is not a replacement for manual testing, but an effective method to reduce manual efforts.Reducing risk is about reducing the probability that you will make a wrong decision and the consequences of that decision. Reduction of risk has two dimensions:Improving our understanding of the problem means learning how other people have solved it, and knowing what their risks were.Improving our ability to solve problems means improving our technical, organizational, and interpersonal skills.Reducing cost is about reducing the total cost of doing automation testing. Bugs are fixed only when they occur or are found. So testing has to happen at least as often as the change rate, and that costs money.Reducing cost has two dimensions:Automation testing is not cheap, but there are ways to make it cheaper. You have two choices: it can reduce overall testing cost, or it can reduce the cost of the tests you run.The cost of automation testing is reduced by specialization: the more people and computers you put into making automation tools, the cheaper it is.Benefits of test automation (comparison with manual testing)Test automation is not magic. But it is powerful. Test automation can be kind of costly, Automation testing is more trusted than manual testing. Manual testing is done on individual platforms. Automation testing tests are performed on multiple platforms and platforms on which the application is expected to be used. Manual testing takes time and is error-prone.Test automation has other benefits, including:Planning process that is more effective because test automation helps organizations understand what is happening to their applications.Better quality because the software that has fewer errors is easier to use.Test automation allows organizations to cut costs. To develop more software with fewer errors.Because of test automation, productivity has increased, making it possible for people to do more work in less time.Guess Who Tested Faster? Manual Tester vs Automation TestersWhen one tester creates a test script, and another starts a test, they will be working toward the same goal. Manual testers use traditional testing techniques, such as testing software manually, that ensures that their programme performs as expected. The objective of the automation tester will be to develop a decent test script that will verify that his programme continues to operate when it is updated.4 Reasons why Test Automation is better than Manual TestingTest automation is of immense help in improving the quality of software. Automated testing has higher productivity than manual testing. Manual testing is a time-intensive process. It requires good knowledge of software and testing domains.Here are the Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Automate Testing.Saves TimeManual testing is a long and complex process. It consumes a lot of time, but the results are uncertain. Automation saves time and reduces cost. It also increases productivity. Increases AccuracyAutomation testing provides accurate results. The automation testing tools are highly accurate and reliable. Prevents ErrorsAutomation testing helps in eliminating errors. The automation testing tools allow testers to perform tests repeatedly and continuously. The automation testing tools ensure the quality of the software.Improves AccuracyAutomated testing software enables testers to perform tests repeatedly and continuously. The automation testing tools ensure the accuracy of the results.A brief description of automating tests with popular toolsWe use the best QA tools for various testing activities, starting from planning to maintenance and analyzing your requirements to determine the suitable tool for your application. You can save time by automating repetitive tasks with these tools.Test Automation Tools​​SeleniumSelenium is a Web testing tool, and it is one of the most popular tools for Web programmers to test their Websites. It allows you to test your website or someone else's. For example, to test a website, you log onto the site and record what you do. You can then test your recording with a different browser to check that it works. There are four components of Selenium, selenium IDE, selenium remote control, web driver, selenium grid.Testproject Testproject.io provides a web interface for creating software tests, running tests, and analyzing results.Testproject.io allow you to write automated tests, build them locally, run them in the cloud, and share the results with your team.It allows you to run tests for: Mobile and desktop apps using iOS and AndroidJava, Scala, Groovy, Python, Ruby, R, and many other languageWeb applications, REST APIs etc.,Cypress Cypress's tools are powerful enough to be practical. Writing tests with Cypress is fast enough that Cypress's tools can be used as a test runner in continuous integration. This is very fast and easier, and more reliable tests are written.JMeter JMeter is a load testing tool. The kind of load testing that JMeter does is called "stress testing". JMeter tests involve sending lots of requests to a web server at ultra-high rates. You can test your web server using JMeter by sending lots of requests to it. JMeter is extensible. You can define your test cases. It lets you perform functional testing of web applications, web services, APIs, web services frameworks, etc. The supported protocols are HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, LDAP, JMS, SOAP, FTPS, and Gopher.CucumberCucumber is a Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) framework. Its strength lies in its ability to scaffold an end-to-end test automation pipeline, from feature description to automated tests, with an ability to debug the tests at a very granular level.The Cucumber tools work by combining several approaches:Writing plain English descriptions of what the software should do.The Cucumber tools work by combining several approaches:Implementing the executable code Running the executable code.Unified Functional TestingUnified Functional Testing tool is "unified" in that it lets you run tests that need to happen at different phases of your software's life cycle. Traditional testing is usually limited to testing at one particular stage of a software's life cycle.UFT is "functional" because it lets you run tests designed to test software functions.UFT tools let you run tests at different stages of software testing.AppiumAppium is a framework for automated testing of mobile applications. The framework allows developers to automate tasks on real devices, including simulators, emulators, and real devices. Appium also supports testing in hybrid environments: native, web and hybrid.Appium is a UI automation framework. It's an open-source project, and you can use it to run tests on iOS and Android devices.Appium is cross-platform. You can run it on Windows and Mac, and LinuxAppium is cross-browser. You can run it on Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and EdgeAppium is multi-device. You can run it on iOS and Android.RanorexRanorex provides a framework of tools, infrastructure and services to help development teams perform automated functional and cross-browser testing of their web and mobile applications. Ranorex offers automated browser testing services. It is a set of easy-to-use automated browser testing tools that run on all popular operating systems. Tools help to automate manual testing. The Ranorex Studio has basic functions like adding, editing, and deleting items and searching for specific elements.Katalon Studio Katalon Studio is a browser-based testing tool for automated functional testing. It can run different types of tests, and it supports test management, reporting, and visualization. With it, you can automate functional testing on Web, Mobile, and API applications. With its flexibility, usability, and support of various programming languages, Katalon Studio has become a popular test automation solution among software testers.Web-based testsUnit testsFunctional testsBrowser testsLambdaTestLambdaTest is a test automation tool that allows you to create test scripts and execute them against real users. It enables you to test mobile websites and web apps. You can try on actual browsers, operating systems and screen sizes. LambdaTest provides three testing modes: Manual, Simulated, and Automatic. ​It automates manual testing by adding tests at the user level. Test scripts can be executed only from the browser and only with predefined browser settings.ConclusionWe hope that we’ve provided you with some information that will help you get started with testing automation. Automated testing is a great way to improve your testing process and help you deliver your product faster. We, at QAonCloud, provide various Testing services which are reliable and reasonably priced. Test automation made simple, don't be afraid to start! Get a FREE Consultation with our test automation experts and understand how we can help you scale up your test automation efforts."

"Gone are the days when testers used to sit before computers to execute hundreds of test cases. The life of a tester has been changed so much with the invention of QA analysts used to execute test cases manually to discover bugs in a software application. Although manual testing is less expensive when compared to the amount we spend on setting up the automation testing environment and the tools, the manual tests are not so reliable as it involves humans in the process. Also, the testers were unable to re-use testcases in manual testing and had to do repetitive tasks by themselves. Thanks to automation testing and automation testing tools, testers don’t need to spend long hours testing repetitive tasks. Here is how the tester’s life has changed over the years and after the invention of automation testing. Also Read: Accelerate and Simplify Agile Testing with Scriptless Test Automation Reading Time: 3 minutes: Test automation has become an integral... Read More How To Select Right Test Cases For Automation Testing Reading Time: 5 minutes: Test cases For automation testing –... Read More A Beginner’s Guide To Test Automation Framework Reading Time: 3 minutes: At the point when you start... Read More"

"JavaScript Automation tools: “Automation” is always the first thing in mind when we talk about technology. Automating the processes make everything easier, quicker, and better. After all, it is an uncomfortable fact that automation can execute a lot of tasks a lot quicker than humans can. Whether it is a startup or large-scale business, every company is striving to incorporate automation testing to speed up their product release cycles. When done right, automation can be a fantastic tool for your software testing toolkit. It can help you execute thousands of tests in a single click. That too, without any human error margins. As the web development and testing scenario has changed over the years, conventional programming languages like PHP, .NET, Java have also transitioned to new frameworks. Today, JavaScript is ranked as the most popular programming language across the world.With this transition in the software development and testing world, comes the need for JavaScript testing tools too. Before we dive into the most popular JavaScript testing tools, let us understand the importance of unit testing in JavaScript.Why unit testing is important?It is a process of testing the code at the module level and ensuring that the developed modules meet the specified project requirements. The unit tests are written for every module and after completion of every module, the entire test case suite is run to ensure consistent testing results. These tests are extremely crucial as they ensure the responsiveness and usability of the application. The frontend unit tests run on browsers while the backend unit testing framework focuses on business logic and service endpoints.Testing JavaScript applicationsJavaScript has a competitive edge over other programming languages. Most modern browsers work with a JavaScript engine that allows the JavaScript code to be executed in the browser natively. The tight integration between the browser and JavaScript helps in executing basic actions like hovering over text or clicking a button. For example, if you click a button and want specific changes in the color of the HTML element, Representational State Transfer (REST) request, or display of dialog box. Since users can choose any browser, it is also important to ensure that the application appears and behaves as expected in multiple browsers. The cross-browser computability adds to the requirement of the test framework. All these requirements have led to different types of JavaScript test frameworks:Standardized – Standard API (Application Programming Interface) to ensure the interoperability with multiple browsers, but it can lack browser-specific features support.Non-standardized – It utilizes browser-specific protocols for a more efficient and feature-rich experience.Proprietary – It uses a custom mechanism for browser interaction to ensure a feature-rich and efficient browsing experience. This test framework can have quirky limitations and is more complex.Types of testing toolsThe type of testing tools is categorized according to their functionalities. To ensure the best testing results, it is recommended to use a combination of multiple tools.Test launchers to launch the test in the browsers (Cypress, Jasmine, Karma, Jest, WebDriver)Testing structure providers to arrange the tests in a scalable and readable manner (Jasmine, TestCafe, Jest, Cypress, Cucumber)Generation and display of test summary (Karma, Jasmine, TestCafe, Jasmine, Cypress, Mocha)Assertion functionality to verify if the test returns according to the expectations or it throws an exception (TestCafe, Jasmine, Chain. Cypress, Unexpected)Mocks to simulate multiple test scenarios and isolate the tested unit of application from other parts, and link to processes to see if it works as expected (Jasmine, testdouble, Jest, enzyme)Generation and comparison of snapshots to ensure data structure changes from previously conducted test runs are intended by the code changes of the user (Ava, Jest)Browser controllers to simulate the actions of the users for functional testing (Puppeteer, Nightwatch, Cypress, TestCafe, Phantom)Tools for visual regression that are used to compare the site to its earlier visual versions by using the techniques of image comparison (Percy, Applitools, WebDriver)Generation of code coverage reports understanding the coverage of tests by the code (Blanket, Jest)There are multiple testing tools in the market. Some are the good old solution that requires extensive configurations and fancy tools that tempts with a five-minute setup and easy documentation. With so many tools and frameworks, here are the most popular JavaScript testing tools.Selenium WebDriverSeleniumn WebDriver is one of the most popular open-source frameworks for testing automation. The core strengths of this tool are that it is highly robust, versatile, and can be used with multiple browsers. Besides this, it also has a vast user community that helps in easily finding the answers to your problems over the internet. Moreover, it does not require extensive knowledge to set it up.Pros:Large user communityMultiple browser supportHighly configurableCons:Need a lot of setup timeNot as fast as other testing frameworksSteep learning curveExample: CypressCypress test automation tool is one of the newest JavaScript testing tools, and its popularity is growing steadily. The main reason for its popularity is that Cypress is an all-in-one solution and requires minimal setup. The tool is very user-friendly and not based on Selenium. It offers a minimalistic runner that allows you to watch the tests going through multiple tests, and you can also peek at every step. Pros:Convenient runnerWell-documentedEasy to set upCons:Lacks some useful functionalitiesLimited support of Firefox and Chromium-based browsersNeed to make payment to unlock the full versionExample: PuppeteerPuppeteer JavaScript testing tool is another automated framework that provides an API to control Chrome while overriding the standard DevTools protocols. Many manual tests conducted in the browser can be automated with this tool. This tool has gained immense popularity because it is very easy to set up. It directly calls an API to launch Chrome, open a new tab in the browser, navigate to the desired site for testing, and capture screenshots. With Puppeteer, you can easily mock resources and thereby, avoid the issues of reliability, speed, and consistency. You can also manipulate external resources like CSS to execute the tests faster. The major drawback of this tool is that it works only with Chrome and if your application demands cross-browser compatibility, you will have to test the application with other testing frameworks.KarmaKarma was developed to bring a full-fledged testing environment where they do not have to worry about configuration. They can instantly write code and receive feedback quickly from the test cases. This JavaScript testing tool is based on Node.js and you should have Node.js installed in the system. Karma helps you to perform automation testing on real browsers, devices, and even on a headless instance. The entire workflow can be controlled directly from CMD or IDE where you need to just save your files to run the test cases. Also, it supports continuous integration using Travis, Jenkins, or Semaphore.CodeceptJSCodeceptJS tool is one of the most versatile tools on this list. The code written in this testing scenario can be read and understood by non-technical users. And the configuration allows running tests with Nighmatch, Puppeteer, Protractor, and WebDriver. All these tools have the same API and hence, the written code is also the same. Similar to Cypress, this JavaScript testing tool is also very well-documented, and also, there is a test user interface to check the snapshots of every test step to make the debugging process easy.ProsExtremely versatileEasy to write and read testsStructured documentationConsSmall user communityLimited to the syntax levelExample Nightwatch.jsNightwatchJS framework got serious attention when E2E testing was introduced. At that time, the clean syntax and easy setup were the main benefits. Today, the installation is very easy and quick in Nightwatch, but the documentation does not include all the necessary information. It uses Selenium Webdriver to access all browsers without any hassles. This testing framework provides all the necessary functionality but at an average level.ProsQuick and easy setupMultiple browsers supportConsLow documentation qualitySlow performanceExample: JestJest is rated as one of the best JavaScript testing tools. This framework was developed by Facebook to test JavaScript codes, specifically for the ReactJS applications. It provides an integrated framework and does not require any configuration expertise. It is a ready-to-use tool and can be easily set up. The major benefit of using Jest is its minimal requirement of configuration and setup knowledge because it comes with an assertion library and support. Just like testing libraries, the test cases are written with a behavior-driven approach, and you can directly put your test cases in a folder to start running them. The testing framework is very well-documented and one of the fastest performing frameworks. Jest can also perform visual regression testing with the help of screenshots. It simply works by recording the screenshot of rendered components. It also updates the screenshots easily in case of any new feature additions. The drawback of Jest is that it does not support much tooling and libraries as compared to other JavaScript testing tools. Also, the snapshot testing of the framework is not compatible with larger files.MochaMocha JavaScript automated test framework tests the applications using Node.js. The installation of this testing framework is very easy. You can run a few commands to start using the tool. Mocha is an open-source JavaScript testing tool with extended flexibility. It also supports generators and helps you to map exceptions with the test cases. Since the tool is quite old, it offers many documents and tutorials available online. The drawback of this framework is its overall low performance and lack of inbuilt features. The easy setup is one of the main reasons for the popularity of the Mocha framework. Many organizations have switched to Jest as it makes testing significantly faster with little configuration requirements. Although Mocha offers a wide ecosystem, the complexity of the framework is on the higher side.TestCafeTestCafe is quite similar to Cypress as it is very fresh in the testing framework domain. This JavaScript testing tool is not built on Selenium and offers a test runner called TestCafe IDE just like Cypress runner. You can easily build tests while skipping to write the code completely. But unfortunately, it is a paid solution after a trial version of 30 days.The testing tool offers extensive support of multiple browsers, including different mobile versions, and works out-of-the-box. It works with the Smart Assertion Query mechanism, which automatically waits for changes to be implemented and retries with regular checkups. The drawback of this testing framework is that you need to consider JS asynchronicity and syntax while Cypress allows you to write synchronous code.Pros:Easy to set upAutomatic wait timeSupport of multiple browsers without Selenium supportCons:Expensive full versionJasmineJasmine is commonly used for asynchronous testing and is considered one of the most feature-rich JavaScript testing tools. The framework runs on Node.js and allows flexible and accurate reporting by running the test cases serially. The installation of the application is easy. You only need to set up and configure the test.js file before the execution of tests. The major benefit of Jasmine is its extended compatibility across multiple frameworks, which makes it one of the flexible testing frameworks. It also has a large user community to offer support in the form of video tutorials, libraries, and blog posts. With the large community, the learning curve of Jasmine is also quite smooth. The cherry on the top is its effective documentation. The drawback of this framework is that it requires a lengthy configuration procedure.Make the best choice of the JavaScript testing tool with QAonCloudNow when you know the pros and cons of popular testing tools, you choose the tool according to your project requirements. From the browser automation frameworks, we looked at, you can choose from Puppeteer and Selenium WebDriver. And if you are looking for a one-stop testing solution, Cypress is the best choice.Consider these variables while choosing the best JavaScript testing tool:What type of configurations and apps requires support? Frameworks like WebDriver are the most extensible framework.How mature and robust framework is required? Frameworks like TestCafe, Puppeteer, and WebDriver are well-tried and tested.Do you need to conduct testing for desktop as well as mobile? Frameworks like WebDriver support both types of apps.Do you need a framework to manage front-end and back-end testing? Cypress is the best framework for front and back-end testing.How easy and quick do you want to configure and run tests? Frameworks like Playwright and Puppeteer require extensive configuration.All you need to do is pick the best option and get started. To learn more about application and user interface testing solutions, get a free consultation with QAonCloud today."

