How To Optimize Software Testing Cost?

Microsoft Windows operating system has about 50 million lines of code, Google’s entire code base is estimated to contain 2 billion lines of code and the average mobile app has 50k lines of code. From this, you can imagine the efforts and time required to test the simple mobile app. The overall software testing costs are observed between 15 to 25% of total project cost according to the industry standards. It also depends on experience, skills and job role of the resources. Whereas, if you plan to outsource testing services, testing cost may vary depending on complexity of project. But how do you estimate the price of software testing? Also how to optimize the software testing price? Let’s have a look.

How To Estimate The Software Testing Cost?

You can measure the software testing costs by considering 4 expenses divided into categories-

• Detection cost- It is cost to create test cases and setting up test environments to detect defects.
• Internal failure costs- This is a cost to fix the defects before delivering the product.
• Prevention costs- It is a cost to train developers to write maintainable and testable code to hire developers with same skillset
• External failure costs- Cost to fix technical problems/issues cased after delivery of compromised quality product.

Cost to detect defects is main part of overall testing costs. By default it is involved in the software testing cost estimation even though the testing team finds no defects. Other prices are to work on fixing the defects before delivering a product.

How To Optimize The Software Testing Cost?

Software Testing

1. Test As Soon As Possible-

Cost to fix an error after product release is 4 to 5 times as much as detected during the design phase. Hence, it is important to test the software at the early stages, before small issues develop into much larger ones. What can you do to implement this?

• Prioritize performance and security related issues.
• Frequently run test session like regression and continuous testing in each sprint in agile software development
• Introduce tests at early stages of development by not avoiding the issues down the line from the unit to integration testing

2. Use Modern Tools UI Testing-

Best way of effective UI testing is to automate visual regression testing by using low code solutions. Main reason is that there are various testing tools that allows you to run UI tests within 5 minutes without need of developers to code. Those tools uses smart image comparison, analyze and verify DOM structure and on-page elements, automatic handling of timeouts. In the long run such practices saves resources of all types. Also it minimizes the communication gap with programmers, analysts and testers. So increases development process and feasibility with other types of functional testing and user acceptance.

Know web app testing tools at- 10 Essential Web App Security Testing Tools For 2021

3. Use Test Driven Development-

Test driven development means writing unit tests before writing the code.  It starts with unit testing of functionalities by specifying code function from earlier stages. Having hands on TDD helps you to identify functionalities that are failing. Also, programmers can quickly work on the identified issues resulting in smooth code refactoring, good documentation and less debugging. Let’s have a look at three steps to get started-

• Apply TDD to project needs detailed project requirements and understanding of defining specification in unit tests. At the earlier stages, those specifications prevent the projects from going in an undefined scope.
• Collect test case scenarios for failing tests
• Create unit tests with expected results.

It improves the readability of code, better product architecture that simplifies including new features to existing code. Also, it creates high-quality code, few bugs and provides 100% test coverage.

4. Consider Risk-Based Testing-

This kind of testing covers all possible risks that can appear at the time of testing a software. It includes prioritizing risk factors that may affect the code quality. For instance, functions and testing features based on risk of failure, importance of the functions and the possible impact of such failures. It decides the testing objectives by organizing the testing team’s efforts in a unidirectional manner to decrease risks of failure once the product goes to product. So using this strategy avoids the risk of external failure of software products along with some advantages related to productivity and software quality like-

• Identification of security gaps and performance bottlenecks
• Better test cases due to risk analysis
• Early detection of problems and preventive measures at the early stages
• Defined strategies, testing objectives and directions adjusted based on problem areas.
• Risk monitoring

5. Optimize Use Of Manual Testing-

Manual testing causes more human errors and optimizing its use can ease your software testing, particularly in enterprise-level projects. If the project scope expands, it increases the time, workforce and software testing costs. But it is a time-consuming and also challenging particularly for the cases where testers need to change the testing strategy because of last-minute changes.

6. Use Hyper Testing Strategy-

It is a part of agile testing that detects testing issues from three angles, Practices, process and tools. It increases speed to market, overcomes technical complexities that may occur in an agile environment. Also, it covers end-to-end testing by identifying defects of app. Thus, it gives increased ROI, reduced test maintenance and increased capabilities of continuous testing process. One can design and execute this testing strategy by using non-functional or functional testing tools.

7. Use Reusable Materials In Training The Employees-

You need to introduce the organization’s methodologies to the new testers joining the QA team. Here rather than allocating dedicated resources for training employees, you can take an advantage of reusable materials and courses. You can also ask experts to provide recorded materials that you can use multiple times and host one-time on-site training sessions. This will altogether reduce expenses and time spent on training new testers in the QA team because you’ll get the materials and resources ready for easy and efficient onboarding.

