Friday 27 December 2013

Mind Mapping in Software Testing- Ways to Make Testing More Fun

Mind mapping is indeed an excellent way of enjoying the process of testing software. Mind map is basically a visual representation of the concepts or ideas related to a subject. The process involves a logical as well as creative way of taking notes and using symbols, mind shapes, words, colours, images and lines. Mind mapping in any field or on any subject is carried out with the intention of structuring the information, analysing and understanding the requirements along with that of encompassing all the data comprehensively.

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The particular procedure in software testing calls for an altogether different story. When it comes to software testing, it is not just about the years of experience but more about how your mind interprets a particular product. The process, in this case, therefore, helps in solving problems, representing ideas in a structural manner, planning team activities, compressing material into a desired format and finally keeping track of the team activities too.

Requirements for Mind Mapping

Testing involves a large area with each of its phases having their respective methods plus terminologies. The application of the process in testing of software is determined by the choices and preferences of the individuals. However, the procedure starts off with a collection of the following data:
  • The name of the release along with its date
  • All the requirements and their respective numbers
  • The names of the requirements along with the program category under which they come
  • The charge codes offered to these requirements
  • The details of the testing team for situations when these are needed and asked for
  • The names of the developer, the development lead, the manager and so on
  • Details about analyst to get clarified ideas about the requirements
  • Each and every credential and link that help in accessing the details
The map that you can create can be for test planning, software testing interaction as well as testing types.

Steps Involved in Mind Mapping

Start off with the process with a blank paper, coloured pens and a lot of imagination. Here is a list of steps through which the procedure can take place in the most effective manner:
  • Begin at the centre of a blank page as, this allows your brain to move in all other directions rather freely.
  • Emphasis on images as they can express things better than several words put together.
  • Keep using colours, which add an extra dose of vibrancy to the planning. Using colours also makes everything more creative in nature.
  • Connect the primary branches to the central image while the secondary ones to the second levels respectively. The connection part will enable remembering things easily as well.
  • Include curved branches instead of straight lines only for the simple reason that straight lines can be boring or monotonous.
  • To render your output with higher flexibility, use single keywords in every line. Never go for keyword stuffing as, that can lead to much confusion.
Effective association of ideas can be of real help, as it not only determines the software quality but also helps in solving issues that could have created troubles in the long run. As such, the process successfully assists in creating test cases, managing general reports as well as automation test scripts. It also enables almost perfect team management. Mind mapping can be done in any particular phase of the test process and it will pave the way for trustworthy results. While doing software regression testing, it is not without reason that enterprises are resorting to this theory in software testing while professionals are concentrating more on this process of executing tests along with the others.

We provide qa testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified automation testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Multi-Component testing - Ideal for Mobile Automation Test Strategy

A mobile phone is not just a medium for communication anymore- it has made a huge transition from that to become a personal gadget that has multipurpose uses. With technological advancements in smartphones and tablets, mobiles apps have become quite complex. When evaluating mobile apps that are data-centric, multiple challenges arise which have to be addressed by the test engineers; the challenges include increasing diversity of device technologies, features and platforms. Major non-functional and functional intricacies associated with app behavior can be tackled with mobile testing automation.

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The main challenges of testing mobile applications center around device input method, screen resolution, network limitations and operating systems. To tackle these challenges organizations should plan the strategy for testing very carefully and an effort should be made for choosing just the most important devices and minimize amount of handsets to be tested. During the testing real handsets should be used which are then connected to actual operators accessed through the web. Using automation tools also helps as you can write testing scripts for execution for countless times or on many devices.

For mobiles, testings may be of various types like behavioral, environmental, complete ecosystem and performance testing.

With environmental testing it may be a good idea to use real devices instead of emulators as they might not be able to replicate real devices. To understand changes in application behavior switching networks is a good thing that will help you identify performance bottlenecks. You should also install auto application over the air in the testing suite which will verify the upgrade as well as successful installation on target platforms. When the automation is being executed, events like receiving SMS, emails or calls and battery low indicators should be simulated or handled by the process.

For behavioral testing orientation evaluation should be included in the automation strategy; this is due to the fact that screen orientation feature is now supported by most devices. The strategy in this case must always include “no network” scenario simulation on devices. Great automation systems should simulate different location attributes automatically. The tool for behavioral evaluation should be able to differentiate between user events which are done by end-users and system events which are the result of codes written by application developers in the application.