"The banking industry is fraught with risks and must take advantage of innovative technologies to drive operations. Banks must strive to achieve progress while providing a stable application with advanced features. While its customers prefer stable operations, the banking industry must ensure adequate security safeguards to prevent data breaches. So, is there any way out for banks as they seek to attain robust operational workflows? The answer lies in this guide to banking app testing. How can you do banking domain testing? Banking applications are feature-rich and have mission-critical processes. It requires advanced testing processes covering security, database, performance, compatibility, and application functions. Let us now discuss the steps involved in banking application testing. Requirement analysis: It is the first stage in the testing process. The testing team must conduct adequate research, and QA specialists must be aware of the latest banking technologies. The team must also understand the industry standards and compliance. Finalizing the Test Plan: Your team must formalize the test plan. The team must assess all the requirements that the activity will determine. Apart from the scope of the testing activities, the testing environment, tools, roles and responsibilities of the team members, etc., must be included in the test plan. Preparing the Test Cases: The banking domain testing experts must prepare the test suite to cover the test cases covering all modules. All the scenarios, cutting across user experience, performance, security, functionalities, must be covered. All relevant banking domain scenarios, like savings accounts, current accounts, deposits, money markets, loans, etc., must be considered. Functional Testing: After creating the test cases, the testing team will undertake functional testing to confirm whether the features are acting per the functional specifications. Few test cases: Validate the login function by using valid and invalid credentials Verify whether we can create new roles by replicating with available data and with valid or invalid data. Assess whether we can delete the roles without any dependencies. Check whether a new branch can be created by replicating data from an existing branch. Analyze if we can send messages. Check if we can carry out support requests. Assess whether you update branch data using valid and invalid data. Validate if the balance is getting updated after a credit or withdrawal. Also, check if regular payments can be made and saved at pre-set times. Database Testing: Banks must store the customer demographics and financial information with adequate safeguards. The outcome will ascertain whether the application can readily retrieve and store data from the database while ensuring data integrity is intact. The testers must verify that only authorized users are allowed access and prevent any mismatch in the system. Few test cases: Validate if the data fields are in the correct format. Analyze if the values obtained after calculations of different fields are correct. Validate if there are any duplicate values in the tables. Assess database backup and check if previous data remains unaltered if any function fails. Check whether the tables have a unique index, primary key, and secondary keys. Assess if null values are accepted where they should not and check for duplicate values. Security Testing: In this stage, the testers test the application's ability to thwart data breaches. Testers must check whether only authorized users are allowed entry into the application. Through this activity, the testers assure that the application does not have any vulnerabilities that can expose it to hacker attacks. Few test cases: Use the “Forgot password” feature and check if it is working correctly. Assess the encryption of the user credentials and check if the password is strong. Validate if the user logs out after a predetermined period of inactivity. Assess how the application behaves to cache clearing. Check how the applications respond to several invalid logins. Few other testing methods in the QA for banking apps Usability testing: Testers have to test banking application must be tested to ensure it has a simple but efficient design. It helps users of varied website usability skills to take benefits from the application. Few test cases: Assess if all the visual components are designed with similar styles. Check if the terms are named the same on all pages (Like Recurring Deposits, Outstanding Balance, etc.) Validate if the error messages can be understood. Analyze if the workflows are intuitive. Integration Testing: Developers may integrate the application with several modules to guarantee a smooth workflow for customers. Integration testing integrates all the various modules and validates whether they are working as desired. User Acceptance Testing: The testers must confirm whether the application complies with the relevant real-world scenarios. You can use various UAT Management tools to carry out this activity. Points to note during mobile banking application testing Studies show that the use of smartphones is growing at a scorching pace. The high-end users will expect to access their banking accounts through their hand-held devices. We will delve into detail about some of the factors to consider when testing banking apps. Addressing any UI/ UX issues A great experience while using the app will lead to customer satisfaction. Usability tests can ensure that all the components are functioning as desired. Testers can use heat maps to ascertain user behavior while using the app. Testers must also consider the aspect of compatibility of multiple devices. They must fix any inconsistencies in functionality, fonts, and images, features, etc. The app can be run on emulators and assess compatibility issues that can arise across multiple devices. Assessing performance levels Testers must address the peculiarities of QA for banking apps by putting the system to various loads and assessing its stability. Testers must undertake stress testing to ascertain its maximum capacity. Spike testing can check the application behavior during load spikes. Mobile banking application testing procedures must adhere to the various regulations and compliances applicable in different countries. Specialized QA testers can help to ensure that the mobile banking apps cater to the local rules. Ensuring data security Banking apps are required to collect vast amounts of customer data. Please do note that the bank's reputation will be at stake in the event of a data breach. Testers must ensure the app is encrypted as per advanced standards like AES-256. The mobile banking app must also undertake vulnerability testing to discover any gaps that hackers could exploit. Always do penetration testing before release and while customers are using it. Ensure a secure connection between the bank's servers and the user devices. Highlight variances in test plans There are bound to be differences in functionalities between the test and the production environments. In a test environment, the files are transferred manually and may not detect various issues. In the production environment, the bugs like delays in file transfer, transfer of duplicate files, etc., can get noticed. Testers must consider the variances that may exist between both environments. It can help to mitigate risks that may pop up later and lead to customer dissatisfaction. Get the correct test data Various countries have specific regulations that banks must follow to protect the personal data of customers. Testers must factor in the banking regulations in the use cases. It is equally essential to merge data masking with synthetic data creation. The testers must warrant testing across several devices with varying screen resolutions for comprehensive mobile banking application testing. The screen layout should remain intact with varying data sets. Conclusion: Banks are looking forward to creating an excellent baking experience for their customers. As they are trying to reduce pressure on their employees, they emphasize their web and mobile applications. They must deploy QA for banking apps that can do thorough testing of the applications before going live. The applications must address the customers' needs and provide them with the necessary information when required."

"POS Testing: Ecommerce is a highly demanding industry. It is estimated that you need 12 positive customer experiences to compensate for the loss caused by 1 negative experience. Over 70% of these customers find the checkout experience to be the biggest complaint in the ecommerce platform. Even a nominal increase in customer experience can increase the store revenue by $823 million over three years.Yes, that’s how the customer experience mathematics works in the retail business. Let’s explore some more interesting trends.A customer behavior study by Accenture reported that 47% of the customers would pay more if their expectations are met.A Deloitte survey shows that customers are willing to spend 140% more than what they usually spend if they have a positive experience.Well, achieving these magic numbers is not easy without impressing your customers well. The rapid evolvement of technology is pushing the bar higher for more transcendent usability and intuitive user interactions. Ease, accuracy, and speed are the 1-2-3 punch to keep your customers happy and loyal for the long haul.From numerous ways to induce positive customer experiences, leveraging Point-of-Sale (PoS) is surely one of the most effective ways. Adding a POS system, tablet, and mobile-based POS version gives a great opportunity to improve customer experience, better sales, and elevate the brand position. So, let’s start from the beginning and define what is a POS system.What is the Point of Sale System?The point of sale refers to a particular point when a sale happens. POS (Point of Sale) is a technology for retail businesses and other service providers to complete their retail transactions effortlessly from anywhere at any time. So, it is a combination of hardware and software that centralizes business management. A modern POS system is not only used to process sales transactions but also automate manual tasks, provide real-time reports, help you manage your inventory, customers, and more. A POS system is a must-have software - whether you run a retail store, restaurant, café, or even a food truck.Here are a few ways POS systems improve the customer shopping experience: Why POS testing is important to ensure quality?Retail businesses are highly competitive and an effective point of sale system can make a huge difference. It will help in increasing business efficiency by eliminating unnecessary work. If POS does not work as expected, the business is more likely to experience:Incorrect record managementIncreased man-hours to process and current the unreliable dataErroneous information in sales reportsDifficulty in tracking discounts, promotions, and couponsIncorrect loyalty members dataTherefore, it is very important to have a reliable POS solution that performs seamlessly and securely. To ensure this, it demands rigorous POS testing.POS ArchitecturePOS system architecture looks complex, but it is not tricky when you understand the concept well. It deals with various terminals in the store that are connected to a file server. The main configurations are set on the server and pushed to every terminal in the store. Since POS systems accept different payment modes, they are integrated with the third-party payment providers who accept different payment methods. This is how a POS system architecture looks like: What needs to be tested in a POS system? A POS system needs to be tested for three key components, which are detailed as under: POS device/terminal: It includes multiple performance aspects and functionalities of the POS terminal such as device functioning, associated hardware like barcode reader, printer, scanner, etc. along with the performance attributes. Local server: It comprises key information, business and transactional data of the POS devices that are linked with the POS applications. It requires interface testing along with analytics, security, and recovery testing. Enterprise server: It requires the same testing activities as a store server. Some of the testing scenarios include an interface, security, business intelligence and analytics, and recovery. To ensure the POS quality of retail business, proper POS testing of the application is very crucial. Along with the key components, the application needs to be tested for a lot of things. A few are listed below: Back-office integration: POS interaction verification with the store server and back-end systems.  Cashier activity: It includes verification of customer transactions like store value cards, entry of items, discounts. It also includes non-customer transactions like petty cash, cash drawer loans, and closings. Platform validation: If the POS supports various platforms, then the functionality needs to be verified on all the platforms. Sales: The data of regular sales, sales with a gift card/debit card/credit card, return, exchange, inventory, loyalty member purchase, prices need to be verified. Return and exchange: Validation of return and exchange of items with different tenders (credit, cash, etc.). Discounts and promotions: Item-wise discount, line-item discount, and other variants of discount need to be verified.  Loyalty member data: The system needs to track what the customers are buying and who they are. It keeps a track of sales, times of day or week, type of customers, and salespeople. This data is collected from the POS system to plan long-term strategies. Ability to read the card: Testing of various types of cards like magnetic stripe, CAV, etc. Performance: Time taken to send the card reading request, receiving the response, and apply transaction-based rules for tax, discount, rebates, etc. Negative scenarios: Validation of the transaction declined scenarios due to invalid PIN, card, expired card, etc. Sample Test Scenarios for POS in Retail Industry Test Scenario Test Cases Payment gateway processing Test the validity of the CVV number of the credit card. Verify that the captured card details are encrypted and decrypted properly. Swiping of cards is done properly from both sides. Sales Test for the regular sale process, null transactions, reference transactions Test barcodes or UPC to vendors Check for loyalty membership purchase Test for the processing of sales with debit/credit cards Testing of the printing format of the receipts Test the billing details in the payment management system Verifications of the code generation for approved, hold, or declined status. Return and exchange Check for exchange of products with cash Ensure that the inventory is integrated with supply chain and other outlets Check the system processing for sale with or without the receipt Verification of the system entering barcode manually if the scanner is not working properly Verification of the system displaying current and discount amounts. Promotions and discounts management Test for various types of discounts like a seasonal discount, flat discount Test system for promotional offers for certain product line or time Test the notification for beginning and end of the offers Test the process of order management Verification of the accuracy of the product data received after scanning the barcode  Test whether the print of receipt display the exact amount of discount Test the system for allocation of the wrong discount of offers on the products. Negative scenarios Test the system for invalid password the card or expiry card details Check the inventory by manually entering the wrong code for the product Test for the response of the system by entering the wrong invoice number Test the response system by entering invalid promotional products or dates. Security and regulatory compliance Verification of the POS system according to regulatory compliances Ensure that the payment can be voided before posting Test the notification and alert system for security defenders Test the consistency of the database, user profiles, and level of access on POS software. Customer tracking data Test for the response of the system by inputting wrong customer details Test the system for allowing unauthorized access to the confidential data of customers Test the system for recording the buying history of customers and entry in the database. Report testing Testing of the credit card transaction information reflection in the reports Report testing of the trend analysis Test for the individual and consolidated reports of the buying history of the customers Test for the online generation of the reports. Challenges in POS testingThe POS software needs to be tested thoroughly, especially for retail domains. That being said, the point-of-sale system consists of various challenges that need to be addressed in the initial stages of development before the system testing begins. Some major challenges are:Varying ConfigurationsWhen the business deal with multiple locations, the POS software needs to consider the requirements of each store. For example, one store is running a special promotion that is not applicable at other locations. It gets challenging to examine how well the POS system handles the varied configurations within the system.Intricate InterfacesThe payment process seems to be easy but a lot of things happen during the payment process. A point-of-sale system usually showcases an intricate interface. POS testing needs to be conducted with a comprehensive test plan that includes all the features and touchpoints within the application. Payment Card Industry (PCI) ComplianceAny business or industry accepting payments with debit or credit cards should be PCI compliant. POS testing also needs to focus on eliminating the risk whenever the card details of consumers are involved. Without the specific payment compliance test cases, your business is more likely to face security breaches, lost revenue, and lost loyalty. Continuous Upgrades and MaintenancePOS testing requires a specific test framework for all devices, including different software versions and various types of hardware devices. Therefore, it requires a strong testing framework that considers compatibility and integration testing. How to Perform POS testing?POS testing can be performed manually or through automation tools. However, there are various challenges in the execution of manual testing such as multiple configurations, peripheral issues, complex interfaces, setup and maintenance of test environment, security compliance, etc. However, automation has been proved to be an effective option to the manual testing method over a POS system considering the benefits such as reduced cost and time, customized reports, and consistent quality. Automated POS Testing Best PracticesThe implementation of POS testing automation leads to a better quality of the software while keeping the costs low. The POS automation strategy needs to be designed by following the best practices of automation testing. Below are some of the pointers to create an effective automation framework:Selection of the Right ToolThe selection of the right automation tool is the key to project success. The first step is to define the purpose of the test and provide feedback by viewing the log files. Then, the testers can review the tool and make the selection. For example, an Omni channel retailer can have the following considerations at the time of choosing automation tools:Ease of providing input test data for load testsNeed of operating system, WPF application, or languageType of testing requirement (regression, unit, functional), and will the automation tool maximize the return on investment.Establishing the FrameworkThe next step is to set a specific framework by considering the predefined set of processes that interacts between different components on which the further deployment will be done. It is recommended to keep the framework portable and robust so that it can be used in the future as well. Run Test ScenariosThe iterating process is considered ideal in the case of automation testing. For seamless testing on multiple hardware configurations and software platforms, the basic uniformity needs to be maintained to ensure robustness and portability.Third-Party InteractionsThis is one of the key requirements for project success. The automation testing success depends on how well it interacts with the third-party tools to fulfill the dynamic needs of the business. POS system interacts with various systems like ecommerce, merchandising, audit, etc. It increases the need for extensive validation of system performance. Therefore, the POS testing needs to be configured in conjunction with the third-party tools while maintaining extensive reports to create a scalable and flexible automation framework.Automate Your POS Testing with QAonCloud TodayPOS applications involve complex configurations and processes. Additionally, the standards and technology of POS applications move too rapidly, and therefore, you need experienced QA testers and engineers to understand the changing requirements. If you are aiming for a seamless, secure, and well-integrated user experience, QAonCloud can help.Our team of POS application testing experts can ease all your concerns related to POS testing and related functionalities. We can help you with the most industry trends in context to test creation, execution, and maintenance, and deliver the product that can survive the competitive business world. Get a free consultation with our POS testing experts today."