Know more at- https://solaceinfotech.com/blog/how-to-optimize-software-testing-cost/

QA Outsourcing Vs QA Outstaffing Vs Independent QA

 

With the increasing digital transformation, software companies should meet the demands of a dynamic market. But, in-house testing procedures are mostly surged because of tight deadlines and inexperienced software testers limits the scope of testing. Due to this, in-house teams ignores basic issues, in the beginning, that results in adverse effects later. Although the traditional way to deal with software development favors in-house teams, it is hard to find a software testing service that addresses your needs. So choosing the best QA testing service can be tricky. But you have the option of choosing between outsourcing, outstaffing or hiring QA teams. If you’re confused about these three terms, let’s have a look at- the difference between QA Outsourcing, QA Outstaffing and independent QA teams. 

What Is QA Outsourcing?

QA

Outsourcing software testing means hiring a third-party testing service to handle software testing for a specific project. Outsourced testing team is a better choice for your business because you don’t need to invest more cost in infrastructure and operational costs and their services have lower cost overall. An outsourced testing service improves in terms of expertise also. Their technical experience in different fields helps them to solve issues efficiently and in less time. 

Also, their knowledge about different fields can assure software quality and help you to meet the client expectations. It can also help businesses focus more on operations and business development instead of worrying about the software. 

Things To Consider Before Outsourcing Software Testing-

Lack of existing checks, balances and proper communication may fail teh delegating testing to an external service provider. So, at the beginning, you must carefully provide all the necessary requirements related to software testing. It helps third-party services to prioritize testing metrics and improve software quality. Also, you should remember that an outsourced software testing team may work in different time-zones. This becomes the reason of the communication gap and creates unnecessary hurdles in testing.

Advantages of QA Outsourcing –

Outsourcing testing service will take your work by handling full-cycle testing of project across each stage. So software teams invest more time to come up with innovative features instead of stressing about software quality.

What Is Outstaffing QA Testing?

Software outstaffing is similar to outsourcing as teams hire testing services from outside their company. But instead  of working with teams having different time zones, QA service allows software testing teams to work with the in-house development team. In case of outstaffing, teams hire individual testers or testing teams from outside their company to do the work under their guidance. 

Mostly this kind of technique is used by businesses that need faster and effective experts outside their field of knowledge. It is best for teams that already have a team of in-house experts. Software QA testing can immediately turn into an overwhelming process; having a dedicated team is not always sufficient to carry out testing. In such a case, software teams require some extra resources to complete software testing. Your experts will work with these teams, manage their workflow and productivity and assign them tasks. 

Third-parties provides these kinds of testing services under an outstaffing contract, where external resources follow the customer’s employment schedule. So it includes detailed management from your end. Generally, outstaffing testing services are carried out in two ways according the length and complexity of testing in the project. One way is leasing staff, which is great for long term projects. Then again, temporary staffing is for short testing tasks. Outstaffed employees work for a period of 1 week to 3 months.

Things To Consider Before Outstaffing Software Testing- 

Outstaffing software testing need experts who are skilled in software testing methodologies. Managing external testing resources without them will be difficult, which results in unwarranted delays. Simultaneously, outstaffing needs consistent communication and collaboration with your dedicated testing team. So, if they’re remotely working, your testing experts cannot handle them effectively. In spite of the fact that outstaffing is great for teams who need more control over the testing process, it also demands extra effort from your team.

Advantages of QA Software Outstaffing-

Having dedicated software testers in your team allows you to have complete control over the testing process. It’s upon you how you want to proceed with testing or control costs. There is no need to define a complete set of requirements in the beginning and you scale the testing service throughout the project according to the need.

What Is Independent QA Testing?

Sometimes, hosting an in-house QA testing team is not feasible. In such a situation, teams need to consider hiring a dedicated team of testers outside of their company. Despite the fact that using totally independent QA teams appears to be specific, it is a great technique to reduce the cost and risk related with an inflated number of employees. Independent QA testing service gives your team a fully functional and dedicated testing resource without costs of hiring, and retaining employees. This kind of testing service can be beneficial for a software team if testing resources are not involved in any other testing project. Independent QA testing service offers great collaboration and communication.

Things To Consider Before Independent Software Testing –

Allowing a high level of self-governance to testing services can be both rewarding and highly risky, contingent upon which services you trust. Although testing teams with extensive experience and expertise perform best with independent teams, inexperienced testing resources can fail without explicit guidance.

Advantages of Independent QA Testing-

Autonomous testing team can concentrate better as compared to testing teams with extensive cross-collaboration. So the testing service can transparently implement testing procedures and grant software teams with greater time to market for their product. As testing team operates independently,it has complete over project delivery. Meaning that they can work with minimal external pressures, uncover performance issues thoroughly and streamline the app’s workflow.