In case of performance testing, a good practice is collecting battery, memory as well as CPU analytics continuously during the testing phase. The information collected becomes useful for addressing and identifying of problem areas if any. Application responsiveness is another important requirement as users are not left wondering if the UI gives prompt response to inputs. The performance of UI navigation should be up to the mark and effective with fast transitions. Use performance analytics tools for checking of memory usage and performance of mobile applications easily. You will get information related to CPU cycles, memory usage, etc with help from these tools.

Ideal or complete test ecological system should contain clearly defined result and test protocol. Protocols for failure should be defined by scripts or tools along with related proofs, reasons and other related information. Another important as well as recommended practice is device management so that your devices can be managed as well as categorized according to varying parameters. Test case management should also be provided which will store, execute, organize as well as view the test cases along with the results reports. It should also report crucial app statistics for evaluation of overall stability of the application.

With mobile testing becoming even more complex with each passing day, you need to be extremely careful while adopting the perfect automation for evaluation. Ideally test automation for mobile may be a conglomeration of various types of testings if you want to be ahead in matter of mobile testing strategies. The test may be complex but implementing various components will ensure that the end result is worth it. You can hire certified automation testers from top automation testing companies who have proven expertise of handling mobile automation testing projects.

We provide automated web testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified automation testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Android-Specific Testing Drives Quality Software

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Enterprises all over the world are always on the look out for developing software that is highly advanced, useful and offers a perfect user experience. Now, out of the various ways in which the quality of any particular software can be enhanced, android- specific testing is certainly one. However, before looking into how these kind of tests lead to effective software, it would be necessary to consider the test framework and the features of the same.

Android Testing Framework

The framework of the tests is actually an essential part of the entire environment of development. It offers certain tools that make analysing each aspect of the application possible and hassle- free at the same time. Here is a list of features of the framework:

  • The tests are based on JUnit, which can be used for the purpose of testing a class that does not need the JUnit extensions or the Android API for analysing the Android components.
  • The test suites find themselves in the respective packages that are same as that of the main applications packages and this reduces the necessity to adapt new set of tools and techniques for building as well as designing tests.
  • The SDK tools, that are available in Eclipse with ADT, also come up with monkeyrunner, which is an API for testing devices with the Python programs.

Testing Structure


Coming to the structure of Android tests, it is based on JUnit while the projects are divided into respective packages, case classes as well as projects. The method basically involves testing each part of the software application thoroughly. In fact, the individual tests are actually the investigation of the respective module in the application. Similarly, the classes are supposed to contain all the related test methods along with the helper methods too, at times.

The advantage of JUnit is that one or more test source files can be built into one particular class file. Developers and testers have the opportunity to make use of a test runner for the purpose of executing the test classes. In Android, the test tools are used to load the packages, put the application under test and finally execute an Android- specific test runner.

Paving the Way for Quality Software

The Android tests can be both manual as well as automated and it will typically accompany test components and phases like performance, stress, soak, reliability, ageing as well as compatibility. The approaches are equally varied and they echo the priorities of the device owners. Even with all this, the primary point of concern happens to be the software quality validation.

Now, the key functionalities that are supposed to be tested in an Android application along with the situations that can possibly affect the functionality need to be taken into careful note. Most of the unit tests are restricted to the particular component that is being tested. The different categories such as that of Service testing, Activity testing or the Content Provider testing can be divided into further areas that require analysis.

In the wake of automated testing, it is actually possible to carry out hundreds of individual tests to get the answer to a single question. The volume of the results of all these tests makes things complex and herein lies the challenge. Notwithstanding the complexities, one has to arrive at a confident decision, which is beneficial in all aspects.

Constant attempts are being made at improving the quality of the software with proper as well as effective testing. Developers are found to be not just putting in all their efforts but also trying out various strategies or techniques to increase the returns on investment to the maximum possible extent. You can hire developers from top software testing companies in India who can help you to test your project within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide Android app testing services. If you would like to hire software test professionals from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Monday 16 December 2013

8 Useful Websites for Testing Code Snippets

Testing the codes is an essential task that needs to be undertaken by the developers on a regular basis. Now, there are certain websites that turn out to be quite helpful when it comes to testing code snippets. The developers are constantly required to check as well as verify the codes to ensure that all the operations are going on in the desirable manner. Along with the websites, a variety of testing tools are also made available online. A few of these can also be used for the purpose of modifying and editing the codes.

Here is a list of 8 websites for testing code snippets that must be taken into consideration:

1. jsfiddle

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jsfiddle undoubtedly appears at the top of the list of the most useful websites for testing code snippets. The site can be used in various ways and for various purposes, for instance, it can work as an online editor too, for the snippets that are built from JavaScript, HTML or CSS. The code can further be embedded on a blog, shared with others and so on.

