Test Infrastructure

 

What Is Test Infrastructure?

First things first, let us understand what test infrastructure is. Testing is a continuous process and proper infrastructure can make it a hassle-free activity.

A testing infrastructure is the essential framework and tools used in software development to systematically assess and validate a software system’s quality, functionality, and performance. It encompasses testing environments, automation frameworks, and methodologies, ensuring thorough testing and defect detection. This infrastructure is pivotal in maintaining software reliability and meeting user expectations.

Why Is it needed?

Benefits of Test Infrastructure

While setting up test infrastructure takes some time, it bears so many benefits. Here are some of them:

• Reliability : Test infrastructure ensures consistent and dependable testing.
• Efficiency : It speeds up the testing process and reduces manual effort.
• Scalability : Easily accommodate testing for various scenarios and scales.
• Reproducibility : Enables the replication of test conditions for debugging.
• Coverage : Helps identify issues across different parts of the system.
• Continuous Integration : Facilitates automated testing in the development pipeline.
• Cost Savings : Reduces the need for manual testing, saving resources.
• Documentation : Provides a clear record of test cases and results.
• Early Detection : Identifies issues in the development phase, saving time.
• Regression Testing : Automates the checking of previous functionalities.

Six Components of Test Infrastructure

There are six main components in a test infrastructure:

Challenges of Test Infrastructure

While test infrastructure simplifies so many things, it comes with its own set of challenges.

Infrastructure Complexity

You need to be an expert in establishing and maintaining a test infrastructure. Setting up and configuring different types of components, managing any kind of dependencies, and ensuring compatibility across various tools and environments is a hassle.

Synchronization

It is important to establish a proper connection between development and testing. This entire process is a challenge, and there needs to be extensive collaboration between wo teams so that both the processes are done in parallel.

Remote Environment

The testing teams need to rely on other organizations to handle any issues with the equipment, software, hardware resources, and network related to the testing environment.

Test Maintenance

Whenever a new feature is introduced into the application or software, the tests need to be updated in order to align with the requirements. This maintenance is time and resource-consuming.

Webomates CQ: Testing Simplified

While testing infrastructure smoothens your entire testing process, setting it up and maintaining everything requires a huge team of experts. What if I say you can ignore all of these hassles and jump right into the testing process?

Well, this is possible with Webomates. You just need to start a free trial and see how our product works. The best part is our free trial lasts for two months, giving you ample time to test it out.

Another important thing that you need to know is our AiHealing technology. This patented technology by Webomates removes the hassle of maintaining test automation. Our advanced product leverages AI and heals itself without human intervention.

To know more about our testing services and how we can bring a pragmatic shift in your approach, get in touch with us now. You can schedule a demo, opt for our free trial, or drop us an email at info@webomates.com. A stitch in time saves nine. Save time and resources by contacting us right away.

Video Testing

 

Video services have gained immense popularity in the past few years. They can be broadly classified into two categories: Video Conferencing and Video Streaming aka broadcasting. Their demand has skyrocketed in the last few months when the world is under siege due to the prevailing pandemic.

Live video conferencing tools, like MS teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc, are being used extensively these days for conducting meetings and scheduling web-based conferences.

The education field has started depending highly on various eLearning platforms, besides leveraging the video conferencing tools.

Equipped with smartphones and access to the internet, the rate of consumption of video on demand is overwhelming too, be it sports, music, movies, news, or documentaries. It gives the flexibility to watch videos on the move at the time of your choice.

The surge in demand and usage, in general, puts a high load on the content delivery and management infrastructure. In order to appease the current customer base and entice new ones, the product and service providers need to maintain & upgrade current infrastructure, besides introducing new measures to provide consistent and high-quality services. This gives rise to the need of having a good video testing process in place.

Why do we need video testing?

Imagine a scenario when an important point is being discussed in a meeting/class and the video gets paused, or the picture gets pixelated, or the voice is not clearly audible. It adversely impacts the whole user experience.

The performance of the whole ecosystem of video services is vital for continued customer satisfaction and loyalty. Like every other technology, video testing is extremely important to ensure that the end-user gets maximum out of his/her investment in the tech he/she paid for. This task is considerably tough keeping in mind the rate at which the hardware (mobiles, televisions, tablets, etc.) are upgraded and the content demand keeps going up.

The video content is dynamic in nature, coupled with the wide range of receiving hardware makes it a challenging task. Hence, it is imperative to have a well-outlined video testing process in place.

Video streaming performance metrics

Video testing also aids in analyzing the impact of actual usage during peak times by measuring various performance metrics, thereby ensuring that the end-users can have an uninterrupted experience. These metrics form the baseline for video testing.

• Bit Rate: The pixelated picture and impeded speech are classic symptoms of low quality video streaming. Take a look at the following snapshot of stills from a video. It is easy to spot the difference in quality of both.

