Friday 11 July 2014

HTML5 Basics - Businesses need to know

Custom HTML5 Development company, HTML5 offshore development, Certified HTML5 developersThe text-based markup language, HTML is used for formatting of information often disseminated through internet. This is used for structuring as well as presentation of images and text in user interface. HTML5 is the newest version of the language, incorporating a plethora of features that make creation of content very easy. It was released in 2011 and now it is one of the most used languages. There are quite a number of features that all businesses as well as developers should know about; a few of them are given here.

WebStorage- Thick or native client applications are endowed with several facilities for data storage. Various file systems or databases make using of cookies for data storage an obsolete concept. This is a good thing since there were several problems associated with the use of cookies. Web Storage object helps in storing of page specific data in the applications on the client itself. The storage is of two types- sessionStorage and localStorage. Storage can be done across multiple windows, with better performance as well as security.

Audio as well as video support- The latest version makes using third party media players such as Flash Player totally unnecessary. No more assigning a vast list of parameters for correct playing of media; just using the necessary tags will give the desired results. It also makes defining parameters such as autoplay, width as well as height really easy.

Accessibility- Accessible sites can be very easily created in this language, due to ARIA and semantics. Screen readers can access content effortlessly due to the use of new headings such as footer, header, section, nav, etc. The semantic tags make examination of HTML document easier; thereby the user experience turns out to be better. The elements of HTML documents can be assigned particular roles through ARIA. Moreover the built in roles of HTML5 cannot be overridden which makes assigning of roles easier.

GeoLocation- A business can use the GeoLocationAPI for identification of a user’s current geographical location. This information may benefit the business in several ways; nearby points of interests can be provided to the user. The user can be helped for navigation through this feature as well.

Bettering interactions- All businesses want a dynamic website with better interactions so that the user can be responded to and the user can interact or enjoy the content given there. A drawing tag called <canvas> allows for great animated as well as interactive possibilities. Apart from this there are several other APIs as well that helps in building of a great user experience such as offline storage database, DnD or Drag and Drop, Browser history management, Timed media playback, document editing, etc.

Mobile technology- Mobile technology is not just a fad anymore; it has become a reality with the rapidly increasing adoption of such devices. This means that the application or website of a business will be surely visited by mobile users on their mobile browsers. Development of mobile apps as well as sites is easy with one of most mobile ready tools like HTML5.

Cross browser support- HTML5 is supported by most of the popular, modern browsers. In fact it can make things cross browser friendly as well as easier even in really old IE browsers.

Output mechanisms- Some new elements are there in the language which helps in displaying as well as visualization of information to users like <output>,< meter> and <progress>. Meter generically indicates a fractional value or scalar measurements. Progress represents progress bars while output helps display a calculation result or provides a script’s explicitly identified output.

HTML5 has incorporated plenty of features that have increased the adoption rate of the language. It can sustain the necessities of the current times, which has made it even more attractive for businesses. To get maximum benefits of HTML5, you may consider hiring services of a custom HTML5 development company.

We provide HTML5 offshore development services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified HTML5 developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

5 Best Practices to Follow When Testing an Application

hire testing software companies, software application testing, hire software testersOne thing that is often not even considered by developers and in fact quite under-estimated is testing. However, it is a key element in any application development; without this pillar no developer can put the developed software or application on market. Through proper evaluation the quality is determined which in turn consists of several dimensions like features, adjustability as well as engineering.

There are several kinds of tests that are carried out to determine the quality such as platform compatibility tests, functional tests, usability tests, scalability tests, performance tests, robustness tests, etc. One thing that must be remembered in this respect is to assign the job to an actual specific tester with distinct test roles; here the role of a developer and a tester is poles apart. While testing, to yield the best possible results here are some practices that you must follow.

1. Planning ahead- When a software or application is being tested, the undertaking is important as well as costly which might require careful execution. For that purpose it always helps if as a tester you can plan ahead. A careful planning as well as execution ahead of the evaluation phase ensures the success as well as usefulness of tests. In the planning phase you must consider the five essential steps which are establishing baselines, establishing expectations as well as goals, understanding the challenges that might come with the evaluation procedure, getting ample help as well opinions from the client, operations as well as development team and early involvement of third parties.

2. Building a solid strategy for application evaluation- Building a solid strategy ensures that the best procedures are followed from the word go. For effective strategies you must include exploratory, automated as well as manual tests so that the risks can be reduced efficiently and release cycles tightened. In this respect there are three kinds of test approaches that can be followed- integration which exercises entire subsystems while ensuring that sets of components fit as well as interact nicely; unit which helps in validating of the system’s smallest components so that known outputs and inputs can be handled correctly; and functional that helps in verification of end-to-end scenarios which might engage your users. In essence, functional tests can affect the entire system, but still unit as well as integration testing is important due to recovery speed as well as test performance. Functional test is always slow in running too.

3. Staggering the user number- Applications have to support a large number of users at the same time; so one of the scenarios to consider is its performance capability when handling a load due to a vast number of users. The best way of analyzing this properly is to increase the number in an ascending manner. If you start all the test drivers simultaneously then the results might not be very accurate since some time should be given to the system so that it can warm up a bit and prepare for a heavy load.

4. Experienced as well as informed management- Experience certainly counts a big deal, especially for something as crucial as evaluation it is best to go with experience. On top of that the management must ensure that all tiers involved with the application are informed about its aspects so that the best possible solution and insights are achieved.

5. Including early feedback- This starts in the development process itself where test engineers can be included. They can provide feedback on the sustainable development, feature scope too as architecture which can lead to an all-round well developed application.

These days, a software project is far more complex that what it used to be even sometime back. With the rapid changes in the methods and procedures, it is best to keep an open eye and establish some ground rules before beginning any work. The same is applicable for testing too since knowing what to do and what to avoid will help in the long run. When you hire testing software companies, you must ensure that the team has proven experience in handling medium and large sized testing projects over a long period.

We provide software application testing services. All of our testers have cleared industry certifications in testing. If you would like to hire software testers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.