2. Ideone

Ideone is another useful website that basically works as an online compiler cum a debugging tool. Ideone enables compilation of the source code followed by its execution online in not less than 60 programming languages. Using the website is easy too, as all you have to do is select a programming language, enter the source code along with the optional data input to find that everything is ready.

3. Codepad

Like, Ideone, Codepad too is an online interpreter plus compiler. It comes up as a simple yet extremely helpful collaboration tool. Pasting the code in the give portion will make it run the Codepad, also leading to a short URL. Now, this URL can be shared in email or chat.

4. jsdo.it

jsdo.it is primarily an engagement- driven website that comes up with a perfect platform for the talented and expert developers to work on both HTML5 as well as JavaScript. The website has a community, popularly known as 'a coding avenue' and this facilitates sharing of codes along with learning among each other. The community is like an online editor where the web designers and JavaScript engineers can run the codes while also writing them down. These codes can be saved online and displayed for the public.

5. Dabblet

Dabblet is more of an interactive platform that helps in a quick testing of the HTML code and CSS. The website makes use of prefix-free and therefore, cuts down the necessity of adding any of the prefixes in the CSS code. The respective work can be saved in the Github gists, embedded in the other websites and shared with others. Presently, only the modern versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari are supported by this particular platform.

6. Tinkerbin

Tinkerbin is certainly more than just a beneficial website for analysing code snippets. It actually allows developers to play with all the three namely CSS, JavaScript and HTML without the necessity of creating files or uploading them to the servers. Coffeescript, HAML, Less and so on are also supported.

7. Pastebin.me

Another useful website, Pastebin.me has an absolutely clutter-free design coupled with a HTML/JS open source sandbox tool. The code pane is capable of resizing, depending on the view port of the browser. Using a wide-screen monitor can offer you with an amazing experience. With the three templates in the form of HTML, jQuery and JavaScript, instant auto- populating of the code pane with default HTML tags becomes possible.

8. CSSDesk

With CSSDesk, developers have the opportunity to not just test the snippets of the CSS codes but also view the results appearing live.

The above- mentioned applications and similar others enable web developers to check their snippets and help in peer-review. These sites are also essential tools for checking out the unprepared codes as well as modifying these to delve deeper into the operation part. Hiring certified software testing companies can also make the job of testing much simpler to deal with.

We provide software testing services. If you would like to get a helping hand in testing, our certified software testers would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Five Ways to Make Test Automation Fail

Test automation or what is also known as automation is basically the process of getting a software program tested by another computer or rather another program that can be referred to as the automation tool. Automation testing is a preferred strategy for most entrepreneurs and this is certainly because of the several benefits offered by the process. Successful execution of the automated tests leads to better quality, higher productivity and most importantly, much lower costs. However, the process often fails while the objectives are also not accomplished in a majority of situations. Now, the failure of the tests owes to certain reasons that also include the wrong perceptions of the QA managers.

Signs of Failure

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Prior to delving deeper into the five prominent causes behind the failure of these particular tests, let us understand the signs of the failure of the same. One of the main intentions behind carrying out the tests is to satisfy the stakeholders and take them into confidence. When the stakeholders are not happy with the results and the entrepreneurs prefer manual testing over automation, one can assume that the process has failed. A demoralized team of professionals also paves the way for the failure of the tests and is therefore, extremely undesirable.

A Few Wrong Perceptions

Automation testing fails as a result of certain wrong perceptions. People often assume that the process can be a solution to most problems including that of shortage of time or scarcity of resources. This is a completely wrong idea just as the concept of automated testing as a substitute for testing that is not so improved is also inaccurate.

Quite similarly, while many consider the procedure to be effective in reducing costs, it is not actually so. Neither is the concept of automated testing all about regression nor is it meant to eliminate the chaos in testing. One must have his concepts or ideas about test automation in order to engage in the right use of the procedure.

Five Causes behind the Failure of Test Automation

1. Choosing the Apparently Most Powerful Tools: When it comes to automated testing, even the most powerful tools are not the best ones. In fact, the choice of the tools should be based on factors like budget, the technology behind the application, the skills of the engineer and so on. Once chosen, you must make sure that the tool meets your specific expectations. Going after the powerful tool without considering the necessary factors would lead to a failure of the procedure.

2. Not Realizing the Significance of a Standard or Framework: The implementation of the testing process necessitates a certain standard or framework. Many organizations fail to realize that and hence, do not spend the required time on building a framework. The professionals work in an aimless manner and this too, exercises a negative effect on the same.

