Showing posts with label test automation services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label test automation services. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Increase the Efficiency of Mobile Apps through Test Automation

automation testing, test automation services, hire automation testing expertsThe rapidly growing popularity of smartphones, tablets and phablets is encouraging enterprises to invest in mobile app development. But often enterprises find it a daunting challenge to make their mobile apps popular. To make a mobile app popular, an organization must optimize its look, feel, performance, and compatibility. At the same time, the enterprise also needs to ensure that the application is delivering flawless user experience.

Before its release, the business must identify and fix all errors, flaws or bugs in the app. Many reports have highlighted that a business can increase the efficiency, effectiveness and coverage of testing by using a variety of test automation tools. Also, automated mobile testing helps QA engineers to increase the app’s performance and efficiency, by overcoming some of the common and significant challenges.

How Mobile Application Test Automation Helps in Increasing the App’s Efficiency?

Check the App’s Compatibility with Mobile Devices: To become popular, each mobile app needs to function flawlessly on a wide variety of mobile apps. The enterprise needs to ensure that the app is compatible with different versions of smartphones, tablets and phablets. With new handheld devices being launched at frequent intervals, it is not possible for testers to assess the compatibility of the app with different mobile devices and platforms manually. But they can use several mobile test automation tools to assess the look, feel and performance of the mobile app across a wide range of mobile devices.

Assess All Aspects of the Mobile Apps: Normally, manual software testing methods avoid tests that are lengthy and through. But the test automation tools make it easier for QA engineers to improve the software quality in increasing the depth and scope of tests. The test case will run automatically, while having access to all aspects of the mobile app. So the test cases can check if the app is behaving expectedly by evaluating the data tables, memory contents, file contents and internal program states. The testing tools can also be used to carry out lengthy, detailed and complex tests without affecting the app release schedule.

Evaluate New Features and Functionality: To beat competition, the business wants to add innovative and critical features to the app through different stages of promotion. So the performance of the app needs to be tested thoroughly each time any new feature in includes. The manual regression testing methods are slow and time-consuming. So the shortened time to market restricts the manual regression testing scope. But the QA engineers can use several tools to conduct regression testing repeatedly, and the functionality and performance of the app remain unaffected by the changes.

Facilitate Testing Repetition: To identify all flaws, errors or bugs in the application, it must be tested thoroughly during all development cycles. The repetitive testing efforts will ensure that the application is performing flawlessly. The test automation tools allow QA engineers to conduct the tests repeatedly without putting any extra time and effort. They also have option to reuse and modify the test cases to assess the app’s performance through different development cycle. Also, test automation helps enterprises in saving both cost and time.

Expand the Test Coverage: The manual testing efforts often restricts the test coverage due to availability of limited resources. But automation of mobile testing efforts delivers good test results on time. The use of automation tools further help the enterprises in expand the test coverage without deploying any additional testing professionals. The expanded testing makes it easier for developers to identify all flaws, errors and bugs in the app, and get these fixed as early as possible. An enterprise can further use cross-platform automated testing methods and tools to automate the testing of large and complex mobile applications.

However, a business also needs to decide the right mobile test automation tools and methods. It also needs to implement a detailed mobile testing strategy by focusing on a number of best practices and challenges. The mobile testing efforts must the automated properly to make the mobile app popular within a short span of time. To get maximum benefits of testing, you may consider hiring services of an Automation testing company.

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

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Measuring The Success Of Test Automation - An Insight

Evaluating the success of test automation has always been a challenge and an important issue too. Objectives of test automation are always vital, as they ultimately determine the direction a team of developers is headed in. It also determines the end result of all the funding as well as the assessment of any particular project and last but not the least, the probability of success or failure in meeting the intended mission objectives. One of the mainstays of measurement of success is the AROI or Automation Return on Investment, which is at times misconstrued as the benefits or advantages of automation. Let us discuss how to evaluate the success of test automation.

certified automation testing company, outsource automated testing services, hire automation testers
Previously, a crude process of evaluation was followed. It included measurement of the percentage of test cases that were automated. However, this at times turned out to have a fair bit of loopholes, and was soon discarded and a new method was adopted.

Before we get into that, let us at first know why we need to do test automation? The main objective of test automation measurement is to improve the test efficiency so as to save time along with effort, along with a substantial amount of costs at the end of the day.

Now what are the most appropriate ways of measuring the success of automatic evaluation of software? Rather than measuring the percentage of evaluation cases to be automated, the essential metrics of automatic evaluation should put more emphasis on the savings that can be acquired from successful execution of those automatic evaluation cases in terms of time as well as efforts.