"Like many other technology trends, the new SaaS (Software-as-a-service) technology has also come into existence officially in the year 1999. Salesforce launched a CRM solution as the first SaaS-based solution. In the earliest days, it was assumed that the subscription-based software platform will not be viable for businesses but soon, SaaS has left human existence shell-shocked. The SaaS model is still on fire, and will only evolve in the future. “It is predicted that the worth of the service-based cloud application industry will be $143.7 billion by 2022 – Gartner.”A decade ago, very limited businesses were using cloud technologies. In 2008, only 10-12% of the businesses were using cloud-based applications. But today, the story is completely different. A recent tech poll by IDG found that most of the businesses have increased their IT spending in 2019. And most of the spending goes towards cloud computing applications. Let’s explore how SaaS is taking over the cloud market. The Rise of SaaS (Software-as-a-service) businesses Even though the SaaS model existed for decades, it gained immense popularity in the 90s. As reported by Crunchbase, there are over 15,000 SaaS companies across the world, as of June 2020 and they are experiencing astronomical growth.  For example, Salesforce grew from $161 billion in 2020 to $251 billion in September 2021. Shopify grew from $52.1 billion to $185 billion in just 20 months. That’s over 225% growth. This clearly indicates that there is a huge demand for SaaS business models. Here are a few factors that have contributed to this tremendous rise: Penetration of the internet – In 1995, less than 1% of the population across the world had internet access. And today, more than 60% of the world population has internet access. The widespread internet availability has made it easier for companies to leverage SaaS solutions.  Startup culture – There is a notable surge in the number of startups and online businesses globally. As these companies don’t have sufficient funds for high-tech infrastructure, they prefer the SaaS model over high technology costs.  COVID-19 pandemic – While most of the companies had been embracing flexible and remote working during the pandemic. As work-from-home has become the norm, employees expect round-the-clock access to data and applications. This, in turn, has compelled businesses to switch to SaaS applications. Will the SaaS applications grow after the COVID-19 pandemic? In 2020, the world has confronted the biggest health and economic challenges as the COVID-19 virus started spreading across the globe. Most of the employees started working from home and the SaaS applications started growing rapidly after 2020.  But will the SaaS landscape continue to grow after the COVID-19 effect? The answer is a big “YES”. The world had already moved into a remote mindset. And SaaS companies will continue to see growth as they function without any dependencies on people and infrastructure. This ensures that SaaS solutions will be at the forefront of remote work and efficiency.  What’s the need for SaaS testing? All the benefits and ease of SaaS applications are like a double-edged sword. The development and testing team is always accountable for the proper functioning of SaaS applications. While on-premise software is deployed once a year, SaaS applications are deployed almost every week, and also, require continuous software maintenance.  Testing of SaaS applications comes with a unique set of challenges. So, the early you start with SaaS testing, the better.  Scope of SaaS testing at different stages of development and implementation Stage Scope of Testing The before-release concern Scalable consumption of cloud resources The after-release concern Regular bug fixes Quick software updates and upgrades Maintaining zero downtime Keeping pace with new features released every month or at least several times in a year. Before- and after-release concerns Multi-tenant architecture complications Configuration and customization challenges When SaaS application testing is not conducted properly, it can fail to achieve a fast, convenient, and quality experience. But this is not a problem when you set a strong testing strategy with best practices.  Before creating a strong strategy, you need to know the SaaS basics first. Let’s explore now. What is SaaS? Put simply, it is a licensing model to provide the application services to customers on a subscription basis. The third-party vendor takes complete responsibility for the development, maintenance, feature upgrades, and maintenance. The software is located on the cloud instead of in-house servers and is usually accessed over the internet. The data can be stored in the cloud, locally, or a combination of both. What is SaaS Testing? Once the SaaS application is developed, the testing phase comes into play where the testing cycle is decided based on type and scope of software. The testing and validation activities are conducted to ensure the quality of the software. Some of the common testing activities include scalability, security, reliability, performance, user experience, data integration, etc. Some well-known examples of SaaS applications include Google G-Suite, Microsoft 365 suite, Dropbox, Amazon web services, Salesforce, Adobe Create Suite, Zendesk. The most common reason for using SaaS applications is that it is an “on-demand and pay per use service”.  Still wondering why SaaS testing is important. Check out more reasons you should opt for testing SaaS applications. Shared database reliability The user experience is tied closely with the environment of the organization with on-premise software. With SaaS applications, the users can have a best-in-class experience. The testing activities recreate maximum user scenarios with stress testing while ensuring database reliability. Validate the application scalability  Testing does not only validate the reliability of the existing database but also helps in determining the ability of the platform to scale further. Validate the accessibility All you need to access the SaaS application is an internet connection and a browser. The application should be tested for a wide range of devices and browsers. Testing of business workflows SaaS applications should be tested for optimum management of business workflows and related functionalities. The proper understanding of configurable and non-configurable aspects helps in achieving the best outcomes for the application. SaaS Testing Strategies The testing of SaaS applications revolves around networks, apps, and the infrastructure. Below are the key SaaS testing strategies: Functional testing It verifies the application against the expected environment. The tests are conducted in the target environment, considering the needs of the end-user. Some of the tests under functional testing include browser compatibility to check the performance of the app on different browsers, reliability to find the weaknesses of the application, and automated functional tests. Performance testing The performance of every module of the SaaS application is tested thoroughly alongside the workflow. In addition to the application performance, the bandwidth performance is also tested. The quality assurance team can check for load, scalability, and stress tests to evaluate the application performance. Compatibility testing This type of SaaS testing includes the performance of the application in context to browser, mobile devices, operating systems, hardware versions, and alike. The compatibility of the application is tested with all the possible combinations. Infrastructure safety testing This testing checks the safety of the infrastructure. It checks for the network security where the SaaS application is deployed, reviews the security threat scenarios, access privileges for different roles, compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), login security errors, and warnings from unreliable sources. API integration testing The SaaS applications work on multiple scenarios as it extensively uses APIs for using specific functionalities. Therefore, it is important to test the interface of all APIs for usability, safety, functionality, performance, and accuracy of the documentation. Maintenance testing The QA team is responsible for the maintenance of SaaS applications and ensuring the correct performance of the application. Some of the common fields to be checked under this type of SaaS testing include application, service, database, operating systems, application servers, warnings and alerts, functionality, and performance errors. Regression testing This testing is comparatively time-consuming and complex. Regression testing validates the usability, performance, functional, security, and compatibility factors that may be influenced by changes made in software. This SaaS testing is conducted after all the activities of software updates, migration, and bug fixes to ensure the stable performance of the SaaS solution. Backup and recovery testing This type of testing checks for common issues like software or server crash, loss of connection, software migration issues, software updates, or customization. Ideally, backup and recovery testing should be conducted before and after the release of the software. Automation Opportunities in SaaS testing No matter what kind of application is being tested, it is always important to understand the business goals, what the platform is all about, the customers served by the business, and so on. But with so much competition and rising demand for SaaS applications, it is time to add capabilities to the platform rather than just staying minimal.  Since SaaS testing needs to be conducted in short release cycles, it is vital to apply automated testing to reduce the time taken on monotonous tasks. The test automation can be applied to different strategies of SaaS testing. For example, test automation can help security testing in repeating the benchmark to ensure accurate performance results. What are the best SaaS testing tools? The speed of launch, and customization matters the most in the lifecycle of SaaS applications. For the same reason, test automation is very crucial. Besides automation testing, various tools can be used to simplify, optimize, and speed up the testing process. PractiTest This tool provides an end-to-end testing solution. It also allows users to control the overall development and testing processes.  qTest It is a cloud-based testing tool for scalable test management solutions.  QMetry This tool links the requirements of the project to the test cases and defects. It helps in an end-to-end coverage of the progress of the project along with traceability. JMeter, Gatling, and Tsun  These are some easy-to-use tools to perform load testing and measure performance. JMeter provides a variety of options to save actions and related requests, simulates the high system load to determine the maximum number of users supported by the website at a time, and visualizes the performance reports. Chrome DevTool This tool is used for user interface testing and debugging websites. It can help you edit pages, diagnose problems quickly. TunnelBear In some scenarios, VPN services need to be used to evaluate the performance of the application in a different country. To avoid this limitation, TunnelBear allows users to connect to local VPNs in 20 countries while connecting up to five devices. Rest API Testing of APIs is extremely important to achieve the success of SaaS solutions. This tool helps in testing the REST APIs and related services by sending the HTTP requests.  Burp  It is one of the popular tools for penetration testing because of its flexibility and ways to combine manual and automated analysis techniques to conduct security testing. OWASP Zap  It is a SaaS testing tool to find all the possible vulnerabilities in applications. What are the SaaS application testing challenges? The testing challenges may be different for various types of SaaS applications, below are some common challenges experienced during SaaS application testing: Less time to check the validity and security of applications due to frequent upgrades and releases to be updated in a short time. Validation of the association of the user interface of the application with back-end components. Difficult to take care of privacy concerns due to dynamic user behavior. Challenging to identify the most accessed areas and test them with a large number of users in different locations. Difficult to manage the integrity and privacy of test data at the time of migration and integration of SaaS applications. Validation of licensing factors including the number of users and functionality whenever a new release is made. SaaS testing best practices Building a SaaS testing strategy requires a detailed understanding of the type of tests that need to be performed. Let’s see how to help you test the application thoroughly, address the potential problems, and develop a comprehensive testing strategy. 1. Continuous integration and delivery It is a good practice to turn to the continuous integration and delivery method if your SaaS solution has not yet gone live. It allows you to accommodate new software features and amendments and deliver a full-fledged solution. With this practice, you can resolve more bugs during the testing process. 2. Risk-based testing To ensure that the SaaS application matches the dynamic requirements of the business, it is best to turn to risk-based testing. With this practice, the test cases validate the software features where bugs are most likely to appear, and there are increased possibilities of data leakage, damage, and financial loss. 3. Test automation There should be a balanced ratio of automated and manual testing to ensure the required test coverage, validate the software functions quickly, and meet strict deadlines. It helps you to achieve the best ROI of the testing activities. For example, the long-running, repetitive, and data-intensive tests should be automated. And the penetration, backup and recovery, usability tests should be tested manually. 4. Proper testing environment This practice ensures a minimized number of missed bugs. SaaS application testing should be conducted in staging before the final launch. The staging environment allows the testing experts to validate the functioning, security, usability, and performance of software while keeping the production environment safe. 5. Service virtualization In the SaaS environment, there are various external components of the system. When the external system components are not reachable, it is ideal to simulate the dependencies and automate the testing to run the SaaS application smoothly. The service virtualization is relevant for testing performance, API, and functionality to validate possible customizations and configurations. Need help in SaaS testing strategy? Quality assurance is an ever-changing and dynamic field, and the SaaS application trend has caused major changes rapidly. It has added an extra layer of focus on quality assurance as it considers the platform experience and user base as a testing entity, rather than just the functionality of the application. Here, only the excellent quality assurance of SaaS applications can be your secret weapon.  Incorporating all the testing resources and tools at the time of creating your testing strategy can be tricky. Instead, you can choose a quality assurance partner like QAonCloud to maintain the efficiency and speed of SaaS applications without exhausting your resources. Our team of testing experts specialize in the SaaS domain and have years of experience in service applications across all the SaaS testing tools.  Get started to instill the best SaaS testing practices for your application. Contact us if you need specialized SaaS testing expertise now."

"Healthcare Software Testing: It is rightly observed by a philosopher William Shedd - "A ship in the harbour is safe, but ships are not built to be parked safely". In other words, the unused potential is not valued. The ability of technology to change the world for the better is not a new concept, but its potential should be used appropriately. Right from the initial stages of digital transformation, we have witnessed the role of technology in boosting productivity and efficiency in the workplace, automating business operations, facilitating personal tasks, and a lot more. The world is meant to become more digitized in the future, leaving us with no choice but to adapt to the new ways of the world. No matter the industry, digital transformation has become the new reality of the world. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health has emerged as the most innovative concept in the healthcare industry. Have a look at the industry-specific spending on technology after COVID-19. The Realm of "DIGITAL HEALTH" While it may be difficult for industries to adjust to the changes, the healthcare industry is already impacted. The conventional interactions between doctors, patients, and pharmaceutical companies are no longer relevant in this digital age. Gone are the days when you see your doctors, get a prescription, take the medicines, and report to your doctors for follow-ups. Now, healthcare organizations grapple with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing for the future of healthcare amid social, economic, and regulatory uncertainties. It has reopened the realm of "digital health", with consumers looking at the broad spectrum of mobile apps, wearable gadgets, robotic carriers, Artificial Intelligence, electronic record systems, sensors, and much more. Examples of digital health technology Adopting Digitization in Healthcare - How and What? Digital transformation in healthcare is not only about technological evolutions; and in fact, and it was never about that. It's all about dealing with the challenges of healthcare and building a viable future of healthcare. The tech conversations may not be buzzing that the healthcare software industry has surpassed the mark of multi-billion dollars and shows no signs of slowing down. Digital Health Market As the industry continues to innovate rapidly, innovative healthcare software solutions have become mandatory. Embracing healthcare software is the only way to stay relevant in the industry. But the software needs to work seamlessly while improving patient care, reducing costly expenses, and ensuring a smooth user journey. And this is where healthcare software testing comes into play. Why is Healthcare Software Testing Important? In line with global digitization, healthcare institutions are implementing new technologies. But it is worth noting that a single blunder in healthcare software can endanger human health or result in ineffective medical treatments. Any late information, miscommunication, incorrectly configured software application can lead to serious health issues. Moreover, consumers have little patience for technical issues in any industry. And when it comes to healthcare, there is no room for any tolerance. Any downtime or technical glitches caused by faulty software can lead to devastating consequences. Having healthcare software makes no sense if it behaves expectedly and makes it easy to use for doctors, assistants, nurses, patients, and everyone. Implementing a modern software testing approach is extremely important to provide best-in-class patient care and streamline healthcare business operations. Moreover, like any application, healthcare software is vulnerable to malicious data usage and cyber threats. The healthcare ecosystem should be built following the high-end security and confidentiality regulations and HIPAA compliance. This, in turn, leads to the need for rigorous healthcare software testing. Top Reasons Healthcare Industry Needs Software Testing Digitization is one of the breakthroughs witnessed by the healthcare industry. However, there are various questions concerning digitization - benefits of the healthcare ecosystem, investments required to take the digital leap, need for advanced analytics to drive changes, expected performance of healthcare applications. Healthcare software testing enables you to answer all these questions and implement better digitization. Moreover, the idea of remote healthcare services is changing the way the healthcare industry works, which demands quick and easy access to healthcare. On-demand medical assistance and home healthcare have become the new paradigm in the healthcare sector and are expected to grow in the coming years. There is a multitude of reasons for healthcare software testing. Let's look at a few. Ensures seamless operation of healthcare applications, including clinical databases, patient apps, customer relationship management systems, medical equipment software, etc. Helps software developers prepare for security and compliance testing with regulatory frameworks like HIPAA. Prevent software failures, eliminate weak integrations, and upscale the software performance. Helps in predicting the behaviour of medical software in multiple real-life scenarios Establishes reliable connections among various device networks. Software Testing Strategies in Healthcare Industry 1. Functional testing - Functional testing strategy ensure the product behaves expectedly even in unlikely situations. It helps in identifying the gaps and validating the healthcare scenarios. 2. Performance testing – Performance Testing checks the response system of the healthcare software even when the network is not at the top parameters. This healthcare software testing strategy focuses on scalability, architecture, and tuning. 3. Penetration and vulnerability testing – Healthcare software deals with a lot of personal information and is more dangerous for hackers. Penetration testing strategy helps exploit the vulnerabilities or weaknesses in networks, systems, human resources to stress-test the software effectiveness. 4. UX testing – Also known as user experience testing, this strategy reveals if the software is intuitive, easy to use, and has a short learning curve. It also focuses on the flexibility of applications to handle controls while meeting the healthcare software objectives. 5. Localization quality testing - This testing strategy is used to understand the behaviour of healthcare software for a specific culture, region, or locale. It helps in testing the appropriateness of linguistic and cultural aspects for specific regions. This healthcare software testing technique is usually conducted when you are customizing the software for a targeted region, language, or country 6. Automated testing – Automation testing technique leverages automation tools to control the execution of tests to compare the actual results with expected results. It helps in managing the test data and utilizing the results to improve the healthcare software continuously. Healthcare Software Testing Peculiarities Healthcare is a highly regulated industry, and there is a dire need to work in close connection with legal advisors, medical staff, insurance company representatives, and all the relevant stakeholders. Therefore, the outlined software testing strategies should have specific objectives to ensure high-quality healthcare software. These include: 1. Interoperability of medical devices The healthcare sector has a considerable demand for regulatory compliance, interoperability, data privacy, and security. There are a lot of medical applications and devices that need to connect to deliver the expected user performance. For example, if healthcare application interacts with mobile apps, both should show accurate results. This has to be conducted very diligently as it determines the sustainability of business and ensures compliance. 2. Functional Validation of the Healthcare Software It is essential to ensure that the software is viable enough to deliver the required service. For example, a healthcare application helps in generating patient reports with a secure login. The application should function all the time and provide accurate results. The healthcare software testing helps validate the business workflows and takes all the required performance measures to achieve the desired results. 3. Application Security Healthcare applications deal with sensitive data related to patients and their health information. It can lead to a significant information breach if the application is hacked. The security testing helps in making the application sustainable and hack-proof in this challenging scenario. User login authentication, firewall testing, and user data encryptions are critical measures in healthcare software testing to ensure application security. 4. Big Data testing Healthcare deals with tons of data related to the patient, health records, treatment history, and a lot more. This data is crucial for healthcare organizations and related segments to build relevant products and suitable device strategies. Many healthcare companies implement big data to derive the proper inferences and make informed business decisions related to disease cure, drug inventions, research and development, and alike. The software testing ensures flawless implementation of big data and leads to expected outcomes of the healthcare application. 5. Usability Testing Usability testing is critical for healthcare software as it deals with multiple user scenarios that doctors, nurses, and pharmacists face every day. These tasks can be eased with the automation of tedious processes. The user experience of healthcare software, apps, and medical devices can also be enhanced with much-needed usability testing methods. 6. Effective Implementation Healthcare organizations need to ensure increased productivity and efficiency to serve the patients in a better manner. With the increasing complexity of applications, it is vital to ensure that they function seamlessly without any interruptions. Healthcare software testing ensures that all the software nodes work effectively and provide a holistic experience to the users. 7. HIPAA Compliance Healthcare companies need to comply with various healthcare industry laws, including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations. The main components of this compliance include health insurance coverage, privacy and security of health data within the healthcare applications, user authorization and authentication, audit trail information, data encryption at transfer points. Healthcare Application Testing – Test Scenarios Some of the sample test scenarios include: Healthcare Provider: · The application should allow to enter, edit, and save the data of providers. · The positive flow system testing includes scenarios to enter different healthcare providers, save, change, and inquire about them. · The negative flow system includes scenarios to save the provider details with incomplete data and enter duplicate provider data in the system. · System integration testing includes scenarios to validate the feed to different systems such as provider portal, claim, and finance system. Broker: · The application should allow entering, editing, saving brokers' data, and calculating brokers' commission based on the premium details fetched from the member system. · The positive flow system testing includes scenarios to enter different healthcare providers, save, change them, and calculate commissions for active brokers. · The negative flow system includes scenarios to save the provider details with incomplete data, enter the duplicate data, calculate the commission of terminated or invalid broker. · System integration testing includes scenarios to validate the feed to different systems such as broker portal, member, and finance system. Member / User: · The member system should enrol, reinstate, terminate, and enrol members, remove dependents, process premium payments, and generate premium bills. · The positive flow system testing should include scenarios to enrol different members, change and inquire about members, generate premium bills for active members, terminate active members, and re-enrol terminated members. · The negative flow System testing should include scenarios to enrol members with insufficient data, generate a premium bill for terminated members. · System integration testing includes scenarios to validate the feed to different systems such as member, provider, broker portal, member system, claim, and finance system. Healthcare Software Testing Best Practices Healthcare applications deal with sensitive data and multiple stakeholders. Therefore, the technology needs to provide accurate results to all the end-users. A single failure to meet the patient data security requirements and deliver results can lead to expensive consequences for your healthcare organization. This applies to any industry's software, but in healthcare, technology is meant to save lives and improve healthcare practices. Here are the healthcare software testing best practices to ensure the top-quality performance of your healthcare application. 1.  Domain Expertise A strong tester in the healthcare industry is challenging to find as it requires a solid background of experience, required certifications, and extensive training to understand the complex healthcare architecture. The testing professionals should have healthcare domain expertise, an understanding of project requirements, and business logic to deliver effective results. Without healthcare domain expertise, the testers will spend more time understanding the workflows instead of testing the software, leading to insufficient testing, missed deadlines, and reduced software quality. 2.  Requirements Gathering & Test Plan Strategies Healthcare software is not like any other application. It has a lot of specific requirements to ensure its compliance with user-friendliness, seamless integration, strict regulations, and the ability to provide data security and privacy. Healthcare applications need to fulfil the requirements of providers (healthcare organizations), healthcare recipients (patients), intermediaries (insurance and finance companies), regulatory authorities (HIPAA), and solution providers (medical equipment). And all of this can only be achieved if you have the right test plan strategy. The healthcare software testing plan must verify that the requirements pass the vulnerability assessment, penetration and performance testing, user experience testing, conformance testing, and localization testing. 3.   Setting Security Standards Since the healthcare industry is known for its heavy monitoring needs, government bodies like the FDA and HIPAA have set guidelines to preserve healthcare quality and patient data security. Along with these laws, it is also essential for healthcare software to comply with other security standards like FDA, DICOM, HL7, ISO, and CMMI. 4.  Set Up a Comprehensive Testing Framework There is a lot of things to cover when it comes to healthcare software testing. Some of the elements include patient apps, medical device software, payer system, clinical records management. So, it is crucial to set up a complex and diverse testing strategy. And the success of a testing strategy depends on the proper testing framework. Some of the critical elements of the healthcare testing framework include data-driven testing, authentical validation, repetitive accuracy results, secure transmission of data despite user volume and scenario. It is highly recommended to automate your healthcare software testing. It allows you to process a large volume of data across multiple platforms, environments and operating environments without any glitches. 5. Document Everything Well, documenting everything about your healthcare software is easier said than done. There is little time left to report it when there is so much to be tested and many on-the-spot changes. But taking out time for documentation is extremely important as it can make the whole process of healthcare software testing more manageable and more systematic. Robust documentation ensures the quality of healthcare applications and leaves no stone unturned. To save time and effort, you can implement the documentation practice from the initial stages of the project. Develop templates for every kind of documentation to keep record-keeping consistent and make it easy for your team. Automate Your Healthcare Software Testing Today We live in a technology-dependent world, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry cannot function without relevant technologies. That's why it is vital to have an efficient, secure, and compliant healthcare application capable of handling a large amount of data and improving patient care experiences. Surely, healthcare entered a new era of technology, but one thing that remained constant is the devastating repercussions of manual mistakes. To avoid this, healthcare applications should be thoroughly tested with test automation. If your team is new to test automation? QAonCloud's healthcare software testing services can help you with specialized expertise in the healthcare domain and test automation practices. Get in touch with us today."

