Why Should You Test Your Application All the Time?

Nowadays, each software application needs to deliver seamless user experience across multiple devices, platforms and browsers to stay popular and profitable. But the performance and user experience of the software is impacted by a number of external factors including systems, processes and infrastructures. No business can exercise control over these external factors affecting its software’s user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). That is why; it becomes essential for businesses to test their software repeatedly and continuously to maintain its quality and user experience.

5 Reasons Why Software Applications Must Be Tested Continuously

1) Shorter Delivery Cycles

A steady increase is being noted in the number of organizations adopting agile project management methodology. The agile methodology emphasizes on short and incremental software delivery cycles. The methodology further requires programmers and testers to work together and concurrently. Once a particular functionality or module of the software is developed, the testers need to assess its quality and share the test results with various stakeholders in the project. The shorter delivery cycles have made it essential for businesses to perform continuous testing.

2) Early Detections of Defects and Bugs

Many studies have highlighted a business can reduce software testing time and cost drastically through continuous testing. When the defects or bugs in an application are detected early, it becomes easier for programmers to get them fixed. As the code is still fresh in their mind, the programmers can work on the defects without putting extra time and effort. Thus, a business can switch from waterfall testing to continuous testing to reduce the defect turnaround time significantly.

3) Overcome Time and Resource Constraints

Most businesses explore ways to enhance test coverage by overcoming constraints related to resources and time. When the software testing commences after the development phase of the project, the testers have to perform the required tests within a stipulated amount of time without affecting the software’s time to market. But when the testers perform continuous testing, it becomes easier for them to complete all tests without requiring any additional time. Hence, continuous testing helps businesses to deliver a flawless software application despite the constraints related to time and resources.

4) Produce High Quality Code

Many enterprises nowadays review source code of software applications to make it safe and secure. The testing model requires the source code of the software to be assessed and reviewed frequently and thoroughly. While reviewing the source code, the testers can identify the pieces of code that may make the application vulnerable to security attacks. A business can always produce high quality code by performing continuous testing. When software is tested continuously, it becomes easier for testers to each and everything in a build. They can even review the source code of the software repeatedly to ensure that the software is not vulnerable to evolving security threats.

5) Essential for Mobile Apps

Nowadays most businesses develop mobile apps by targeting multiple devices and platforms. So they need to ensure that the app deliver quality user experience across many devices and platforms. Likewise, they need to check the application’s user interface across different models of smartphones, tablets and phablets. With mobile operating systems being updated at regular intervals and new mobile apps emerging on a regular basis, it has become essential for businesses to check the mobile app’s performance and user experience continuously. So the businesses must test the mobile apps continuously to accomplish more downloads and higher returns.

Each enterprise can facilitate continuous software testing in a number of ways. It can always provide testers with test automation tools to perform the tests repeatedly and continuously without putting extra time and effort. Likewise, it can adopt continuous integration (CI) methodology to enable the testers to perform the tests accurately and frequently. 

Why Should Organizations Go Agile in Their Testing Approach

The agile project management methodology emphasizes on software applications being developed and tested in rapid and incremental cycles. The model does not consider software development and software testing as two distinct processes. In an agile environment, the programmers and testers have to work together to ensure that the software quality is maintained. The collaboration promotes continuous iteration of development and testing throughout the entire software development life cycle (SDLC).  Each business can reap a number of benefits by adopting the agile software testing model.

Understanding Important Benefits of Agile Testing Methodology

Instantaneous Feedback

In an agile environment, programmers and testers work as a single team. So the entire team is responsible for software quality. The testers can write unit tests each time a new feature or functionality is added to the application, and test the new code almost immediately. Further, they can provide instant feedback to the programmers about defects or bugs in the software. Based on the feedback received from the testers, the programmers can fix the bugs in the same build.

Better and Continuous Communication

In an agile environment, testers have to stay connected with programmers, project managers, customers and other stakeholders in the project. The emphasis on people and interaction results in better and effective communication. The programmers can simply contact the testers to gather more specific and detailed information about the bugs identified by them.  The daily scrum sessions further help the entire team to focus on identifying and fixing important issues in advance.

Easy to Eliminate Major Defects

It becomes easier for programmers to fix the bugs when the defects in the application are identified immediate after the coding phase. As the code it still fresh in the programmer’s mind, he can get the defects fixed without putting any extra time and effort. The instant feedback provided by testers help developers to work on major bugs in the application almost immediately. The business can further avoid additional cost when the bugs are identified during the coding phase.