The entire process is though easier said than done. Actually, correctly calculating the time along with effort saved through execution of automatic evaluation is an extremely complicated process. For accurate calculation, it is imperative to know the amount of time as well as the efforts it takes for execution of each and every manual test case. Besides, once those figures are available, it becomes necessary to map the data to the actual scripts of the automatic evaluations that are being executed, followed by a holistic calculation of all the parameters of the evaluations.

In order to reach a concrete conclusion through this entire process, what is needed is a sizable amount of time, effort as well as a seamless collaboration with the team that executes manual tests.

However, one might not forget that there is always the presence of a certain amount of tests that are not yielding the desired results in spite of being automated. Hence, in order to bring this percentage into consideration it is imperative to change things into Value Metrics of Test Automation.

This new process of evaluation has been pretty effective, albeit the strenuous effort that is needed to collate all the required information. However, the test management tool used needs to be appropriate and should be such that it will readily support capturing the relevant information, aggregating the same and returning the desired metrics alongside the trend. For this, MS Excel is a wonderful tool that comes in handy.

However, just as a footnote perhaps it will not be inappropriate to mention here that in order to get maximum ROI for automatic evaluation, the following parameters need to be maintained:

The scope of the Automation will have to be determined in details before getting off with the project.

The appropriate automation tool needs to be selected on the basis of the fact whether it is appropriate for the assessment. Do not select tools on the basis of its popularity.

The framework needs to be appropriate. The standards for scripting will have to be maintained in a proper way. The scripts, comments as well as the code indentation to need to be uniform, and finally, exceptions should be handled adequately.

Selection of the right automatic evaluation tool, assessment process as well as a testing team is extremely important factors when it comes to a successful evaluation. Moreover, when it comes to successfully evaluate the achievement of these tests, maintenance of these parameters properly also makes the evaluation easier as well as quicker.

You can hire testers from top certified automation testing company in India who can help you accomplish testing within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide outsource automated testing services. If you would like to hire automation testers from us or would just like to speak to one of our expert software testers, please reach out to us at Mindfire Solutions.

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Best practices in API Automation Testing

Before we get into the depth of the best API automation testing practices, let us start with – what API automation actually is. An API or Application Programming Interface can be defined as a collection or set of functions as well as procedures known as API calls, that are executable by various software applications. Now, coming to API automation testing, it is the mechanism in which a test support application that links API and systematically exercises the functionality thereof, is created for simulating the end user application of the API.

automation testing companies, test automation services, automation testers
Now, let us discuss the best tried as well as tested practices of API automation testing. The practice generally should involve the following steps in a chronological manner.

Planning the test

Before starting off with the testing as well as writing test codes, one should at first spend a certain amount of time, chalking out strategies about the ways that need to be adapted during testing and more importantly, about the things that needs to be evaluated.

Now, depending upon the complexity of the tests, the process of planning should vary. A thorough design documentation needs to be done as this will make the process of testing much easier along with less time consuming.

Organizing the entire thing

This is the second step of the assessment. You need to organize the evaluation in a proper way so much so that it will have a positive impact on the productivity, efficacy, as well as maintenance of the tests. It helps in the betterment of the software performance. For example, all the tests that are to be conducted for a particular API should be under a single file. Then again, the file in question should be named after the API that is subjected to evaluation. What happens because of this is that it makes easier for the other users to locate all the test cases, and spend the up-front expenditure for ensuring that the foundation is firm as well as clean. While some procedures need to be tested in pairs and groups, there are certain procedures that need to be tested in singles.

Each and every case needs to be self-contained as well as isolated from the dependencies as much as possible, It helps the developers when it comes to copying individual cases into a definite stand-alone application or in the individual unit-test framework of a user.

Setting the Priorities

As and when the test cases are developed, against the popular practice of going straight away to an invalid test, it is important to set priorities. It makes easier for the testers to put more emphasis on the mainline cases at first, before opting for any other issue.

In fact, one should ascertain the test cases that need to be conducted at first. This purely depends upon the instinct of the tester. It is the tester who will have to ascertain which cases that will have to be tested first. Prioritizing the tests will only make the process simpler.

Development

Depending upon the mode of evaluation, it might turn out beneficial for the tester to store the state information in variables that can easily be accessed. If the test breaks when stressed, it is imperative that a proper investigation is done on the machine along with all the variables involved in the tests. During development, it is better to keep all the previous state information handy, particularly if the test case in question deals mainly with arbitrary data.