"Fintech App Testing: Fintech is a growing industry where businesses find this particular digital business platform as a plethora of opportunities in this digital economy. This industry has gained a substantial amount of investors because of its success, but on the other hand, it also has its own set of unique challenges to conquer. For Fintech companies to withstand this current competitive niche market, they need to have a strong platform of skilled developers and a QA team to provide a superior quality product.QA Approach in Fintech Apps testing:Fintech applications are monitored strictly to ensure that the app is reliable and offers a good user experience. Software testing in Fintech apps is held to its higher standards when compared to the other apps because it deals with people's finances. Software glitches or bugs in Fintech apps are inconvenient and are not acceptable. One mistake can cost a company millions in heavy damages. One bug can put users' personal information at risk, and that is why Fintech requires a cut-throat software testing strategy. With a QA team, you can eradicate any challenge found in the app by using a testing methodology that removes any room for error.A good testing strategy considers all aspects, and in the case of Fintech, it has more structure requirements based on correctness and code coverage when compared to general web software. Let's see how you can strategically test your Fintech applications to ensure its superior quality output:The software testing blueprint for Fintech apps differs from one company to another, but they all have a common testing ground. First, the app is tested to check its functionality and usability to see whether the users can easily access and manage their finances. Fintech apps are then tested for security, reliability and compliance.Below are a series of testing methods that are implemented during the testing process of Fintech apps:Data Compliance:As the Fintech domain is continuously innovating and evolving, so is the industry regulations. It is important to keep the app updated with the latest changes in financial legislation. Compliance testing checks your app to see whether it meets all the industry regulations and the product stays compliant.Automation testing:Testing Fintech apps is not a one-time thing or a less frequent process. Delivering Fintech apps requires a fast and continuous integration process. It requires continuous improvement and quality checks. Manual testing cannot be feasible so automating the testing process can be a reliable solution for routine checks. With automation testing, the software testing is carried out intelligently with the right tools that ensure that the product is delivered on time without losing quality.Load testing:Load testing is equally important as automation testing, especially in Fintech apps. It is done so that to see the behaviour of the software if there is any unexpected load or to simply check whether the app can handle heavy transactions. While evaluating the app, software testers can detect the bottlenecks in the software when there is a large data flow. Security testing:Security Testing is of utmost importance in Fintech apps as this software withholds user sensitive data such as money transfers, financial data, payment gateway info, passwords, etc. Testing your applications to check how strong the app is when it comes to security enables you to identify any potential bugs or weaknesses in the software that can threaten users' confidential information. Penetration testing can be one method to check how the system reacts when there is a random attack and the response to it. This way, you can detect any shortfalls and create a system backup to save all sensitive data from getting lost or corrupted.Regression testing:Several aspects of the software are changed over time to improve the user's experience and performance. Regression testing comes into the picture when such changes occur in the app, especially in software code or configurations. Regression testing is done to check if the app is still secure and functioning properly even if the program or the codes are changed.Database testing:Fintech apps are involved with complex transactions thus it is necessary to test the app to check the integrity of the database. Database testing includes a load or stress test on the database to see its response when there is a large data flow and check whether it's still able to provide the same consistency of data.Summary:In software testing, the fintech apps are not only limited to the testing methods mentioned above because every software is unique. Hence, every company requires a specific testing strategy that aligns with its goals and objectives. QA team comes up with a software testing blueprint to facilitate an easy collaboration with the development team so that they all are on the same page. While the QA team are working on ensuring that the app functions properly and is error-free. The company can focus on developing new ideas and features for the product. This opens up new ground in the market and ensures that the product is competitive and developing at a faster pace without compromising the security and stability of the software product."

"Applications under production receive variable traffic, subject to sudden growth or reduction in the number of application users. End-user variations put application servers under stress which might lead to unexpected crashes and breakdowns. Such defects can be validated by running Spike Testing. It is one of the building blocks of performance testing used to detect your system’s ability or capability to handle heavy traffic loads. These traffic loads can affect your service as well as responsiveness.Developers can effectively prepare for unexpected spikes in the load in production environments by determining where an Application Under Test (AUT) fails. For instance, performing a spike test on an e-commerce application before preparing for Christmas or Diwali sales would be helpful. Testers can check whether that application performance slows, worsens, or stops using a spike test.If your websites, apps, or services experience heavy real user traffic patterns coming in short bursts, spike testing can be helpful. It is instrumental in identifying the limitations of your AUT, validating if application performance deteriorates, slows, or completely stops, and determining the respective root causes. Some of the common root causes are memory leaks, load balancing issues, and storage capacity issues.Best practices for conducting efficient spike testingWhen it comes to conducting spike testing, some best practices can assist you in improving its overall test effectiveness. Here are a few some of the best practices-1. Understand test artefacts and explore the applicationit is essential to understand the application before you go through with the implementation. You should also analyze the intended use of the application, the capabilities it offers, as well as the type of conditions in which the app is supposed to thrive. By identifying the limitations of the application, you can list out the factors that can affect the performance of your application.2. Spike tests can be a part of Unit testsThe developers often implement spike testing in the later stages of an application development lifecycle. Apart from that, it is a tedious and more costly process to implement changes in the final stages of the development process. So, companies often implement spike testing as part of their unit tests. This will help the development team rectify performance issues by quickly identifying these issues as the development progresses.3. Setting realistic performance benchmarksIn some cases, companies have expectations from the applications that may not be realistic. Therefore, it is vital to pick up practical and real scenarios by setting realistic baselines. The companies need to ensure that the testbed includes a wide range of environments and devices in which their application will have to thrive.4. Understanding the performance from the perspective of a userAlthough you may have a clear understanding of spike testing, you must understand the user perspective. Companies usually focus on the response of the servers. However, user experience is essential.5. Implementing DevOpsNowadays, several companies are striving for shorter development cycles with test automation. However, this testing is a time-consuming process. To bring spike testing to success requires constant human intervention. Companies can get their development and testing teams together by implementing a DevOps culture. Moreover, this will help to resolve errors immediately by identifying them through continuous testing.Examples of Spike Testing ScenariosA particular content of a website goes viral over the Internet.eCommerce launches its special deals with great discounts.Multiple users want to access a new system when it is released for production.A flash sale is going on a shopping site.A power outage can cause all users to lose access to a system. In such cases, all users often log back onto the system simultaneously after resolving the outage issue.TV program is live-streamed on a web application.Tools used for performing Spike Testing1) JmeterThe java open-source spike testing tool of Apache JMeter is specially designed to measure performance and load functional test behavior. Further, this performance testing tool effectively measures and analyzes the performance of web applications. Today, Jmeter is widely used for the database server test as well as a functional test. Even though JMeter was initially designed to perform load testing, it has been developed for other areas. JMeter is an open-source tool that supports the Java language. Also, it is one of the most sought-after tools to perform spike testing.2) LoadrunnerWindows and Linux usually use the load testing tool called LoadRunner. These facilities spike testing of the web and other apps. Furthermore, this tool helps to efficiently determine the application's performance and result even under heavy load.Advantages of spike testing include effective identification of the consequences related to unexpected spikes in end-users. One of the primary goals of the test is to check how a system responds to unforeseen falls and the rise of the user load. ConclusionThe right approach to perform spike testing is by quickly increasing the number of users, followed by an immediate decrease in the load, which needs specialized expertise. If you lack in-house talent and looking to perform spike tests on your software through outsourcing, reach us at [email protected] to get a free consultation."

"OTT Testing: Everyone loves content.. Video is the most easy-to-digest content format and gives the much-required rest from the overabundance of online textual information. Probably, that’s the reason people watch a billion hours of videos on YouTube every day. From news to sports, animated shows to documentaries, original series to videos captured on mobile phones, people crave video content. Well, that’s nothing new. What’s on the rise is how people are engaging with video content.The Rise of OTT PlatformsToday, nobody wants to adjust their life for a TV show schedule. Now, users can choose what content to watch, when to watch, and on what device. COVID-19 pandemic has shown us a new way of life - indoors. When people were completely restricted in the vicinity of their homes, they turned towards OTT platforms and started consuming online media content like never before. To survive in this digital era, a comprehensive OTT testing strategy is the best way to ensure a best-in-class content experience. In this new media age, a world without OTT platforms is like a world without electricity. We have already stepped into the world of OTT and it is going to stay. With over 62% of adults subscribing to a streaming service, the video streaming industry is expected to grow at an exponential rate.Here are some more astounding statistics of the top OTT statistics. While the rise of OTT platforms is a huge opportunity, it is also a challenge. Any streaming platform cannot get successful just because the industry is growing. There is a strong reason why Netflix remains the top choice for TV and movie streaming. Today, Netflix has over 200 million paid subscribers across 190 countries. Thanks to the ease of use, high-end personalization, and original content. The gist here is that you need to perform OTT testing effectively to achieve better viewership, revenue, and user satisfaction. Why is Video Quality Experience Important?Did you know that a delay of half a second can cause a 20% drop in user traffic? Now that’s the importance of user experience and speed of your platform.  Low resolution, buffering, and lagging are the issues that viewers never like to experience. These quality issues can be very frustrating and leave viewers with a poor reputation for the brand.Luckily, the video quality experience is getting better across the board. As reported by Conviva, the video start failures are down by 33 percent, buffering is down by 41 percent, and picture quality is improved by 25 percent.This is all possible with the new and improved OTT testing techniques and best practices. Let us understand all about the testing of OTT platforms.  What is OTT Testing and why is it important?OTT testing refers to the over-the-top testing process that gets done over internet infrastructure. It tests the video, voice, and data content over the internet while ensuring the latency of customer experience, security, and connectivity to ensure a high-quality experience. When it comes to the testing of OTT platforms, there are countless things to test, but everything boils down to four things:Deliver personalized experiences with curated content recommendations based on the history and interest of customers.Offer a diverse range of content with a logical organization to allow easy search and navigation.Well-tested user interface and elements that enable users to interact with the OTT platformUse customer empathy to dictate consumer experience strategy that enables increasing user expectations.Let’s take the example of Netflix. The platform is famous for recommending content based on user interests. Now, if you visit Netflix and it takes three minutes to recommend personalized content. So, you are not likely to be impressed with the overall experience. Even if the user interface of Netflix is great, your experience would be disastrous. And that’s why you need to perform full-fledged OTT testing to deliver a frictionless experience. Why is OTT testing important?In the world of video apps, the user chooses what and when to watch - and will give up soon if the content does not start streaming within 2 seconds. Also, most of the users have an average of three streaming media subscriptions, competition is also heating up. As the competitive pressure expands, the importance of OTT testing has increased to attract and retain customers. When it comes to media streaming, quality can make or break your success. Don’t believe us? Research indicates that 76% of the customers don’t continue with their OTT platform subscription when they experience rebuffering while streaming the video. Surely, high-quality in the OTT market has become a sheer necessity. Here’s why you need OTT testing:Ensure quality across multiple platforms: Consumers expect content to be accessible on any device, be it mobile, desktop, tablet, and even console. Bandwidth adaptability: Even in today’s digital world, Wi-Fi signals can vary big time. But consumers expect a continuous media streaming experience even when strong internet bandwidth is not available. High video playback quality: When content cannot be played without delay, the audience loses interest. So, it is important to preserve the best user experience with high playback performance. Recovery from downed networks: Consumers expect a high-quality user experience even when the network is down. OTT testing ensures the strength of your recovery plan and tests for possible network defects.How to conduct OTT testingSpeed, reliability, and quality of experience are the key elements of the OTT platform. The primary focus of effective OTT testing is to ensure a seamless user experience without any technical glitches or delays. To perform a full-fledged OTT quality test, you need to consider all infrastructure, network, and application components that include:UI/UX Testing: There are countless devices in the market, both hand-held and otherwise. An OTT platform needs to ensure a seamless application experience on all devices. The QA team should check for intuitive navigation, layout consistency throughout the platform, and functionality. And for the same reason, the user interface and experience should be highly flexible to accommodate a wide variety of devices. Therefore, UI/UX testing verification is a critical component to ensure a smooth user experience. Performance Testing: It is one of the most crucial elements in the OTT testing process. It allows the platform to take the heap of countless stream requests across the globe. Your platform should deliver flawless quality and experience at all times, especially content performance. Performance testing ensures that your platform upholds the stability, reliability, and responsiveness of the server, regardless of the stream requests and bandwidth issues.Load Testing: the number of users streaming media content is increasing every day, in fact, every minute. There are millions of users streaming one platform and all at the same time. Adding load testing in the test automation strategy helps you manage the high-demand scenarios. It also ensures that your application performs optimally, even under extreme loads.Stream Testing: The delivery of content ought to be as strong as it is expected if the service utilizes Adaptive Bit Rate. Adaptive streaming is a technology designed to deliver video in the most efficient way possible and the high quality for every user. It helps in adjusting the compression level and video quality to match the availability of the bandwidth. Localization Testing: As the OTT market grows globally, the demand for content localization has also increased big time as it helps in gaining more viewers. This has led to increased expectations of users as they want their online experience to adapt to their specific location. Localization testing is the key here. It tests for cultural relevance, linguistic accuracy, correct currency formatting, and customized symbols across different regions so that the customers can enjoy a highly personalized experience on the platform. Interoperability Testing: Cross-Browser/Cross-Platform/Cross-Device test ensures the consistent user experience across a wide range of devices, be it handheld mobile, Smart TV, or alike. This testing process ensures a seamless user experience continuously over a multitude of devices.Security Testing: While the OTT platform captures all account and payment information, and content viewed by users, consumer data security is highly important. The security OTT testing ensures that the content security frameworks are well managed across the platform. Some of the security frameworks include conditional access systems (CAS), digital rights management (DRM), and other exclusive frameworks.  In this cloud age, it is important for OTT platforms to convey the content safely using appropriate security measures. It ensures the safety of sensitive data such as bank account details, personal details, personalized content watching habits, and more. Network Testing: Carrying the service in low network areas, uncommon network conditions, and inadequate transmission capacity is crucial for OTT service providers. The network conditions can generate real-time circumstances under which the product viability can be verified. The service behavior needs to be simulated in different conditions like high or low bandwidth, lossy network, or similar conditions. OTT subscription Testing: There are certain scenarios when the OTT subscription support is logged in on multiple devices or a single device at a time, or subscription support of HD channels or SD or UHD. It is important to keep a check on these scenarios as the unexpected combination of subscriptions can lead to customer dissatisfaction.Start your OTT testing journey todayTo succeed in this brave new world of video, you need to offer an alchemy of content, high-end personalization, seamless technology integration, and most importantly, an appealing user experience.Considering these expectations, you should choose an end-to-end OTT testing service to ensure users a great escapade user experience. Because of high consumer expectations, a robust testing strategy is important to ensure the quality of user experience. This can be a demanding request for the manual testing process without sufficient testing tools and automation. On the other hand, test automation tackles all the QA testing needs for your OTT platform. With a best-in-class OTT testing strategy, you can enjoy these testing benefits:Test coverage maximization: Allow QA experts to distribute tests across a range of platform combinations and operating systems at a much faster rate. It ensures that your web services, database, and user interface are in line with the expectations of consumers. Cross-browser and device testing expedition: Manual testing for multiple devices and browsers can be a major drain on resources and time. With effective OTT testing techniques, automation workflows can be created for different browsers and devices along with detailed defect reports.Faster go-to-market time: Manual testing can lead to diminished quality and product delays. While test automation can remove barriers across the development cycle and help you launch a bug-free streaming platform on time.Improved scalability: Test automation allows your team to increase the number of test case executions across development cycles. It will help you rapidly scale end-to-end testing without requiring more human testers."

