The Important Phases in Testing an Application

Why testing? Testing is the most importance phase of software development life Cycle. It is often said that the phase that starts before the development process, remains throughout the development process and end with the delivery is nothing but testing. This indicates the importance of testing in any software development life cycle. Industry understands this and never neglects the power of testers in their application development. Moreover, testers are treated as the fate line of any software application or product; because, they determines the quality and reliability of any application or product. Any application or product can never be an industry standard reliable and quality oriented unless until it has undergone extensive testing. Hence there is always a tremendous demand for testers in the industry. Today we will discuss about the different phases of testing life cycle for an application or product, in other words, we can say how testing works?

Requirement analysis: This is the first and most important phase of software testing. In this process the tester needs to gather all the information and data for the testing process to be executed. Here he need to check if everything is Ok for the testing or not, if anything missing he needs to collect it at the earliest. For this stage you need to have that curiosity within you to prepare yourself well for the future.

Test Planning: Now, the tester needs to plan his future work in ahead. He needs to imagine what can be the different parts of his testing methodologies. Here he has to understand what he needs to find out and how. Planning makes it easy to test an application. So, he must give maximum emphasize on planning with his prior experience and expertise in the field.

Test case development: Now, the actual testing starts here. The automation tester needs to write his test case as per the planning made before. He must ensure that the test case has adequate scope for better testing. The test cases should be extremely powerful and accurate so that in future you need not worry about the output. So You as a good automation tester should apply all your efforts for this creative phase so that you will get an awesome output.

Environment set up: Well this is something peripheral requirement of the process. When we deal with various web application projects, we have to consider about the set up for the testing like internet connectivity, server condition, Client condition and network set up etc. Though it seems to be an optional phase for the tester and it is expected to be done by the system admin; but, a good tester never takes any risk and he always comes ahead to test all these availability voluntarily.

Test Execution: Now, everything is in their place. Just perform the testing. Make sure all the modules are tested properly. Don’t forget to test the whole application at once to make sure the application is working pretty well from every aspect.

Test Reporting: Finally, you have to report the bugs if any to the developer to fix it. If there is no bug, it’s time to move ahead for the production stage. Mindfire is an application software testing company with 100% certified testers for immediate project requirements.

We provide QA testing services. If you would like to hire software quality assurance tester, please get in touch with us. We would be glad to assist.

A Quick Look at Some of the Testing Methods

Why testing: Testing is an integral part of software development life cycle. Its necessity starts with the beginning of a project and ends at the end of the development process. It always works in a parallel manner with the development process so that a quality output will be achieved. Hence there is a stupendous demand of testers in the industry. Moreover many big software farms give more priority to testing in their projects because they know that testing is the key to success for any application development or product development. Hence testers are also known as quality assurance professionals; because they help the developers in achieving quality end product at the end of the course. Hence there is a fabulous future potential for the testers in the IT industry. Well testers perform the testing operation in three different manners i.e., manual testing, automation testing and hybrid testing. Let us discuss about these testing methodologies in brief.

Manual testing- the primitive way of testing: This is the most primitive way of testing an application or product. Here the tester applies his experience, skill and expertise to test an application. There are millions of manual testers in the industry who has been providing support for different types of projects and application development in the industry. Since it is performed by a person so there is always a chance of human errors while testing an application. Moreover it is not an efficient way of testing because it needs more effort, resource and time to test an application. To add this, it becomes even tougher to test a big data application by a tester manually. So it is losing its popularity in the industry with time due to its short comings. To overcome all these issues there is a better way of testing which is performed by the software tools known as automation testing tools. Let us have a brief discussion over automation testing technology.

Automation Testing: This is the new era testing approach for modern applications. This will eliminate all the shortcomings of manual testing through its advanced features and efficiency in a parallel way. The modern applications are developed keeping multiple devices in mind. These devices can be smart phones, tablets or regular PC for the application. To test the compatibility of an application for all these wide range of devices we must rely on a software tool i.e., automation testing tool. The automation tester writes testcases for his application and these testcases can be projected to the application environment to test different functionalities of the application. Moreover the automation tester can iterate the process several times depending upon the requirement of the application. Hence it becomes an easier process of testing without compromising the quality of testing for your application.