Configuration

Another very common as well as useful practice of API testing is changing the run-time behavior. As the testing starts, logging out of the system along with the assessment parameters is an imperative. The exact configuration as well parameters can be recreated from a log file. If each and every evaluation case performs its own configuration setup and initialization, it is imperative to evaluate the real life scenarios.

Validation

Validation of the test's behavior is another important practice, though at times, testers tend to ignore it and this leads to false positives and negatives or presence of non-actionable bugs even after testing is completed. When evaluating the test cases, one should assume that it will fail initially and then the real challenge is to prove that it works or does not work in a proper way. If you are planning to hire service of automation testing companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!

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

Friday, 21 February 2014

Manual Versus Automated Testing. Which Is Better?

When it comes to testing a particular software, it can be done in two ways – manually and automatically. So 'Which is better – manual testing and automated testing” has always been a hot topic to be debated on, over a cup of coffee or two. Let us discuss the pros and cons of both the types of software evaluation to come to a credible conclusion. May be that will stop this continuous discussion and settle the dust of war to some extent.

Before we start the comparison, let us at first define the two types of evaluation.

Manual Testing

automation testing companies, test automation services, certified automation testers
This type of assessment involves evaluating a particular software manually, or in other words, without the use of any automatic tool or any type of script whatsoever. During this type of software debugging, the tester plays the role of the end user and evaluates the software to ascertain as well as identify any loophole, unanticipated behaviour or presence of any bug. The entire process of manual evaluation involves certain stages viz. Unit Testing, Integration Testing, System Testing and finally, User Acceptance Testing. Testers use various types of test plans, test cases, and/or test scenarios to evaluate the efficacy of a software before it is made live. This particular method of software appraisal also involves exploratory testing for exploring as well as identifying the errors or defects (if any).

Automated Testing

Automatic S/W debugging, also referred to as Test Automation, involves a process of S/W evaluation, wherein the tester writes down a script and uses any other S/W for evaluating a particular software. Automated evaluation is generally used for simulating certain scenarios that were performed repeatedly, quickly and at the same time, manually.

Besides regressive evaluation, automated evaluation also involves testing applications from perspective of load, performance as well as stress. Technically speaking, automatic evaluation improves accuracy, helps in more time as well as money savings, when compared to manual evaluation.

Now, let us discuss the pros and cons of manual and automated debugging.

Advantages of Manual Testing

  • Manual appraisal is a fantastic option when a test case turns “twice a coding milestone'. In these cases, opting for automatic appraisals will result in unnecessary expenses.
  • This type of evaluation would allow the tester to perform increased number of ad-hoc or random evaluation. This type of assessment would help in detection of more bugs as well as defects than automated debugging. The more time the tester spends in going through the features of the S/W, the greater will be the odds of identifying real user loopholes or bugs.

Disadvantages of Manual Testing

  • Running S/W debugging manually can be at times, extremely time consuming
  • Every time the software is modified, the tester has to go through the entire process, rerunning all the tests yet again. This after some time, can get extremely tiresome as well as mundane. This, at the end of the day also causes fatigue to creep into the back of the tester's mind, dropping the perfection level by a considerable extent.

Advantages of Automated Testing

  • In case there is a need to run a series of tests repeatedly, automated debugging is the best choice.
  • It helps the tester by providing the option of running automation against the codes that time and again changes. This helps to timely catch the regressions.
  • This type of evaluation provides a tester the option of running automation in the mainstream scenarios for timely catching regressions.
  • This mode of S/W evaluation also helps in relatively larger test matrix (different languages for different Operating System platforms). Another advantage of this type of evaluation is that they can be conducted on different machines simultaneously. Manual tests on the other hand, can be conducted sequentially.

Disadvantages of Automated Testing

  • The expenses involved in automated testing is definitely more than manual debugging. Writing down test cases, configuring or writing automatic framework will invariably cost more than running manual evaluation.
  • In spite of its number of benefits, one little problem with automatic testing is that it is unable to automate the visual references.

Let us discuss a few other deciding factors relating to automated and manual software testing.

  • The tools that are used to determine what is to be automated. If there are any limitations in the tools, the tests are supposed to be manual.
  • It is also to be decided if there is considerable ROI with automation. Again, it should be evaluated whether switching to automatic S/W evaluation will yield results that will justify the decision.

Since, majority of companies prefer automated software evaluation, let us discuss a few things about the same:


Things to Automate

Automating everything in a particular software package is virtually impossible. However, there are certain areas that can be automated to make certain transactions less cumbersome as well as faster. Generally, the areas of a package that is dealt by a large number of users (for e.g. Login Form, Registration Form) are automated, so that multiple number of users can have access to these areas simultaneously.