Easy to Reproduce Bugs

While preparing a bug report, testers have to write detailed and specific information about the bugs identified in the software. They can further reduce the defect turnaround time drastically by reproducing the bugs. But testers have to put additional time and effort to reproduce the bugs. In an agile environment, they test the software once the code is written. So they find time to write detailed bug reports and reproduce the defects accurately. 

Easy to Incorporate Changes

To reap benefits of waterfall software testing, a business has to define the business requirements from the beginning of the project. But software developers nowadays have to build applications based on frequently-changing business requirements. So it becomes impossible for the managers to outline the business requirements clearly before the project starts. But a business can always adopt agile testing methodology to incorporate changes and enhancements required by the client. In an agile environment, applications are developed and tested in short sprints. So the programmer and testers have to focus only on a single sprint with specific features. They can easily accommodate the new business requirements in the next sprint without any hassle.

Enhanced Test Coverage

Often developers have to test software thoroughly without increasing its time to delivery. So they have to prioritize the defects at the time of preparing bug reports. But agile methodology enables testers to perform tests continuously throughout the software development life cycle. Many enterprises even invest in test automation tools to enable testers to repeat the tests under various conditions. Thus, the testers can assess all aspects of the software without affecting the delivery time.

Shorter Delivery Period

Each business has to deliver software continuously and rapidly to make the client happy. Hence, businesses frequently explore ways to shorten the delivery period. Agile methodology emphasize on development and testing of the application in small iterations. So it becomes easier for enterprises to deliver the working software to the client at frequent intervals.  The constant interaction between the testers and customers further resolve various issues and differences without any delay.

However, it is also important for the organization to keep in mind some of the important shortcomings of agile testing model. Likewise, the managers also need to understand when to use the agile testing methodology. But each enterprise can reap benefits in terms of time, quality and cost by implementing a custom agile testing strategy.    

What is the Need to Test Your Retail Apps Frequently?

It is the age of technology and everything we do is related to technology or dependent on it in some way. The advent of technology has hugely aided the way that people used to buy things. Most people are now hooked on to internet shopping which is conducted online via the numerous mobile shopping apps or retail apps that are present. It allows them to browse and order the things they need sitting at home or at office or on the go and the ordered product gets delivered right at their door step. This helps in saving a lot of time and is convenient for most people who are super busy in their lives or for people who are away from their home and require to deliver the products.

One of the best things about conducting business in an age which is primarily mobile centric is the fact that they have a tool for almost everything that is needed. Be it streamlining certain business opportunities or increasing the productivity of the retail app or creating an easier user interface for your customers to deal with, you get a tool for everything.

However to ensure that your app is up and running it is very important that you need to test your app before launching it so that you can ensure complete satisfaction on the customers’ end. It will also ensure that your app increases the profitability of your business based on the ease and productivity and speed as well as security of using your app. It is not enough to test your app only before you launch it. Retail apps should be tested frequently even after being launched. This is due to the fact that the retail apps are used by a huge number of customers each day which makes it prone to development of bugs which may cause problems in the functionality of the app.

The retail apps are usually multi tier in nature and are connected to payment gateways and banking apps so that the customers can make payment of the products they have bought.  This ensures that your app should have top notch security facilities so that it can avoid any kind of fraud that may cause harm to the customers as well as to your reputation. This is one of the major reasons to keep testing the retail apps frequently so that the security facility of the app is never compromised. It also has to safe keep the personal details filled in by your customers while operating your retail app.

With the advancement of the technology you also need to include more and more features in your retail apps in order to enrich the shopping experience of your customers. This also initiates the process of frequent testing of your retail app to make sure that the prevailing functions are in sync with the new ones and work perfectly with the new functions that are included in the retail app. Also your retail app will have varied amount of traffic on each day which will obviously peak during the holidays and occasions when people are prone to exchanging gifts. Frequent load testing of the retail app will make sure that your app doesn’t snag under pressure and even if it does, it can bounce back to its normal functionality as soon as possible without causing much distress to your customers.

We hope to have clarified the need to test your retail apps frequently. It will help you to maintain a healthy app and a loyal customer base. 

Why is Selenium a Good Weapon to Have in Your Arsenal?

When it comes to software testing, every testing organization seeks the help of automated testing tools as it helps in saving both time and money. Software testing is an important part of the whole software development procedure and the cost of the process affects the whole cost of the project. This is why more and more organizations are opting for open source tools rather than investing in commercial tools which cost a lot of money, ultimately increasing the cost of the whole project.

There are a huge number of automated testing tools available for the purpose of testing the various aspects of the software; however, Selenium tops the list. Selenium is becoming more and more popular each day with the testers and the organizations who specialize in testing both functionality and GUI of the web based applications. It is also effective as far as unit testing is concerned in case of JavaScript. Another important fact behind the popularity of the selenium software is the fact that it is supported by immense number of open source developers who are regularly working on the further development of the tool on a regular basis.