Ever wondered why this happens? The culprit is “Bit Rate”. The video quality is directly proportional to the bit rate. Higher the bit rate, better the quality, consequently larger the video file size.

Bit rate is measured as the number* of bits transmitted per second*. A higher bit rate does not necessarily translate into better quality viewing on the receiver’s end if the hardware is not equipped to process that.While bit rate can determine the quality of audio-visuals in terms of looks, it has another comrade called, Frames per second (FPS), which determines the smoothness of the video. Just imagine watching an intense sports live and the player moves around in spasmodic choppy motion because the frame rate was not ideal. Higher frame rate means smooth videos with crisp detailing.

• Buffer time/fill: Quite often we see the video buffering message on our screens before it can start playing.

Have you ever thought about why this happens? Internet speed and reliability of connection is the prime reason. If the internet connection is slow, then the local buffer is filled with data before playing the video, so that there is no lag in the stream.Buffer fill is the time taken for the video file to fill the buffer. Longer the time is taken for buffering, a higher chance of having a dissatisfied end user.

• Lag length: So now the buffer is full and the video starts playing. All goes well as long as the download rate matches pace with the bit rate.

But the moment, buffer starts getting drained, the video stalls and re-buffering starts. This leads to a lag in streaming.

Commonly known as time taken for re-buffering, this phenomenon is measured by lag length. Lag length is the time taken to refill the buffer.

• Play Length: Play length is the measurement of data streamed by the data center and received by the end-user. There might be users who consume volumes of video data. Play length helps in understanding the capacity of the infrastructure, enhancement planning, and streaming demand patterns.
• Lag Ratio:This is the ratio of waiting time**:** watching time. The moment this ratio is skewed with waiting time exceeding watching time by a high degree, it is time to revisit and fine tune the setup.Read for more about this blog click here.video testing

How to pick the right test cases to automate

 

Testing the code…A battle against time!

Traditionally, manual testing has always been the cornerstone of quality control for software. However, it often proves to be time-consuming, error-prone, and limited in scope. These limitations become more and more evident as applications are now complex and release cycles are accelerated.

This demand for agility and efficiency led to the advent of automation, where there was an emphasis on speed, efficiency, and wider coverage.

As a result, most of the testing projects are trying to shift their focus on translating their manual test cases to automated ones to enhance efficiency, productivity, and overall testing coverage.

AI-powered Automated Test Case Generation results in:

Getting the test plan and test strategy right is an important step of testing and at the heart of effective testing lie test cases – they are indispensable for ensuring high quality, reliable, and user-friendly applications. We have talked in detail about “Understanding Test Plan and Test Strategy for Effective Test Automation” in our blog published last week. Click here to read more.

Now, let’s look at the key considerations in selecting the right tests to automate.

Step 1 – Identifying the right test cases

A test case is a well-defined specification of inputs, test procedures, test conditions, and expected output. They are designed to uncover defects and vulnerabilities in the application, validate the applications works as intended, and meet performance standards. 

Pro Tip: Understand why Modularity in test case writing is critical

To ensure overall test coverage, you need a well-rounded set of test cases that address various aspects of the application. 

For example:

• Test cases to assess the overall user experience
• Test cases which impact the functionality 
• Test cases to verify how the application handles unexpected errors and exceptions.
• Test cases for verifying the interaction between different modules of the application 
• Test cases which may impact security and performance

But does that mean you can automate ALL tests?

Step 2 – Identifying the right test cases – TO AUTOMATE!

Now that the test cases have been identified, the next step is to execute them. That calls for the next level decision, which ones to be executed manually, and which ones to be done via automation.

The decision to automate or not should be based on various factors such as the testing objectives of the particular project, complexity, availability of skilled resources, and Return on Investment (ROI). Not all tests will meet these criteria. By carefully selecting the right tests for automation, teams can unlock a myriad of benefits, from increased efficiency and speed to enhanced test coverage and early defect detection.

Tests that should be automated:

Tests that are repeatable – Tests that are run with each code change to ensure existing functionality remains intact.

Example: Let’s take an example of an online banking application. Automate tests for account verification or tests for repeated balance inquiries.

Business Critical tests – The features or modules that could cause damage to the business if they fail.

Example: Automate tests for complex loan approval or online bill payment scenarios involving various parameters and criteria.

Regression Tests: Tests that verify the functionality of the application after each code/build release. Read on to know What are the 3 types of Regression Testing and when to  use them?

Example: Automate bill payment module after each code update.

Performance Tests like Load and Stress Tests: Tests that simulate load and stress conditions on your application during heavy user traffic. Check this out to know more about the Performance Testing Types & Metrics

Example: Automate performance tests to evaluate the responsiveness of online banking services during peak hours or during tax filing months.

Security Testing: Tests to identify any vulnerabilities in the application. See how you can Add Security Testing with Complete Regression Test.

Example: Automate security tests to identify data security and web vulnerabilities.

Integration Tests and Compatibility Tests: Tests that verify compatibility across different browsers, devices, and operating systems.