Hybrid testing: This is the mix of both manual testing as well as automation testing. Many experts believe that this is the best way of testing an application; because it has the advantage of brain power of the tester as well as the efficiency of the software testing tool. Hence the industry is recommending for hybrid testing to all big applications where you need both experience as well as efficiency for a better output. Mindfire is an application software testing company with 100% certified testers for immediate project requirements.

We provide QA testing services. If you would like to hire software quality assurance tester, please get in touch with us. We would be glad to assist.

How is Software Testing Evolving

These days, software development no longer is what it was years ago. At one time, there were just one or two platforms to think about for building software applications. Additionally, code release and also new versions previously come-out once in a year or two and so was the Testing process. However nowadays, there are a number of operating systems both in mobile as well as in desktop. Among software organizations, such as IT organizations, e-commerce organizations, online trading companies and so on. Mishaps related to software do occurs. Such inaccurate steps are often unavoidable as each work needs fine detailing and certain people might make errors sooner or later. These types of errors in size could be little or big, which is, the functioning about the company might or might not be impacted. The necessary preventive steps should be taken in order to eradicate the threat which comes with such errors. The steps of risk reduction are usually expensive, however the companies have realized that the costs of risk reduction is actually smaller as compared to problem & the loss they pull in after the software is inoperative because of the error done. Software testing organizations help to resolve the reason.

A growing requirement for software testing, software relevant solutions are made readily available for the companies. Software testing companies are being established worldwide making an effort to lower the uncertainty within the IT related organizations. These organizations offer their clients with practical solutions which help those to reach improved the operation of creating and implementing any applications. In addition they deal with a variety of practical testing tools such as QTP, IBM functional tester, Selenium & Test-Complete, IBM Performance Tester, usage of Load Runner, Neo-Load for the Performance Testing, Quality Center & Spira-Test for test management and for Super-Preview, Browser-Cam, Browser Photo & Site-Vista for the cross browser testing. These types of services offered from the software testing organizations for more or less to eradicate the incidents because of software. The organization's main goals include to offer quality with undertaking and also carrying out simply to such projects which they realise that they may fulfill the needs of, pledging to place the client ahead of themselves, not cover anything with the clients although it may cut down on their own revenues, cost effectiveness for all clients simply by estimating correct pricing and worth their funds just as own, possessing a reliable relationship along with the clients by becoming a lot more of partners along with them.

Lot of engineers and professionals get-together to make such type of long method effective. A lot of companies are usually outsourced through big establishments to carry out this type of systems. These companies are regarded as the most important providers for assurance solutions throughout the technology owned life cycle, IT assurance, utilizing structured tools, markets best practices and also consultants with the strong domain experience. Indicating CXOs is often a assurance the organization makes being a dedicated assurance partner within strategic programs. They link once business needs are usually described and hang about using business for an Assurance partner until a program correctly gets into production.

It really helps the businesses to focus their time, energy and also resources with different tangibles including customer value as well as brand creation due to the fact that it offers services which begin right from the start of the life cycle till the conclusion of it, which is, end-to-end service is exactly what they guarantee. Their clients are provided with full information on vertical specific productivity tools, test case repositories and also test design accelerators that act as a crucial role in eradicating software incidents that are the big issues for the clients responsibility for the requirements management, requirements validation, comprehensive functional and non-functional testing, and also process quality assessment, definition & improvement are all taken into accounts. To get maximum benefits of testing, you may consider hiring services of a software application testing company.

We provide QA and testing services. To hire software testers from us, please reach out to Mindfire Solutions.

6 Things You Can Do to Become a Better Software Tester

A consistent increase is noted in the number of organizations adopting test-based software development approach. But the complex and complicated nature of software applications have made software testing a challenging job. Also, each organization wants to hire an exceptional software testing professional who can carry out a variety of tests at a rapid pace. You can always consider software testing as a lucrative career prospect. However, it is also important to expand your knowledge and learn how to effectuate testing strategies to become a better tester.

Six Tips to Boost Your Software Testing Career

1) Identify All Flaws in an Application: Often testing professionals concentrate on quantity rather than quality. You can always impress others by identifying a higher number of bugs. But you must remember that the main aim of the software QA process is to make the application flawless. So you must evaluate the impact and significance of each bug, and share the information with developers to deliver rich user experience.