3. Considering It to Be a Part Time Project: Automation testing is often mistaken for a part time project that can be operated parallely with any other development projects. Actually, testing itself is an independent project while the main projects are partially dependent on it.

4. Attempting at Automating 100% Regressions: Trying to automate 100% regressions even with the best team and the tools is a difficult proposition. Basically, the process is a long- term one in which the resources have to be analyzed thoroughly to achieve the desired goals.

5. Considering that the Process is Easy: Like any other process, the procedure of automation testing can be quite complicated and it can actually necessitate a lot of skills as well as professional expertise. Assuming that it is rather easy and straightforward leads to an obvious failure of the same.

Test automation can be of immense significance provided that one gets rid of the wrong notions and engages in a proper implementation of the process. And that’s when you would need to hire automation testers and manual testers who are certified and benchmarked by the industry.

We provide software automation testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified software testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Monday 9 December 2013

3 Effective Testing Techniques for Quick Software Bug Detection

When production process is being undergone for consumer products or goods, quality control along with testing are being conducted at each manufacturing stage. If during any of the stages any flaw comes to the forefront, the product is often sent back for reworking and correction or it is discarded completely. This is almost the same in case of software manufacturing as well. Even if the programmer is excellent he is bound to make some mistake or the other; there must be at least 1-3 flaws on each hundred statement. So testing forms a very important stage, consuming almost half of work along with time for the production of a functional program.

In fact early detection of software bugs result in saving of a lot of energy, time and money. So you have to employ good techniques to detect flaws early on. There can be many ways of approaching evaluation. The three most effective testing techniques for quick software bug detection are discussed here.

Using soap opera tests along with cases

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The focus of soap opera testing is on the software's role. The product cannot be considered just as a bundle full of features; the consideration should rather be on the accomplishments that humans can achieve with this tool's help. These tests may almost seem hypothetical as well as crazy but informal, speedy estimate can be provided of the quality of the product. This method will help you check the software's functionality at the very beginning, avoiding many expensive defects. This technique is much loved by business clients since real life scenarios are replicated or at least tried to. This kind of testing is often performed involving the clients and as part of requirement analysis. However, this test is quite complicated and involves a lot of details which can prove to be quite overwhelming for the testing team as well as the users. Due to the complicated nature of these tests, occurrence of a single error results in wastage of a lot of time, merely for the isolation of the error source. This evaluation helps in finding functional errors in the early stages and it is just that- a simple as well as fast way to find out some functional errors.

Quick attacks

In situations where you have no idea regarding the software's functionalities along with requirements, it will not be helpful to use the conventional technique to transform the requirements into tests. Instead you should be attacking the application; enter the wrong info to confuse it. This works by keeping a field blank in a form to be filled. If you are asked to maintain work flow then a different path should be taken. In an input field supporting only digits, letters should be written; you can also make a very long number so that it cannot be processed by the system. This kind of random attacking will help you check scenarios unexpected by the programmers. This system helps in the evaluation of the software's functionalities and that too within a very limited time. After the test is completed, you will have some fair idea regarding the application. However, though bugs can be detected, sometimes those flaws do not hold much importance; this system is not very focused.

Common failure modes

During the development of some specific variety of software, some classic errors come up. This evaluation method functions by helping you to find recurring errors. Thereby the programmers can be trained what not to do so that progress is made and this kind of issue does not crop up with applications that are of similar type. Common problems of some platform can be detected with the help of this method; you can then work on those so that the mistakes are not repeated. But using this technique too much makes it even more vulnerable. This is not a very dependable technique; it just helps you detect errors early on.

For quick detection of some basic errors the above mentioned methods are good solutions. For more errors that are deep rooted you will be requiring a testing method that is more thorough and may be a little more complicated; evaluating thoroughly and continuously will help make the software error-free.

We provide QA testing services. If you would like to hire software testing companies for help on your projects, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Sunday 8 December 2013

Test Automation- The holy grail of testing

While developing a software, testing is an important part. Testing is often done manually which involves a person who sits in front of a computer to execute test steps carefully. A better alternative to this is automation testing which involves using automation tools for execution of testing. Some software enters test data into System Under Test and compares the actual as well as expected results and then detailed test reports are generated. Resources and money have to be invested in Test Automation but it is all worth it due to the benefits that is reaped from this.

Test automation is generally used in software during any or all of the following scenarios:

  • Critical and large projects
  • Projects requiring frequent testing out of same areas
  • If the requirements do not change too frequently
  • Time is available
  • The software is stable during manual testing
  • The application has to be accessed for performance as well as load with several virtual users.