Example: Automate tests to ensure that your banking application functions seamlessly on multiple web browsers and devices, and external systems like payment gateways.

API Testing: Tests that help to ensure the integrity and functionality of your application’s services. Also learn the 5 Traps to Avoid in API Testing and some Dos and donts of API testing.

Example: Automate API tests to validate the functionality of a banking application’s RESTful APIs for fund transfers or payments.

Tests that should not be automated

Though there are many benefits to automation, it’s important to recognize that not all tests are best suited for automation.

How Webomates does it

It’s the era of smart testing. And in today’s global competition, the ability to inspect the product quality comprehensively and reliably is a key success factor for organizations. 

Webomates’ powerful, patented CQ Portal uses advanced AI and ML algorithms and deep learning to produce actionable results from multivariate problems. 

Webomates offers regression testing as a service that is a combination of test cases based on testing and exploratory testing. Test cases based testing establishes a baseline and uses a multi-execution channel approach, to reach true pass / true fail, using AI Automation, automation, manual, and crowdsourcing.

Webomates Intelligent Test Automation helps to create test cases that are automatically generated from application models thus enabling Continuous Testing too.
If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

Challenges in UI Testing

 

User Interface testing involves testing the functionality of any application from the end user’s point of view. It may or may not involve graphical elements. It essentially tests functionalities which require direct interaction with the end users.

The application undergoing testing may be robust in terms of performance, business logic handling, security etc. However, all this will be in vain if the end user does not have a favourable experience.

Hence, it is important to conduct user interface testing to ensure that besides the internal functioning, the user facing layer aka presentation layer is also properly verified and validated.

Every type of testing has its own advantages, pitfalls and challenges. In this article, we will talk about a few challenges faced while testing user interfaces.

Continuous changes in User Interface

With organizations following agile development approach, it is an obvious fact that applications evolve with every development cycle. The user interface changes can happen due to multiple reasons like new version release, changes in requirements, changes in functionality etc. 

Any such changes directly or indirectly impact the UI, thus rendering the test cases vulnerable to failures. Keeping pace with these changes becomes extremely difficult.

The business stakeholders are more concerned about how the changes have been correctly incorporated and are available to their customers with every new release. This clearly indicates the need for rigorous testing efforts.

Regression testing difficulties

In continuation from the previous point, regression testing becomes a daunting task when frequent changes are there. The changes may not necessarily be in the user interface, but could be in any other interfacing element or underlying logic or data. For example, If the field length of any element changes from 15 to 10, but user interfacing element is not updated with necessary checks in place, then there will be issues while testing, depending on the test conditions applied to that particular element.

There could be multiple such scenarios, where any change in one element directly or indirectly impacts some other element. The test cases need to be updated on a regular basis to reflect every change.

There is a high probability that all possible scenarios are not covered and some bugs escape unnoticed in the build. This has a direct impact on the end user experience of the application.

Complex GUI elements

Visual representation of data, process, statistics etc is much easier to comprehend. No wonder the customers expect quick processes and visually appealing interfaces.

The data is dynamic in nature and sometimes can take time to process and present. Generating charts, diagrams, graphical representation etc makes it challenging to test such applications.

This is one such example. There are many other complex elements which make user experience much better, but also make testing a tough job.

If testing of such complex elements is not done properly, then the whole purpose of having them in place to elevate the end user experience gets defeated.

Automation efforts

Automating UI testing can be a challenging task as automation simulates end users using HTML locators. Details of challenges related to automation have been covered in our blog “Bane of Automation”.

Besides the factors mentioned in the said blog, script maintenance also becomes a herculean effort, given the fact that user interface is prone to frequent changes. Hence, choosing and implementing a right automation tool is only one part of the puzzle, the other side is to continuously maintain it.

ROI measurement of UI testing

UI testing requires a significant amount of investment in terms of time and effort, thus affecting monetary aspect as well. Changes in UI involve changes in tests of same or linked elements, thus adding to overall testing time. For the business stakeholders what really matters is the returns that they get for financial, human and technological resource investment. Giving a numerical value of ROI in UI testing becomes a tough task.

Conclusion

The success of any application or product is solely based on its acceptance by the end users. An application may be exceptionally good in functionality and high rated in performance, but it is of no use if it does not cater to positive end user experience. Thus, user Interface testing becomes extremely critical in the software release process, since it validates the user friendliness of the application.

Over the years the whole UI testing strategy has matured and we at Webomates have a well-defined process in place for all your User Interface testing needs.

• Any changes in UI are reflected as updated test cases within 24 hours.

• We use various UI Testing tools and different UI framework called Galen framework for visual testing of applications for UI verification. You can read more about Visual testing using Galen framework on our blog.

• Additionally, our AI Defect Predictor helps in an in-depth analysis of any automation failures that may occur during testing.

If you are interested in learning more about the services offered by Webomates then please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com. You can also avail a free trial by clicking here.