"Key metrics to track in Performance Testing: Did you know that over 59% of Fortune 500 companies experience a downtime of 1.6 hours every week? And it is costing your business a lot. Considering a Fortune 500 company with 10,000 employees pays $56 per hour, the cost to the company would be $896,000 weekly, translating to $46 million per year.In the age of tech-savvy customers, software applications are expected to perform every function accurately, quickly, without any hiccups. Today, everything revolved around application performance. Why Performance Testing Is Important? Imagine you are browsing an e-commerce website, scrolling through the website, choosing a product, and then, nothing happens. Is it heavy traffic? Is it a low internet connection? Why is the product page not loading? And just like that, the eCommerce website lost a potential customer. Load time is one such factor of performance. Many other performance testing factors matter to best-in-class application performance. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of performance testing metrics, let’s get a quick overview of performance testing first. What is Performance Testing? Performance Testing ensures the quality of the software application by eliminating the possible performance bottlenecks. The outcome of performance testing helps in finding the gaps between the actual result and the expected environment. To achieve maximum success, it is important to define key criteria that measure and compare the actual output of the software application. Here, key performance testing metrics come into play as they are the baseline for performance tests. The information obtained from the testing metrics helps in decreasing the error rate and provides excellent quality of the application. Monitoring the right parameters helps you understand the areas that require increased attention and find innovative ways to improve the application performance. What Are Performance Testing Metrics? Metric is a measurement gathered during the process of quality assurance. The performance metrics are used to calculate key parameters of performance and find out the weak areas of the application. In a nutshell, these metrics show the response of software to multiple user scenarios and handle the user flow in real-time. It helps in getting the clear output of the activities and finding out the areas of improvement. Why Are Performance Testing Metrics Important? Since performance testing plays a key role in the success of software applications, it is important to identify and evaluate the key metrics to achieve the best results. To achieve performance excellence, you need to define the milestones. Then, the parameters need to be measured that fall under the set milestones to estimate the output and compare it to the expected results. Therefore:Metrics help in tracking the project progress.They act as a baseline for the testing activities.With testing metrics, the quality assurance team can define the issues and evaluate them to find the solution.Tracking the metrics helps you to compare the test results and estimate the impact of code changes.What Includes in Performance Testing Metrics?Now when you know that performance testing metrics are a necessity for a successful software application, the next question is - what metrics need to be tracked? Well, it depends on the type of software, its core features, and business goals. So, here is the list of performance metrics with universal parameters you should track for every product. Response time: The time that passes from the moment of server request until the last byte is received from the server is considered as response time. This performance testing metric is measured in kilobytes per second (KB/sec).Requests per second: When the client application forms an HTTP request and sends it to a server, a response is generated and sent back to the client. The total consistent requests processed per second is a key performance metric - requests per second (RPS). These requests can be from multiple data sources including multimedia files, HTML pages, XML documents, JavaScript libraries, etc.User transactions: The user transactions are a sequence of user actions via the interface of the software. By comparing the expected time with the transaction time (number of transactions per second), you can evaluate the load performance of the software application.Virtual users per unit of time: This performance testing metric helps in finding out whether the software performance meets the expected requirements. It helps the QA team in estimating the average load and software behavior in different load conditions.Error rate: This metric evaluates the ratio of valid to invalid answers over time. Usually, the error occurs when the load exceeds its capacity. And the results are calculated in percentage.Wait time: This metric is also called average latency. It indicates how much time is passed from the moment a request is sent to the server until the first byte is received. Don’t confuse it with the response time - both consider different time frames.Average load time: A study indicated that over 40% of users expect to abandon a website if it takes over 3 seconds to load. This performance testing metric is the evaluation of the average time taken to deliver the request. It is one of the most important parameters to ensure the best product quality. Peak response time: This metric is similar to the average load time but the key difference is that the peak response time indicates the maximum time taken to fulfill a request. And it also shows that at least one of the components of software is problematic. That’s why this parameter is much more important than the average load time. Concurrent users: This metric is also known as load size and indicates the number of active users at any point.  It is one of the most widely used metrics to understand the software behavior under a specific number of virtual users. This performance testing metric is different from request per second as the quality assurance team does not generate consistent requests.Transactions passed/failed: This metric expresses the percentage of passed or failed requests against the total conducted tests. It is as critical as the load time for users and considered as one of the most evident metrics to ensure product performance.Throughput: Throughput shows the used bandwidth within the testing process. It indicates the maximum amount of data flowing through the network connection within a given amount of time. It is measured in KB/second.CPU utilization: This metric evaluates the time taken by the central processing unit to process the request at a given time.Memory utilization: This metric indicates the resources taken to process a request, in context to the physical memory on a specific device used for the tests.Total user sessions: This metric indicates the intensity of traffic over time. For example, the number of user sessions per month, depending on the time frame of the product. This data can feature the transferred bytes and the number of page views.Performance Testing Metrics: Parameters MonitoredEvaluating the performance of software, website, or application against predefined conditions needs the presence of key parameters under the performance testing metrics. The most important parameters monitored during the performance testing process includes:Processor Usage – The time spent by the processor to execute the non-idle threads.Disk time – The amount of time the disk is engaged in executing the request.Bandwidth – It shows the usage of bits per second by the network interface.Memory usage – The amount of physical memory used to process the requests.Private bytes – The number of bytes allocated to a specific process that can’t be shared among other processes. It measures memory usage and leaks.Page faults/second – The rate of processing the fault pages by the processor is evaluated. These page faults occur when the process requires code from elsewhere and retrieved from a disk.CPU interrupts per second – It is the average number of hardware interruptions received and processed by the processor each second.Disk queue length – It is the average number of requests lined up for the selected disk within a specific interval.Network output queue length – It is the length of output packets lined up in packets. Anything above two means that bottlenecks need to be handled.Network bytes total per second – It is the rate of sending and receiving the bytes on the application interface.Response time – It is the total time from the request until the first character of the response is received.Throughput – The rate of receiving the requests on a computer or network per second.Connection pooling – The number of user requests met by the pooled connections. More requests met by connections in the pool lead to better performance.Maximum active sessions – The total active number of sessions at once.Hit ratio – This evaluates the number of SQL statements handled by the cached data instead of expensive operations of input and output. It helps in resolving bottlenecking issues.Hits per second – The number of hits on the web server during every second of the load test.Database locks – Locking of databases and tables that are monitored and tuned carefully.Top waits – It determines the wait times that can be reduced when dealing with the retrieval of fast data from memory.Thread counts – It measures the application health by the number of active threads.Garbage collection – It evaluates the returning unused memory back to the system to increase the application efficiency. Types of Performance Testing The success of a website or application depends on its performance. This necessitates different types of performance testing to ensure best-in-class performance. The focus areas of performance testing include speed, scalability, and stability. Read on to know the various types of testing to validate the application performance against performance testing metrics.Load testing: This testing evaluates the performance of the system as the workload increases. The workload can be concurrent transactions or users. It consistently monitors the response time and system stability when the workload increases. Stress testing: This is also called fatigue or stress testing. It is meant to measure the system performance outside of the parameters of normal working conditions. The application is tested with more transactions or users that can be handled. This testing helps in understanding the point where software can fail and how it can be recovered.Spike testing: This type of testing evaluates the performance of software when the workload is increased repeatedly and quickly. As the name indicates, it measures the application performance when the workload is beyond usual expectations for a shorter time.Endurance testing: Endurance testing is also known as soak testing. It evaluates the software performance with a normal workload over an extended time. It aims to check the system problems such as memory leaks.  Scalability testing: This testing process determines the handling of increased workloads. It can be determined by adding to the data volume or user load gradually while monitoring the performance of the system. Moreover, the workload may stay the same while resources like memory and CPUs are changed.Volume testing: It is also known as flood testing as the test floods the data in the system. Volume testing determines the efficiency of software performance with a large amount of data. How to Track Testing Metrics Correctly? Tracking the metric just for the sake of testing is not a good idea. Metrics are not just the numbers to be written in the project reports. Like any other process of quality assurance, the performance testing metrics should be capable of answering specific questions and test hypotheses based on the business goals. In this case, metrics can drive positive changes. Below are the key principles to keep in mind if you want to use metrics for maximum benefits. Specify the business objectives of the client to come up with the performance requirements. Every feature should have a specific success metric - a single parameter or a range of parameters.Metrics should be correlated with the value delivered to the user - stability, functionality, speed, etc.Run multiple performance tests to track metrics, determine average indicators and get consistent findings. The individual units of software are tested separately. Multiple checks on services and databases should be done before joining them into a single application. Measure Key Performance Metrics Easily with QAonCloudAs you get started with the performance testing process, QAonCloud has all the tools and processes you need to ensure the flawless performance of your application. We help you to quickly get started and:Save resources by automating the performance testing process.Save time by building load tests from pre-configured templates in just a few clicks.Understand the performance of the server by visualizing the effects with real-time monitoring.Analyze the results by collecting advanced performance testing metrics and benchmarking them.Reuse the existing test cases for increased efficiency and performance of the application.By measuring performance testing metrics, you can avoid costly downtime during peak usage and ensure the best user experience. QAonCloud can make the whole process easier and better from start to finish. Schedule a FREE DEMO with our performance engineers to walk through all the features and benefits of our testing solution. Get started with QAonCloud today."

"Scalability Testing is a type of load testing which is also non-functional software testing. This testing methodology involves various applications and infrastructures that are studied for performance under increased or decreased workload. This testing measures the applicant's ability or performance and deploys its resources to ensure a great user experience. This test demonstrates the system's ability to adapt to changes. It ensures that the system adapts to the requirements and offers smooth performance for users while optimizing development and various operational costs. Scalability testing is performed on a system that can expand until it fails. The use of this testing helps in presuming a system's weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, It pinpoints the exact reasons for a system's failure during scaling up or down. How scalability testing is performed When a developer develops an application, he is only aware of how an application would work in the ideal scenario compared to the real world. With Scalability testing, testers make it easier to handle any defects and help in keeping apps running smoothly. It determines the scale of the real-time potential & full potential of a system. The testers usually draft test scenarios to force the system to meet new requirements. Moreover, they execute the test at regular intervals, document & record the results to detect errors. The obtained data & actionable insights are communicated effectively with the relevant stakeholders. Design a comprehensive test script that accurately depicts the users' actions and behavior. Define the variable data that is implemented in the testing process because scalability testing involves data-driven tests. All the data should be accurate for best results; therefore, the run-time data used to interact with the applications during the testing should also be as precise as possible. Step By Step process Define a process that can be iterated for executing scalability tests throughout the application tenure. Determine the domain for Scalability. Shortlist the software tools needed to run the load test Set the testing environment & configure the hardware to execute scalability tests. Plan the test scenarios (demo) as well as Scalability Tests Create and verify the visual script. Create and verify the load test scenarios. Execute the tests. Evaluate the results. Generate required reports. What constraints/issues of mobile application are tested in scalability testing Smartphones coupled with mobile apps usage has increased rapidly and has inevitably caused considerable problems for developers. Every mobile app's capability, design, and reliability has raised the bar for every user. The users no longer accept simple or substandard mobile apps; therefore, Organisations are putting a robust automation framework to face impossible challenges. Fragmentation, Usability, and Connectivity are measured in developing a system or an app for mobile. App performance varies significantly between various networks so that users can enjoy flawless performance. Scalability Testing strategy balances the defects during the development of the mobile apps treating usability as a critical priority without neglecting functionality. What to test in Scalability Testing? The prominent Scalability Testing Attributes are as follows: Response Time Screen transition Throughput Time Analysis Performance measurement with several users Network Usage CPU / Memory Usage Web Server Response Performance measurement under load. Benefits of scalability testing Many benefits are observed when Scalability Tests are implemented into the development and software testing process. 1. Improves User experience Advanced technology has changed users' expectations and dynamics forever. Therefore, testing scalability helps determine user experience under heavy load when the system is subjected to the stress of upscaling. Scalability Tests help check responsiveness, overall performance, improve application performance metrics, and boost customer experience. 2. Lower Infrastructure Cost During testing an application or a system, it is essential to observe the expenses involved with upgrading or downgrading. Scaling up apps increases the cost. Even with cloud computing, containers, and serverless computing, one must consider the expenses as they scale up. Testing frees the resources to mitigate the expenses accordingly. 3. Faster time to Resolution with Lower Expenses Prioritizing Scalability Testing will save money, fix bugs, and automates systems. Therefore, correcting errors in the testing phase is easier and cheaper than in the production phase. Fixing defects in a production phase cost more when compared to a testing phase. It improves the system by making it sustainable to handle the burst load and sudden increase in traffic with little or no notice. Popular scalability testing tools Scalability testing tools depend on the application the user wants to test. There are various tools available in the market, and a few tools are as follows: LoadUI Pro LoadNinja Apache Jmeter Load View Neo Load Load Impact Blitz Loader Every Scalability testing tool has its unique features to test the Scalability of an application. However, every organization is bound by few environmental factors that are necessary for an application. Such factors can be affected while choosing a scalability testing tool to test a system. Testers need a reliable test tool to handle heavy load under various scenarios created. Approaches of Scalability Testing There are two approaches to Scalability testing - 1. Horizontal Scaling: Physical machines and resources are involved in reducing the load on each device or resource. It consists in increasing the number of nodes instead of increasing the capacity; therefore, the load is distributed between the old and newly added resources. Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon, etc., perform the Horizontal Scaling because they have large projects/ applications running in a multi-node, distributed environment. They require a high level of computing and can be achieved using clustered, load-balancing, and distributed file systems. Theoretically, it is easier to perform horizontal scaling by adding the resources in the existing system, but practically, it is very tough to Scale-Out the application. 2. Vertical Scaling: Vertical scaling increases the power of machines in CPU, RAM, Disk to the server. Vertical scaling can be like adding more CPUs to the same single server. With the increase in load, the system's performance starts going downhill, but to maintain the efficiency of the system, vertical scaling is applied. Vertical scaling is applied for small applications where the load's performance can improve by increasing the capacity and size (scale) of already used resources. In vertical scaling, data is stored on a single node in one place, and the load is divided between several CPUs and memory through multi-node. Advantages and Disadvantages of Scalability Testing Advantages Below provided are some of the advantages of Scalability testing: Scalability testing determines the end-user experience under the specific load, and corrective measures are taken in advance to rectify any problems and make the application or system more scalable. Response time, Network Usage, CPU Usage, etc., can be used to determine web applications' web response and limitations. Rigorous testing is conducted on a system before releasing it into the production environment to reduce the risk of a massive loss of money and the company's reputation due to the bad performance of an application. Scalability testing helps uncover multiple defects during the testing phase. It is economical if detected in the testing environment rather than the production environment. Effective tool utilization tracking happens when the testing is deployed. Disadvantages The testing environment produces more defects due to various issues in a system. Therefore, the production environment is different from a testing environment. Deploying advanced testing tools involves much more finances causing an over budget of the project. Time spent on every test case increases with detailed testing procedures. Therefore, deploying a scalability testing process may sometimes cause a delay in meeting the project's deadlines. The wrong testing process can lead to failed test cases in the testing phase. The test scenarios and test scripts need to be changed, leading to a waste of time making unnecessary changes. Defects cannot be detected in a narrow test window; therefore, critical defects remain undetected, resulting in project failure. Final note Scalability testing is desirable in software testing process because it helps avoid any issue or problem in daily business operations. It is a part of testing process in most software development teams in order to test how the application handles increase in user traffic, data volume, and transaction counts. It includes a separate team of professionals and testers who are resourceful with strong analytical skills. It differs from organization to organization and from application to application. To sum it up, any application or infrastructure needs to be versatile enough to withstand the ever-growing dynamic requirements of the users. Implementing Scalability Testing helps in identifying fluctuations, upwards or downwards, performance metrics, or site degradation. Using Scalability Testing regularly helps in meeting business goals and smooth functioning. There are no shortcuts to ensure complete customer satisfaction and brand awareness while reducing any infrastructure costs at the same time. QAonCloud Scalability testing tools are flexible and robust enough; they perform the test most efficiently with solid reporting and analytics implementation."

"API Testing Strategy: 2020 has already earned the title of “disruption decade”. Most organizations around the globe are identifying new ways to survive and thrive in the new normal. Whether your organization has started the digital transformation journey years ago, or you have just started, APIs have become the glue of the digital landscape.Don’t believe us?Let the numbers speak.A report by MarketsandMarkets indicated that the global API testing market size is expected to grow from USD 384.3 Million in 2016 to USD 1,099.1 Million by 2022, at a compounded annual growth rate of 19.7% in 5 years. Undoubtedly, investing more effort and time in API testing strategy is a must-have to dominate the market with good performance, reliability, and security.APIs are everywhereFrom online shopping to business applications, APIs are used everywhere. Currently, there are hundreds and thousands of APIs working for social messaging, payments, ecommerce, finance, and many other categories covering everything we do with the applications. Real-world examples of API testingOrdering in restaurants: You visit a restaurant, sit at your table, and place the order. Now, the waiter will come and take a note of your order. So, you are requesting the order from the waiter and the waiter is responding with the order he gets in the kitchen and serves you. In this case, the interface between you and the kitchen is the waiter. Similarly, API is an interface that carries out the application requests and ensures that it is getting done. Ride sharing app: Another example is UBER. Once the application is loaded, it provides you the ability to log in and continue with Google and Facebook. In this case, third-party applications like Google and Facebook are exposing a certain level of user information. Uber can also share locations by using Google Maps. It means that there is an agreement between Google/Facebook/Maps and Uber through API integration.Travel booking: Another most common real-life example is the travel booking system. Take Make my trip for example. You enter the destination, select the dates, click on search, and you get the results from different airlines. How Make my trip is communicating with all these airline websites? That’s all through APIs. It enables the Make my trip site to expose some level of information from multiple airlines and display it to the end user.What is API testing?The Application Program Interface (API) is a set of protocols, processes, tools, and routines for building and maintaining critical software applications. It is a user interface that allows software applications to communicate with other applications and is used while programming the components of the graphical user interface (GUI). API testing strategy assures the quality of the application that includes sending API calls, getting the desired output, validating the response of the system against the defined input parameters, inaccuracy of data and data formats, error codes, and HTTP status codes. The testing process starts at the earliest stage and continues until the production release. SOAP vs REST API TestingAPIs can utilize different architectures like SOAP and REST to transfer the data from the server to the client. Although REST is quite popular these days, it is important to understand both styles of communication. Here is a comparison table to highlight the key differences between the two API styles.API StylesSOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)REST (Representational State Transfer)DesignStandardized protocols with predefined rulesArchitectural style with flexible guidelines and recommendationsApproachFunction-drivenData-drivenCachingAPI calls cannot be cachedAPI calls can be cachedPerformanceRequires high-level computing power and bandwidthRequires minimal resourcesSecurityWS-Security with SSL supportSupports SSL and HTTPSBenefitsHigh extensibility, security, and standardized systemHigh scalability and flexibility, browser-friendliness, better performanceDrawbacksLess flexibility, poor performance, more complexityLess securityTypes of API TestingAPIs have become the center of software development and a source of connecting and transferring data and logic across disparate applications and systems. While there are specific types of tests that can be conducted to improve the efficiency of API testing strategy, most tests fit broadly into one of these categories. Let us explore the types of testing and their testing software stage.Type of TestingStage of softwareUnit testing and integration testingDevelopment StagePerformance and Load TestingAs early as possible as these steps take timeRuntime error detection and security testingOngoing processesInteroperability and fuzz testingTesting stageValidation TestingUser Acceptance TestingUnit TestingThe tests are written to run with each build of the application automatically. It is written close to the code and should pass while running the build of the application.Integration TestingAPIs work to integrate various parts of a system and all of this integration requires a relevant testing process. Integration testing ensures that the application takes the correct parameters with correct constraints while logically sanitizing the incoming traffic.Performance testingPerformance testing is a non-functional process that is often overlooked. Performance testing takes everything into account including the traffic spikes, multiple heavy processes running simultaneously, and interfering with one another.Load testingLoad testing is similar to performance testing as the primary goal is to emulate production without creating any traffic spikes. The production should be emulating a constant steady stream of traffic at a normal rate. It ensures that the APIs do not have any memory leaks or other similar defects that can cause issues after running for a prolonged time.Runtime error detectionWhile conducting all of these tests, it is important to ensure that runtime error detection is enabled. This testing allows the APIs to report any defects that occur while it is in process.Security testingThis testing is very important but needs to ensure that proper testing occurs based on risk analysis. Security testing focuses on several aspects of the API testing strategy. The entry points of APIs need to be taken into account along with the data flow and shadow APIs. Interoperability testingWorking with third-party software providers cannot be taken for granted. It is important to create a section in the testing process that describes the overall testing process. The priority and severity of potential defects need to be discussed based on prior experiences and defines how API testing occurs when the APIs interact with third-party applications.Fuzz testsBefore validating the application, it is important to fuzz all the endpoints of APIs. In the fuzzing process, the random data is sent to the API endpoints and the results are inspected carefully. The server should not crash from this unexpected traffic and should not display any unexpected behavior.Validation TestingThe validation testing ensures that the application meets the business requirements. The test execution results need to match the expectations according to the test plan. The testers will subsequently guide the business users in user acceptance testing under which they ensure the stakeholders execute the pre-built testing scenario and report the deviations.Test cases for API TestingValidation of keys with the minimum and maximum range of APIsVerification of keys. If we have JSON, XML APIs, it is vital to verify that all the keys are coming.Test cases to conduct schema validation of JSON, XMLVerification of response dataVerification of JSON schema validation, field type, and mandatory fieldsValidity of response headers and negative test cases responseVerification of response HTTP status codeVerification of the handling of APIs error codesVerification of data parameters and APIsValidation of response payloadData integrity test casesVerification of chaining requestEnd to end CRUD flowsFile upload test casesCreating API Test scenarios and test matricesIn the scenario testing technique, the individual component tests are assembled into a single sequence. There are two common techniques to obtain the sequence.Review the story of the user to identify the individual API calls.Exercise the user interface to capture the traffic to the underlying APIs.Scenario tests allow you to understand the occurrence of errors and defects by combing the different data points together. For example, a bank employs a series of services to call the financial profile, credit cards, available bank accounts, and recent transactions. Every API call works well individually, but when they are put together in sequence, they start failing. Scenario testing can validate expected behavior when APIs are being used in unexpected ways. To safeguard the application defects, you can create multiple scenario tests with different API combinations. The component tests are the backbone of scenario testing and help in reducing the time spent on the testing process.Check out the most common test cases within the general test scenario groups.Basic positive tests (happy paths) - Checks the basic functionality and acceptance criteria of the API.Extended positive testing with optional parameters - The positive tests are further extended to include additional functionalities and optional parameters.Negative testing with valid and invalid input - In this group of tests, the application is expected to handle the problem scenarios gracefully with valid as well as invalid user inputs.Destructive testing - It is a deeper form of negative testing where the robustness of the API is checked by intentionally breaking the API. For example, sending a huge payload body to overflow the system.Test flowsAPI testing flows involve multiple input sources like databases, HTML, mobile, data files, Telnet/SSH, RESTful APIs, and more. A test automation platform like QAonCloud allows not only testing APIs manually but also to complete end-to-end API-based test flows, schedule and run tests automatically, get execution reports seamlessly. Let’s understand different types of test flows:Testing requests in isolation – Executing a single API request and checking the response accordingly. Such basic tests are the minimal building blocks we should start with, and there’s no reason to continue testing if these tests fail.Multi-step workflow with several requests – Testing a series of requests which are common user actions, since some requests can rely on other ones. For example, we execute a POST request that creates a resource and returns an auto-generated identifier in its response. We then use this identifier to check if this resource is present in the list of elements received by a GET request. Then we use a PATCH endpoint to update new data, and we again invoke a GET request to validate the new data. Finally, we DELETE that resource and use GET again to verify it no longer exists.Combined API and web UI tests – This is mostly relevant to manual testing, where we want to ensure data integrity and consistency between the UI and API. We execute requests via the API and verify the actions through the web app UI and vice versa. The purpose of these integrity test flows is to ensure that although the resources are affected via different mechanisms the system still maintains expected integrity and consistent flow.An API example and a test matrixThe below matrix explains the detailed test plan (for manual testing or test automation). The test cases should cover multiple test flows according to the resources, needs, and priorities of the API testing strategy. Let us assume that /users endpoint is a subset of our API, that includes the following API calls. API Call Action GET /users List all users GET /users?name=?{username} Get user by username GET /users/{id} Get user by ID GET /users/{id}/configurations Get all configurations for user POST /users/{id}/configurations Create a new configuration for user DELETE /users/{id}/configurations/{id} Delete configuration for user PATCH /users/{id}/configuration/{id} Update configuration for user API Testing Best PracticesCreate API test cases for maximum possible input combinations of the APIGroup the API Test cases by test categoryInclude the API declarations being called on the top of every testPrioritize the API function calls to make it easier for testersThe selection of parameters should be mentioned explicitly within the test caseEvery test case should be independent and self-containedAvoid the test chaining process in the development lifecycleThe sequencing of API calls should be well planned and performedTake special care of handling one-time call functions like Close Window, Delete, and alikeInclude the API workflows and involve all stakeholders in the creation of the requirements.What is API Documentation?API documentation is a technical content deliverable, that contains the instructions about using and integrating APIs effectively. It is a concise reference manual with all the information required to work with the API such as classes, functions, arguments, return types, functions, and more. The API documentation is made by using regular content creation, text editors, and maintenance tools. While documentation is the basis for a good experience of the developer, it also increases the adoption and usage of the application. API Documentation Technical TipsStandards - OpenAPI specification standard to help you generate documentation. It is language-agnostic and enables automated code generation for API endpoints.Authentication - Explain in detail the security of credentials. A sample authentication code will be helpful.Error handling - Document the communication of error information by API and ways to fix the problems.HTTP requests and response details - List the status codes, types of content, and caching mechanisms.Examples - Give examples of how the API call requests are made and what will be the subsequent action.Parameters - Provide a clear description of every parameter and its values like formats, types, and rules.Start Testing Your APIs with QAonCloud TodayNow when you know that API testing strategy is crucial for the overall success of API product lifecycle. Using the right method and tools allows you to test concurrently, making teams more efficient. Always remember that every application or product will have missing interactions, errors, or defects, but organizations need to provide a highly secure and scalable application. An effective API testing strategy is the most reliable way to achieve this goal. From protecting the users from malicious code to maximizing efficiency, QAonCloud can transform your overall application experience. We provide the most comprehensive API testing automation capabilities while ensuring that the APIs perform as intended, meet the desired timeframes and requirements, and team skills. Ready to get started with API testing and take the digital world by storm? Get a Free consultation to understand how we can help you take your business to new heights."

