Top Reasons for Using Selenium in Software Testing

In the current IT industry, whenever a new software is developed, it is being tested by the various software testing procedure. These tests ensure that the software is as bug free as possible for the satisfaction of the customers who will be using it. Software testing may be of manual or automated type. The automated testing procedures are more popular due to the fact that it costs less and is a speedy process.

Automated testing tools are very popular among various organizations as they are low cost and provide testing results which are reliable and highly accurate. Of the multiple automated testing tools present, Selenium is by far the most popular one. It is applicable for both applicable for the functionality as well as the GUI and is becoming a favourite for the automated testers of web applications.

So, you ask why? Well following are the top reasons for using Selenium in software testing:

1. When compared with the various other automated testing tools, Selenium is far more popular as it has the capability of working on almost all the available operating systems.
2. Selenium is very cost effective when compared to other automated testing tools due to the fact that it is an open source system.
3. Multiple languages such as Python, Pearl, and Ruby, PHP, .NET (C #) and Java are well supported by Selenium. However, knowing any one of these languages well, will allow you to work on Selenium with perfect ease.
4. When you are working with Selenium, you can write your automation test script in any language you wish. The language used for building Selenium is not dependant on the language used for script writing which proves to be a huge advantage. 
5. Be it Opera, Safari, Chrome, IE 6, 7, 8 or Mozilla Firefox, Selenium will work with equal ease on all of the leading browsers and hence is easy to work with.
6. Selenium is backed up by Google and has a very good development team to support it.
7. CSS, Xpath, DOM, and so on are some of the most robust methods of locating various elements when automatic testing is on process.
8. When it comes to implementation of frameworks that revolve around Object oriented programming like Keyword Driven, Data driven and Hybrid, Selenium is unparalleled in the market.
9. TestNG, JUnit, NUnit and so on are the open source frameworks which are well integrated with Selenium.
10. When you work with Selenium, it allows you to work on multiple machines at the same time. Thus it helps in saving your time as you can perform various tests on a number of browsers in different machines and hat too in the same time. This is a huge advantage when you have the task of testing a large project within a limited period of time.

When it comes to the testing of web applications like browser compatibility along with the functionality tests, Selenium is by far the best of the lot. With the various modes and test packages that the automation tool has to offer, you no longer need to search other tools for testing your web application for their superior functionality and can easily deliver quality product to the customers and gain their trust. 

What is the Need of Testing Your Applications or Products?

Product or application testing is an important part of launching it in the real world for the general public to use. Although it is not the core section of developing the product, it has its own importance nevertheless. So you ask why you need to test your application or product? Well, we will take the opportunity of this article to let you know just that.

The most important reason for testing your application or product is to make it popular. Yes! You read it right. People do not have time for products which are flawed and will not think twice before discarding it. You must remember that in the age of technology, there will be thousands of products which does nearly the same job as yours does. So if you want people to use your application, you have to provide them with a bug free application which can be used by them as smoothly as silk. But for making the necessary modifications to make it free of bugs, you need to first detect them, which you can do by testing the application or product under various conditions.

The second reason for testing applications is to check the compatibility and durability of the same. The world is filled with various devices which have different operating systems and hardware configurations. You have to check that the app you have developed should be compatible with as many operating systems and hardware configuration as possible so that you can grab the attention of various groups of end users and provide your application to them. You will also have to make sure that your product works pretty well under stressful conditions, which you can do by testing only. If your product caves in under excess pressure and/or takes a huge time to recover back to normal work ability, it is likely to be avoided by people at large. You have to test these criteria by software testing methods and make modifications to make it stronger.

The third reason for testing the application or product is to see how the individual component of the developed product works and how they work when integrated together. How well does the various software modules or codes collaborate with each other. It may be so that they work pretty well individually, but when combined together, they show some problems which can be solved by a little tweaking.

The fourth need for testing the application is to see whether the modifications that you have made, strengthens or weakens the product or application as a whole. Comparison testing comprises of an important part of testing he produced which tests the application against the older version and shows you the weak points or strong points of the new application. This helps you to further strengthen the product by modifying the weakness into strengths. It also helps you to see the advancements you have made since the last versions of the product.

So now you know why it is an absolute must to test your product or application before launching it in the real world for public use. The best way to keep the load off is to begin testing from the early designing phase and not waiting for the completion of the software.

Enhancing Software Testing Efficiency

Software testing is an important part of the software development life cycle which also acts as the pillar of success for the software. This makes the enhancement of the software testing efficacy an important job so that the procedure is always up to date and you can gain more accurate results to make the software better and friendlier for the customers.