Best Practices For Hiring Third-Party Testing Services-

1. Use Of Agile-

Agile software testing practices provide a well-documented and understood approach to software testing and quality into software delivery. So it is necessary to consider the adoption of Agile procedures during testing. Also, if your development team is following the Agile methodology, then testing service can fail at providing testing promptly.

2. Select Partners With Established Technology Frameworks And Best Practices-

Software teams should ask testing teams what unique intellectual property and best practices can they implement in your project. Unless a team has significant experience with resolving testing anomalies, using a set of best practices, methodologies, and tool kits, they can’t help you to improve the quality of the product while increasing time to market.

3. Consider Testing Experience In The Industry-

Mostly, testing services do not have the technical experience to back up their expertise. So it causes them to overlook certain issues. Eventually, trusting these services bears a greater risk of software failure. Software failure is detrimental to any business. It can interrupt the business workflow, cause downtime, or cause faulty transactions that hurt the business financially. So it is important to ensure that software testing service is proficient and has relevant experience. Simultaneously, you should consider the company’s portfolio and take a look at how they performed in a similar project. Looking at these factors can give you a clear idea of their experience in a given situation.

Know more at- https://solaceinfotech.com/blog/qa-outsourcing-vs-qa-outstaffing-vs-independent-qa/

Mobile App Testing Techniques For A Winning App

 

What do you think, which is the most important step in developing successful mobile app? App idea, design, framework or testing? According to the survey, it has been noticed that 58% of mobile apps fail in app stores because of poor performance resulting from improper testing. Generally users have no patience for apps that stuck or crash continuously. Imagine that, your app is getting lots of negative reviews and poor feedback. In such cases your app nearly dead in the market. Quality is necessary for success of an app and it cannot be achieved without continuous and thorough testing. Let us know the goals of mobile app testing-

• Check that functionality works as specified
• Ensure easy-to-support code as per standards
• Detect bugs and fix them immediately

This results in seamless working app and satisfied users. Here we’ll see  the various mobile app testing techniques.

Is Mobile Testing Different Than Desktop One?

• Screen size of mobile devices are smaller than desktops and laptops
• Generally mobile devices have less memory
• Network connections are different for smartphones and computers
• Not each tool for desktop app will work on a mobile app
• On a desktop or a laptop, an app is tested on fewer machines. With mobile devices, you need many devices to test your product.

Mobile app testing needs lots of effort and generally beginners don’t know, from where to start. But not only beginners face issues about testing. Testing techniques for ios and android apps are similar but challenging too. Let us see the mobile app testing techniques.

Things To Follow While Testing Mobile Application-

• Plan- Create a list of priority and requirements as per your idea. If you do not have test scenarios, data and criteria it will become so complicated. So you should plan first.
• Create Checklist- Checklist is used to be kept for a variety of tasks to be tested particularly for repetitive tasks. For instance, you are testing an app at various levels of battery. Then create a checklist of how it behaves at 25, 50, 75.
• Field Testing- It includes on field testing such as using app in an atmosphere of too much traffic, in areas of having less network coverage, out of coverage areas, while on the drive etc. 
• Test In Various Settings- Test app in various environments such as, low to high brightness, with Wi-Fi turned on and off, in airplane mode or silent mode, while using a keyboard etc. 
• Automation Plan- It is necessary in the testing aspects that are repetitive. Also it is handy while developing or updating applications. You won’t have to go through complete app creation and this is one of the main advantage of automation testing. 

Types Of Mobile App Tests-

1. Unit Testing-

As the name suggests, this kind of test analyses the small units of code like functions or classes. Every time whenever a developer finishes working on a small part of code, he/she has to test it. Unit tests are written by developers themselves and it is easier for developers to change the code they’ve written because they can see where something went wrong. All development environments have unit test frameworks – programs that drives testing process. Testing frameworks allow developers to test each function. Bugs detected at this stage are generally fixed in the code without describing in bug tracking system. Obviously, it is not possible to test everything, but you should test as much as possible. Every small part of feature should be unit tested. All unit tests are connected, hence you get a chain. If a small part of this chian fails, the complete test will fail.

One of the best practice for mobile app testing is writing automated tests before starting the development process and this is called test-driven development or a test-first approach. If you use this strategy, you initially create small part of code. Then you launch the tests that you wrote prior to coding. Development goes on until all tests are successfully passed. It seem too time consuming. Lack of time is the most serious problems in testing but unit tests can save more time and improve development speed. Also, it can serve as a kind of documentation for your library. Unit testing can take up to 30% of the estimated development time.

