Performance engineering is a big part of Quality Assurance. With the advent of the agile methodology for software engineering, the landscape of QA has significantly changed, and for the better.

Once a variety of automation tools were developed, the tech world soon realized that automation could transform the way we engineer applications. It could foster more cooperation between inter disciplinary teams and get the work done with greater accuracy. This transformed the business bottomline positively while ensuring a higher return on investment in the process.

In this article, we attempt to understand and differentiate the Shift Left and the Shift Right approaches towards testing, and how combining the two is what efficient enterprises do.

What is Shift Left Testing?

The left side of the development Process, Early and Often are the two keywords that define the way Shift Left testing is performed. Testing begins much early in the software development lifecycle hand-in-hand with the development and production process. It is a continuous process with a constant feedback loop of communication between the client, the developers and the testers.  

It largely focuses on the functional aspects of the application or software.

Shift left testing is about scouting defects early on in the SDLC so risks can be anticipated and mitigated well in advance. It is a proactive approach that goes on parallel to the development process of the application. With end-to-end automation, this process can be speeded up with accuracy and efficiency.

This helps the business optimize operational expenses so the application can adhere to higher quality benchmarks with greater ease.

After the testing team has carefully outlined the larger test design inline with the client’s objectives, the team begins work on the application. During the test design phase in Shift Left testing, following tasks are outlined:

• Understanding client requirements, application behavior and end user expectation
• Creating unit tests parallel to development process
• Creating functional and integration tests
• End-to-end test automation for test execution 

The developers and the testers stay in communication throughout while meticulously working through each defect along the way. It often though not always becomes a Test-Driven-Development approach (TDD).

The development team and the testing teams work in close unity with increased collaboration in a DevOps environment to ensure that defects are solved during the production itself. As testers are part of important client and development team communication, a superior quality output where all stakeholders are on the same page is achieved smoothly.

Also Read: 10 Steps to Get Started with Shift Left Testing

What is Shift Right Testing?

In contrast to the Shift Left approach, the Shift Right approach in testing terms is all about testing the application after production but prior to deployment. It largely deals with performance of the application in real world environment.

In the Shift Right approach, the performance, user experience and resilience of the application are tested in controlled environments. Real life use cases are carefully sought and replicated for Shift Right testing.

Shift Right testing happens on the right side of the development process during the post-production phase. The application is completely developed and ready; however, it must be tested carefully so its stable, high-performing and offers a great user experience.

Canary releases, A/B testing and Blue Green deployments are utilized to gather feedback from target users about the application performance. Tools to detect errors are also used to gather additional performance data.

It often relies on feedback from real users to understand how well it performs in real time.

Benefits of Shift Left Testing:

1. Design Thinking for development and Testing 

2. High quality development

3. Reduced Time-to-Market and high ROI

4. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery for faster sprints

Benefits of Shift Right Testing:

1. Customer Feedback Collation and Analysis for improved CX for actual users

2. Superior Performance Post Development 

3. Wider Test Coverage Post Development

4. Accurate Load Testing

Shift Left gets you a clean code with effective resource optimization while Shift Right reduces the time-to-market with improved CX.

Performance engineering isn’t just about Shift Left or Shift Right, it is about utilizing the two complementary approaches for holistic testing of applications for superior performance. And, now with automated testing, enterprises can automate end-to-end testing processes to ensure efficiency and accuracy.

If you are looking to implement automation testing within your enterprise, get in touch our experts at info@testing-whiz.com or call us on +1-855-699-6600.

Customers often access the websites from multiple combinations of devices, operating systems and browsers. While many websites offer the best customer experience on one browser, others cause issues like missing elements/images, bad font, etc. This results in a higher bounce rate and end-user frustration who will switch to the competitor’ website in a blink.

The result- Low profit, poor revenue!

The businesses can fight back with cross-browser testing for seamless UX for better website appeal and effectiveness.

Cross-Browser Testing with TestingWhiz

Cross-browser testing ensures the quality of the website across multiple screen sizes, screen resolutions, OS, and browser versions. It persuades development and QA teams to collaborate better on the cloud and accelerate the release cycles.

For an exceptional experience, businesses utilize the capabilities of TestingWhiz for automated cross-browser testing to run web and mobile application on the required browser & monitor their performance.

TestingWhiz capabilities

TestingWhiz comes with a huge gamut of features that ensures the websites behaves correctly before the go-to-market phase.

• Automation makes it happen- faster: Automated Web UI testing verifies the critical features and functioning of the website to deliver efficient and effective web interfaces.
• Intuitive Test Editor: Editing the test scripts whenever required becomes easier.
• Record and play Feature: TW enables testing and recording the testing steps on multiple browsers.
• Seamless API Automation: Smooth API Testing ensures whether the application communicates and responds correctly for the execution of a workflow by verifying the integrated web services.
• Cost optimization: Top-notch application performance reduces errors and customer support overheads.

To further leverage the end-to-end cross-browser testing features, TestingWhiz partnered with LambdaTest, a cross-browser compatibility testing platform.

Take a step towards the future of cross-browser testing with LambdaTest

While the cross-browsing testing is everything a business need for its websites and applications, LambdaTest comes with myriad advantages. Especially when there are 2000+ browsers & operating systems, multiple versions and configurations, deadlines to serve in an agile environment, delayed delivery, unsatisfied customer service and many other bottlenecks.