2) Prioritize the Testing: Each software application needs to be evaluated thoroughly to deliver flawless user experience. So a tester has to carry out several types of testing. As you have to perform several tests, it becomes essential to plan the tests according to their significance. You can easily identify the key bugs that affect the performance of the application by testing the mission critical features and functionality of the application first. The prioritization of tests will further help developers in fixing the critical bugs as early as possible.

3) Think like an End User: The main objective of software testing is to deliver flawless user experience. So you must evaluate the application as an end user. The approach, along with your testing skills, will help you in identifying all bugs and flaws before the application reaches the users. At the same time, you also need to question each aspect of the software application. Along with checking the features and functionality of the app, you also need to ask questions about its compatibility with different devices and operating systems. You can always identify the most critical bugs in an app by asking many questions.

4) Stay Tuned to the Latest Trends in Software Testing: Like software development, testing is also evolving at a rapid pace. So each tester must keep track of the latest developments in software testing. In addition to understanding the latest and updated test automation tools, you must read the articles and books written by software testing experts. Also, you can consider joining the large community of software testing professionals to communicate and exchange ideas with other professionals.

5) Adopt New Software Testing Techniques: The complex nature of software applications has made it essential for testers to adopt innovative and out of the box testing strategies. There are also many tools that allow you to check a strategy in different environments without putting any additional time and effort. Along with learning new concepts in software testing, you also need to implement in practically. While learning new concepts, you can even avail the assistance of community of testers to effectuate your strategies.

6) Effectuate Your Bug Reports: In addition to identifying the errors, bugs and flaws in an application, the software tester also needs to help developers in fixing these. It will be easier for the developers to understand and fix the bugs, I the bug report is clear and comprehensive. So each tester also needs to learn ways to optimize the bug report. It is a good idea to attach screenshots with the report, and mention the exact nature of the bug, along with mentioning detailed information about the devices, operating systems or circumstances affected by the bug.

Along with expanding your knowledge, you also need to improve your communication skills. As testers have to write bug reports and test cases, it is important for the professional communicate in a clear and detailed way. The communication skills will further help you in facilitating decision making by preparing quick and robust reports. If you are planning to hire software testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!

We provide qa and testing services. If you would like to hire software testers for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

What do Software Testers Love In Their Job?

Professionals should at first love and respect whatever they do. That is the first step towards earning satisfaction in the professional field. Things are the same in case of software testing. This particular type of job, being a highly technical one, demands a lot of immaculate planning, backed by some high class expertise.

However, the first and foremost things that are needed to excel in any profession are love and respect for the job. These two parameters can bring the best out of a professional. Things are same in case of software testing. Five most crucial elements of software testing are testing strategy, testing plan, evaluation of various test cases, test data, test environment. Now all these elements are highly technical. Unless a tester really loves taking care of them, they are bound to rock the life of that tester in a wrong way! So, if a tester loves the job, it's because the professional loves the challenges these elements throw up. So a software tester essentially loves the challenges that the job comes up with. Let us be a bit more particular in the discussion.

Software testing is complicated

This particular profession is such that, nothing is straightforward. Moreover, quality is much more important than the quantity of work. That is where the real challenge lies. A tester needs to take into account a wide variety of things into consideration. This naturally imparts a tinge of variation into the work, which also throws up a challenge. This is another factor that the testers would love to accept.

When we speak of variation, it may include a wide range of problems, difference in the technologies that are used to troubleshoot them, variety in expectations and objectives of businesses, behavioural variations of the users, priorities, performance, threats, TAT or deadlines, process and so on. Each of these elements differs from one another to a great extent. Besides, they also provide testing problems that deviate from one another in a great way. This is what the testers love!

It provides suitable scope for exploration

The job asks for a lot of thinking – or in other words, a lot of exploration, innovation along with a great amount of creative inputs. This creative touch that the work carries with it, adds a lot of variety, which is loved by the professionals. The variations in test cases add a lot of challenges. That is the real fun that these professionals appreciate. Frankly speaking, a thorough understanding of the systems and possibilities of encountering unexpected issues make this profession all the more charming. The presence of so many options while executing tests, backed by availability of packs of tools is the real beauty of the work that inspires the testers. This takes the discussion to another point.

Availability of a number of tools for testing

Majority of testers would think testing is fun because of the availability of a number of tools that come up with a lot of varieties. The fact that there are scopes of experimentation with newer tools every now and then, makes testing a job full of variety as well as challenge. This makes the job so much attractive to the testers.