2. Auto Testing-

This type of tests are complex than unit tests and are written by QA engineers by using Ruby or Java. Mainly, they used to test unexpected user behavior and check how app copes. For instance, user may give incorrect data such as wrong address or phone number. Auto tests are created based on test cases, and it includes unexpected behaviors and other circumstances like- memory shortage, low battery, device lag, interruptions etc. Such things can be checked manually, however generally auto tests are used due to many functions have to be repeatedly checked. 

In auto testing, QA engineer just has to write a test once and can then use it throughout the development process. While unit tests check just positive results, auto tests are interested in any result – positive, negative, or even odd.

One disadvantage of auto testing is that such tests are rather expensive and complex. In case of any changes in an application, the QA will have to rewrite the auto test. Hence, such tests are generally used for only core features. For instance, for an ecommerce app, features like search, ordering and buying probably won’t change, hence you can write auto tests for them. For some small changes, manual testing can be used. If you have an expert in auto testing they it will be an advantage as auto testing is  powerful to test mobile apps.

3. Acceptance Testing-

Acceptance testing is at last last stage of development. QA engineer is responsible for it, but the user also takes part in the testing process. This kind of testing is done on a ready-to-release product. Acceptance testing uses test cases and scenarios based on app requirements. If it does, the customer accepts the app and releases it. If customer is satisfied with the app quality, the product is ready to be installed on user side. But if customer is not satisfied, acceptance testing will continue until the customer is satisfied.

4. System Testing-

System tests are used to check higher level of functionality. They’re a lot more extensive than unit tests and they test the entire application, comparing the real result with the expected result. It’s vital that the system stays the same during testing so the input is the single thing that can change the results of the test. Obviously, an application’s design may change times prior to its release, that is the reason of why each change to a system has to include a system test also. Test creation for app and then trying to change code so it passes the test is a huge mistake. 

Generally system tests are manual tests and are performed manually by QA engineers. During design and development phases, QA professionals gets all the ideas from developers and tech specialists while coding and prepares a testing plan. QA engineers should check the app in detail and test the app manually using different devices or emulators to see how exactly the app works.

Know the mistakes in app development that you should avoid at- Mistakes in app development that break your mobile app success

Mobile App Testing Methods-

1. Compatibility Testing –

In this type of testing, app is tested for its ability to work on different hardware, operating system, apps, network environments and so on. We can divide compatibility testing into two- Backward compatibility testing and forward compatibility testing. Backward compatibility tests the interaction of developed software/hardware with old versions. Forward compatibility testing tests the interaction of developed hardware/software with updated version.  

2. Installation Testing-

It checks whether the app installs and uninstalls properly. Also, it ensures that it doesn’t cause any issues for user while installing all software components and the installation process is not time consuming or inconsistent. Installation testing validates the successful installation and software upgrading or restoring it. 

3. UI Testing-

UI testing extent is dependent on the nature of the app. Interaction type and communication content are the factors to consider for UI testing. Educational purpose apps, commercial apps for utilities, travel etc. should replicate the user experience across various devices and OS. Here are some of the key elements to test in UI testing- 

Headings, Icons, Buttons, images, text fields, checkboxes, colors and themes of devices, long press or short press.

4. Security Testing-

Security has become a huge challenge for the entire tech world, and with the adoption of faster networks like 3G and 4G, it is considerably more precarious. There are some challenges in security testing- 

Vulnerability analysis- Check the app for countermeasures, for loopholes, the effectiveness of measures etc.

App permissions- Generally need a location and confidential data, so data and privacy should be fortified safely.

Threat analysis- It conducts analysis to cover various interactions such as security during third-party communications, when an app is installed,  downloaded etc.  

5. Load Testing-

Load testing is used to analyse whether the solution can handle many users at the same time. It is relevant for multiuser systems, generally created by using a client/server model like web servers. 

Final Words-

Testing is important in for an app’s success. For all these testing, QA engineers use various testing tools and cloud services. Many developers face issues with app testing, if you are also one of them, consult with solace experts. We are here to help you through consultation and developing a secured high performing mobile app. You can hire skilled android developers, ios developers of Solace team for high performing mobile app development. Connect with Solace and get a free quote for effective app development to raise your business to the next level. We will be happy to help you.

Grey Box Testing – All You Need To Know About

 

Testing plays a vital role in development of stable and secure software solutions and verify that software performs as expected. Most common approaches of software testing are white box testing, black box testing and gray box testing. White box testing and black box testing have their own pros and cons. Gray box testing combines two testing approaches so as to overcome their deficits. It aims to amend the loopholes and shortcomings found in white box and black box testing. It has been developed to be a beneficial blend of the two testing techniques. In Grey box testing, testers have access to the design document and database rather than only the user interface. It is also called translucent testing. This kind of testing can be used to debug software and evaluate vulnerabilities. Before digging to the details of Grey box testing, let us see what is Grey box testing?