LambdaTest is automated cross-browser testing trusted by more than 300,000 testers and QA specialists worldwide. Let’s have a look at some of its main features.

Important features of LambdaTest

• Implement real-time cross-browser testing of public or locally hosted websites on mobile and desktop browsers running on the real operating system.
• Analyse the website responsiveness across Android and iOS operating systems and multiple screen sizes in a click.
• Perform visual testing with auto-generated full-page screenshots of web pages
• The integrated debugging feature lets the tester tackle debug issues in live testing.
• Check and remove errors after deployment with local hosted web testing.
• Test website from different cities and countries to deliver the best experience to the website user.

TestingWhiz + LambdaTest = enhanced business ROI

The businesses today are shifting from brick & motor store to the online platforms to expand their businesses and enhance ROI. Now, these innovators can leverage the capabilities of both TestingWhiz & Lambda Testing in the following ways.

1. Global ExpansionBusinesses now demand a global presence and a top-notch build. Embracing LambdaTest’s cross browsing testing capabilities & TestingWhiz’s complete functional testing package around the website, mobile, web services & databases can be of great help.
2. Enhanced CollaborationTestingWhiz’s version control system helps the teams to collaborate freely, commit changes, revert local changes, check out the latest files, show history and do so much more.
3. Reduce testing time and effortLambdaTest platform can leverage TW’s 300+ readily available test commands to produce powerful & modular automation scripts saving time and efforts in writing codes. It improves the efficiency of test automation projects.
4. Continuous server integrationTW enables the execution of test scripts on the server with CI/CD plugins such as Jenkins or Bamboo. It enables validation of application on regression cycles and provide reports to CI/CD tools continuously.
5. Detailed reportingLambdaTest platform can also utilize the robust reporting features to offer summarized information about a particular test case and a detailed view of script execution with visual logs. Bug tracking tool helps in detecting errors, correct and easily email end-to-end reports to stakeholders.
6. Improved Integration for defect managementIntegration with Atlassian JIRA, Mantis, FogBugz and Azure DevOps Server track and report bugs status seamlessly. During the cross browsing, the testers can push failed test cases to the Defect Tracking Tool along with the captured screenshots.
7. Enhanced test management and monitoringTestingWhiz’s offers easy administration of test information such as test progress, bug handled, project tasks, etc. to ensure a high level of collaboration throughout the automation process with test management tools like Microfocus Quality Center, Zephyr, TestRail and Azure DevOps Services.
8. Bug-free product releasesEfficient testing processes accelerates monotonous test cases daily. It offers enough time and efficiency to the testers to generate better test case scenarios, and error-free releases rapidly for a consistent web product stays after every change deployed in production.
9. Maximize ROIUndoubtedly, this partnership will enhance the go-to-market of business websites and applications and maximize ROI.

Conclusion

Apart from all these benefits, the partnership has the potential to save business costs, enable better utilization of resources and deliver many advantages as the industry progresses towards technological developments.

If your business is also looking for the best cross-browsing testing platform, TestingWhiz powered with LambdaTest offer an innovative and automated software testing solution globally for web, mobile and cloud applications.

Automation Testing Tools have become one of the most crucial tools in the technology market. While there are a vast variety of tools available, finding the right Automation Testing solution that fits your unique needs becomes a challenge. To help you narrow down your perfect choice as per your requirements, we have compared TestingWhiz Automation Tool with Katalon Studio, weighing one software against the other.

If you are reading this comparison, then you are perhaps interested in choosing TestingWhiz or Katalon Studio. So, let us now see the comparison to figure out which Automation Testing Tool best fits your requirements.

Overview of the Tools

TestingWhiz is an automated testing tool that offers a comprehensive set of features to implement fully automated testing solutions for Desktop, Web, API, and Mobile. It offers a number of key test automation features such as keyword-driven, data-driven, and risk-based testing, cross-browser testing, API testing, CI integrations, etc. With the easy-to-use and intuitive User Interface (UI), it allows users to easily get started with the sample test cases provided, reducing the learning efforts.

Katalon Studio is also an automated testing platform that provides testing solutions for Desktop, Web, API, and Mobile. It allows the teams to get started with test automation quickly with less efforts and expertise required for learning. It offers a wide-ranging set of automation testing features covering most functional requirements.