In short, job of a software tester is always thought-provoking and stimulating. As the technicalities of the systems get more and more complex, the likelihood of detecting increased number of bugs increases. This provides more chances of bug hunting – something that adds fun to the work.

Software testing is therefore the hot job that is suitable for individuals who love taking up challenges. This is the factor that adds colour to the profession, making it so much acceptable as well as adorable to the professionals. If you are planning to hire software testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!

We provide qa and testing services. If you would like to hire software testers for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Avoid These 10 Stupidest Software Testing Mistakes

Software testing (ST) is an intricate process and asks for professionals who are highly expert as well as experienced. Even then, they cannot always avoid some technical as well as silly mistakes that spoil their days. That is the reason it is imperative that they follow a specific methodology in order to avoid these mistakes as much as possible. Let us discuss some of the errors that the software professionals normally end up committing. This will perhaps help them to be aware of these mistakes.

1) Using Element of Surprise: At times, technicians or testers are too much enthusiastic to take certain decisions without prior planning with a view to impart an element of surprise and yield the best results almost overnight. They also surprise the team with fresh mandates without any proper planning and go on with a dubious budget. This, to say the least, does not work. On the contrary, it puts the entire scrutiny program in a sort of jeopardy, thereby extending the deadline and shooting up the budget of the client. There is an old saying,“Surprise your team and watch it melt!”

2) Waiting till designing the software is finished: There are a lot of technicians who do not start the scrutiny till the fag end of the application development lifecycle. This is a very serious mistake as this may surprise them with a lot of unpleasant issues that will crop up at the eleventh hour.

3) Run the tests from a single location: This is another common error that software professionals end up doing. You will find a number of professionals conducting performance tests from within firewall mostly because of budget constraints as well as other technical reasons. However, the problem in this kind of ST is that by doing this the testers are unable to gauge the performance of the application and hence are unable to ascertain the performance when the application is used in real world.

4) Using not enough hardcoded data: It is relatively easier to test an application by using a smaller amount of static and hardcoded data. However, the problem is, when you do that it does not give you the right idea of performance that you can expect from the application once it goes live.

5) Testing with the ones who are not experts: In real life scenario, each and every ST assignment generally involves two kinds of experts – testing experts and domain experts. The testing experts are excellent in understanding and picking up the flaws as well as the vulnerabilities, irrespective of the nature of the product. Domain experts mainly pick up the shortcomings and inconsistencies but cannot spot the flaws. However, there are many companies that put the entire responsibility of testing on these domain experts. Do not be like them as this will not yield the best results.

6) Focusing on single use cases: There are ST teams that wash their hands off after testing a single use case while evaluating the performance. This will invariably put the application into troubled waters when it is live as it will not give the testers the true picture of its abilities in real life scenarios.

7) Not doing the BDD: Majority of the STs are technical instead of being functional. However, experts are of the opinion that it is extremely important to test the logical behaviour instead of testing and seeing whether the technical aspects are working flawlessly. This can be conducted with the use of BDD or Behavior Driven Design, without which, application testing remains more or less incomplete.

8) Testing in dbUnit XML dataset: This is another error that the developers end up doing. Often they are seen providing the test data in dbUNit XML dataset. This particular type of data does not represent live data at all. So it is wiser to ask the functional people to provide or maintain this type of test data.

9: Misinterpretation of the QA Role: This is another very common misconception that people have. They end up thinking that it is the responsibility of the testing team to ensure the quality of the application. This, to say the least, is wrong. The testing team only tests the ability of the software in real life scenario. The quality should be taken care of by the QA (Quality Assurance) team after the application passes through the testing barrier.

10) Improper Bug Reporting: Last but not the least, poor or improper bug reporting is a terrible mistake that leads to a lot of unpleasant scenarios. Picking up bugs is not enough – you need to be expert in properly reporting about your findings to the development team so that they can be taken care of appropriately and timely.

There are other mistakes as well when it comes to application testing. It is a highly technical task and there's no wonder that it will involve a lot of technical mistakes. However, we have discussed only 10 of them that normally plague the testing of applications. Mistakes can be kept at bay with use of some common sense and a logical approach and these are the qualities that are expected from a software application testing team. When you hire software testing 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 testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified software testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

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

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.