What Is Grey Box Testing?

Grey Box Testing

Grey box testing is a testing technique which is a combination of White box testing and black box testing. In white box testing the internal structure of  product is known whereas in black box testing internal structure is unknown to the tester. In Grey box testing internal structure is partially known and it includes access to internal data structures and algorithms to design the test cases. Commonly it focuses on context-specific errors related to web systems. Grey box testing is a great way to find security flaws in programs. It can help to discover bugs or exploits because of the incorrect code structure or incorrect use of applications. 

Grey box tester takes the code-specific approach of white box testing and combines it with various approaches of black box testing such as functional testing and regression testing.

Need Of Grey Box Testing-

• Grey box testing is independent of platform and language
• It can test data domains, internal boundaries and overflow.
• Checks the high level design environment and interoperability conditions
• It can detect defects that are not easily detected by black box or white box analysis, like end to end information flow, distributed hardware/software system configuration and compatibility.
• This testing can uncover several context-specific errors 
• It combines the input of developers as well as testers and improves overall product quality

How To Perform Grey Box Testing?

While performing gray box testing, it is not necessary to design test cases from the source code. Testers can design test cases as per algorithms, internal states or high-level description of code. Let us see the steps to  perform grey box testing.

Steps To Perform Grey Box Testing-

• Identify inputs from Blackbox testing and white box testing and select the appropriate test data.
• Identify the expected outputs from the selected inputs
• Recognize the major paths to traverse through during the testing period
• Identify the sub-functions that are part of main functions to do deep level testing
• Point out inputs for subfunctions
• Identify the expected outputs for subfunctions
• Start execution of test case for subfunctions
• Verify correctness of result

Grey Box Testing Techniques-

1. Matrix Testing-

It begins when developers define variables in their program, status report of the project is stated. Every variable may inherent technical risks, business risk and also can be used with different frequency during its life cycle.

2. Pattern Testing-

It analyses the historical data of previous system defects. Testers inspect the code and try to determine the reason for failure. This can help the team in test case designing and so helps in finding the failures proactively. This kind of test case design gets influenced by coding structure of app.

3. Orthogonal Array-

It is a statistical testing technique generally executed in complex applications. Gray box testing blends the power of statistical testing and elaborate testing to provide proper coverage. This helps to reduce the number of combination to provide maximum coverage with the minimum number of test cases. 

4. Regression-

To check whether the change in the previous version has regressed other aspects of the program in the new version. It will be done by testing strategies such as retest all, retest risky use cases, retest within a firewall.

Black Box Testing vs White Box Testing vs Grey Box Testing-

	Black Box Testing	White Box Testing	Grey Box Testing
1	For black box testing knowledge of internal working structure (Code) is not required.	For white box testing knowledge of internal working structure (Coding of software) is necessarily required.	For Grey box testing, partially Knowledge of the internal working structure is required.
2	Black Box Testing is also known as functional testing, data-driven testing, and closed box testing.	White Box Testing is also known as structural testing, clear box testing, code-based testing, and transparent testing.	Grey Box Testing is also known as translucent testing as the tester has limited knowledge of coding
3	Black box testing approach includes trial techniques and error guessing method because tester does not need knowledge of internal coding of the software.	White Box Testing is proceeded by verifying the system boundaries and data domains inherent in the software as there is no lack of internal coding knowledge.	If the tester has knowledge of coding, then it is proceeded by validating data domains and internal system boundaries of the software.
4	It is difficult to discover hidden errors of the software because errors can be due to internal working which is unknown for Black Box testing.	It is simple to discover hidden errors because it can be due to internal working which is deeply explored in White Box testing.	Difficult to discover the hidden error. Might be found in user level testing.
5	It is not considered for algorithm testing.	It is well suitable and recommended for algorithm testing.	It is considered for algorithm testing.
6	Tester, developer and the end user can be the part of testing.	Only tester and developer can be a part of testing; the end user can not involve.	Tester, developer and the end user can be the part of testing.
7	It is less exhaustive than White Box and Grey Box testing methods.	It is most exhaustive between Black Box and Grey Box testing methods.	Partly exhaustive; depends upon the type of test cases are coding based or GUI based.

Advantages Of Grey Box Testing-

• For grey box testing, there is no need of high programming skills.
• It is non-intrusive.
• Quality of product is improved
• Users and developers have clear goals while testing
• This testing avoids conflicts between tester and developer
• In this type of testing, developers have more time for defect fixing
• Gray box testing is much more effective in integration testing.

