#modern software testing

The digital world is increasingly getting cluttered with scores of companies slugging it out to remain relevant and competitive. Software is the glue that binds the whole IT infrastructure in a company and across the global online landscape. Moreover, the success of any business in the online sphere depends on the quality and performance of its products and their eventual adoption by the end customers. It has been observed that businesses, in order to reach the market quickly, often give software testing a miss.

The predominant thinking among companies looking at cost optimization and maximizing profits is that QA is an adjunct that can be done without. They feel all software applications are supposed to work seamlessly and there is no need to spend time, effort, and money into ensuring so. However, in today’s world of competitive populism and achieving brand equity, this type of thought process is a recipe for disaster. Remember, building a brand brick by brick can wither away in no time should a software application delivers a bad user experience. This can eventually impact the brand value of a business as well.

Today, when cybercrime has raised its ugly head leading businesses and individuals to grapple with data theft and loss of reputation, software testing should be pursued with all vigor. It will ultimately ensure the software delivered to the end customer remains glitch-free and delivers the best user experience. In a competitive business environment where every business wants to grab the elusive customer pie, the quality of software application will ultimately decide who wins the race. The writing on the wall for businesses is - perform or perish, where perform entails conducting software testing across the SDLC.

What is software application testing?

It involves executing a series of steps to identify glitches that are inherent in the software. The software testing methodology may differ based on specific business objectives - manual or automated. However, it is geared towards checking the performance, security, compatibility, usability, reliability, and integration of the software application.

In the Software Development Life Cycle, each unit of the software code needs to be tested to deliver the expected outcomes. If not, the same is sent back to the development team for rectification. In the Agile driven software testing methodology, the testing goes on alongside development in an integrated module called the sprint. Post rectification, the QA team again conducts the tests until the unit performs to its optimum. The various software testing approach comprises unit testing, functional testing, security testing, regression testing, stress, and load testing, usability testing, system testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing.

What are the software testing challenges?

There are challenges galore when it comes to testing software with multiple features/functionalities and having connections to other software systems. Some of the challenges are -

·         There is no single foolproof method to test the entirety of a software application given the plethora of device platforms available. The QA team needs to employ various test combinations and scenarios depending on the target demography and business goals.

·         Setting up a uniform testing mechanism in an organization having various processes, teams, and branches that are spread across locations and time zones can be a challenge.

·         Lack of proper communication between the development and QA teams can hinder the testing efforts. For example, changes in the app features should be communicated to the QA team to ensure timely bug identification and removal.

·         An effective software testing approach should ensure the application works across devices, operating platforms, browsers, and networks. This can prove to be challenging for companies following manual testing or using an inappropriate tool for automated testing.

What are the benefits of software testing?

Businesses need to include QA process in their SDLC to derive a slew of benefits.

·         A rigorous testing of software applications will eliminate glitches and enhance the quality of software. Such software will stand a greater chance of finding acceptance by the customers. This will help the business to consolidate its brand equity in the market.

·         QA testing ensures the software’s adherence to industry quality standards and helps to avoid the risks or pitfalls of non-compliance.

·         Any modern software testing leads to business optimization with outcomes such as better-quality products, satisfied customers, enhanced brand image, reduced cost of operation or customer service, and increased ROI.

Conclusion

In a highly competitive business environment where perform or perish is the mantra, businesses need to adopt QA testing in their workflows to remain profitable.

Software development has become the sine qua non for enterprises looking to embrace digitization to increase efficiency, reduce waste, and achieve ROI. At the same time, reaching out to customers with quality software in the quickest possible time is what drives the whole digital ecosystem. However, maintaining the quality of software is not always an easy thing to do, for there is a conflicting business imperative of keeping the cost within limits as well. Add to this the rapidly changing technology and development models and you are caught between the devil and the deep sea – executing rigorous testing and keeping the cost within limits.

If previously it was about following the traditional waterfall model of manual testing to identify and eliminate bugs in the software, today the situation is different. The difference has come about on account of an increased threat of malware, changing customer preferences, and an intense competition to be the first one in the market. The three imperatives can only be met if enterprises ensure the security, quality, and speedy delivery of software. Needless to say, the traditional waterfall model of software testing does not fit the bill to address the above mentioned imperatives. The reasons include the model’s slowness in executing manual testing, poor test coverage, and a little scope for repetitive testing.

The Agile DevOps model of Testing early and frequently

The inadequacy of the waterfall model stemmed from the fact that software testing post development and integration increased the complexity of eliminating glitches. This is due to the fact that developers, in order to fix glitches, had to unbundle the codes to reach the unit level. This led to the adoption of the Agile model of software development where the software testing approach is shift left. In other words, the testing of software is done early on during the development cycle as the two processes (development and testing) are executed simultaneously in what is called a development sprint. The software testing approach forms part of the Agile and DevOps methodologies in which Continuous Integration and Delivery are the key outcomes.

In today’s scenario of software development, Continuous Integration pre-empts many integration glitches. It ensures the SDLC delivers a well-knit software that meets the business objectives. In simple terms, the Agile model of software testing methodology incurs fewer expenses to fix glitches vis-à-vis the waterfall model.

Why Agile?

The software development process, especially the mission critical one, has become complex. This is due to the fact that software needs precision to be able to function effectively across a slew of digital elements. These include devices, platforms, frameworks, operating systems, browsers, and networks. To meet the deadlines of software development, testing, integration, and delivery within the specified time and cost, different teams work collaboratively.

The future of software testing – is test early, test frequently still relevant?

The advent of new technologies has whetted the appetite of customers. The customers of today look for software that has amazing features and functionalities, and at the same time, are quick and precise in delivering outcomes as well. Moreover, as the functioning of software depends on its interfaces (read APIs) with the immediate digital environment, the resulting complexity can only be addressed by the Agile-DevOps’ testing early and testing frequently software testing methodology.

Also, since the end customer experience has become the be-all and end-all objective for enterprises to stay competitive, the cornerstones of DevOps viz., Continuous Integration and Delivery have become the rigmarole to be followed in any SDLC. To ensure tomorrow’s software straddling cutting edge technological paradigms like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Predictive Analysis, Big Data and others delivers the business objectives, the following processes should be embraced.

Test Automation: The best way to address the software testing challenges is by embracing test automation of a select number of processes. In fact, Artificial Intelligence can be used to write automated test scripts and predict glitches based on analysing the past outcomes.

Security Testing: The security threats from malware have become arguably the biggest challenge facing the global digital ecosystem. To address the challenge, every software should have security as an integral part of its testing in the DevOps mould.

Regression Testing: The slew of modern software testing validating the performance, functionality, usability, and security of software should have regression testing at the unit level. This would enable the software to be compatible with the many versions of the elements of digital environment.

Conclusion

Test early and frequently is not passé but rather underpins the whole software application testing architecture in the SDLC. Its relevance is only going to increase as more enterprises take the digital transformation initiative to stay competitive.