"Performance Engineering in the Digital Era: After 2020, your business is either digital or does not exist. Yes, it is evident that digital presence has become the key to survival in the current era. COVID-19 has rapidly changed the way we work, communicate, and socialize while leaving us with the challenge of making significant changes in a matter of days. Take a glimpse of COVID-19 driven digital adoption rates. Why is Performance Important For Your products Today, most organizations have accelerated their pace of digital adoption irrespective of their understanding and outlook towards digital transformation in the pre-pandemic times. Although organizations are speeding up their digital initiatives and investing in relevant tools and technologies, there is not enough attention to the performance side of digital initiatives. If digital is a survival requisite, the digital application experience is a necessity for business reputation, resilience, ROI, and customer satisfaction. If an application has an amazing user interface and innovative features but lacks good execution - it is bound to fail.  In a nutshell, digital transformation can be the front-facing need for businesses but performance is the driver that ensures the success of the digital transformation efforts of the organization. The Performance Engineering Perspective of Digital Transformation Gone are the days when software and application testing was all about checking functional bugs. Today, the non-functional elements like load handling, security and vulnerability issues, user experience are on the rise. Whether your team needs to serve more mobile users on an application, or you are shifting from an in-house cloud solution to a third-party solution provider, everything should be well tested, and optimized with the right strategy. What is Performance Engineering? Performance issues just don’t happen. They are designed within the application. Well, that is not because the software engineers are malicious, it’s because they are human beings. They make some assumptions about the software while writing the code. And it is not possible for them to know how the system will perform and where bottlenecks will turn up when they start coding the software. Here the concept of performance engineering comes into the picture. “Performance engineering is all about improving the speed and efficiency of the product while embedding the key performance decisions into design, architecture, and implementation.” The performance engineering process lets you understand the product fall-backs in the very early phase of the software development lifecycle. It allows seamless collaboration between tools, processes, and teams via continuous feedback loops while preventing expensive changes later down the line. A proactive focus will result in saving your valuable time and cost while boosting the value of the product, from business as well as user perspectives. How is Performance Engineering Different from Performance Testing? Key Performance Areas Performance Engineering Performance Testing Time to market Faster as the fallbacks are identified in the early stages. Slower as the testing is performed after the release of the product. Test coverage More time to work gradually as it is a continuous process. Limited validation scenarios due to budget and time constraints. Approach A proactive approach that works with development and testing parallelly. Reactive after other testing levels. Utilization High as the team works in collaboration. Low as different teams work on various tasks and cannot collaborate properly. Early detection of issues High as the issues are identified and resolved during the script development process. Low as issues are identified after the end of all other testing processes. Time dedication No requirement for dedicated time. Dedicated time is required for knowledge transfer as there is no or little collaboration among teams. Why Do You Need Performance Engineering? Software engineers have been stumbling over hundreds and thousands of assumptions since the dawn of programming. For example, ten years ago, an online airline ticketing system offered very limited services. You could only search for flights and buy tickets online, but only if you were on the right browser. Today, everything is so seamless. In addition to purchasing a ticket, you can check-in, book a seat, pay for additional baggage, choose a meal, manage your account, and much more. There is a basic need to support all popular browsers, mobile devices, as well as mobile apps. These new features and frameworks have to work well with the back-end code to manage the system while meeting all the performance requirements. A crash of even a few minutes can cause a loss of thousands or millions of dollars. While finding and resolving the source of error in a complex system can take a lot of time and cost. This means the managed performance of the application and user experience needs to be incorporated throughout the software lifecycle, not only when it is first launched. With a growing number of applications, performance engineering ensures regular testing, as well as on-demand testing to ensure the quality of the existing application as well as every additional integration. The performance engineering methodologies align perfectly with agile processes to address the issues earlier in the development process. Can Performance Engineering Replace Performance Testing? There is a lot more to performance engineering than the testing process. It enables you to understand how all the components of the system fit together, knowing what performance metrics matter, and building the right user experience right from the initial stage. Performance engineering practices are a broad set of processes as compared to testing.  You can easily please customers, support employees, and boost revenues. Here's why performance engineering will never replace performance testing. 1. Vital for the bottom line Did you know that the average cost of network downtime is over $5,600 per minute and amounts to over $300,000 per hour? Until your site is up and running again, there are high possibilities that consider a switch to your competitor. The consistent performance support allows you to safeguard data loss and public embarrassment due to a system crash. 2. Time to monitor performance properly The performance testers lack the support to repair defective environments. While the overall performance is monitored from the initial stage of the development cycle. The performance engineering environment monitors the system to identify the scope of better experience and implement the required changes on a regular basis. 3. Objectivity and independence Just like you would not expect a writer to review their work, you cannot get the design and testing of the software application by performance testers. Here, the impartial insights are provided into the application to ensure the best-in-class performance. 4. Performance metrics Performance testing can track the server throughput, concurrent user loads, browser performance to assess the overall quality. But mostly, testers rely on their creativity and intelligence to match the expectations of end-users. Therefore, performance engineering has a phased approach to ensure a high-performing application in the long run. 5. Efficient reporting While the testers need to assess the performance and make reports, the performance engineering methods measure the experience of individual layers, including the web server, application server, network etc. When performance engineering is done right, it is surely going to improve the planning of deployment time with high-quality products. In addition, it reduces the business costs arising out of unforeseen issues. A clear and step-by-step testing approach ensures that organizations move towards better web applications and mobile experiences. The Right Approach to Performance Engineering  The performance engineering practices should align well with the metrics that really matter to businesses. While testing identifies the gaps, the onus of architecting it correctly lies on the engineering team with proactive actions from the quality assurance team. Let us explore the standard approach to a performance engineering culture. Understanding of performance risks:  It is important to understand the performance expectations of customers from the application. It helps in identifying the potential risks and assessing the damage it can cause. Then, these risks are ranked in terms of probability of the risk occurring, severity for proper resolution. Establishment of performance objectives: Set quantitative objectives to control and assess the efforts. However, it is important to set realistic objectives considering the number of requests received by the system. Set the parameters that matter: Consider the viewpoint of multiple stakeholders and accordingly, consider the parameters that matter to the customers and business. It is vital to ask pertinent questions related to response time, bottlenecks in a multi-user environment, etc. It helps in understanding the real user environment and its challenges to ensure a quality user experience. Early focus: The early focus on performance helps in gaining real-time insights into architectural issues, and optimize the multi-user application before it goes live. Besides faster deployment, it is extremely important to deliver uncompromised quality. Architecture assessment: As you implement performance engineering, it is also vital to assess the architecture. It is recommended to process the architecture based on reusability, reliability, scalability, and quick modification. Automation: Implementing automation throughout the testing process helps in getting faster and better performance results. You can yield better coverage by implementing the automation based on multiple scenarios the application might face. Don’t wait to start your performance engineering journey with QAonCloud. Our team consistently checks and validates the capabilities at the time of developing and scaling the product. Getting the right process and architecture will help you achieve a high-quality product. Plus, it reduces performance costs arising out of unforeseen issues. Talk to our experts to move towards achieving performance engineering now."

"Gone are the days when web standards were a mess, with limited browser support. Well, you must have encountered an issue with the website and on calling the technical team, they tell you to try the same website in another browser. And it works pretty fine for you. So, is it your fault or lack of your technical expertise? The answer is “NO”. It’s just that the website is not extensively tested with cross-browser testing tools and lacks compatibility with some browsers. Every browser interprets the information and presents it on the website in a different manner. Some browsers may lack the features you are trying to display on your website that makes your website look broken on the browser. Just like the below example image indicates different responses of the same website. The errors of sign-up forms are different on both browsers. Today, the web scenario is entirely different and in fact, much better. All thanks to open-source cross-browser testing tools. "Any software tool is considered as open source if you can use and modify over the original design. The open-source tools don't have a commercial license but serves the specific purpose of testing." With the next-gen technologies and tools, it is now possible to make your website work perfectly on all web and mobile browsers. The users should not be restricted to use any browser to access your website. Some of the commonly used browsers include Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera. That being the background story, let’s understand the “What, why, how, who, when, where” of cross-browser testing. Why is Cross Browser Testing Important? Imagine that you are trying to access a website or app from MacBook Air. You open the Safari browser and type the URL, enter, and wait for the website to load. When it gets open, none of the images and media files gets loaded. All the text and buttons are over the web page. You check for internet connectivity and reload the page on the same screen. If it still does not open, you will assume that the site has some issue or is broken. Now, the next obvious step is to find an alternative. This is where open-source cross-browser testing tools come into the picture. The testing process ensures that the website and apps work in a smooth and uniform manner on all the browsers and devices used by your customers - Browsers - Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc. Operating systems - Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, etc. Devices - Laptop, tablet, mobile, desktop, smart TV, etc. Here is what you need to check with cross-browser testing. CSS and HTML validation Special characters with HTML Character encoding Page validation with and without JavaScript enabled Ajax and JQuery functionality Font Size Page layout in different resolutions Images and alignment Header and footer sections Page content alignment to center, LHS, or RHS Page styles Date formats Page zoom-in and zoom-out functionality Hence, it is required to check the performance, user interface, and overall compatibility of the applications on all these combinations. Cross-browser testing helps to provide a high-quality and consistent experience across all browsers, operating systems, and devices. How to Perform Cross-Browser Testing? Now we started talking. So, cross-browser testing can be performed through the manual process or automated testing methods. Let’s understand both the choices. Manual Method Manual testing is performed by checking the website on multiple browsers, machines, and operating systems. Then, the same test cases need to be performed again to observe the behavior of the application and report bugs. Clearly, it will lead to increased efforts, time, and investment. Moreover, it is not possible to cover many browsers. Automated Method This process runs the same set of test cases multiple times on different browsers. This eliminates the manual processes and repetition of tasks. This, automation method is more time and cost effective to perform automation method with ready-to-use cross-browser testing tools. Let’s explore the top tools to make cross-browser testing easier. Best Cross-Browser Testing Tools 1. BrowserStack Live BrowserStack Live is a cross-browser testing tool available for mobile and desktop browsers. This tool does not require any installation and starts at $29 per month after the free trial period. It allows you to set up a testing environment with proxies, firewalls, and Active Directory support. BrowserStack Live also supports multiple versions of Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and macOS. The cloud platform is a helpful tool to test your website on real mobile devices running different operating systems. Benefits of BrowserStack Live: Start testing on real devices on the cloud Does not require virtual machines to run the tests Supports a wide variety of mobile device browsers Drawbacks of BrowserStack Live: Poor response time Can miss bugs that could not be identified on real devices 2. LambdaTest LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing platform for web apps and websites. It allows you to conduct interactive testing in real browser environments or run automated Selenium testing scripts. Commercially, LambdaTest starts at $15 per month for browser testing. The mobile and web testing start at $99 per month. Benefits of LambdaTest: Provides a limited-time free version that allows you to perform 6 testing sessions. Open-source cross-browser testing tool that supports desktop and mobile browsers Provides an online grid for Selenium test automation Drawbacks of LambdaTest: Not available on Linux 3. CrossBrowserTesting CrossBrowserTesting is a user-friendly testing platform that allows you to perform cross-browser testing on multiple browsers including mobile platforms. It is available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu. You can easily run visual, manual, and Selenium tests on more than 2050 real mobile and desktop browsers. The tool starts from $29 per month for one user and unlimited testing capabilities are offered at $100 per month for two users. Benefits of CrossBrowserTesting: Supports a wide range of browsers and their respective versions Appropriate for the quick testing process Provide an option to choose the screen resolution and operating system Provides free trial version Drawbacks of CrossBrowserTesting: High price, especially for large projects Unavailable on Linux 4. Sauce Labs Sauce Labs is a cloud-based platform for testing mobile and web applications. It offers instant access to thousands of operating systems, mobile emulators, simulators, browsers, and real devices. The pricing for manual cross-browser testing starts at $39 per month (allows one test at a time), manual and automated testing starts at $149 per month (allows one test at a time). Real mobile devices testing starts at $199 per month. The tool supports multiple browsers including Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. Benefits of Sauce Labs: Allows testing mobile browsers on real devices Wide selection of real devices, emulators, and simulators Latest browser versions support Free trial version Drawbacks of Sauce Labs: Very high price and raises the cost of development 5. Turbo.net Turbo.net allows you to test your website on multiple versions of web browsers without creating many virtual machines. It also allows you to perform multiple tests without any dependencies or conflicts via isolated sandboxes. Turbo.net works well with the latest versions of browsers including Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Canary, Chromium, Firefox Nightly, Internet Explorer, and more. To use this cross-browser testing tool, you need to install a browser plug-in or download its desktop application. The tool is currently available only for Windows and starts at $19 per month. Benefits of Turbo.net: Supports latest versions of browsers Provides a free version Functional testing can be performed seamlessly Supports mobile browsers of Firefox and Opera Drawbacks of Turbo.net: Not available on macOS and Linux 6. Digital.ai  Digital.ai offers multiple testing solutions including manual and automated cross-browser testing. This platform is cloud-based and allows cross-browser testing on the desktop version of browsers. The cross-browser testing tool provides extended browser support for Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, macOS, iOS, and Android. With Digital.ai, you can test mobile and desktop browsers securely, even in a staging environment by connecting with a secure tunnel. The pricing of the tool starts at $9 per month per user for manual testing and $39 per month per user for automated testing. Benefits of Digital.ai: Allows hundreds of parallel tests Allows mobile testing for real devices Provides free version for manual testing Allows you to access visual reports with log files, videos, and screenshots Drawbacks of Digital.ai: Unavailable on Linux 7. Browsershots, a completely free open source cross browser testing tool Browsershots is one of the free tools for cross-browser testing. Browsershots is an open-source cross-browser tool to test websites in any operating system and browser. You can easily run cross-compatibility tests with great customization options like color depth, browser type, operating system, the status of JavaScript, and flash settings. Browsershot also allows you to take website screenshots in more than 60 browsers and multiple operating systems. By simply inputting a URL and viewing the screenshots, you can get a quick understanding of how your website looks on different browsers. Benefits of Browsershots: Free tool Multiple browser testing practices Easy option to view several side-by-side screenshots Drawbacks of Browsershots: Cannot directly interact with the browsers as they are simply referenced screenshots 8. IE Tab This cross-browser testing tool allows you to easily view your web page with a single click. With the IE tab, you can view a web page in multiple browsers without switching from one browser to another. The tool is well compatible with Firefox or Chrome browsers. IE tab is one of the best compatibility testing tool that supports internet configuration. It allows you to customize multiple settings like the internet and security can be set automatically or manually. Benefits of IE tab: View web pages in multiple browsers without any switching hassles Allows you to open tabs emulating Internet Explorer Drawbacks of IE tab: Not available for Firefox 6.0 and above version Every tool in the list helps you enhance your testing strategy and perform cross-browser testing. But you need to choose the best tool, pick the one that best suits your unique business requirements. How To Choose the Best Cross Browser Testing Tool? Now when we know the importance of cross-browser testing and available tools in the market, it is time to choose the best tool and get started with a best-in-class user experience. Here are the key considerations while choosing the best tool for the cross-browser testing process. The support of devices, operating systems, and browsers need to be verified. The tool should support the maximum possible combinations. If there is a new release of the browser, the testing tool should be able to accommodate the latest version too. Third-party integration support with Nightwatch, Jenkins, existing Selenium code, etc. The tools should support parallel testing to ensure the testing of a huge number of environment combinations. This feature is available with cloud-based open-source cross-browser testing tools. The tool should provide support for emulators, simulators, and real devices. There should be a technical support team to extend prompt support in the testing process. Automating Cross Browser Testing with QAonCloud In this post, we have covered all the key aspects of cross-browser testing and popular cross-browser testing tools. But if you don’t want to get into the hassles of manual testing and choosing the right tool, QAonCloud provides an easy option to make your cross-browser testing experience hassle-free, secure yet effortless. At QAonCloud, we strive for the best-in-class quality and are dedicated to enhancing your product quality. Our cloud-based cross-browser testing tool provides access to thousands of real devices, browsers, and environments. Contact us to start your cross-browser testing journey and enhance your product quality. Below are some key benefits of choosing QAonCloud. Automation script written in plain English. Hence, it does not require prior coding knowledge and skills. We can start running the test cases immediately. Get free from the license and installation hassles of operating systems, software, etc. All the environments can be easily accessed on the cloud. Allows to add multiple testing environments and run parallel testing to save effort and time. Supports third-party integration with key business applications and tools. There is no need to scale up or down the testing infrastructure according to varied testing needs. QAonCloud provides a highly scalable infrastructure to all the available environments. The functional and visual testing is also conducted to test the user interface, the latest application image to the baselined image to report the difference. Customizable and detailed reporting according to your requirements. Expert technical support team to provide you with the best solutions."