So why is selenium a good weapon to have in your arsenal? Here are some reasons to satiate your query.

1.      Selenium is capable of working on almost all the available operating systems which makes it far more popular than the other available automated testing tools out there.
2.      Being an open source automated testing tool, selenium s far more cost effective that the commercial counterparts which are available in the market.
3.      Selenium supports various languages like such as Python, Pearl, and Ruby, PHP, .NET (C #) and Java pretty well. However, in order to perform your task with the selenium tool, knowing just one of the many languages is more than enough.
4.      Selenium is built in a way where it doesn’t depend on any particular scripting language for its workability which is a huge advantage when it comes to software testing. This provides you with the liberty of writing the automated testing script in any language you wish to or prefer. 
5.      Selenium is easy to work with as it functions with equal ease on all the leading and popular browsers like Opera, Safari, Chrome, IE 6, 7, 8 or Mozilla Firefox.
6.      Supported by Google, Selenium is regularly developed by a team of professional and dedicated developers who are trying to make it better every day.
7.      When you use selenium for automated software testing and detecting various elements on your web based software, it uses robust processes like CSS, Xpath, DOM and so on.
8.      When it comes to exerting of frameworks that revolve around Object oriented programming such as Keyword Driven, Data driven and Hybrid, there are no automated tools which can match up to selenium.
9.      Selenium is very well integrated with various open source frameworks like TestNG, JUnit, NUnit and so on which are popular in the software industry.
10.        Selenium proves to be a huge help when it comes to testing software which involves multiple machines or multiple browsers in different machines at the same time. Selenium helps in saving both time and money as it allows easy workability on various different machines at the same time thus allows you to complete large projects which have a limited period of time for completion.

What are you still waiting for? Get selenium in your arsenal and get all the advantages of this awesome tool to test your web based applications now!

The Role of Software Testing in Healthcare

As technology is advancing, the future is becoming more and more inclined on its use. The case is no different in the healthcare industry where the professionals are becoming more dependent on the use of technology to save data about the patients as well as the various medical staff that are present for serving these patients. More and more technology is being used in healthcare for the purpose of storing information and integrating various data from various resources to ensure that the patients get top service without much hassle. This makes software testing an important part of healthcare software development in order to ensure that the data are safe and software are efficient to handle such huge and complex process.

It is quite obvious that the healthcare industry requires saving a lot of information such as medical plans, enrolments and annual contracts that are required to be recorded for a long period of time and are regularly updated. This requires the healthcare apps to be pretty complex in nature and containing multiple tiers. These can lead to complexities related to data integration which needs to be resolved before providing the software to the professionals to be used without any problems. Here comes the role of software testing in healthcare.

1. Software testing plays a role in the healthcare industry in order to ensure that the huge multi tier system is up and running at all times and does not succumb under pressure. It also guarantees quick comeback of the systems even if it snags.
2. Healthcare industries often have to face a huge surge of traffic inflow in case of any calamities or mishaps which will automatically increase the load on the software system used by it. Software testing ensures that the software performs equally well even in such cases.
3. Healthcare industries often have to face prolonged period of work without any possible break which is at times accompanied by an increased amount of load. This is extended to the software as well. The role of software testing in healthcare is to make sure that the software performs brilliantly during these prolonged work periods.
4. Software testing makes sure that the system integration in the healthcare industry doesn’t cause any major problems. Healthcare industry often requires system integration for the collaboration of data or in order to maintain a constant flow of data between systems so that the records are well maintained and the system runs smoothly.
5. Impacts of cross system on the applications used in the healthcare industry requires software testing for checking.
6. Software testing plays an important role in the healthcare industry by checking the interdependency of the various software which are frequent in the industry to ensure that they are functioning smoothly and causes no problems.
7. Healthcare industry uses software to store a lot of vital and personal information of the patients which if breached and hacked into can give rise to fatal consequences. Software testing helps in maintaining the security of these various systems used.
8. Software testing helps in maintain an easy user interface of the applications used in healthcare so that they can be handles by people who are not pro at the utilization of same.

These are some of the top most methods by which software testing helps the healthcare industry by helping the developers to create apps that are completely secure in nature and will help the professionals to save all the data and integrate the various files which would take a lot of labor if done in a manual manner. 

Exploratory Testing and Business Values Delivered

A gradual increase is being noted in the number of businesses switching from scripted testing to exploratory testing. The conventional scripted testing approach requires the active test cases to be designed in advance, with clearly defined processes and expected results. The predesigned tests are used by testers to compare the actual test results with expected results. So the testers must be provided with adequate information to execute the tests and interpret the test results effectively.