1.     Set up an Independent Reporting Structure: Avoid making the testers report to a group of employees who have to complete their job within a particular deadline. This often makes them avoid the testers so that they can finish their job within a particular timeline. Instead it is best if the testers have an independent body to which they can report directly.
2.    Dedicate Testers to Specific Systems: Specific regions of the software respond best to specified software testing procedures. Similarly some testers are good at automated testing which requires programming knowledge whereas others are good at manual testing as they lack the programming knowledge at large. Hence it is best if specific tests are conducted by specific testers who are a pro at their job. This will make the testers do the job with dedication yielding accurate results which can be relied on.
3.      Give them Business Training: Make sure your testers understand the business criteria of your organization in order to test the software accordingly. Provide them with enough knowledge about how your business works and what you need to gain out of the software that is being tested. This will help them to strategise the testing procedure and emerge with a compact testing procedure for yielding best possible software.
4.    Test the Old with the New: When you are testing software during the whole software development life cycle, make sure that you are comparing the test results of the new software with that of the old ones. This helps in detecting the most lingering bugs and also helps in determining the advancement done in terms of the development of software.
5.    Initiate Early Testing of Software: Most of the organizations wait till the software development is nearing the end to begin testing of the software. This only complicates the testing and rectification procedure. Efficacy of testing can be enhanced by introducing the testing process at an early developmental stage helps in detecting the defects while they haven’t yet piled up and can be resolved easily.
6.      Choose Testers who are Adaptable: Various software requires various kinds of tests to detect the bugs. Choosing team members on the software testing team who can adapt to the changing demands of the testing procedure or environment help in increasing the efficacy of the testing efficiency. Also your team members should be open to updating themselves with the developing techniques of tests helps in utilizing the latest methods.
7.     Diminishing the Difference between Real and Testing Environment: Make the software testing environment as the real environment where the customers will be using the software helps in detection of real time problems and bugs which can be rectified and thus enhances the testing efficacy.

These are a few tips which can be reflected on if you want to enhance the testing efficacy of your software in order to build a better product which will help you earn more customer satisfaction.

Growth of Software Testing Over the Years

Software testing is a part of the software development life cycle, which is slowly and steadily gaining popularity in the IT industry. The people are slowly and steadily becoming aware of the importance of the software testing procedure in the success of the software. Software testing is an extensive process which starts before the development of the software. It initiates with the feasibility test which detects whether the software is logical to exist in the first place and ends with the likes of beta testing methodology which occurs after the development process has been completed.

When it all began, software was all about development. Organizations were satiated with a good set of developers who used to do all the planning and execute them to provide end users with the software required. But as and when the advancement gained momentum, it was seen that the development alone is not enough to sustain the IT industry. Users want bug free software which will be perfectly secure and functional under various adverse situations. This is only possible with a well-equipped software testing team.

The software testing industry has seen an excellent growth spurt. It has contributed USD 10 billion from zero in a matter of 12 years from 1998 to 2010. Today the software testing procedure has been classified into various parts which tackle different zones of the developing software. The main aim of the software testers is to attain maximum test coverage. Over the past decade, the software testing has grown from a single test which would determine perfect functionality of the software to multiple tests which determines designs, security, tenacity, sanity and other aspects of the software apart from functioning. It is predicted that there will be a huge growth in the specialized software testing procedures which will cover nearly 40 % of the total software testing industry, the rest being occupied by various functionality testing.

Currently, the various IT organizations are paying special heed to the software testing methodologies and more fund are being invested in the same so as to dig out better and more advanced techniques which will result in better software as an end result. The software testing industry is now providing job to thousands of individuals. Organizations are setting up separate testing departments which are in charge of planning the software development which is then executed by the development section and sent back to the testing department which then test the same for various aspects. The results obtained by this process are again forwarded to the development division, which rectifies the mistakes for the sake of even better software for the end users.

With the advancement of technology in the future, it is expected that the software testing industry will grow too as it ensures faster delivery of the developing software to the users and also helps in gaining the satisfaction of the same. As more people are taking an interest in the testing division, it is rapidly developing. It is now being considered as an integral part of the development industry and is becoming equally important. Watching the current and future trends it can safely be depicted that the testing industry will be one of the most departments of the IT industry which will be engaging talented individuals.

New Trends to Watch Out for in QA Testing

Be it population or globalization or cutting age technology, business is facing a major change almost every year and QA testing is no different. Over a mere few years, QA testing has undergone major changes. It is showing certain trends which will further alter it in the near future. The following are a list of such trends which are steadily gaining importance in the QA testing industry.