Disadvantages Of Grey Box Testing-

• Limited access to internal structure leads to limited access for code path traversal
• Source code cannot be accessed so doing complete white box testing is not possible
• It is not suitable for algorithm testing
• Many test cases are difficult to design
• While performing this kind of testing for distributed systems, defect association is difficult.

Gray Box Testing Challenges-

• Testers may not be given access to the source code so it can result in missing certain critical vulnerabilities.
• It can be unrealistic and time-consuming to check every potential input i.e chances are there that particular program paths will not be tested.
• It needs more time to cover the input path for a large application, this can increase project budget, and can increase project deadline.

Final Words-

Testing plays an important role in software development and grey box testing one of its kind. Here you’ve seen the basics of grey box testing.

Cypress Vs Selenium- Comparison Of Automation Testing Tools

 

Selenium is a popular automation framework for functional testing and web app testing. Automation testers who use Selenium can run tests on various browsers and platform combinations by using an online Selenium Grid. Although selenium is the go-to structure for test automation, Cypress – a generally late participant in the test automation game has been catching up very rapidly.

Similar to selenium, Cypress is also an open-source test automation framework to test web applications.  And here comes the big fight Cypress vs Selenium. Here’s a list of some common questions that might come up while comparing Cypress vs Selenium.

• Is Cypress an alternative to Selenium?
• Does cypress support popular programming languages?
• What is the architectural difference between Selenium and Cypress?
• Does cypress also support cross browser testing?

Here we’ll see the comparison- Cypress vs Selenium. Before digging to the comparison, let us see each one in detail.

Know the details of automated testing at- What Is Automated Testing And Why We Need It.

What Is Cypress?

Cypress is a completely Javascript-based front end testing tool built for modern web. It focuses to overcome the pain points that developers or QA engineers face while testing an application. Cypress is a more developer-friendly tool that uses a unique DOM manipulation technique and operates directly in the browser. It provides a unique interactive test runner where it executes all commands. It’s official documentation states that cypress differs fundamentally and architecturally as compared to Selenium.

With Cypress, developers or QAs can create unit tests, end to end tests, integration tests. By using agile methodologies, front end developers have started creating their own test cases. Javascript is a widely used language among front end developers. As we already seen that Cypress is purely Javascript based tool which indicates how this tool is designed to meet the requirements of front end developers. Normally, one should be proficient in JavaScript prior to beginning with Cypress testing. Architectural improvements in Cypress allows testers to perform Test-driven development(TDD) with complete end-to-end testing.

What Is Selenium?

Selenium is a popular test automation tool which automates web-browsers. It is the most lovable testing tool for developers since a decade. Selenium allows QAs to automate test cases for desired browsers by using the Selenium WebDriver library with a language-specific framework. QAs and developers also have the flexibility to choose the programming language of their choice. Selenium developers have developed language bindings for various languages such as Java, Python, Ruby etc. Web driver make suse of a JSON wire protocol for executing test cases. Execution includes three main steps:

• Test commands are translated into a URL
• Browser Drivers receive these URLs using HTTP server
• URLs are forwarded as a request to the actual browsers and all commands in the test scripts are executed.

Cypress Vs Selenium-

1. Language Support-

One of the key difference noticed when comparing Cypress and Selenium is that the former is Javascript only and the latter is an open-source tool compatible with a wide variety of programming languages like Python, C#, Ruby, R, Dart, Javascript and Objective-C.

But, it can be argued that it is incorrect to label this as a limitation of Cypress given that this tool is targeted at frontend developers, who basically write in Javascript. This programming language is the one in particular that programs are capable of executing. The limitation of a single language for frontend development is a different argument altogether. Even with its single language support, Cypress can be accessible to a wide client base in its target audience, given that this incredible and concise programming language is generally used across the world.

Whereas, selenium is an end-to-end regression testing tool that has an API configured with various language bindings. This makes selenium more appropriate choice for QA teams whose scope of work is broader and more diversified.

2. Testing Framework-

While offering choices to users, Cypress limits the language and framework that can be used for testing. With Cypress, one can just use the Mocha testing framework to write tests. Role of Mocha in Javascript is comparable to that of NUnit in C# or Junit in Java. But it is not the only testing framework that is available to Javascript users. By offering a particular testing framework support, Cypress rules out choices, like Jest or Tape for frontend developers working with this testing tool. Whereas, selenium webdriver doesn’t force such limitations on its users. Particularly, you don’t need a testing framework when automating testing with Selenium. Tests can be run by writing a program that drives the browser. This approach is generally used for collecting data or crawling web pages.