Besides, all the Graphic User Interface items, connections with various databases and field variations and the likes can be tested properly with the use of automated process rather than with manual process.

Time to automate

Automatic software evaluation can be conducted in the following situations:

  • At the time of processing huge and critical projects
  • During projects that need repetitive testing of the same areas
  • When the objectives and requirements do not change that frequently and remain more or less constant.
  • While accessing applications with multiple virtual users for load as well as performance appraisal
  • While testing a stable software package

You can hire testers from top automation testing companies in India who can help you to test your projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.


We provide test automation services. If you would like to hire certified automation testers for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Advantages of Conducting Automated Software Testing

The software market is ever-expanding and with that it is being targeted by new applications launched by companies. This has made the development process more complicated and complex. The work of software developers has become consistently aimed towards the fixing of functions, mistakes, errors and bugs so that user experience can be improved. They also have to ensure the smooth performance of the software in varying environments so that it becomes successful. For this, effective techniques for software testing must be deployed by the companies so that effort, time and money can be saved. The size and nature of project determines the method adopted for software testing. But all in all the easy-to-use and flexible nature makes automated software testing extremely popular.

Benefits

automation testing companies, certified automation testers, outsource automated testing services
Saving time- The testing process is actually sped up resulting in the shortening of the lifecycle of testing along with saving a lot of time. Scripts can be easily run in the night which gives you night shift and day shift. Moreover, you will be able to run scripts on multiple platforms as well as multiple machines at the same time. But the major advantage is the running of the scripts that is a hundred times faster when compared to manual tester. So no more deploying teams of professionals for testing and investing of more resources as well as time. This helps you to save both resources and time. In fact you can target many user interfaces simply by reusing the scripts.

More effective utilization of manpower- This evaluation helps you apply your time along with skills elsewhere. Automation allows for the execution of most regression as well as functional testing unattended. If compared with manual testing, manually just new feature validation can be carried out but automated evaluation may be used for regression as well. Other areas like security as well as performance can be showered with more attention if you can relegate the testing responsibilities.

Repeated testing easily conducted- Some specific tests have to be administered repeatedly sometimes, so that all bases can be covered. Since generally the projects have complex nature repeated testing manually results in a lot of effort to be put in there. In fact bugs along with glitches are hard to find in case of manual evaluation but in this once the tests are configured according to some parameters, the tests can be administered over and over again.

Cross-platform applications tested quickly- For applications to be successful each must be compatible with the major devices as well as operating systems. So cross-platform applications are developed by major companies these days. So a web application developed should run on web browser like Opera, Chrome, Firefox as well as Internet Explorer. To make sure all the functionality and features of it are supported by major operating systems along with web browsers the testing team must put in lots of efforts as well as time. However, automation of testing process ensures that the performance evaluation can be done easily.

Increasing coverage- With this kind of evaluation the coverage scope increases drastically. Same tests can be done on multiple configurations. With more configurations you can reap more benefits. Each and every feature of your application is covered by regression suites, even those which may have been tough to manually accomplish according to the size of your application. The identical automation code can be reused with just some minor modifications.

Precision along with accuracy- After a few rounds of manual evaluation, the entire process tends to get boring and attention span starts to wane, leading to mistakes. Using tools will lead to the same tests being performed perfectly as well as results being checked every time.

Utilization of tools cannot act as substitutes for testers themselves; rather they help the testers perform the job better. In fact, sometimes there can be no substitute for manual evaluation. But having a strategy for test automation outlines the parts which are perfect for manual evaluation and which are suited for automation. This helps you enjoy the benefits of both the worlds. You can hire testers from top automation testing companies in India who can help you build mobile apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We have a large team of certified automation testers. If you are looking forward to outsource automation testing services, please get in touch with us. We will be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Testing Automation for Mobile App Testing increases productivity and efficiency

QA engineers often find it more challenging to test a mobile application in comparison to evaluating desktop and web application. In comparison to other applications, mobile apps also have a smaller footprint on the virtual machines. At the same time, the app needs to run flawlessly on a wide variety of mobile operating systems and devices. Along with the performance and efficiency of the app, the testing strategy also needs to consider its hardware configuration and screen size for different handheld devices. Therefore, more and more enterprises are automating mobile app testing process to avail a number of advantages. In addition to increasing productivity and efficiency, mobile application testing automation can further reduce the testing time and cost.