Basic Comparison of the Tools

Features Comparison

Feature Title	Feature Type	Feature Description	TestingWhiz	Katalon Studio
Test Creation	Keyword Driven Testing	Keyword driven test execution support	Yes	Yes-Limited
Data Driven Testing	Data Driven Testing	Built-in Test Data Tables	Requires Extensive Coding
Object Based Recorder/Code Killer	Test Script Automation & Recording Engine	Yes	Yes
Object Based Recorder/Code Killer	Test Script Automation & Recording Engine	Yes	Yes
Record & Playback	Record & Playback	Out of box support for FAST recorder and playback on IE, FF, Chrome, Edge, and Headless Browsers	Yes
Scripting	Programming knowledge required?	No	Yes
Support for script programming	Java Script and Python	Java/Groovy
Test management tool integration (QC/ET)	Test management tool integration (QC/ET)	QC and TestLink, Zephyr, TestRail, and VSTS	Jira and TestRail
Test Editing	Drag & Drop Command Builder	Pre-defined drag and drop commands editor	Yes	No
Test Editor	Test editor to review the script and edit it based on the requirement	Easy	Complex
Progress Bar	Progress bar to show the test is being executed	Yes – Intuitive	Yes
Database Testing	Database Support	Database Support	Oracle, MS SQL Server, IBM DB2, My SQL, Hadoop & Teradata support. No scripting required	Complex
Object Repository	Object Repository	Object Repository	Built in easy-to-use and reusable Object Repository across Test Project Objects can be exported	Yes – very limited
Web UI Comparison	Image based comparison	Image based comparison	Can be easily done with a single command	No
Test Execution	Execution Scheduler or Delayed execution	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trigger & Scheduler	An API that triggers a Test Script after an action is completed, Support for Scheduler	Yes	No in-built Scheduler
Failure Screen shot	Screenshots for Failed Test Step & Test Case	Yes	Yes
Documentation	Execution Results	How the tool provides testing data output reporting through Pass & Fail	Visual Logs, Screenshots & History, HTML, pdf, email, and WhatsApp reporting capabilities	Simple Reporting, customization can be done using extensive coding
Data Generator	Generate random Test Data for Test Cases	Yes, and Customizable	No
Execution Log	Detailed Test Execution Log Available	Yes	Yes
Test Environment Report	Auto detection of test environment Information	Yes	No
Screenshot Capture	Screenshots of your tested application for each test step and side-by-side comparison with those captured during test recording to quickly identify critical changes in the application.	Yes – Image comparison also available	No
Integrations	Defect Tracking & Mgmt.	JIRA	Yes	Yes
Mantis	Yes	No
FogBugz	Yes	No
TFS	Yes	No
Test management tool integration	Test Link	Yes	Yes
QC	Yes	No
TestRail	Yes	Yes
VSTS	Yes	No
Technology Support	Language Support	Support for various Programming Languages	400+ Drag & Drop Test Commands + Built in Java Script & Python  Editor	Selenese, Java, Ruby, Perl, PHP, Python, C#, Groovy
Internationalization	English	Support for English language	Yes	Yes
French	Support for French language	Yes	No
German	Support for German language	Yes	No
Spanish	Support for Spanish Language	Yes	No
Dutch	Support for Dutch Language	Yes	No
Italian	Support for Italian Language	Yes	No
Web Platforms Playback	Microsoft IE Browser Support	Support for IE	Yes	Yes
Mozilla Firefox Browser Support	Support for Firefox	Yes	Yes
Google Chrome Browser Support	Support for Google Chrome	Yes	Yes
Edge	Support for Edge	Yes	Yes
Headless	Headless Browser Support	Yes	No
Learning Curve	Learning curve to be productive	Learning curve to be productive	1 week	1 month
Support	Email Support	Email Support Availability	Yes	Paid and expensive Support
Phone Support	Phone Support Availability	Yes	Paid and expensive Support
Platforms & Technology Support Matrix	HTML 5 Support & CSS3	Support for HTML 5 & CSS3	Yes	Yes
Subscription (Annual Lease)	Single User Locked License	Free and Paid enterprise version are available. Request a quote for Enterprise version.	Open-Source

Strengths and Weaknesses

Let us now view the tools from another perspective and compare their key strengths and limitations.

TestingWhiz

Strengths:

• Supports code-less, Key Word Driven feature with an intuitive UI and drag and drop controls that help you record and modify test scripts easily.
• Let you run your test cases across multiple browsers.
• Provides efficient results due to its integration with Defect Tracking and Test Management Tools.
• Allows the testers to execute test cases on multiple nodes through a centralized server.
• Allows to customize the UI, scripts, and reports into a language of your choice among English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Dutch.
• Offers the sample test cases to get started and significantly cut down the learning curve.

Limitations:

• Desktop Testing is partially supported.
• Linux is not supported.

Katalon Studio

Strengths:

• Built on top of the Selenium framework.
• Integrated necessary frameworks for test cases creation/execution.
• No licensing and maintenance fees required although paid dedicated support services is available when needed.

Limitations:

• Skill set necessary to build and maintain the automation suite for advanced testing.
• Quality remains an underrated drawback of Open Source Tools.
• Feature set is still evolving.

Summing Up

Finding the right Automation Testing solution that fits your unique requirements is challenging and there is noone-size-fits-all tool for automated testing. It is highly suggested that testers evaluate various tools in order to select what best fits their automated testing needs. Technologies continue to evolve, as do the automated testing tools, making an integrated platform offering multiple features a significant factor in tool selection. Open Source tool may come with the limitation of skill set requirement, quality compromises, and requiring the paid support intervention. The customer support of the Open Source tool is expensive. Whereas the Automation tools like TestingWhiz offers a viable alternative offering the free Trial version and paid subscriptions along with the free customer support included in the package. TestingWhiz provides you with an easy-to-use & intuitive User Interface, key word driven testing experience and free support whenever required.