3. Browser Support-

Taking into account that Cypress is intended to equip frontend developers with web application testing, its restricted cross-browser support is almost baffling.When it was first revealed, the testing automation tool was viable completely with Chrome. In the next updates, it extended support to Firefox, Electron, Edge and Brave also. But Cypress still doesn’t work with IE and Safari and also it lacks multiple tabs support and cannot be used to drive two browsers at the same time. 

Whereas, selenium has no such limitation. It can be used to test apps on chrome, IE, Firefox, Safari, Edge and mobile browsers.

4. End-To-End Vs Frontend Testing-

Selenium is designed to carry out end-to-end regression tests for web apps. This tool has been extensively used for frontend testing by QA teams, because the concepts of developers testing code themselves is still relatively new and upcoming. This trend has been set off by the advent of agile software development methodologies, which can’t be used ideally until frontend developers have the option to test their own code. These days many developers are writing their test code with integration and end-to-end functional tests to analyze the functionality of their frontend creations on real browsers.

While the wide parameters that frontend developers test are like those of QAs, their requirements and goals are different. For example, frontend developers have no necessity for a staging environment wherein the whole application – backend, database, and fronted – is deployed.

Cypress has been built particularly to address the testing needs of frontend developers, permitting them to test the frontend by running it locally. The difference in testing approach is at the core of what separates Cypress and Selenium WebDriver. So, they are different tools having different sets of users.

5. Test Execution And Time Travel-

Selenium executes its all commands in a web driver outside of the browser in which actual testing occurs. Whereas, Cypress’s tests run inside the browser with app code. Benefit of running the Cypress process the browsers is that there is no network lag. It use same DOM events generated by the browser, so Cypress commands run as fast as the DOM is generated.

So test execution of Cypress’s is faster than Selenium.

Time travel feature in Cypress takes snapshots of events while running cypress tests and it can be viewed on the command panel in the test runner. You can over and click on every command that runs the test.

Comparison of Cypress vs Selenium-

Features	Cypress	Selenium
1. Cross browser support	Chrome, Firefox, Electron, Edge, Brave	Chrome, IE, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Mobile browsers
2. Multi Tab	Not Supported – workaround present	Supported
3. Testing types	E2E, Visual, Unit, API	E2E, Visual, Security, Unit
4. Programming Languages	JavaScript	Java, Python, C#, JavaScript Etc.
5. Testing Frameworks	Mocha	Junit, Nunit, Mocha, Jest, Protractor, etc.
6. Integrations	Wide range of integrations (CI/CD, Reporting, Visual Testing ), etc.	Wide range of integrations (CI/CD, Reporting, Visual Testing ), etc.
7. Network & Traffic Control	Supported	Not Supported – workaround present
8. Real-time reloads	Supported	Not Supported
9. Community Support	Growing community	Robust community
10. Documentations	Excellent Documentation	Average Documentation

Which One To Choose?

It completely depends on the requirements. Both tools gave their own pros and cons.

You can choose, cypress if the web application is built on modern JS frameworks like React, Angular, Vue etc. It will provide a platform for tester and front-end developers to write their automation tests.

You can go with selenium if the requirement is to test on IE and needs access to external tools such as SauceLabs, BrowserStack.

Final Words-

Although both tools are designed to automate web browsers for testing, they differ in their architecture, purpose and target user base. Cypress is a new in market and still growing whereas Selenium is an established automation testing tool. Cypress offers winning features like automatic scrolling; real-time reloads, time travel, top-notch execution speed, and more that are not available in Selenium. Whereas, Selenium offers features like remote execution, cross browser testing support, provision to implement tests in various programming languages, and more.

Postman Tutorial For Automation

Why Automation and Postman?

Automation is the new standard crosswise over sectors. Automation, using postman in testing can improve and increase the depth and also extent of tests for a superior software quality. This blog will help you to understand the automated testing process and run postman in chrome. Also it helps to introduce API automation to your day by day QA processes for executing repeated test cases.

Need for Postman Automation-

Postman Automation is genuinely significant while testing products with an enormous number of integrations as well as successive releases. It is the definitive tool for API automation. The main goal of QA automation is to decrease the consolidated amount of effort required for manually re-testing of a product which is genuinely high. Also, for expulsion of the manual testing efforts that are invested in testing a set of functionalities frequently.

For example, Agile practices like continuous builds, the amount of time taken to receive feedback for a manual regression test with the new code is excessively high. API testing is also known as Integration testing. Integration testing focuses around verifying that the interactions of numerous small components can integrate together without issue. Since API tests bypass the UI, they tend to be quicker and substantially more viable than GUI tests. Hence, a great QA teams will make genuinely precise projections based on the current backlog and also the general information about the project and its architecture and use automation for regression test. So in the event that you are doing it in- house or deciding on product outsourcing, postman automation turns out to be progressively significant as it automates the whole testing process and also saves important time and resources.