During the cycles of development, software tests are often repeated so that quality can be ensured. With the modification of source codes, software tests have to be repeated on all hardware configurations and operating systems supporting it. It is time consuming as well as costly to repeat the tests manually. The advantage of automated testing is that once they are created numerous tests can be run as many times as you want without any additional costs. On top of that, compared to manual test they are quite faster as they reduce the running time to just hours from days.


Accuracy is greatly improved with this testing. In case of manual testing, even if the tester is very conscientious and precise, he is bound to make some mistake or the other when carrying out the process as it can be monotonous and cumbersome. The same steps are performed by automated tests every time and detailed results are also recorded. The area of coverage can be increased by using this type of testing. The scope and depth of tests are increased and in fact you do not have to avoid lengthy tests which can be run on multiple computers despite having different configurations.

Web application tests for hundreds of users is quite an impossible task even if the software departments are large; this scenario however, is not applicable for automated testing which simulate thousands at one go. When you adapt this method you have to form a test suite which after due course of time becomes out of date due to the change of working of existing features or introduction of some new functionality. When the out of date tests are run they will automatically fail which makes it necessary to fix test scripts which ensures that the scripts are always modern and up to date with special attention given to the maintenance of software quality.

Despite the change of interface, the software's different versions can reuse the tests, which makes it quite cost effective. A very important reason for adopting this testing method is that it is extremely reliable in results which ensures consistency as well as efficiency. A lot of time is saved from the point of view of both developer as well as tester which can be utilized for concentrating on other projects which may be more rewarding as well as challenging.

Although products of software development groups are always tested, there are always some defect or the other in the delivered software. Before the release of the product test engineers work hard to detect them but they always manage to linger and reappear. This factor is eliminated by test automation. However, the role of testers cannot be eliminated completely as not every feature can be tested like that; in some cases this testing is not suitable for all projects.

We provide automation web testing services. If you would like to hire automation testers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Maximizing The Utilization Of Test Automation

Test automation is turning out to be a very popular and preferred procedure or activity these days. Effective automated testing guarantees better implementation of the different types of software programs. Consequently, increasing the usability of the test automation process has become a concern and it is for this reason that business entrepreneurs are actually looking for ways to maximize the utilization of the automated testing procedure.

Advantages of the Method

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Prior to looking into the aspects of maximizing the utilization of test automation, let us consider some of the prominent benefits of the testing process. Automation tests lead to faster processes, which in turn, implies that larger amounts of data are tested in much less time. The quality is also improved to a significant extent. As the name suggests, automated testing is meant to cut down the manpower required in the accomplishment of certain objectives and therefore, it is highly preferred by industries. What's more, detection of different types of defects becomes much easier and hassle- free.

Maximizing Utilization and Increasing Profits

Automated tests bring about a whole range of benefits that include test cycles that are significantly accelerated, have a better coverage, almost facilitates accurate reporting and most importantly, much higher level of productivity.

A survey of certain enterprises that are in favour of this process reveals that the same has lowered down the cost of testing by not less than 30%. At the same time, the acceleration time to market has been increased by more than 50% and all this has been owing to the successful implementation of some of the best automation strategies.

Having said that, the failure to devise the right strategies or implementing them in the right direction leads not only to the project failure but also the failure in deriving the pre- calculated returns on investment from the process. This situation is extremely undesirable for any organization for this paves the way for neither any improved efficiencies nor a proper utilization of resources.

Considering this, it can be said that the way in which the procedure is utilized depends largely on the strategies that are put to use. Now, the creation of strategies can be carried out through the following steps:

  • Building up a proper practical guide for the development of successful automation strategies. The guide must also contain information about the allocation of resources and spending of the budget.
  • Organizing case studies that delineate the strategies to be applied in choosing the automation frameworks, the end to end scenarios, approaches to implementation as well as test data.
  • Defining the metrics and determining the ways of capturing them to ensure that the strategies are actually working in the way these are supposed to work.

In the present years when the product life cycles are constantly on the rise and the cost pressures are restricted, the conventional approaches to testing proves to be rather ineffective. The urge to utilize test automation all the more has led to the framework driven tests. This particular procedure leads to much reduced testing cycle times, most importantly regressions. Both costs as well as efforts are reduced to a considerable extent. Iterative development is facilitated while the releases turn out to be much more frequent than earlier.