But exploratory testing approach emphasizes on concurrent test designing and execution. It further requires businesses to deploy skilled software testers, and allows testers to become more imaginative and exploratory. While performing exploratory testing, the QA professionals have autonomy to decide what tests to perform next, and how to prioritize tests due to time constraints. So a business can avail a number of benefits by adopting the modern software testing approach.

What Makes Businesses Switch from Scripted Testing to Exploratory Testing?

Defects are Found Quickly

The predesigned test scripts restrict professionals’ imagination and creativity. When the testers have adequate information about the software to be tested and use the predesigned test scripts, they do not come up with fresh and innovative ideas. Exploratory testing requires them to design and execute tests concurrently. So they can learn and improve continuously, while coming up with new ideas and innovative ways to solve problems.

Accommodate Individual Testing Approaches

Exploratory testing approach requires enterprises to deploy skilled and experienced QA professionals. So each tester can analyze the specific problem in a particular way. The members of the team can further suggest various ways to test a particular feature or functionality of the software.  So the same aspect of the application can be tested in a number of ways. The different approaches effectuate testing, and help testers to identify all flaws in the software.

Allow Testers to Control the Testing Process

The scripted testing approach differentiates the process of test design and test execution. So an enterprise has option to deploy different teams to design and execute tests. Also, the testers need adequate product information and detailed business requirements to execute the tests effectively. So the testers fail to execute tests if the test cases are not designed in advance or they are not familiar with the application. But exploratory testing enables testers to design and execute tests concurrently. They can easily gather the required information, and design and test cases in each situation. 

Freedom to Follow Leads

Nowadays testers have to test all aspects of the software within a shorter amount of time. So they find it daunting to read, understand and execute predesigned test scripts. Most modern testers prefer designing and executing tests in parallel without referring to any predesigned test cases. Further, they want to deploy the limited time in finding bugs instead of reading and understanding test cases. The absence of predefined constraints further enables testers to identify bugs in the software by following all promising leads.

Facilitates Agile Testing

Many businesses nowadays adopt agile methodology to reduce software testing time and cost significantly. But the delivery cycles in agile project is extremely short. Further, the developers and testers have to collaborate with each other deliver a flawless software application. So the businesses are no longer required to deploy skilled professionals to make test plans, design test cases, and manage defects in the software. When a business adopts exploratory testing approach, it becomes easier for it to design and execute test cases concurrently without deploying any additional professionals. So exploratory testing helps businesses to reap benefits of agile project management methodologies.

On the whole, the exploratory testing approach is completely different from conventional scripted testing approach. But companies like Microsoft have proved that both testing approaches are compatible with each other, and can also be used on a single project. So a business has option to either adopt exploratory testing model or use both testing models simultaneously. 

What are the Upcoming Testing Challenges for IoT?

f

Okay! It is high time we face the fact that the world is majorly running on mobile devices in the current days. Along with the boom in the field of mobile devices, there has been (obviously!) a boost in the mobile app development which is closely followed by the development of IoT. Soon the world will come to a situation where all things like cars, entertainment devices, transport systems,  robots, HVAC systems, computers, wearable, etc. and things that, till date, have not had electronics until we put it in them e.g., shoes, hardcopy paper, clothes, furniture, pets, back-of-your-neck, etc. will be provided with IP addressed devices.

So what is this so talked about IoT? IoT or Internet of Things, is the basically nothing but the physical objects or “things” to which electronics, software, network connectivity, and sensors have been integrated, to create a network, so as to give them the power to exchange data among each other.

Now, coming to the point! Like all new kids on the block, IoT too has to face many challenges and barriers before it can become successful and hugely popular. Following are some of the major upcoming challenges faced by the QA team while testing IoT.

1. Cost: Multiple devices means all of them have to be brought together in testing environment and a multi tier environment has to be created. This becomes a very costly affair and requires huge efforts to be recreated.
2. Interrelated Systems: The subsystems, sub-components, and services are all interrelated for proper functioning of the IoT and are usually controlled by third party. If the testers are unable to reach any one of the systems, the whole software testing procedure fails and hence is a huge challenge for the QA team.
3. Multiple Teams: Multiple devices results in multiple fields of specializations which in turn requires multiple teams who are specialized in respective field to work simultaneously on the testing task.
4. Testing Tools: IoT is comparatively new. Hence, the testing tools of the system are not well developed which makes it difficult for the testers to perform the procedures due to the inadequacy.
5. Sensor quality and Accuracy: When multiple devices are involved, it is obvious that all will not be of the same quality which makes testing of the various IoT devices quite troublesome.
6. Compatibility Issues: There will be many devices which are unique in their own way with their own functionality which make them hugely different from the other. Hence compatibility of the different devices will be challenging.
7. Complexity: With the multi tier devices as well as software, complexities are pretty common to occur when all the devices are to be integrated together to form one large device of many parts.
8. Connectivity Issues: All the systems need to be connected well with each other for proper functioning.
9. Power Problems: When so many physical objects are running together in an integrated manner, power is obviously a huge issue.
10. Security / Privacy Issues: IoT operates through remote sensors which increase the chances of breaching privacy or security a lot easier. This will be one of the major upcoming problems for the testers.
11. Safety Concerns: The IoT is integrating many devices together which open up further chances of entry points by malwares. The increase in the layer of the software in turn increases the complexities of safety issues.