Want to experience TestingWhiz? Download free trial

“Handling the monotonous testing is my most favorite part of the job!” said no tester, ever.

What makes Testing monotonous?

The Testing becomes uninteresting when a single test case needs to be tested repetitively or when the test cases seem very laborious. Even when it requires to run the same test case with diverse data & conditions, environments & browsers various times, for varied user sets, it becomes very monotonous and time-consuming at the same time. Especially when there is an urgent release and saving time is your top priority!

How Automation Testing comes to the rescue?

Automation Testing saves the organizations with all the manual testing bottlenecks and make the testing journey pleasant instead of monotonous and boring. The time saved here can be invested in much more productive and creative work!

The following benefits can be reaped out of Automation Testing when implemented in SDLC:

• Increased Speed
• Faster feedback cycle
• Reliability in results
• Improved consistency
• Accuracy & efficiency
• Reduced time & cost
• Parallel testing
• Reuse of the test scripts
• Augmented ROI

As the organizations are now adopting DevOps methodology that embraces a culture shift, breaking the silos to build, test & deploy applications to achieve augmented quality with reduced time & efforts, Automation plays an important role.

What is the role of Automation Testing in DevOps?

First, let us understand what DevOps is, the scenario before DevOps and how can Automation Testing blend with DevOps for a bigger benefit.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a practice that converges the software Development(Dev) & Operations(Ops) teams to reduce the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), improve software quality, ensure continuous delivery with less complexity, and resolve problems faster.

What was the scenario before DevOps?

During the Waterfall Method SDLC, the software testing was done in the end. This method had several bottlenecks like longer testing time, manual interventions, communication delays between the Testing and Dev & Ops teams and possibility of missing chains of information.

How does Automation Testing fit in DevOps?

Under DevOps methodology, the manual testing taking place in parallel with the code development suffices the Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Delivery (CD) and Continuous Testing (CT) process. But the organizations still face a lot of challenges such as time constraints in development & test cycles, testing in diverse devices, applications & browsers, parallel testing, and many more.

Hence, the most efficient way to deal with testing software in DevOps methodology is to adopt a well-integrated and robust test automation solution like TestingWhiz that can help in resolving these issues. Moreover, Automation Testing will enable easy communication, speedy deployments, continuous integration & delivery, better monitoring through dashboards & real-time reports, faster resolution, reduced human errors, better quality, and cost reduction.

How does Automation Testing outwit the Challenges faced by testers?

There are challenges that Testers face while manually testing the applications. Let us see how Automation Testing help to outwit these.

• Detection of defects at a later stage: While it is easier and cheaper to fix the defects at an early stage, it becomes expensive and difficult to fix it at the later stage. Automation Testing helps to record any oddities & errors due to mismatch data types that can hamper the production. It can help in finding the production bugs before the application reaches the client.
• Complexity of API Testing: As API Testing requires advanced knowledge of coding, it can become difficult to test it manually. The Codeless Automation Testing Tools like TestingWhiz can ensure efficient API Testing without the need of any coding.
• Inefficiency due to changing requirements: Sometimes, the critical test cases can be missed out because of changing requirements, unanticipated changes into the code and continuous integration. Automation Testing tools can eradicate such miss outs by ensuring all the changed codes are tested. TestingWhiz, a codeless Automation Testing tool can adapt to the changing requirements easily and efficiently.
• Frequent Builds leading to frequent compilation: As the code is changed and compiled daily, the impact of the same on existing features also becomes more frequent. Hence, each time the code is changed, the compilation and testing need to be implemented. Due of resource limitation, it becomes difficult to perform this regularly without Automation Testing.
• Performance Issues: With addition of more features, the complexity of code also increases, and the Performance issues are faced affecting the end user experience. Automation Testing Tools can be utilized to identify the problem areas and keep track of performance with time.

Summing up

Automation Testing, particularly around DevOps, can be a great support for the Testers to overcome the complex challenges and let them move past the drudge work of labor-intensive testing. It is like a backbone to DevOps methodology for the advantages it offers. By applying automation testing to DevOps using Test Automation Tools like TestingWhiz, you can easily outwit the challenges faced and reap the larger benefits for your organization.

The software testing has predominantly progressed from manual testing towards incorporation of automation testing. The competitive market and growing technical intricacy have fortified the Software Development Life Cycle(SDLC) to deliver the products to market at breakneck speeds. The need to develop swiftly and test smartly is rising each day.

While the present-day practices of Continuous Testing, Agile and DevOps are keeping the software development process at pace, leveraging the Artificial Intelligence is essential for unlocking the true potential of the software testing.

As per a study by PwC, AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

Undeniably, AI and Automation are disrupting the way organizations execute their operations, enabling them to reinvent their strategies.

AI in testing helps in making the SDLC rapid by supplementing the testers with the right technology and Automation Testing Tools like TestingWhiz.

The Benefits of implementing AI in Testing

Testing of UI Interfaces

Image recognition, a major component of machine learning processes takes UI testing to the next level. The dynamic UI controls can be documented irrespective of their shape and size. AI can analyze the user interface to the pixel-level and identify the complex image patterns.