Several enterprises are experimenting with this framework- based process to determine if it actually implies the better utilization of test automation as a whole. The results have been positive enough to make them move in this direction with conviction. The better the process is implemented, the more productive will be the end results. The success rate of the accomplishment of the enterprise objectives will also increase. You can hire testers from top automation testing providers in India who can test your projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide software automation testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified automation testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Manual Testers are from Mars, Automation Engineers are from Venus

The basic difference between manual testing and automated testing is that the former requires a person, whereas the latter requires a button. Many reports have also highlighted how an enterprise can avail several benefits by automating its software testing process. But many enterprises still deploy manual testers because they consider testing automation both complex and expensive. Also, many companies still believe that it is the price of manual testing is lower than software development cost. However, each company wants to choose the best testing options to impress users by delivering a flawless product. So each company must understand the key differences between manual testing and automated testing to take the right decision.

Key Points of Distinction between Manual and Automation Testing

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1. Required Time: Many companies find manual testing to be both tedious and time-consuming. As human resources are deployed to execute the test cases, it takes more time to complete the testing process. On the other hand, the automation testing can be done using a set of tools and frameworks. As no human effort is required, these tools can customize the testing process, and execute test cases at a much faster pace.

2. Investment in Human Resources: When a business opts for manual testing, it becomes essential to hire skilled and experienced software testers. A company may also have to deploy several software testing professionals to increase the pace of the testing process. So manual testing required businesses to invest in human resources. But automation testing does not require enterprises to invest in human resource. A company can simply procure the testing tools and framework to run test scripts and identify bugs.

3. Reliability of Test Results: The frequent changes in user demand require each software application to be tested under a number of circumstances. Further, the testing must be done with 100% precision by emulating exact user behavior. But the reliability of test results can be impacted by several factors including human errors. As manual testing requires test scripts to be executed by human resources, the chances of human errors increase. On the other hand, automation testing can deliver precise results each time by performing the same operation under different conditions.

4. Programmability: The software testing plan must aim to identify all bugs along with fetching hidden information. So sophisticated testing needs to be done using programming to find and fetch the hidden information. The manual testing is not effective in getting the information due to its non-programmable nature. But the automation testing allows testers to write sophisticated programs to identify bugs and flaws along with bringing the hidden information out.

5. Option to Incorporate Changes: The software developers often experiment with new technologies, databases and third-party applications to improve use experience. Further, they include the latest version of a software application to avail additional features and functionality. So there are always chances that a software development project needs to be revamped completely before its release. As the manual upgrade tests take more time, most business opt for automation testing. The automated testing tools further allow professionals to test the project several times to identify the bugs and hidden information.

6. Required Maintenance: Unlike manual testing methods, automation testing requires specific maintenances. But it allows developers to complete the testing at a rapid pace. With more and more enterprises opting for test-based software development, it has become essential to save the time and effort of developers. When a software developer is not required to spend more time in testing, it will be easier for him to explore innovative ways to optimize the look, feel, performance and scalability of the application. So the automation testing can get more ROI despite requiring additional maintenance.

It is always important for an enterprise to decide the right type of testing by keeping in mind the nature and requirements of the project. A company can further consider implementing a customized software testing strategy that includes the best aspects of manual as well as automation testing. And that’s when you would need to hire automation testers and manual testers who are certified and benchmarked by the industry.

We provide software testing services and are among the top software testing companies India. If you would like to talk to one of our certified software testers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Friday 9 August 2013

What kinds of Software Testing should be considered?

The procedure of completion of the testing stages from the point the product idea is conceived to the time the software is launched to the users, goes through a plethora of phases. Some organizations hire specialized teams excelling in each testing phase while others have a single testing team catering to all the phases. The different stages usually follow a particular order; however, some phases may concurrently run once the risk is adequately analyzed, thereby saving on the time to market. Whatever the case may be, software testing almost always involves a verification and validation procedure.

The process of verification ensures that the product meets the conditions set at the beginning of the development phase while validation guarantees that the product caters to the particular requirements towards the end of the development stage. Here we bring to you different kinds of software testing that can be considered. But before that, let’s have a peek into the basics.
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Software Testing Basics

The basics of software testing boil down to Black box testing and White box Testing. Black box testing is the technique that overlooks the system’s internal mechanism and concentrates on the output obtained against any kind of system execution or input. Also called functional testing, Black box testing is mostly utilized for validation. White box testing, also known as glass box testing or structural testing, is the technique that takes into consideration the system’s internal mechanism. It is frequently used for verification.