These are some of the most sought after challenges in the field of IoT testing which needs to be attended at once for proper development of the same.

Importance of Testing Applications across Devices & Browsers

If you are aiming at winning the hearts of your customers with the software you have developed, the safest way to do so is by implementing software testing procedure on the same so as to detect the probable bugs and glitches and rectify them.

Since it was discovered, technology has always been a blessing to mankind. With its advancement, it has offered people with ample choice or both devices and browsers through which they can access and utilize a particular app according to their convenience. This has made cross browser and device testing of application an absolute must part of the whole software testing process in order to make sure that the developed application works equally well in all the browsers or devices. This in turn ensures satisfaction of the customers.

When you are developing an application, your target should be to provide your customers with the best possible performance along with awesome security system, so that your customers are head over heels in love with your application. This can be done only by testing the application’s performance in various kinds of devices and browsers which are majorly used by the real time users. Although there are multiple tools available for cross device or browser testing, yet it is better to test them manually because these tools though can perform test in multiple browser or device simultaneously, tends to treat all of them in similar manner, which is not needed at times. While testing the apps manually, you can take into consideration the uniqueness of each of the devices and browsers along with your app and the parts of it to check if they are compatible with each other or not so that you can tweak it accordingly.

Features like Applets, JavaScript, Flash, AJAX requests and more are what contribute to making a browser different from the second one, similar is the cases with the devices that are used. This uniqueness of the devices and browsers makes the application you have developed perform in different ways in different browsers or devices producing varying outcomes. However, it is desirable that your application will perform equally in all the devices or browsers, without any discrimination so that your customers are given ample choices to choose from and also so that you get a customer base. This is what makes testing applications across devices and browsers very important so that your customers do not have to suffer due to their choice of browsers or devices and so that you do not have to suffer the consequences of their choice by compromising on the popularity of your application.

It is quite obvious that you will target the majority while you are developing applications to be launched. This is why it is but natural that you will focus more on the most popular browsers and apps while you are testing your application for its performance in cross browsers and devices in order to make sure that your app and all its parts provides equally awesome performance and security service in all of them. However, it won’t be very wise to neglect the less used counterparts completely. Also while you are manually testing your application, take the various operating systems of the devices into consideration along with the built and other aspects so as to ensure all round performance of it.

So that’s a gist of the importance of testing applications across devices and browsers. We hope to have made you realize the need for the process in order to make your app popular and wanted among customers.

How to Effectively Conduct Bug Reporting for New QA Testers?

The bug reports prepared by testers help managers to take a number of crucial decisions. So the managers need clear, detailed and informative bug reports. But often the reports prepared by beginners do not provide adequate information about the defects or flaws in the software application to the programmers and managers. Sometimes the inadequate and ambiguous information even affects the outcome of the software testing project. That is why, it is important for both experienced testers and beginners to keep in mind some simple points to conduct bug reporting effectively. 

Simple Ways to Prepare Better Bug Reports

Describe Each Step in the Process

The beginners must break down the process of identifying a defect. In addition to mentioning the series of steps taken till the bug is identified, they also need to mention both expected and actual results. When each step in the experience is described, it will be easier for the programmers to fix the bugs based on specific details. Likewise, the expected and actual results will help testers to check if the bug is fixed successfully.

Don’t Analyze the Bugs

Often testers have to analyze and prioritize bugs according to their severity and impact on the application’s functionality. But they need not prioritize bugs while preparing the bug report. The primary objective of the report is to bring all bugs into the system. So the report must convey detailed and specific information about each bug identified during the testing process. The testers must include all bugs in the report regardless of their significance, frequency of occurrence, and severity.

Provide Specific Information

The testers can easily reduce the defect turnaround time by providing specific information about each bug in the report. For instance, while reporting a defect found in a web application, they must clearly describe the page URL, user account details and login credentials. Likewise, they can provide more specific information about the bugs by providing screenshots. The screenshot will complement the description of the bug included in the report, and help programmers to understand the issue clearly.