Insights into Postman Tutorial for API Automation-

Postman a Chrome application is for interacting with HTTP APIs. Postman allows user to automate test cases in javascript with notable highlights like write test suites, build requests that can contain dynamic parameters, pass data between requests, and so on. For approval of API, on getting a response, Postman validates the response as described in the test contents. This is performed under “Tests” section. Most intriguing part is a JSON response can be parsed into an array and then the elements can be accessed by index and esteem or even be iterated also. The primary advantage of utilizing postman is that user doesn’t have to create a full JSON request programmatically dissimilar to other automation API frameworks to put assert on it. Postman flawlessly design them and helps user directly define test cases.

Tools/Dependency to get started –

1. Postman

2. Node

3. Newman

Introduction to Newman-

Newman is Postman’s collection runner engine that sends API requests, gets the response and also afterward runs your test against the response. It resembles postman’s command line companion. It is extensible. Hence can be integrated into continuous integration servers and build systems.

Benefits of using Newman-

1. Using Newman it is easy to run a collection of tests using command line
2. It gives ability to run a collection of tests written in postman right from within most build tools.
3. It allows to generate and store report directly from command line
   Installing Newman.

Postman tutorial for Newman integration-

Newman is a companion tool for postman that runs Collections from the command line. Newman keeps up feature parity with Postman and enables user to run collections likewise they are executed inside the collection runner in the Postman application.

Variables-

In this Postman tutorial for Automation we are additionally going to cover variables. There are two kinds of variables – global and environment. Global variables are for all collections though the environment variables which are defined for a particular set of collections according to the environment which can be chosen from a drop-down or no environment can be chosen.

When defined variables can be used in request with format encompassed by curly brackets:  {{VARIABLE_NAME}}

The global variables are variables which can we consumed by any collection. So for any data that is accessible for all collections, we define them as global variables. The data defined for a specific environment is called as Environmental variable. We can choose any one environment at a time for a collection or no environment according to choice.

• In Postman, at the top right section, click on (*) icon.

• Now click on MANAGE ENVIRONMENTS (refer the image below)

All the existing environments will be listed under Manage Environments.

• To create an environment, click on Add button at the bottom of the pop-up 

and enter a new Environment.

• To add a global variable, click on the Globals button listed at the bottom of the pop-up.

• For setting a new variable (global and environment), we need to define the New key and Value.

Pre-Request Script-

Next in this Postman Tutorial is Pre- Request Scripts. As the name recommends will run before Tests. Postman allows users to perform specific JavaScript coding to control the data being sent alongside the request. We can write these scripts in Tests section also however it is a decent practice to separate these scripts in pre-request section as it will be executed before Tests scripts. Here we can set Global and Environment Variable dynamically also.

Copy- Paste the below code in Pre- request Script section in Postman :-

postman.setGlobalVariable(“Token”, “MyDemoToken”);

postman.setEnvironmentVariable(“MyKey”, “MyDemoKey”);

postman.getGlobalVariable(“MyDemoKey”);

console.log(“Global Variable = “+postman.getGlobalVariable(“Token”));

console.log(“Environment Variable = “+postman.getEnvironmentVariable(“MyKey”));

• Select an environment from the dropdown located at the top right section of the screen.
• Click on “Send”
• Now go to Global and Environment variable section.
• Observe that keys have been set dynamically by the script.

To see console output of script use below steps-

1. Type chrome://flags/#debug-packed-apps in the URL bar in your Chrome browser window.

2. Look out for “Debugging for packed apps”.

3. Enable the setting.

4. Click on Relaunch Now once the setting is enabled.

5. Type chrome://inspect/#apps in the URL bar and then click “inspect”

Note :- To get the console output of collection runner, click on the Inspect link of the respective instance from Apps section.

Postman Tutorial for Best Practices of Automation testing-

1. Use trim function if data is retrieved as String from the CSV file.

2. Add your pre- request data in Pre- request Script section.

3. Use chrome dev console for debugging.

4. Always check the length of an array for a test case. It will safeguard the script from failing due to javascript exception

Example :-

if(jsonData.data[0].length>2)

{

tests[“Response should have last name of gob as bluth” ] = jsonData.data[1].last_name === “bluth”;

Advantages of using Postman-

1. If API is updated and test is run in postman, it gives sign of failure. The API would then be updated for right results.

2. Postman can be used for performance testing of API.

3. Postman can be used to perform load testing at scheduled time and record the status

4. As the API’s are automated using postman there is minimum human involvement.

Final Words-

We hope that this Postman Tutorial will be helpful for you. We can conclude that API automation is important task in custom software development. Postman tool caters best to all requirements needed for an efficient API testing process. You can try it to get a stronghold on API’s.

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