1. Integrating QA through Agility and TCoE: Testing Centers of Excellence (TCoE) along with agile testing is going to play an important role in incorporating the QA department as one of the major part of the business. Companies are investing money in QA to avoid after cost production and enhance customer satisfaction.
2.  Greater Focus on New Technology: Although there has been a sharp rise in the mobile app development from 31% to 55%, yet when it comes to testing the mobile software, organizations are at a loss of skilled testers. Cloud computing has made advancement, but security and performance is still an issue and is going to be the focus of IT industry in the near future.
3.  Higher Automation Levels: As agile testing keeps reducing the time required for the testing procedure, organizations are opting for automated testing facilities to save time as well as money. The automatic testing facilities have made a marked progress in the field of development and will continue to do so in the future. It is exerting its importance in the regression testing, unit testing and load testing.
4.   Greater Focus on Security: With the emergence and growing importance of cloud computing, security has appeared to be a major issue. Organizations are putting in stress to increase the security features of the cloud computing as well as mobile facilities to stop security breaches so that testing facilities can be safely moved to clouds and accessed at all times.
5. Context Driven Testing: With the increased amount of mobility as well as social media, the whole world seems to be integrated with the help of software. Business owners are now looking for a method to increase the test coverage to a maximum level in order to prevent central hubs of hardware, middleware and test environments. Context driven testing provides the businessmen with the power to do so.
6.  Continuous Integration Testing: Continuous integration testing ensures that the software is being tested of bugs, performance and security issues right from the beginning of the developmental phase in short intervals. This ensures that the defects do not pile up at the end of the process and reduces the load on the developers. This is trending a lot in current days as it saves both time and hassle of the developers
7.  Independent Software Testing: As the importance of QA testing is becoming clearer day by day, companies are now seeking the help of individual organizations which are experts in the QA testing jobs. Many organizations are popping up which are emphasising on hiring individuals with great skills for testers and are focused in the QA testing of software only.

These are some of the most noticeable trends of the QA testing industry, which is going to be of major importance in the future and will be changing the course of software testing industry.

Challenges Faced by Testers during Testing Cycle

In the past decade, software development has made a huge progress in the future direction. However, the scenario is not as good when it comes to the testing of the software. Statistical survey shows that the budget of the IT industry has increased from 18% to 26% in a span of two years, but the budget allotted to the testing departments is not even close to satisfaction. Marked development is needed in this field in order to ensure good software for the customers.

1.    Agile Development: According to the statistics, 93% of the companies prefer agile development method of software testing as compared to 83% of them in 2013. This method requires a new set of skills and view as it has less documentation and faster methods of testing the software. Automation has made marked progress and is the best choice for regression testing which has mounted up. Testers are being reduced to advocates of the end users.
2.      Mobile Technology: With the advent of smart phones, the internet is being accessed majorly through them. Loads of apps are beings developed for these small platforms. This has shifted the testing industry from software to mobile app testing realm. This has reduced the focus off of the pure manual testing of software. The testers, while testing mobile application requires a varied set of skills in order to handle the job of the small platforms. The traditional software testing protocol is being replaced.
3.     Big Data: Gathering and sorting out data is looming big in the software industries these days. Each and every IT company gathers a huge amount of data, but not all can analyze it or check the validity of these data and use the results for future benefit. However, the real trick behind the accumulation and analysis of the data lies in the fact as to how well you have extracted the data and how error free it is. Dealing with such a huge amount of data and storing the same in a beneficial manner is appearing to be a huge challenge.
4.     Cloud Access: With the emergence of cloud computing, people are hugely relying on it, majorly due to the ease of access to the data stored in the cloud. People are always on the go, and they need to access their data on multiple devices and it has been made possible due to cloud computing. However, moving software testing to the clouds is posing to be a huge challenge, especially on the security and performance front as there is a huge chance of security breach along with loss of data.
5.      Lack of Resources: This is one of the most brooding challenges that the testers face. Lack of resources results in incomplete testing of the software or tests which are not up to the mark of the quality provided by the company, ultimately resulting in dissatisfied customers. If these lacks of resources are combined with the lack of training, then the yield is even more disastrous. Optimum resource is required for proper usability, security, and performance testing.

These are the most jarring challenges which are being faced by the software testers every day, during test cycles. To get improved results from the software testing processes, organizations should pay heed to these challenges and try solving these challenges.