Reproduce the Bugs

The professionals can further conduct bug reporting effectively by reproducing the bugs. However, the performance and functionality of an application can be impacted by a number of factors during the testing process. So they need to identify and reproduce only those bugs that are persistent and occur frequently. While reproducing a bug, the testers can easily identify the exact steps in the experience, and supplement the details by providing screenshots.

Focus Exclusively on Facts

Often beginners tend to speculate about the source and effect of a defect. The speculative information makes it difficult for programmers to understand and fix the bugs quickly. So the testers must focus only on facts while preparing the bug report. They must report facts about the bug objectively, and avoid trying to speculate about nature and source of the problem.

Make Subjects Descriptive

Often programmers identify and track each issue based on its subject. So the testers must write the subject in a clear and descriptive way. The subject must convey information about the issues in a simple and unambiguous way. When the subject is accurate and descriptive, it becomes easier for programmers to identify and understand the source of the problem. Thus, descriptive subjects used in the bug reports can reduce defect turnaround time drastically.

Assign a Number to Each Bug Report

Normally, testers have to prepare several bug reports while testing a single software application.  So they need to differentiate the reports from each other. When the testers assign a unique number to each bug report, it becomes easier for them to track individual reports efficiently. Further, they   can easily update the status of each report once the defects are fixed. Some testing tools even allow users to add unique ids to various bug reports simply by changing the configuration.

On the whole, the testers need to prepare informative bug reports to reduce the defect turnaround time drastically. Instead of following a predefined template or format, the testers must focus on conveying detailed and clear information about the bugs identified during the testing process. They can even consider reproducing the bugs before preparing bug reports to make it easier for programmers to eliminate the defects in the software application.   

How Have Testing Tools Helped to Perform Effective Testing?

Software testing has always been a very important part of the whole software development process. It helps in detecting the flaws that are responsible for the dissatisfaction of the customers which in turn helps in the development of better products which automatically gets better due to the rectification of errors which would possibly diminish the outcome of the software.

With the advancement of the software testing procedure, automation of various testing procedure, automation have been introduced where the various tests are being performed by the automated tools which helps in fast testing and at the same time increases the coverage area. The main advantage of automated testing is the fact that it is effective yet costs a lot test than manual procedures. The process is completed a lot faster and the same test can be run parallel on multiple machines and at the same time. You will also get the same accuracy every time you test software. Prolonged tests are actually done with better proficiency by tools than on a manual way. This is why the tests which have high output value but require little effort to be completed are automated first.

1.  Reduction of Repetitive Work: Certain tests, like regression tests, are very boring to perform as they are repetitive in nature. When manually done, these repetitive tests become prone to mistakes as it is tedious in nature and tend to bore people off. Insertion of the test data again and again as well as checking the codes multiple times in order to create a proper database for the storage for future referencing. However tools are capable of performing these repetitive tasks with perfect ease and with the same amount accuracy every time and saves up on time too.  

2.    Greater Consistency and Repeatability: A tool is capable of performing the same task again and again with the same amount of preciseness. However, when a human performs the same test manually, their technique gets altered although they may not realize it. Hence the testing tool helps in increasing the effectiveness of testing.

3. Objective Assessment: Assessment of the cyclomatic complexity or nesting levels of a component (usually done with the help of a static analysis tool), coverage (coverage measurement tool), system behavior (by the help of monitoring tools) and incident statistics (done with the test management tool) are some of the examples of objective assessment which are done by the help of the automation tools. This helps to remove any biasness which may occur when the same objective assessment test is done manually by any human being.

4.  Ease of Access to Information about Tests or Testing: Information is well retained by human when they are depicted in the form of a picture. This is why information which is presented in the form of charts and graphs are easier to remember and analyze than mere numbers. Automatic tools help to convert the end results of the software testing procedures into charts and bars which can then be analyzed with ease by an individual. Information like the development of the procedure, advancement of the same, occurrence of various incidents repeatedly, is directly converted into images for better processing.

These are just some of the ways in which have helped in the process of performing effective testing of the software. However, although a huge progress has been made in the fields of the automation of the test procedure, the main part of the whole process, i.e. the planning of the test still have to be done manually and hence manual processes can’t be completely overlooked. 

How can Effective Test Planning help Increase Productivity?

The quality and user experience of a software application determine its popularity and profitable. So enterprises nowadays test their applications thoroughly to accomplish more downloads and get higher returns. But the modern mobile apps need to deliver quality user experience across many operating systems, devices and environment. Also, the QA professionals often have to perform all tests within a shorter amount of time.