Flexibility in Automated Testing

Simple changes in the application often result in test failures because the testing scenarios often focus on single segment resulting in extensive inflexibility. The AI/ML testing have the capability to perceive and learn about the associations amongst several segments, providing the flexibility to adapt to the real time changes. Since the test scripts can automatically adjust to the changes, the testing becomes more sustainable and consistent.

Visual validation automation testing

AI makes use of machine learning and its Pattern recognition capability to search for the visual bugs in the software in order to ensure the visual validation of the application. Visual testing using AI is a QA method used to verify that the user interface of the application looks accurate when viewed by the user. It ensures that the diverse visual components do not accidentally overlap with one another. This is extremely useful as there is a very high possibility of missing the small visual errors by a human eye which AI recognizes at a significantly faster pace accurately.

Writing Test Cases

AI along with ML (Machine Learning) can be used to write test cases for the application by crawling through it & collecting the required data. The dataset can be used to train the ML models about the application, the ideal expected pattern, so that with every new run, it can identify in case any deviation is detected.

AI and Python: Why?

The obvious question that we need to encounter at this point is why we should choose the Integrated Python Testing Platform for AI over others.

• Python offers the least code among all the other languages; almost about 1/5th as compared to the other OOP languages. This is why it is one of the most popular languages in the market today!
• It also has integrated libraries for scientific computation, advanced computing and machine learning making it one of the best suited languages for AI.
• The comprehensive support and assistance via forums & tutorials provided by Python developers around the world makes it even more convenient to use.
• Python is platform independent and is hence one of the most flexible & popular choice for use across different platforms & technologies.

Summing Up

A number of companies are already operating in the field of AI-powered testing using the Integrated Python Platform in Automation Testing tools like TestingWhiz.

Are you ready to adopt Artificial Intelligence with Automation Testing to reap the greater benefits? Connect with us to know more.

Is it really possible to achieve Quality at Speed in Software Testing?

Today in the competitive times, it is imperative for the applications to be as advanced, complicated, and accurate as it can be. There is no scope for any disparities or delay. It is a fact that the biggest concern of an organization today is the unmatched quality of the software to be delivered speedily. While this seems too good to be true, it is the need of an hour and organizations do not have any other option to thrive in the competitive market.

Moving Intelligently in Competitive Times

In the times of DevOps and Agile of software development and testing, it is important to meet the time goals for survival, while maintaining the quality and keeping the cost at the lower side. This is really difficult and seems impossible for many legacy organizations who shy away from adopting the new Technologies and methods. Their codes developed are still not tested in the initial phase while the ongoing development, and the greater the size of the code, the greater the damage due to critical bugs!

So, when questioning between quality and speed, the primary thing would be to test the unit code as it is developed, so that the defects are captured and managed in the earlier phases. Practicing this method will also save cost and time as you proceed in the race for the release of the quality software.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Is the New Wave

Automation is the answer to the concern that organizations have regarding the delivery of Quality at Speed. Today, many organizations have started adopting towards continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) for automation and testing objectives. CI/CD lets the developers and testers to continuously test, deliver, and implement the changes that take place along the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) without compromising on the quality. Basically, it allows the real-time detection and solution of the bugs as they arise, hence minimizing the chance for errors at later stage.

All about Parallel Testing and Parallel Environments

The growing number of browsers and devices today can be a challenge to test your software swiftly and efficiently.

Parallel testing is your ticket to rapid testing and a faster turn around in operations!

Also, while testing software applications or websites, it is essential to remember that time is a crucial factor. Here, Parallel testing comes to the rescue and lets you speed up testing and do more QA’ing with tighter timeframe between deployments.

For example, previously you were testing the software compatibility only for Chrome and FireFox, but now you see that you need to test the same in Android & iOS devices and Safari & multiple versions of Internet Explorer too.

Instead of running tests in succession, parallel testing allows you to execute multiple tests across different environments at the same time, thus saving a lot of time!

The Parallel Testing can be done by setting up multiple machines, devices or by using a cloud test services like SauceLabs or LambdaTest. Additionally, it also offers a distinct advantage of isolating the required test cases and executing it to a specific OS or browser, allowing the testers to dedicate their significant resources and time for critical problems with the cross-platform compatibility.

Words to the Wise

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together and not by impulse – Vincent Van Gogh

While you cannot make your business deliver the “Quality with Speed” overnight, you can always start your journey by taking small steps like adopting Automation, executing Parallel & Cross Browser Testing, and scaling small testing experiments into big initiatives to impact overall business.

Embrace TestingWhiz, an Automated Testing Solution that provides you with the in-built Parallel and Cross Browser Testing capabilities and more!

The world is at the cusp of technological disruption and is here to remain for an extended time. The software industry has evolved over the decades, and consequently, testing- an integral part of the development cycle has also witnessed several changes over the last four decades. 

Evolution of Software Testing

In the 1980s, waterfall methodology was in use, and manual testing prevailed. Within the 1990s, we had bulky automation tools which were highly expensive, unstable, and had primitive functionality. This era also involved experimentation with various developmental approaches like Scrum, XP, RAD (Rapid Application Development).