Kinds of Testing to be considered
  1. Unit Testing: A component of white box testing, unit testing pertains to an individual unit or a set of related units. It helps the programmer to test whether the implemented unit is generating the desired output against a given input.
  2. System Testing: It is a kind of testing that guarantees the usability of the software in diverse environments. Done within comprehensive environments and complete system implementation, system testing falls under the category of black box testing.
  3. Functional Testing: This ensures that the particular functionality needed within the system is in a workable condition. It is considered within black box testing.
  4. Stress Testing: Used for the evaluation of system behavior with respect to unfavorable conditions, stress testing is carried out beyond the specification limits. It is a component of black box testing.
  5. Integration Testing: In this kind of testing, a set of components join together to produce an output. Moreover, the interaction between hardware and software is also tested in this case if any relation exists between the hardware and software components. Integration testing may be a part of both black box testing as well as white box testing.
  6. Acceptance Testing: This is performed by the client to make sure that the final product that has been delivered is in line with the requirements and works as per client expectations. Acceptance testing is a part of black box testing.
  7. Software Performance Testing: This refers to the testing done to evaluate the effectiveness and speed of the system and to ensure that the results are generated within the stipulated time as per the performance requirements. Performance testing is considered under black box testing.
  8. Usability Testing: This is used in order to estimate the user-friendliness of the GUI and to judge the convenience with which the client can learn. A component of black box testing, usability testing also judges the performance proficiency of the client.
  9. Regression Testing: This testing follows once a component, system or set of related units are modified, to ensure that the performed modification is done correctly and is not influencing other modules to come up with abrupt results. It is a kind of black box testing.
  10. Beta Testing: This testing is carried out by end users, a team external to development, or publicly, launching complete pre-version of the product called beta version. Categorized under black box testing, beta testing aims to cover unforeseen errors.
Carrying out the right testing for your software makes room for understanding whether the application or product is capable of meeting the expectations.

We provide qa and software testing services. If you would like to talk to one of our expert software testers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Friday 26 July 2013

Top Advantages of Automation Software Testing

The constant advancement in technologies has made software development complex and complicated. Each organization also has to make a comprehensive plan to meet the recent trends in user demand. So along with developing robust applications, a company needs to ensure that application is running without any performance issues. The time consuming, labor intensive and restricted nature of traditional software testing methods have made it essential for companies to look for more innovative ways to ensure software quality and performance. In comparison to conventional testing methods, the automated testing tools are hugely popular among many companies. Along with accelerating the test execution and reporting time, the automated test scripts also allow developers to identify and fix the bugs in the early stages of the project. Further, the automated software testing tools have made the testing process simple, fast, flexible and inexpensive.

Top 6 Advantages of Automated Software Testing

1. Improving the Performance of Software: With software development becoming more and more competitive, it has become essential for developers to build better software applications. Along with including new features to make the application different, a programmer also needs to ensure that the application is flawless. He can simply build a set of automated test libraries, and use these to improve the quality of the software without putting any extra time and effort. The test libraries can further be reused in certain and predictable ways.

2. Testing the Software Frequently: Each software application needs to be tested frequently to identify and fix all types of bugs and performance issues. As the automated test scripts can be used regularly, you can easily test the application frequently without making any additional expenses. For instance, you can simply initiate a process to retrieve the latest source code of the application, and run several test scripts to test its performance. After testing the application, you can simply share the test script results with the development team to identify and fix the bugs without causing any delay.

3. Finding and Fixing Bugs in Early Stages: Whenever you develop an application, it will definitely have bugs. But you must identify, find and fix the bugs as early as possible. At the same time, you also need to decide the cost of making your application bug-free. Each time a programmer adds, edits or removes any code, the application needs to be tested from the scratch. So there are chances that it may take weeks or months to identify and fix the bugs, if you are testing the software manually. Also, the manual testing options will increase the overall cost of software testing. However, you can always avoid putting any extra time and resources by using automated test scripts. Further, you can easily test the application on a daily basis to identify and fix the bugs before moving to the next module.

4. Incorporating Changes: The frequent changes in user demands have made software development process complex and complicated. The source code must be updated regularly to maintain the popularity of the software application. As the programmers incorporate changes in the source code to optimize the application’s performance, there are chances that some new bugs will be generated in the process. So each time any addition or modification occurs to the source code, the application must be tested thoroughly. A developer can simply use automated test scripts to evaluate the performance of the software easily, whenever the core part of the system is changed.

5. Loads of Automated Testing Tools: Most developers have to decide the right software development framework based on certain criterions. Along the type, design and features of the application, the developers also need to consider the popularity of the development platform. However, each developer has option to choose from loads of automated software testing tools to suit the requirements of his project. Along with the licensed testing tools, he also has options to choose from a huge collection of open source testing applications. The customized tools make it easier to test the performance of the software by targeting the latest trends and changes.