"Let’s start this post with 3 amazing mobile app facts: Fact #1 – In the second half of 2016, only 23% of mobile apps were used after being installed.* Fact #2 – 95% of installed mobile apps are deleted within the first month.* Fact #3 – Over 87% of users spend their time on apps and the rest of the people use browsers to use an app.* So, mobile apps are an everyday matter for users. Everyone wants to use mobile apps for their daily activities. But do you really need to download an app to own it? When you consider how easily and quickly you can install something like a flashlight app on your device, it makes you wonder about the benefits of keeping apps on your device. Well, it is unlikely that you will need every mobile app all the time. As long as you can access an app when you need it the most, what is the benefit of having it on your mobile and taking up the device space? Android Instant Apps is the answer to this dilemma. Since the launch of Instant Apps in May 2017, it has taken over the mobile app development world. But to be able to publish your app as an instant app, you need to conduct a Google play instant testing process. Whenever a mobile app is launched, the developer has certain goals such as generating user traffic, increasing revenues, getting high ratings, providing benefits to users, etc. Getting the app in front of a large audience could also be an important goal of your app. If you want to achieve a lot more than this, Android Instant Apps can help you big time. Instant app feature makes your mobile app discoverable from multiple locations such as – URLs, Google search results, social media posts, emails, YouTube comments, etc. Well, there are a lot of things to know about Instant apps and Google play instant testing. Let’s go step by step. What are Instant Apps? Instant apps are Android applications that need not be downloaded from the play store or installed on the user device. These apps are designed to save storage space on the device and deep link the users to the specific function of apps. Currently, they are only available for Android. It works as an instance of the app on the play store that can be used with a single click. This gives a native user experience without even downloading or installing the mobile app. The users can simply click on the “Try Now” button to start using the app. Use Cases for Google Play Instant Apps Once you build the mobile app and complete the process of Google play instant testing, you are all set to launch the instant app on the play store. When Android instant apps were announced, Google used a parking meter app as an example of their offerings. With this app, the users can immediately use the capabilities of the parking meter app without downloading, installing, or signing up. It delivers the opportunity to increase user engagement with the app and gain more installs after completing the Google play instant testing process. Such apps allow the users to try a particular app for a specific time without installing it and later decide whether to download and install the app onto their device or not. There can be many other use cases for instant apps with a completely native experience. Some of them are: Car parking solution Demo of image analytics app or a video Menu display of restaurant One time authenticators Game demo stage Location routine information Shopping and checkout at a virtual or physical store Why is Google Play Instant Testing Important? Instant apps have become the next great step in mobile development. At first sight, they don’t differ much from the conventional mobile apps as they look and function just like a mobile app. The major difference is that you don’t need to download or install them on your device. When the instant app testing is conducted, it ensures that all the necessary app functionality works perfectly without having to install the app from the play store. Let’s find out how Google Play instant testing helps: Ease of access Android instant apps allows the users to access and run apps instantly, without any installation hassles. The users can easily get a native Android experience from any URL – including social media, search engines, messaging, and other deep links. As soon as the link is clicked, the user will be redirected to the mobile web space where they can use the app features. This will provide a much better experience to the users as they won’t have to go through the whole process of searching and installing the mobile app. They can conveniently use all the features of the app with a single click. More creativity Now when the developers are well aware that the users can access the mobile apps before even installing them, they will be more focused on the creativity of applications. The developers have to introduce a “lite” version and get the mobile apps to pass through Google Play instant testing process to provide a better user experience. The users will be able to relish the new and improved mobile app experience. Save space Did you know that over 43% of users remove apps from their smartphones to free up storage space? (Source: Alligator Test). And once a mobile app is removed from the phone, it is rarely reinstalled. So, the storage concern is very important for users and instant apps can help a big-time here. Getting through the process of Google Play instant testing ensures that your mobile app consumes less space without compromising with features. Better app engagement Mostly, searching, downloading, installing, and executing the registration process of a mobile app takes much more time than using the application itself. This can lead to a lack of user engagement since users lose the enthusiasm to use the app before even reaching its useful content. Not anymore. Instant apps, on the other hand, provide the opportunity to try the features of the app instantly without any additional time and effort of users. It helps users to decide whether they want to use the application or even download it. Thus, the users will be significantly more engaged with the application. More valuable users and applications As there is no need to install the app to know the usability, the users can easily sneak into the features of the application. And once they are satisfied, they can install the application for future use. When you get your Google Play instant testing completed, the users can easily gain access to the app without downloading, experience the user interface, try its core features, and create an instant opinion about it. This way, only the valuable users will stick to your mobile app, and for the long term. It will also help in increasing the user retention rates as only the satisfied users will be downloading the application and the chance of application abandonment will decline subsequently. Increased app visibility Most of the developers face the challenge of getting their mobile app listed at the top of app stores and increasing the number of app downloads. The great advantage of Instant apps is that the access is not limited only to the Google Play store. Instead, the link to access the instant app can be published on many other platforms resulting in more ways to promote the app, better app visibility, and more downloads. Key Tips to Consider While Conducting Google Play Instant Testing Process Well, you need to consider a lot of things in mind before processing the development of instant apps. Have a look at a few important points of consideration. 1. Choose the new version of Android Studio To develop an instant app, the foremost thing to be considered is that it requires Android 5.0 (API level 21). It is recommended to take the help of the latest Android Studio version for building and testing the instant apps. This service of Android app development enables you to drive higher application installs and build a strong market presence. 2. Reduce the app size conveniently There are many good reasons why users prefer to use instant apps but reduced app size remains the top priority. Hence, it is important to keep the size of apps in check before launching the lite version of your mobile app. While Google play instant testing always ensures to keep the app size in check, the preferable size should not exceed 4 MB for apps and 10 MB for games. If the size of your app range from 4 MB -10 MB, the users can leverage the “Try Now” button and experience the app conveniently. 3. Decide the type of instant experience Delivering an excellent user experience is one of the primary motives of an instant app. For basic experience, allow users to click on the “Try Now” button or a website banner to try an instant mobile app. For an enhanced experience, market the app on multiple platforms in the form of advertisements, messages, QR codes, etc. Enable the instant experience today Instant apps have been a revolution in the era of mobile app development. And the best part is that a specific link can open the app while minimizing the cost and time of development. On one hand, the users can understand the features and functionalities of the app for free, while on the other hand, it provides better chances of user conversion and retention to app developers. Google is also gearing up to give multiple instant app experiences for a single app in the future. Undoubtedly, the future of trial versions or demos is through Google play instant testing. So, what do you make of instant apps? Can you see yourself offering an instant app experience, improving user engagement, and getting more conversions? Don’t wait anymore to introduce your instant app and move toward a “no downloads future”. We at QAonCloud have the right experience and experience to guide you towards the unique experience of Google play instant testing. Consult with our mobile app testing experts today. *Source: emarketer"

"Virtual Reality: a modern technology Virtual Reality is a powerful emerging medium that promises to change user interaction with digital technologies. It is now possible for individuals to interact in any virtual reality environment using VR goggles or mobile devices. Various forms of non-immersive, semi-immersive, and fully immersive simulation technology transform many industries at B2B and B2C levels. At its inception, Virtual Reality was envisioned purely for consumer use cases, such as the gaming and entertainment industry. However, it has also proved surprisingly helpful in various ways for the medical sector, defence sector, and even industrial sector in recent years. The use cases are only set to increase as it gains mainstream adoption. VR's rapid growth in popularity, and the nascent stages of the technology, throw unique challenges for companies from the developers' point of view. Lately, head-mounted displays have been introduced with eye detecting cameras and high-accuracy object detecting sensors. People want to try these features, especially the gaming community. Developers and startups need to constantly adapt and innovate if they're going to stay relevant. As a result, VR applications have evolved a lot within few years and continue to rapidly grow for the foreseeable future. The most prevalent issue in VR apps is their Quality Assurance. The old traditional methods of 2D testing are no longer usable in 3-D VR testing. The industry has failed to establish a standard testing framework and testing technology due to the constant flux. We will go through the various tools available to test VR Apps and how you can effectively test your VR applications. Tools for functional testing of Virtual Reality applications There are specific tools that are necessary for VR application testing. These are: SteamVR Performance Tool It is a fundamental tool to evaluate compatibility. It displays the compatibility of your PC with the VR app. 3600 EYETRACKERTM software solution  This software tracks your eye movement and lets the user see anywhere in the environment. It also enables the audience to see the user's point of view and the direction in which the user is looking. It extrapolates the user's field of view. Unity testing tool  Unity is an excellent tool to start with. It is for unit testing to focus on a particular object in your virtual reality environment. One can also use a google plugin called Google Instant Preview with Unity. It enables you to see the building unity in the editor. You can directly run your game, and it's visible to everyone around you. Desired output formats  A detailed Heat map with interactive controls Video in the 2D environment from 360 content Relive personal viewer experience through VR headset. How to test your VR app 1. Define the Objectives  There should be clarity in creating the aim for the functional testing of the VR apps. The testing must ensure the input and output parameters are fulfilled. Some of the most common objectives are: Ensuring expected behaviour: The test performed on the VR app must ensure that the app is running as per requirements. That is, it is functioning as expected. However, VR apps are often complex, with many hidden bugs. It also depends upon the human-machine interface to fulfil the objective. Manual Testing: To ensure human interaction and evaluate how well the user is adapting, utilizing, and immersing in the VR app. Environment effects: The objective must also ensure the effectiveness of the real-world environment in the virtual world. The user should feel a difference between Reality and virtuality. He also needs to judge how close to the actual environment that virtual environment is. This objective should be able to depict that difference. Automating specific test: To process the high degree of interaction, evaluation of inputs then sorting and evaluation of outputs, automating a particular part of the test becomes essential. Create a list of desired user experiences that we want from the app and what the publisher will gain from the app 2. VR Testing Methods  Trial and Error approach Virtuality reality apps are based on Reality. So, it relies on human perception. It means – detecting bugs, glitches, issues with the app; the "reality" aspect is subjective to that individual. It also means that testing results will vary from person to person. The best way is to test the behaviour of the application through testing tools.  Dedicated testing tools like the SteamVR performance tool ease the process of testing. Recording sessions The recording sessions offer a better understanding of the view and human –interaction with Reality. It gives deep insight into debugging. It can be shown to the people outside to get the necessary help. Sometimes, the bugs or glitches. Letting other testers see the recording sessions will allow you to spot errors in later stages. Automation testing tools  There are aspects of virtual reality apps that testing tools have drawn better results. Automated testing tools are helpful in UI tests and performance tests. The existing tools in the market boast the testing phase and ensure the quality of your VR app. Testing of motion sickness in VR apps  Reality sickness is one of the significant challenges in the virtual reality environment. The human brain does not fully immerse into another reality. The reality movement directly leads to motion sickness; it is vital to make sure that even the very essential mind can withstand the effects of VR apps. User feedback  Feedback reporting tools ease your work. Suppose you release the app in the market. These feedback tools will help you to discover more bugs and glitches in the app. It will also aid in enhancing the quality of the application. UI test automation framework  For VR automation, we recommend AirTest. It is one of the best open-source frameworks and it is built for VR gaming apps, where you get an automated testing framework. It is cross-platform and it supports Windows, native apps, iOS and Android. AirTest includes app installation, assertion, simulated input and so forth. You can perform image recognition technology to locate and identify UI elements. Automate tests on games without code injections. You can see the results in HTML reports. It's easier to find failed tests quickly. Integration Test  This test requires more skills than automating unit test. Two or more objects are combines and test in the simulated environment or a specific scenario. These kinds of tests are created and integrated into the test engine. This engine requires multiple systems, more skills and resources. End to End Testing / QA testing  It means a full playthrough of the VR app that needs to be tested. It is done manually as well as automatically. But the automated version of QA still needs much input to become more usable. Things to consider before automating your VR Test cases Some of the test scripts are already available. The Quality assurance process can use those existing test scripts. It is a heuristic method to find repeatable areas of the build. Those areas can be automated with optimum effort. A fully developed VR app can be tested by using source control and continuous integration. Consider the scale of your system, and size of the team and the type of app before leveraging the source control and continuous integration. You can take references from Git and Mercurial. Always test the 2D version of your app. It saves time and accelerates the process of debugging. Use telemetry data – it is helpful in long term work. Especially when you analyze a specific error, telemetry data should be relevant to the user walkthrough of the app and the user flows of a successful playthrough. Whenever a new change happens, the compiling code and running the asset build on the CI systems detect those issues. The diligent method is to tell your team in advance about those errors and avoid meeting those conflicts in advance. This way, the team can move forward, avoiding any potential test blockers. Monitor performance through ON-device automation. Monitoring will tell you the root cause of any issue. New changes can also harm the computer's performance; On-device automation can helps us in monitoring the long term performance and detecting the bugs. Simulate the trigger by giving commands. In simple words – tell the character to reach a particular spot "A" from another spot "Y". Monitor the performance characteristics on ADB and also keep a checklist to run and check necessary events throughout the app. Tools to performance and analyzing your VR Apps OVR Metrics tools  It analyses the mobile application with real-time graphic overlay. It provides data on heat, frame rates, GPU/CPU throttling values. Logcat  It collects VrApi logs. One can collect system logs with its command line. The Quality assurance team can take a close look at the app performance and device setting. Ovrgupprofiler It accesses real-time data of GPU pipeline metrics and provides stage tracing with the CLI tool. GPUsystrace  It includes information about the timing data of the steps of rendering pipelines as well as the information on the rendered stages. RenderDoc  It is a tool that is the best solution for capturing frames and analysis. It is a graphic debugger tool. It is compatible with multiple graphical APIs and development platforms. Unity Profiler  It records various aspects of the app's performance. It can store 300 frames of any app and shows you detailed information about every frame. One can explore the script code also. Final words  It is up to the Quality assurance team to pick the best tools for testing. However, some of the testing tools can accelerate the process of testing and debugging. One must learn to run few automation scripts on the available device to test. Once the test is done, one can start justifying more hardware. Consider bandwidth after testing; your team need to analyze and report based on these findings. Begin with the unit testing as it is the fundamental method and then consider the further stages of software testing. As VR apps and their testing are considered in their infant stage, we hope that more tools will be developed to automate and accelerate the entire process."