From 2000, the age of open-source frameworks began. Faster release cycles were the topmost priority of companies at that time. Agile gained immense popularity while XP, Scrum, and Kanban became part of the standard process in the Software Development Life Cycle. Then came the 2010 era, which was also about scalability, writing tests, and findings bugs faster. Within the same era, cloud testing started. By then, people have realized the importance of more server space and faster processing which further led to the emergence of DevOps, Continuous Testing, and CI/CD integration. 

In 2020, tools around collaboration, automation, application performance monitoring, security testing had mushroomed.

One of the most noticeable trends in 2021 was codeless test automation and artificial intelligence in testing. The codeless testing tool is undoubtedly a saviour for those with limited or no knowledge of writing codes in test cases. 

The codeless testing tools provide a hassle-free process that uses object, data, model, and keyword methods to formulate tests. The scripted testing tools help foster user business testing with user-friendly interfaces that are easy to comprehend. 

The future ahead will be automation testing using Machine learning and AI. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning play a significant role in predicting the test script and acting accordingly per specific web pages’ requirements.

Before talking about the future of Machine learning and AI-powered apps, let’s explore the various trends of writing test cases.

Evolving Trends of Writing Test Cases

• Classic code-based approach: This includes manual testing in which test cases are executed manually without any automation tool.
• Multiple Frameworks: Entails various frameworks like linear scripting, modular testing, data-driven, hybrid testing etc.
• Keyword driven codeless frameworks: This uses a table format to define keywords or action words to execute the function
• Behavior Driven Framework: Involves writing tests in plain descriptive English grammar.
• NLP Driven Frameworks: User can use Natural Language to write the test steps. It generally involves AI-powered natural language automation, coupled with a next-gen recorder

Among all, keyword-driven and NLP frameworks are probably the most important and ground-breaking frameworks in the testing domain. Keyword-driven test creation is an easy framework to write test cases using simple keywords. NLP framework allows users to create test cases seamlessly in a simple, natural language that is easy to interpret and comprehend. It is a perfect mix of symbolic human-like comprehension and machine learning, which extract insights from unstructured data and improve decision-making.

Testing Whiz is a codeless test automation tool that rapidly builds and deploys automated test cases using keyword and NLP framework. Join our forthcoming webinar “Future of test automation” on 29th September 2021, 4-5 pm EST, to gain more insights on test frameworks.

Future of Validation 

Validation is a crucial process followed by Test Creation. This validation testing determines if the existing system complies with the system requirements, performs its intended function, and meets organizational goals and user needs.

The future of Validation lies in Smart Validation – which uses artificial intelligence and algorithms. This lethal combination provides accurate and meaningful data that helps companies and decision-makers in a big way. Smart Validation validates results with the combination of AI and proprietary algorithms. It also keeps the company and people data clean by removing bad data, errors, or formatting issues. It also enables domain-based Validation by allowing test users to find up-to-date domains for companies in the event of being acquired, rebranded, or shut down. The future of Validation also holds dynamically updating validation criteria from change requests, tests expanding themselves to test new/closed entry points, etc.

The business stakeholders nowadays demand faster delivery of software and leave no space to comprise on quality. That’s where the use of AI steps in. The lethal combination of Artificial intelligence and Machine learning will play a pivotal role in test creation and test execution.

AI in Analytics and reports

Predictions indicate that AI usage in the testing zones will increase in the upcoming years, most of which apply to analytics and reports. AI will play a vital role in analytics and fetching reports like:

• Test Suite Optimization: Determine and eradicate unnecessary and unwanted test cases.
• Log Analytics: Find exceptional test cases which involve both manual & automated tests.
• Defect Analytics: Detect bugs and defects that can be a risk for the company.
• Predictive Analytics: Helps understand user needs and thus helps teams prioritize and streamlining testing activities.
• Confirms Test Needs Coverage: Takes out essential keywords from the RTM (Requirements Traceability Matrix).

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, automation testing holds a very bright future. Even though the automation tools will build the test cases and code tests, the output of these tools still needs to be validated by the Quality assurance team. Thus, the era of evolution and growth will continue in years to come. Hence keeping pace with the current cutting-edge technologies, tools, approaches, development is the need of the hour for every business and organization.

Join our upcoming webinar “Future of test automation” on 29th September 2021, 4-5 pm EST, to accelerate your digital transformation journey.

With the rapid changes and innovation in technology, there has been a tremendous change in software testing and delivery. Software delivery is now much faster and a more complex process than ever before. While most IT organizations have met speed and quality requirements, various loopholes still impede the automation process and make it expensive and inefficient.

Intelligent test automation fills these loopholes through its risk-based analytics feature that allows timely correction of any failure or disruption. Before diving deep into the topic, let’s understand the basic concepts of intelligent test automation and how testing tools could leverage Artificial and Machine Learning in the future.

What is Smart or Intelligent Test Automation?

Intelligent Test Automation is a blend of ML, AI processes, and traditional automation practices that make automation more stable and efficient. It uses AI algorithms that help in automatic script generation, prediction of bugs, and improving coverage. This perfect mix results in intelligent processes which have low to no error rate and high efficiency.