6. Easy to Impress Clients: Most companies have to use innovative techniques to impress clients. Along with deploying a team of experienced programmers, a company also needs to convince the client about the quality and flawless performance of the software. Many companies, nowadays, hire a company to develop customized software applications based on its software testing strategy. If the company has testers with adequate experience in building and running automated test script, it will be easier for it to impress clients. Further, the automated testing will help an organization in beating competition by reducing the development cost.

The automatic software testing also helps organizations in eliminating the chances of human error. Also, the testers can easily learn and use advanced testing tools without having any programming skills or writing software code. It becomes imperative to search for a list of automation testing companies, evaluate their expertise and then employ them to leverage the benefits of automation testing.

We provide automation testing services and we have 100% certification ratio of our developers. All of our developers have cleared industry certifications in testing. If you would like to hire automation testers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Software Testing Evolution and Revolution

So far as the Information Technology industry is concerned, exponential growth has become a regular phenomenon. Although the history of IT is comparatively shorter than that of other industries, revolutions are predominant in it, taking into considerations the super computers, microchips, personal computers, power PC chips, Artificial Intelligence, the World Wide Web and lots more. Each of these had some or the other transformative impact on businesses and people. The last decade has witnessed the evolution of software testing solutions into a key constituent for businesses to accomplish success and a prospect for the most talented to build rewarding careers.

The Bygone Model: Only a few years ago, the software tester was a small player within the software development procedure. The fundamental role of software testing comprised capturing of bugs in codes, a procedure mostly carried out manually. The entire process was non-intellectual, repetitive and a routine one, concentrating more on templates and metrics.


In a life cycle including multiple steps, testing had a time slot immediately prior to release of the software product. Regarded as less important than the planning and development stages, the testing stage often had to be squeezed in towards the project’s end. Due to this, testers often became answerable in case there were any quality issues cropping up after the product launch.

The New Model: The rapid proliferation of the internet has literally transformed the way business is done. It has made room for fascinating avenues and prospects related to business development and profit. In the era of the internet, web-oriented applications have turned into means through which both internal and external customers of an organization interact with each other and the business.

As enterprise software applications became more and more consumer-oriented, the competitive advantage and competency of business gradually came to the forefront. This had a dramatic effect on businesses, especially for industries like healthcare, finance, media, education and retail.

However, the pitfall in this rapid revolution is that companies which are slow to adopt the changes and deal with the complexities that crop up as a result of this software revolution may face grim consequences.

The Function of Software Testing within the New Model: The current business scenario involves more focus on consumer-oriented applications and since there is direct interaction between the business and consumers, such applications are required to perform faultlessly. To ensure optimum performance, software testing is given immense importance in the software development process and has become an integral component of system development lifecycle.

Presently, software testing has turned into a comprehensive domain that incorporates the complete software system from identifying defects to coming up with a supportive feedback device for the developer. In fact, evolving from the conventional stage of debugging codes, software testing now involves testing the analysis, testing the design as well as testing the development.

Challenges of the new Model: As the software development procedure gradually assumed increasing importance, certain challenges cropped up. Since software testing has now become a comprehensive risk management and quality assurance activity, it requires a broader knowledge base and skill set on the part of the software testing engineers. They should have the ability to chart out, devise and execute efficient test processes to address concerns related to inconsistency and quality of data, end-user expectations regarding business flow and performance of the applications. Another obvious challenge in the domain of software testing is the complicated nature of software and technology, thanks to the consumer triggered application evolution.

Addressing the Challenges in Software Testing: The issue is that in comparison to the growing demand, the number of qualified engineers falls short. As the need for software testing is expected to see a considerable rise, there is indeed a large gap between the demand and supply for software testing engineers. To resolve this problem, organizations have three options. First, they can continue with the old testing model. Secondly, the existing testing staff can be trained to get adapted to the new testing model. Herein, it is imperative to make your testers involved in all the processes from design to implementation, so that they can contribute their knowledge, recommendations and proficiency across the entire lifecycle of application development.

There is a third solution for companies which cannot afford to lose time catching up with the new model of software testing because of their heavy reliance on web-based applications. There are independent service providers rendering expert software testing services through the incorporation of new trends such as agile development, testing in the cloud and so on. These organizations have turned into vital arms for a number of businesses intending to enhance their product quality effectively, economically and on time.

With the rapid evolution of software technology and many revolutions taking place in this field, software testing indeed becomes a promising and rewarding career for IT professionals. In fact, the software test engineer‘s role is rapidly becoming as prestigious as that of the software developer. And the number of software testing companies is also increasing. The challenge now is to find companies which can provide the right testing services.

We provide software testing services India. If you would like to know more about our certified software testers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.