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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