Features of Smart Test Automation Tool

1. Scriptless test creation and execution – Smart Test Automation tools offer an intuitive interface that allows anyone with no code or limited knowledge to create and manage tests quickly.
2. Rapid test creation – Allows easy automation of test cases written in plain-Text English by using Natural Language Processing (NLP)
3. Reusable methods – Smart tools allow you to reuse the steps you have created before to test the scripts.
4. Cloud Execution Platforms – With Integration to the Cloud Execution Platforms, test automation tools allow you to perform tests in the cloud using different browsers and multiple operating system combinations.
5. Unified Platform – An intelligent test automation tool lets you automate the test cases for multiple platforms- desktop, web, mobile, tablets, etc., from one place. Thus, managing tests become easier.
6. Fast Debugging – Test Automation tool allows easy integration with bug tracking tools that help you report bugs and track the status seamlessly. It directly pushes failed test cases to the Defect Tracking Tools along with the captured screenshots.
7. Auto-healing – Intelligent test automation has a peculiar feature of self-healing. Whenever there is a change in function or object property, the test automatically updates itself and does not fail during execution.
8. Smart Validation – Validates results with a combination of AI and a proprietary algorithm. It helps keep company and people data clean by removing invalid data, errors, or formatting issues.
9. Intelligent reporting and analytics – Test automation tools have smart, robust reporting features like log analytics, risk-based, predictive analytics, etc.
   • Log Analytics: Intelligently identify critical errors/failures based on the logs generated and, if necessary, log defects in the Project management tool.
   • Risk-based Analytics: Detect app areas and defects that tie to company risks and setting defects as per priority.
   • Predictive Analytics: Estimate key parameters and specifications of end-customer behaviors and discover app areas to concentrate on.
   • Prognosis Analytics: Utilize the existing customer data and analytics data to determine how users’ demands and browsing behaviors will evolve in the future.

Benefits of Intelligent Test Automation

Some of the significant benefits that organizations can reap from Intelligent Test Automation are:

1. Increase in test coverage
2. Automated generation of test cases and test scripts, using machine learning
3. Codeless automation
4. Faster and stable UI tests
5. Smart predictive analytics
6. Defect prediction based on historical data and failures
7. Faster Response Time, Root cause analysis, and Infrastructure optimization
8. Automated test data management
9. Automated test environment generation
10. Automatic and smart prioritization of test cases within a reusable framework

Future Use Cases

Some of the interesting case scenarios where Natural Language Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine learning can be a game-change are:

1. Test Recommendation Engine: AI can help identify the test cases that should run in case of any code change in the application. AI can also determine the tests that can fix the codes and run only those scripts instead of running the entire suite. Hence, this will reduce the testing teams’ manual efforts in identifying the tests to be run for quick bug fixes.
2. Learning by Observing User Patterns: AI can be leveraged by identifying the common user patterns across multiple user journeys. Based on these patterns, AI and ML engines can generate reusable components that can be used across various test scripts, thus reducing the scripting efforts of the testing team.
3. Handling Response Time: The more the test runs by the user, the more the data AI collects and the steadier the tests. Based on server responses, AI can optimize the wait time for the automation scripts to accommodate different page load times in the application.
4. Dynamic Locators: With the utilization of dynamic locators and multiple attributes for the same element, AI will prevent the failure of tests. Regardless of the button’s name change, it can easily choose the following best attribute to locate the element.

Future of Intelligent Test Automation

Undoubtedly, Intelligent Test Automation and Analytics will make a massive impact on the testing phase of Software development. The intelligent test automation increases the test coverage and prioritizes the focus areas, tests to be run, and detects the high-risk areas. Organizations should leverage these AI benefits to optimize the quality lifecycle of the product at every stage and deliver the project on parameters of high agility and efficiency.

Are you looking for an intelligent automation testing tool that can take your test automation journey to new heights? Connect with us to know more.

Selenium is the most popular and widely used open-source tool for automation testing of web applications.

People prefer Selenium test automation over other tools because of its open-source nature, multiple language support, multiple OS and browsers support, support for programming languages and frameworks, testing capabilities across devices, ease of implementation, and reusability factor, etc.

When to Switch from Selenium Tests to Codeless Automation Testing Tool?

Even though Selenium has a robust framework, yet there are several challenges associated with Selenium. Firstly, it requires a lengthy configuration process. Secondly, it demands significant programming expertise of the testers.

The organization often experiences a setback when there is a resource crunch or the testers lack expertise in a programming language like Java, Python, C#, etc. In such scenarios, organizations face difficulties in executing, updating, and maintaining existing Selenium scripts with limited or no understanding of coding language.

Why should you migrate Selenium Test Scripts into TestingWhiz?

Although Selenium presents few drawbacks, still there’s no denial of its robustness. Understanding this conflict and challenges, many organizations are gradually moving away from the coding framework and adopting a no-code/low code platform to eliminate its shortcomings.

Codeless Test Automation tool, TestingWhiz, plays a crucial role in addressing the challenge mentioned above. TestingWhiz Release 8.0.1 has an inbuilt Selenium Java editor, allowing users to import and execute existing Selenium Java scripts into TestingWhiz and carry their automation journey with TestingWhiz. The editor either allows the user to import the test case directly into TestingWhiz or enables the user to write Selenium code directly into the editor.

How to migrate Selenium Tests to TestingWhiz?