That is why; it becomes essential for enterprises to make testers more productive through effective test planning. It is important for the project manager to make a comprehensive test plan to convey the testing process and workflow to testing professionals clearly. The test plan will outline and keep track of the tests to be conducted, along with ensuring that all functional and design requirements are met. At the same time, it will also provide procedure for various tests, identify test methods for each type of testing, and define the documentation process.

How Test Plans Help Businesses to Make QA Professionals Productive?

Enhances Test Coverage

Nowadays testers have to test all aspects of an application within a shorter amount of time. They further need to conduct certain tests repeatedly to get more accurate test results.  A comprehensive test plans clearly defines the types of tests to be conducted. So the QA professionals can always refer to the document to ensure all tests are covered, and all aspects of the application are tested.

Provides an Organized Test Flow

The test plan further makes it easier for testers to organize individual tests. They can refer to the documents to get an insight into the software development process. Once they understand overview of the product and its evolution, it becomes easier to understand where the bugs are located. So they can easily assess the application as an end user, and identify more bugs by following a proper test flow. 

Avoid Duplication

Often QA professionals duplicate certain tests due to inadequate information about the software and development process. The test plan clearly defines the tests to be conducted, along with keeping the tests organized. So the testers can always refer to the document to avoid duplication. They can further coordinate with each other to gather detailed information about bugs without performing the same tests again.

Effectuates Bug Generation

Unlike exploratory testing, proper test planning helps QA professionals to identify all bugs or flaws in an application. The test plan ensures that no aspect of the software remains untested. So the QA professionals clearly understand the tests to be conducted. They can simply refer to the plan and perform the tests in an organized way without any confusion.

Keeps Testers Vigilant

A comprehensive test plan further helps businesses to eliminate a process called tunnel vision. When a tester spends too much time in testing specific aspects of an application, there are chances that he may not remain vigilant. So he will surely fail to assess the specific aspects of the software with a fresh mindset. The test case requires QA professionals to perform tests in an organized way. So they have to frequently switch from one testing process to another. The switching makes it easier for the testers to identify bugs more efficiently.

Delivers Better Test Results

The test results help businesses to take crucial decisions related to the software’s release. So the testers have to present the test results in a structured way. In addition to helping professionals to generate better test results, the test plan further makes the test results more organized. As the tests are conducted according to specific sections and builds, the test results can be easily attributed to the relevant parts. The QA professionals can further use color codes to make the results more readable.

It is important for the manager to   keep the test plan dynamic and evolving. He needs to ensure that the initial test plan remains abstract, while the final test plan is concrete.  The initial test plan need not contain detailed or exact information about test cases. The project manager has to keep refining and updating the high level test ideas included in the initial test plan as the application development progresses.  

5 Signs that Prompts Business Owners to Initiate Software Testing

Software testing is considered to be the pillar of successful software. If you are in a software business, it is very important that you, as the owner provide facilities for your software to be tested before releasing. However your product will provide you with signs which will indicate the same.

1.  Bugs Leading to Reduced Output: Most of the time if the software has been released without being tested, it develops various kinds of bugs which usually interfere with the way the software is supposed to react and the possible output it gives. This usually leads to dissatisfaction of the customers who terminate the usage of the software. This will ultimately lead to the failure of the software which will lead to the loss of business and should be a clear indication to the owners to start testing their software before launching to avoid such loss.
2.  No Desired Output: The main aim of the business owners is to launch a product which provides the customers with the desired output that will make the customers use their application resulting in desired profit. However, when the developed software doesn’t provide you with the output that it is meant to give, it may be time to start software testing in order to detect the errors which are preventing your application from producing the desired results so that they can be rectified and the settings can be altered to change it. Testing helps in pinpointing the errors and saves time.
3. Loading Problems: You may have created a software and released it in the market for the use by the customers but it can’t handle the load of multiple customers at a time. This will lead to the customer unrest which will soon lead to the customer’s unrest who will shift to a app which has better work ability and doesn’t hang up as easily. This will ultimately result in the loss of your organization and may be one of the most potent signs which indicates that you start testing your software as soon as possible to avoid this kind of problems that lead to discontinuation of the app created.
4.  Lagging Behind in the Market: The advancement of technology has provided us with many benefits but it has also lead to an increased amount of competition as there are multiple apps similar to the one your organization has created which provide people with better performance than yours. This will lead your customers to choose the application created by your opponent rather than yours as it provides better service and desired output in shorter time interval. This will result in you lagging behind in the highly competitive market and is a clear indication that prompt action is required in the field of software testing.
5. Reduced Profit: The main concern of any business organization is to gain profit from the products that they are offering to the customers. As a business owner it should be your top priority to ensure that your organization is always of the profitable side of the ledger and in order to do so you need to provide your customers with quality products. A lack in the profitability is a clear indication that your customers are not satisfied with the quality of product your are providing them with and in order to improve this situation you need to test your software to detect the glitches before offering them to your customers.

