#qaregressiontesting

In a dynamically changing environment for software development where faster time to market and quality outcomes are the prerequisites, QA teams are being challenged more than ever. The QA specialists need to implement strategies for continuous testing so that the changes made to the software applications are verified and validated as per expectations. Regression testing allows the agile team to focus on new functionality while maintaining stability at every stage of the product update. It has been observed that regular updates can make the software applications prone to errors and bugs. This calls for conducting software regression testing to identify errors before the applications are released into the market.

As business enterprises go for agile development, the frequency of testing software application increases to ensure it works as expected. Also, the QA team should check whether the new code affects the existing features or functionalities of the software application. However, as the software grows in size and complexity, the regression suite grows accordingly, prompting the QA team to automate the whole process.

Understanding regression testing

When developers receive QA reports from testers, they implement the necessary fixes to make the software application free of errors. However, in doing so, the software application can unleash new bugs out of nowhere. So, to ensure these bugs are taken care of and the code changes do not trigger any performance issues in any other part of the software, automated regression testing is conducted to enhance the overall product quality. Regression testing in software testing is used in two major cases, as given below:

When errors or bugs are fixed by the development team, the product needs to be checked for the impact of the applied changes.

When the code is changed or updated due to the addition of a new feature or functionality, there are changes in business flows or requirements.

Why bring automation into a regression testing strategy?

At the time of software release, various tests are conducted until the functionalities of the software are verified. Regression testing post development needs a comprehensive QA review to ensure the application performs as expected. Since the testing is conducted frequently, QA regression testing needs to embrace automation. And to maximize the potential of the QA team, automated regression testing has become the norm. Also, since regression testing aims to check the working functionality of the software application, it involves repeating each release cycle. Thereafter, the testing of the software application for various parameters is done to make sure there are no glitches or breaks in the production pipeline.

Further, not every bug emerges due to the addition of new features or as a consequence of bug fixing. In fact, newer bugs can emerge due to the updates of databases or browsers as well. Moreover, issues related to speed and efficiency can occur. So, by automating repeatable and stable test cases, regression testing services can work in numerous environments and complicated cases.

How to create an effective strategy to implement automated regression testing

Automated regression testing becomes important when the project is stable or there are no expected critical changes to be made in the UI or business logic. The regression test suite should be created right from sprint 0 and updated for each sprint thereafter. The process to create an effective regression testing is as follows:

# Identify the platforms to automate - web/mobile/desktop: First, identify the platforms that are likely to be preferred by the end-users for running the software application.

# Identify the tool: Post identification of the platforms, a suitable automation tool needs to be selected based on the following factors:

Budget

Open source or premium tool

Training requirement

Maintenance of scripts

Features supported by the tool

Robustness of the regression testing framework

Support from the community developing the tool

# Identify the regression tests to be automated: Since every regression test scenario cannot be automated, it is important to identify the ones to be automated. The test scenarios that do not lend themselves to automation are:

3rd party integrations

Tests to verify image capture

Tests related to a secret code

# Prioritize the automated tests: The regression test scenario with the highest priority should be automated first. This may include the core functionality or features of the application.

# Identify when to begin automation: Automation should ideally begin when the feature or module to be tested is relatively stable and the core logic is not expected to change.

# Prepare the code repository or the regression testing framework: One of the initial processes in test automation is to set up a test automation framework. This ensures consistency in the code by various people, besides being easy to maintain later.  

Writing the script and running continuous tests: QA testers should write the test scripts and integrate them with the code repository. And once the test scripts are ready, the test suites should be run using a CI tool.

Conclusion

Automating the regression testing suite can ensure the software application runs smoothly and the time of developers and testers is saved. This can go a long way towards delivering superior customer experiences and upholding brand equity.

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James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies. I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality that yields strong results and always happy to create valuable content & share thoughts.

Any technology, system, or software needs to be maintained and upgraded from time to time to ensure it functions at its optimal level. At the time of such maintenance and upgrades, developers may need to change the code or add new features. This is to ensure the software or technology solution performs well in its operating environment and offers a great interface with dependencies. However, the outcome of such technology upgrades may lead to system malfunctions or the ingress of bugs.

A simple code change in one part of the program may affect the performance of a feature or functionality in another part of the program. This may be in the form of reducing the page load time, increasing the utilization of system resources, or others. Software regression testing can help to mitigate such issues and ensure the upgrade works as intended. A case study related to the banking sector has shown that QA regression testing helps save around 60% of the time, which otherwise would have been spent on fixing bugs. Similarly, such testing can save around 40% in costs as well. Let us first understand what regression testing all is about and what functions are tested through it.

Why regression testing in software testing?   

The need for conducting software regression testing arises when a change is made to a code or program for improvement or updation. This type of testing checks whether the new or modified code impacts other software components or modules and their execution. Also, regression testing helps to ensure the overall stability and responsiveness of the existing features. In the ultimate analysis, regression testing services are needed for bug fixing, adding new features, and fixing performance-related issues. It is arguably the final step in a long chain of testing processes that verifies the behavior of a software product in totality.

When should you conduct or apply regression testing?

The various scenarios to which regression testing is applied are as follows:

An existing feature in a software application is updated with a new requirement

A new feature is added

Changes made to the code to fix defects

Changes made to the source code to optimize performance

Changes made to the product configuration

What are the challenges in QA regression testing?

This type of testing is not without its share of challenges, as mentioned below:

High cost: Manual regression testing can be very time-consuming and prone to errors. This type of testing is suitable for automation and needs an upfront investment in infrastructure and tools.

Testing approach: It is only by selecting the proper testing approach that any automated regression testing can be conducted successfully. This is irrespective of the fact that you have the best resources and tools to execute testing.

Scope and coverage: The successful outcome of any regression testing strategy would depend on the type and quality of the test suite. And the test suite should be updated between every build and deployment. The success of this exercise is underpinned by covering all the software elements, thereby making the ‘scope’ a challenge of sorts.

Complexity: The sheer number of test cases added to the regression testing framework can be mindboggling when moving from one build to another. Such an addition makes the test suite more complex as the testers need to test both the new and old cases.

How to perform regression testing?

Even though there is no fixed methodology or pattern for conducting software regression testing, the following pattern more or less sums up everything.

Identify changes in the source code: Find out the optimization and modifications done in the source code and identify the corresponding modules or components that have changed. Thereafter, find out the impact of such a modification on the existing features.

Prioritize changes and product requirements: The product requirements and modifications need to be prioritized for streamlining the testing process using the relevant test cases and tools.  

Determine criteria for entry: Be assured if the application meets all eligibility criteria before executing regression testing.

Determine exit point: Select a final point for the eligibility or conditions, identify all test components, and schedule an appropriate execution time.

Conclusion

Regression testing is an important milestone in the suite of software testing that aims at improving the overall quality of the software product, besides the user experience. It can help identify most defects and fix them early in the development and delivery pipeline. By implementing various types of regression testing, namely, corrective, progressive, selective, partial, complete, and retest-all, the updating and improvement of any software application is not a challenge anymore. Further, by making investments in planning and implementing regression testing, businesses can exercise more control over their budget and error mitigation process.

Resource

James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies. I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality that yields strong results and always happy to create valuable content & share thoughts.