Migration of Selenium Test Scripts to TestingWhiz is an easy process. With our latest TestingWhiz Release 8.0.1, Selenium test migration is just a few simple steps away:

Step 1: Add a command “Execute Selenium: Java” in your TestingWhiz script

Step 2:Click on  icon

Step 3:Import your existing Selenium scripts

Frequently Asked Questions?

Q. My team consists of manual/new testers and experienced testers; how can we leverage TestingWhiz effectively?

Ans.TestingWhiz is a Codeless Automation Tool which is used by both Technical & Non-Technical users. It offers an easy, intuitive & affordable automation solution that involves no programming assistance. Because of its codeless nature, the learning curve is so minimal that even the manual/new testers can migrate to it very quickly.

Q.Are their prerequisites for Selenium Migration to TestingWhiz?

Ans.There are no prerequisites for Selenium required as everything will be taken care of by the tool itself.

Testing is one of the most critical steps in the Software Development cycle. It plays a vital role in identifying bugs and defects in the software before the implementation phase. It is also regarded as one of the best ways to boost the software’s efficacy, efficiency, and speed.

The testing world has undergone significant changes because of technological advancements, one of which is the quick shift from manual to automation testing.

Before moving further, let us understand the basics of automation testing.

What is Automation Testing?

Automation testing is a software testing method that uses automation tools to execute the test case without the intervention of a manual tester. It then compares the actual test results with the expected results and generates a detailed report of the success or failure of the tests. It is known as automated because of its ability to run thousands of test case scenarios in a few minutes.

Need for Automation

The primary purpose of automation testing is to reduce the number of test cases that are to be run manually. Automation testing is suitable for large projects that require repeated testing. Automation makes this possible by allowing the testers to record the test suite and re-play as needed. Automation of test suites eliminates the need for manual intervention and reduces the test cycle time. As a result, most businesses prefer automation testing to manual testing.

Which tests should be automated?

It is not difficult to automate all the tests at once. Some of the test cases that can be automated possess the following characteristics:

1. High-Risk test cases
2. Test Cases that are very complex or time-consuming
3. Repetitive and monotonous tests
4. Tests that require multiple data sets
5. Testing different OS/browser combinations

Types of Automation Testing

There are many different types of test automation. The most common types of automation testing are:

a) Unit Testing:

It tests individual components, or units of software code, to see if they function correctly in a standalone context. This type of test is not dependent on a database, file storage, or any other external dependencies.

b) Integration Testing:

Also known as end-to-end testing. All the individual software modules are combined and tested as a whole, verifying the software’s functionality.

c) Smoke Testing:

It is also known as build verification or confidence testing. These are post-build tests that are run right after the software is deployed to ensure its stability and viability. Any build which fails this test is considered “unstable” and is subjected to additional testing to identify the source of the issue.

d) Regression Testing:

Regression testing entails re-running functional and non-functional tests to see if the software’s quality and performance remain unchanged after a code change. It ensures that the changes did not hamper the software’s functionality.

e) Functional testing:

It examines the business logic and functioning of the software. Functional testing focuses on verifying the output rather than checking the intermediate stages.

f) Keyword Testing:

In keyword-driven testing, data files containing keywords linked to the application under test are used. Each term defines a series of actions that need to be executed to complete a step.

g) Data-driven Testing:

Data-driven testing entails extending your automated test cases using data from outside the system. Data-driven testing allows for the reuse of test codes across numerous data sets, saving time and money.

Benefits of Automation Testing

There are numerous advantages of Automation Testing. Some of them are:

1. Save time and money

A successful development cycle often requires running repetitive tests. Manually repeating these tests is a time-consuming and expensive task. Automation testing enables you to reuse the test scripts without incurring additional costs. It is 70% faster than manual testing and saves a significant amount of time for testers and the organization.

2. Increased Test Coverage

Test automation enables execution of several test cases at the same time, ensuring that more features are checked, and high-quality software or applications are produced.

3. Faster feedback

Manual testing is a tedious process and takes a significant amount of time to test the new features. Test automation helps shorten the feedback cycle, identifies defects in the early phase of development, and allows quick dissemination of relevant information, resulting in the faster delivery of the product into the market.

4. Improves Accuracy

Automation testing eliminates human intervention while executing test scripts. Automation testing is quicker, accurate, and more efficient than manual testing.

5. Reusability of test suite

Automation allows the tester to create the testing scripts once and reuse them several times as needed. Even if the OS version changes, it eliminates the need to develop new test scripts.

6. Bug Detection

Automation testing can find bugs early in the development phase, saving time and effort.

Wrapping Up

Automation testing has the potential to transform the way you perform testing. Now is the right time to embrace automation through automation testing tools. These tools help your business to stay on the top by tracking bugs, defects, issues at the right time, which may derail the production process and may incur a higher cost if not resolved at the right time.

Make Test Automation a breeze with advanced test automation tools

With test automation tools like TestingWhiz, automation is a breeze. TestingWhiz is a codeless test automation solution, which offers complete automation with full circle support on Web, Desktop, Mobile, Web Services, and Database Testing.

The key features include record and playback functionality, cross-browser testing, regression testing, integration with CI/CD, test management and bug tracking tools, etc.

A quick demo with the TestingWhiz team can simplify and accelerate your testing journey.

Blog first published on Cygnet Infotech.