These are the top five signs which should prompt any business owner to initiate software testing in order to maintain the profitability of their company. 

The Importance of QA Testing for Businesses

The main aim of all businesses is to gain profit from the product that they are selling to their customers and one of the best methods to gain more customers is to provide them with quality product that will satisfy the requirements of the customers. The scenario is pretty much the same when it comes to the software industry. This is what makes QA testing an important part of the software development life cycle of the product. The world is filled with competition and people are willing to pay more for good quality products which will deliver better than the rest.

The software which is tested before launching will obviously have better performance than those which are not and hence will be accepted more by the customers ultimately making it beneficial for the business.

1. QA Testing helps Launch Defect Free Products: QA testing helps in detection of all the glitches that the software may have while being developed. The bugs that may affect the performance of the software will be detected in the QA testing phase and can be rectified so that they are not causing a problem when the customers are using them. The defect free product will become more popular among the users and will provide the business with a wider and more loyal customer base that will ultimately help in business expansion and profitability of the organization.
2. 2.       Even Software Developed by the Best Developers has to be tested: Even the best of the developers are ultimately human and to err is human. You can never be hundred percent sure about the developed product hence you need to get it checked to make sure it is performing as you desired it to perform. QA testing also helps to ensure that the software works smoothly under the stress it may face while being used by the customers and the probable problems may be rectified before launching it to the real world. This is beneficial for the business as it will not cause any disturbance for the customers.
3.  QA Testing also helps Provide Publicity: The QA department is basically a representative of the customers to the business organization. Both start-ups and established firms need to get their software tested by the QA department. This will ensure that the product does exactly what the customer requires it to do. Satisfying the customer in this manner will make the customer tell others about the software or the organization who will be eager to use the services offered by the same. Thus helping in the publicity of the business ultimately resulting in the increased business and profit of the organization.

Thus you see how QA testing is important when it comes to business. It will help not only in increasing the customer base of the organization but also help to gain the loyalty of the existing customers so that they avail to your service exclusively. It is a pretty fast paced world and people will not think twice before switching over to better software if you are not able to provide them with quality product. So it is absolutely must for your business to keep your customers satiated with the quality of the product you are supplying which can only be ensured by QA testing. 

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. 

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.

The need to Hire Software Testing Experts for your Application

Software testing industry is one of the fastest growing parts of the IT sectors. As the organizations are steadily learning about the importance of the software testing procedure as the governing factor of the popularity of the software, they are paying closer attention to the software testers who will be able to test the various aspects of the developed software in order to provide a detailed report to the developers so that they can rectify the probable causes which could end up in customers’ dislike. This will ultimately help the organization create a product which is of superior quality and will be well accepted by the customers.

While most organizations are novice at the software testing game, they are of the opinion that the software developers are capable enough to test the software to detect and rectify the possible flaws and bugs related to the functionality, performance and security of the software. But in reality the scenario is quite different. Software testing is not merely a job. It is a whole new mindset which requires a varying set of skills to accomplish the desired results.

1. A software testing expert is a skilled individual who is capable of detecting which kind of tests are required by particular software and where to check to find probable bugs and hence make the software as flawless as possible.
2. They will be able to utilize their knowledge to check the software under variety of conditions in order to maximize the test coverage and allow a problem free performance in almost any situations possible.
3.  One of the main tasks of the software testing procedure is the documentation of the reports in a detailed manner so as to ease the job of the developers in rectifying the flaws and software testing experts are well trained to do so.
4. The software testing experts act as the representative of your customers and are well versed in what they need or look for in a software and will test your software accordingly to ensure that your customers remain loyal to your product.
5.  The software testing experts are trained to have a flexible mindset which allows them to adapt to testing situations based on the requirements of the software being tested.
6. They have superb knowledge about the various tests that are available and are continuously updating themselves on the same. Also they have a fairly good programming knowledge in order to understand the software well.
7.   Once you have provided them with software, they know which parts of the software are more important compared to the others and hence they prioritize their software testing methods accordingly.
8.  They are well aware of the need of your organizations business aspect and use methods which will deliver most to those needs so that you ultimately gain a humongous profit from the good quality product.

Now that you are aware of the basic qualities of a software testing expert, you will be able to differentiate between the tester and the developer which will help you understand clearly, the reasons as to why you absolutely must hire a software testing expert for your application in order to gain customer satisfaction which will lead to the profit of your organization.