"There was a lot of hype when the first foldable smartphone was launched. After Samsung released Galaxy Z Fold in 2019, a new trend appeared in the market, pushing modern smartphones and tablets out of the game.If you are also looking to keep up with the latest trend of “Foldables,” it is a great time to explore development and app testing for foldable devices.App testing for foldable devicesFoldable smartphones are the next-generation smartphones. It helps you to create unique experiences for consumers and new business opportunities to drive innovation. The foldable apps are mainly focused on larger screens and provide a handy experience when folded. According to a new analytical report (Strategy Analytics), global foldable smartphone shipments will hit 100 million units by 2025. The research has also confirmed that foldable technology will be one of the fastest-growing segments of the premium smartphone market in the next decade. Foldables are considered the smartest inventions of the era. They allow the users to fold the mobile screens when it is not in use, thus dramatically improving user interactions.In this article, you will explore:What are foldable devices?Why is it worth building apps for foldable devices?Why is app testing for foldable devices important?Key requirements for foldable apps developmentKey features to consider for app testing for foldable devicesRecommended test scenarios for foldable appsGetting started with FoldablesLet’s dive right into the guide to explore everything you need to know about foldable devices and preparing your apps for the foldable development market.What are foldable devices?Foldable smartphones come with a special display that can be folded in half, just like a sheet of paper. Samsung unveiled the concept in 2019 to offer high-end flexibility benefits to users.Potentially, these devices provide an immersive user experience, more space to watch content, browse the internet, read, and many more functionalities. You can easily multitask with 2/3 multi-windows when unfolded. Also, the foldability factor makes the device highly convenient for transportation. Since foldable devices are the future of the mobile world, it is the right time to delve into the development and app testing for foldable devices. Why is it worth building apps for foldable devices?Mobile phones have changed drastically through the last few years, from flip phones to QWERTY phones to touchscreens. And now, foldable devices have taken over the conversations. This new style of devices provides more space and comfort and offers more screen real estate, true streamlining of workflow, and more versatile use of apps. While the studies indicate steady growth and sales, foldable devices have gained the immense interest of consumers. Another source indicated that the foldable smartphone industry is expected to grow at a CAGR rate of more than 21.3% from the year 2021-2026. These statistics point towards the fact that - foldable devices are the future of the mobile phone industry. With foldable devices on the roll, the app developers need to put extra effort into launching and run foldable applications successfully. Why is app testing for foldable devices important?Apps play a major role in our lives. On average, people spend 74% of their smartphone screen time on mobile time. And more importantly, over 50% of all internet traffic comes from mobile apps. The success of foldable devices is directly affected by the quality of mobile apps. But the unique features and characteristics of the foldable screen present challenges for app developers. Bug-prone apps commonly plague Foldables mobiles due to fragmentation of screen and ultimately results in negative reviews. And any negative experience will be associated with the quality of mobile phones and not any specific mobile app. This is where you need efficient app testing for foldable devices. The key to testing apps on foldable devices is testing the functional and user experience-focused tests. Key requirements for foldable apps developmentSince the popularity of foldable devices is increasing tenfold, it has become vital to consider improving practices for seamless mobile app experiences on foldable devices. Planning for mobile app development for a single screen is very different from mobile apps for foldable devices. Here are some important aspects to consider while developing and testing apps for foldable screens.Infographics: Key considerations for the development and app testing for foldable devices Key features to consider for app testing for foldable devicesBigger screens, handy experiences, richer and immersive user experiences, multitasking with multiple widows, less power-hungry display, and more. Certainly, foldable smartphones offer a lot of opportunities. But planning for developing and testing mobile apps for foldable devices is quite different from single small screen devices. Let’s dig deeper into some of the most important features for mobile apps for foldable devices.1. ContinuityApp continuity issues are one of the major mobile app challenges for foldable devices. This feature is all about switching from one state to another based on the screen orientation. The mobile app needs to follow the continuity and offer a seamless user experience in both screen modes. The user should be able to easily switch from one mode to another without having to open the app again and again. Also, when they do that, the app should switch to the expanded screen without missing a beat. 2. ResizabilityThe mobile apps should be compatible with smaller as well as larger screens essentially. The resizability factor must be considered at the time of app testing for foldable devices. Based on the type of fold and functionality of the smartphone, the mobile app designs and interface should also fit perfectly. Additionally, the shape and size of foldable devices should remain the same while consuming media through smartphones. 3. Multi-Window AbilityWith the multi-window feature, the users can run multiple apps at the same time. However, facilitating this feature can be tricky. Earlier, while using multiple apps on the same screen, only the active app runs while others would be paused. But with foldable devices, users can run multiple apps on the same screen at the same time. So, it is vital to consider the multi-window compatibility at the time of app testing for foldable devices. The mobile apps should be developed in a way that multitasking with different screens should be easy and seamless for the users. 4. Support for Multiple ScreensThe mobile app developers should always consider the compatibility with two or more screens at a time. The primary and secondary screen can be decided while developing the app, but it should resume to either of the screen sizes, the text as well as the configuration without any glitches. 5. Multi-resumeAnother important feature needed for mobile apps for foldable devices is multi-resume. The apps resume as per the user requirements when the screen is folded or unfolded. While the dual-display improves the efficiency, it creates many issues for the accessibility of features and functionalities of the mobile app. But if the app testing for foldable devices is conducted appropriately, your mobile app can seamlessly function in the multi-window mode without any glitches. 6. Aspect RatioSince Apple has not yet entered into foldable devices, most of the phones in this segment are Android. And building mobile apps for Android phones comes with aspect ratio challenges. There are numerous mobile devices with different screen sizes. And the difficulties in the case of foldable devices increase drastically. The app testing for foldable devices should ensure that different aspect ratios are adjusted according to multiple devices. And most importantly, the quality of mobile apps must remain the same in multi-window mode. Recommended test scenarios for foldable appsBefore getting started with the mobile app development and testing for foldable devices, make sure you know the possible test scenarios that will stand your way. Let’s explore some scenarios of foldable apps and their expected Behavior. Test CaseExpected Behavior of mobile apps on foldable devicesLaunch of mobile app: Main display and cover display The app opens without any lag or crashWorking with the keyboard on the cover and main display Types text in different languages, symbols, and everything shows up fine on both the displays.Working with the camera on the cover and main display The app opens the camera, shows the preview images and videos. The media is scaled and oriented properly.The transition between the main and cover displays: Layout of the screen The app is filled with the entire screen without any blank space and cut-offs.The transition between the main and cover displays: Runtime of mobile app The app switches without hanging, crashing or showing response errors.The transition between the main and cover displays: User interface and components and location Every component like menu, text, button, thumbnails are at the right location and maintain the right shape and size.The transition between the main and cover displays: Handwriting and drawing apps Drawing and edited state are maintained in drawing and handwriting apps while switching the displays.Getting started with FoldablesNow when you know that foldable devices are taking over the technology world and bringing along many opportunities, it’s the right time to get started with your app for foldable devices. While this technology holds immense potential, it poses many challenges for development and testing teams. There are multiple factors and challenges to face when it comes to developing and app testing for foldable devices. If you are looking forward to launching a successful mobile app for foldable devices, QAonCloud can help you with fully managed mobile app quality assurance testing services. We deliver end-to-end solutions from consulting to execution to designs, development, launch, and maintenance of apps for foldable devices.Contact us to learn more about app testing for foldable devices, specific test scenarios for your mobile app, recommended test plan, and more. Talk to our mobile app experts now."

"Every work sphere in technology is evolving rapidly. The term " Agile Methodology " came into the limelight, that focuses on continuous improvement and sustainable economic growth. Well, it may not be new. Agile testing is a part of Agile methodology that refers to the testing process of the entire software development life cycle. This approach helps testers and developers collaborate and communicate, thereby eases the process of identifying defects as early as possible and thereby creates a valuable product.  What is Agile in Testing: Agile testing is an iterative and incremental process of the software development lifecycle. Unlike the traditional software testing methodologies (like the waterfall method), where testing comes only at the end of the cycle, this approach supports continuous testing and DevOps. These are very crucial to improve the quality of a product.  Agile Testing will start even before the dev team starts the development and happens continuously as the features are added. Testers aim to write as many testcases as possible in each iteration, and these agile tests are prioritized just like the user stories. Throughout the product life cycle, regular interactions between developers, customers, managers, stakeholders, and QA/testing teams happen.Agile Testing Methods The following are the most crucial Agile testing methodologies that support agile processes- 1. Test-Driven Development (TDD) In this agile testing method, coding, testing, and design go hand-in-hand. The development cycle starts with writing a unit test & then developers write a code and edit the code until the unit test passes.  The software requirements are converted to testcases at the beginning of the SDLC before the development of software. We can apply TDD on unit and component tests.  The tests are usually done with the help of automation testing tools. The main aim of the TDD methodology is to make sure all the features are working as they should be. 2. Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) In this method, the development of the product happens as per the end-user requirement. ATDD is a customer-centric approach, where the developer team, the testing team, and the customers create acceptance tests from the end-user perspective. The developers then develop the code according to the Acceptance tests created. 3. Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) Behavior-driven development is a refined & augmented approach of TDD and ATDD as the development team writes the code according to the test cases created. Unlike ATDD, this approach focuses on the identification of business needs and goals. During the testing process, testers implement behaviors that contribute directly to the business goals. As this agile testing method pays close attention to the distribution of behavior, we can save the time spent on testing. 4. Exploratory testing Exploratory testing focuses on interacting with an already released application. It allows testers to play around with the software and use it chaotically without writing any scripts. Testers list out all the possible user behaviors, use their creativity to take actions that can break the software. Testers usually focus on areas or scenarios that pose high value for users. But there will not be any detailed documents that describe how the exploratory tests are conducted. Testers report only the defects to the clients 5. Session-based testing The session-based testing methodology aims to ensure that the software product is tested entirely and comprehensively. It’sverysimilar to that of exploratory testing, except the tests, are conducted during Time-boxed sessions. Session-based testing combines exploratory testing, accountability, and control. This method helps testers to structure the tests and perform them during uninterrupted sessions. In this approach, testers create test charters.  This charter contains details like what to test and test reports which allow testers to document what they discover during a test. It will, in turn, help in getting rid of hidden bugs & defects in the product. Why Agile Testing Methods are a Success Agile in the software industry came into the picture because of its process of streamlining and improving. The approach paves an integration among developers, testers, product owners, and customers. However, the target goal for all of these teams is a quality project delivered through iterative sessions. Subsequently, agility is making its place in every new digital workplace, and even organizations now find it an excellent way to transform their project in general. To understand better, here are some of the benefits of agile methodology. A. Build Your User Base Agile methodology is not just valuable for the developers but also communicates the core concept to the users. With the completion of every iteration, a helpful product comes as a result. So, at any moment, you can easily decide to launch the halfway product to your customers. It helps build up your user base or test your logic and theory.2; B. Flexible to Update Ideally, not every development methodology is created to accommodate the mid changes. But Agile testing offers the scope of change whenever and wherever necessary. There is always a need to update software projects either with the customer needs or the market trends. And so Agile embraces the idea of change that occurs mid-project. C. Early Risk Management Have you ever thought about what the concept of beta releases is? Well, a product should be tested early in the process by the users and stakeholders. It will help in identifying the feature defects and issues in the production process itself. By adopting those changes, it's easy to mark a successful project delivery. D. Cost under Control For most instances, clients step back regarding the features that the client had requested during the initial stages. Consequently, the product launches early, and clients have to pay less price. It is the case of fixed-budget projects. At the same time, Agile is quite flexible in this scope. With Agile methodology, the client has to pay only for what they need without any risks of uncertainty.  E. Double-Check on Quality We should integrate Agile Testing Methods throughout the entire development project. Delivering consistently tested products assures high-end quality and takes much less time trying the product as a whole. By Conducting frequent tests on the product, Incremental releases happen. Even after the product's release, it's much easier to locate flaws and improve them before the final launch. Downsides of Agile Testing Methods Though there are multiple advantages of using Agile testing, its demerits cannot be unseen. Let's check a few of them. A. Delay in Project Delivery Undoubtedly, we cannot ignore the power of Agile Testing Methods. But, if you see, much time and effort are consumed in fixing small bugs and rolling out software releases post minor updates. It will increase regression bugs which ultimately impact the day of final project delivery. B. Lack of Adaptability Agile testing methods are perpetual, implying that testers have to switch to new test strategies that arelikely to change. Most of the time, good test strategies have a short life span and are just done away for the sake of Agile Project Delivery. Let's wrap it up To conclude, the complexity of software products is constantly increasing and henceforth the development lifecycle. Upgrading the development strategies is not just enough to sustain the overall growth. Testing approaches also need to be evolved with the advancement in the development process. Agile Testing Methods brings a new age for testing professionals, focusing on intelligent, effortless, and high-end deliverables. In an Agile Testing approach, developers and testers collaborate to work on the final delivery of the product. Testers must develop corrective feedback for the intermediate software product during the complete development cycle at different stages. Moreover, the Agile Testing Methods should always align with the customer requirements collected at the beginning of any software project. In a few words, we can say that Agile testing is a long and continuous goal rather than being a sequential process."

"Developers and testers approach software development with different mindsets. A developer is looking for a creative solution to a problem, while a tester tries to find any possible way to break that solution. This contradiction sometimes leads to a clash of egos, breaking down communication and collaboration between two critical pillars of the software development process. Often, mature coworkers realize the importance of every action item in the process and do not let personal preferences cloud the end product. But, since the increased adoption of agile testing methodology, the interdepartmental barriers are breaking down, forcing various teams to collaborate more closely. The need for seamless communication between developers and testers is needed now more than ever. The Agile Testing work setup In an agile project, the product manager and developer sit beside a tester while testing to see the product in action; as a result, testing becomes more accurate while the entire team gains a better understanding. Often, testers have to act as part developers and vice versa.  Imagine your team is in a kitchen. When the developer prepares a dish, the agile Tester will taste it simultaneously, while the Product Owners ensure that no ingredient is missing. The dish is ready to serve out right away. Agile projects work similarly, enabling your product to hit continuous developments and integration within a shorter term.  The principles of this iterative approach have even shorter feedback loops under a disciplined project management environment. Therefore, testers and developers must work parallel and beyond their virtual boundaries.  How to enhance collaboration between Developer-Tester? An integrated team wins The agile team mustn't treat developers and testers in a way that creates dissimilarities. An integrated team always wins, and the deliveries from the product owners need to be focused and familiar to the entire team. This approach avoids unnecessary confusion between an agile tester and developer, and they can discuss the functionality queries together.   Opinion matters If the project has a clear vision that the testers and the developers must work together, achieving success is simple. Respecting each other's opinion matters a lot in a success-oriented environment.  Requirements must be precise The rapid shifts of the agile projects can create confusion among the team members. Clear sprint requirements presented in simple language can improve communication between the developers and the testers. All the participants should keep the big picture in mind in the agile process.   Prioritize bugs  If the project helps you prioritize bugs at first, then the team need not worry about the shorter span of the project; instead, they can dig towards the bug. By the way, an agile tester can fine-tune the testing process from the developer's point of view.  Plan for small tasks The business owner responsible for sprint planning sessions must plan with the mindset that 'an iteration doesn't mean to complete a bulk of tasks altogether.' Lack of which may deteriorate the collaboration between testers and developers if the project hits technical roadblocks.  Iteration success is the goal To streamline the Agile workflow, people must get away from the "Developer Vs. Agile Tester" culture. Coworkers have to collaborate in the Agile model to create a feature at the end of each iteration or sprint. Here, 'Sprint Success is the Goal.' Nothing else! Invite Developers and Testers in story building The planning session is not meant only for the product owners. Testers must also take part in story sizing and share the practicality of testing that technical piece in the testing environment. It may enhance collaboration between the Tester with the developer and the entire scrum team in an agile environment.   Meet beyond the Agile Teams should be encouraged to discuss beyond regular agile meets. Developers know the exact functionality of the product, and testers who often discuss functionalities with them tend to have a better understanding. It is just one of the benefits of out-of-box collaboration between testing and development teams.  More time for exploratory testing  Unplanned exploration of any feature often leads to exciting discoveries. Exploratory testing conceives several ways to test a project. This creates chances for the testers to discuss the results of testing with the developers. Make the foundation Developers can usually take the responsibility to create an excellent foundation for a tester about functional or regression testing. If a developer tends to translate a unit test into a functional test case for a tester, the thing will be clarified better between them. In this case, the testing part becomes more straightforward, and the Tester may also understand the scenario well to test that unit. Cross-training  Usually, developers never spell out their thinking process, making the testing phase very tough and blur. Training a tester about the ethics of coding and developers about testing makes the project an effortless exercise.  Simultaneous code review To better manage the limited project time, the agile Tester must get a chance to review the code before testing it. It enables collaboration between testers and developers, and they can work side by side to achieve their respective goals.  Seamless collaboration and clear communication between teams will encourage your employees to work at optimal productivity, and energized workers produce great results. QAonCloud gives utmost priority to smooth communication between the developers at the client site and our testers. That is how we consistently produce extraordinary results for our happy customers. To know more about how we can help you upgrade your QA efforts, reach out to us at [email protected]"

"For many organizations and their customers, software applications are mission-critical. It is imperative to closely watch their performance in order to earn consumer trust and achieve ROIs, which are incidentally dependent upon the longevity and maintenance of the applications. A company must possess an adequate-sized IT infrastructure to provide the high-quality service required by its customers along with the QoS or Quality of Service expected by them. While testing the performance of the product itself is imperative, it is also essential to benchmark it against specific and set values, to see if it is functioning at its optimal. The need for performance testing benchmarks A dissatisfied customer is bound to move over to competition if you, as a company, do not meet their expectations. The customer’s baseline outlook is pretty simple - a fully functional software application that can be invoked at any time. Performance testing, by itself, is quite complex and requires meticulous planning. It also comes with its own set of challenges, including the application’s performance in a downgraded environment.  It is highly imperative to incorporate it in the application development lifecycle. Here are some expert views from QAonCloud about the reasons why performance benchmark testing is principal. Researchers believe that mobile application errors are more than those that are just reported. Most of the time, there are network issues and server congestions to deal with. Unreliable mobile networks impede the smooth working of the app. There are downloading issues, broken images, checkout errors, failed uploads and freezing. A large group of frustrated customers fall into this segment. This, in turn, leads to a loss of revenue. Over 47% of the respondents tend to exit the application if they have a broken image. Then there are issues pertaining to the speed of connections, which tend to differ from region to region. Testing apps country or region-wise can alleviate all speed and connectivity issues. Various speeds are taken into account across disparate networks to check whether the application can be used conveniently. In developed nations, the app might function at an optimal level but in the developing world, it might be slow. It is, therefore, imperative to run performance tests to stay in harmony with the region’s capabilities. A widening user base may also impact the performance of the app. For instance, in an initial environment of 1000 users, the app may work well. But with an increase in the user base, it could end up behaving randomly. Performance testing for scalability, speed, and stability, should be carried out at a juncture where high demand is expected. Various tools and processes are involved in testing to determine whether the app is functioning according to a particular yardstick. This can be accomplished only when performance benchmark testing is planned. The importance of planning Performance testing has become one of the most important parts of a software testing process, especially because clients are expecting more than just digital experiences. This is leading testers to adopt a multi-layered approach that goes beyond regular load testing schedules. To get the best outcomes the testing strategy should be able to mirror the real-life environment. Users view information on a particular screen before switching over to the next – this time frame is called think time. Therefore, the time appearing between two consecutive requests must be fixed while creating test scripts. Component-wise this is the best way to test a system as it eliminates risks that can suddenly crop up during the process. But before planning, it is imperative to know the benchmarks against which the application will be tested. What is benchmark testing? Simply put, a benchmark is a metric or a point of reference against which a software product or application is compared. A repeatable set of standards determine the quality of the product. The results are typically quantifiable. Benchmarks can also be used to assess the current and future releases of an application. One component for benchmarking is always constant – it must be repeatable. Then how imperative is benchmark testing in performance testing? To know if your application is performing better than the industry average, you must understand the importance of benchmark testing.  Skilled and proficient testers use the technique in several ways where the characteristics of performance are primarily tested. Performance benchmark testing, under varied conditions, monitors the response time of the database manager. The consistent availability of t