Top Five Advantages of Mobile Application Testing Automation

top automation testing companies India, automation testing services, certified automation testers
1) Reduces Testing Time and Cost: Most organizations automate application testing to save both time and cost. Unlike to conventional and manual testing methods, the test automation tools evaluate an app’s quality more rapidly and efficiently. The automated test scripts can be executed several times to identify all flaws, errors and bugs in the app. Also, the tools can evaluate each feature and functionality of the mobile application without requiring any additional time. Each enterprise has to initially invest in test automation tools and framework. But these tools can be used to evaluate mobile apps over a longer period of time, and thus get higher ROI.

2) Address Specific QA Challenges: Often QA engineers face many challenged when evaluating the quality of a mobile app. The look, feel, features and performance of the application also need to be tested for different handheld devices and operating systems. Some of the test automation tools allow QA engineers to test both native and hybrid apps without putting any extra time and effort. These tools further identify all flaws that affect the functioning of the mobile app on different operating systems.

3) Easy to Carry Out Several Tests: Unlike desktop and web applications, the mobile app must be tested by QA engineers more thoroughly. The testing professionals also have to run a variety of tests to evaluate the app’s quality and performance. Along with usability, interface, compatibility, services and low level resource testing, the QA engineers also have to run operational, performance and security testing. As they have option to choose from several test automation tools, the testing professionals can carry out the required tests without any manual effort or intervention.

4) Option to Use Open Source Test Automation Tools: Often an organization has to invest some amount of time, money and effort to automate its mobile application testing. Along with hiring skilled QA engineers, it also has to buy several test automation tools according to specific needs of the project. However, each enterprise has option to choose from a number of efficient test automation tools that are open source and free. The open source tools further reduce the overall cost of automating mobile application testing. Further, the test scripts and tools can be used across different application formats, in addition to being modified easily for future projects.

5) Avail Benefits of Mobile Cloud Computing Environment: Many reports have highlighted how the web-based mobile environment provided by Cloud computing is effective in reducing overall project development time and cost. The environment further enables QA engineers to deploy, test and automate a variety of mobile applications without any hassle. At the same time, the environment is effective in meeting quality requirements, while focusing on the common challenges faced by QA engineers. As the data and test are stored on the web, the QA engineers have further option to use more efficient scripting language, access live environment through modem and bypass the network. An organization can automate mobile app testing to avail the distinct advantages of the web-based mobile environment, while meeting the latest industry standards.

However, the mobile application testing automation strategy of an organization must identify the key QA challenges like variation in mobile operating systems and devices, selection of right test automation tools, and the latest trends and standards. The right mobile application testing automation plan can further get higher ROI to the enterprise in the long run.You can hire certified automation testers from top automation testing companies India who have proven expertise of handling automation testing projects as well to save you on the time and costs.

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

Monday, 6 January 2014

Most Amazing Key Benefits of Automation Testing

A constant increase is noted in the number of enterprises opting for automation testing. Each organization also has option to use a wide variety of tools and programs to effectuate its test planning, execution and analysis. Further, software testing can be automated either partially or fully to reduce the human efforts and intervention. At the same time, innovative automation testing tools can be used to set up a test environment, input the test data, and gather test results. Unlike conventional and manual testing methods, the test automation tools are effective in testing large scale projects where a huge amount of information is processed quickly and repeatedly. If you are yet to automate your software testing, it is a good idea to understand how automation testing will get you enhanced productivity, efficiency and ROI.

7 Amazing Benefits of Automation Testing

automation testing companies, automation testing services, certified automation testers
1) Saves Both Time and Cost: Each enterprise has to explore option to address the time constraints related to software testing. The QA engineers also have to put additional time and effort to manually evaluate all features of a large scale project. As automated testing is carried out by tools and programs, the testing time is reduced substantial. Further, regression testing can also be done without any hassle whenever any new feature is added to the application or code is changed. The reduction in the time and resourced required for regression testing also contribute towards reducing the overall project cost.

2) Easy to Implement: An organization can adopt automation testing without putting any extra effort. Once it defines its requirements, it becomes easier to design the test system and choose customized testing tools. Further, the scope of automation testing can be enhanced according to the characteristics and requirements of a specific project. Along with the volume, complexity and availability of information, the scope of testing can further be optimized according to frequency and repetitiveness of the test cases.

3) Facilitates Regression Testing: An organization can save both time and resources by automating repetitive tasks like regression testing. Normally, regression testing is carried out for each new release of an application, system or product. Also, regression testing is done whenever new features are introduced or existing features are changed. So the multiple releases of the application require the test cases to run several times. An organization can set up an automation testing environment to quickly execute regression testing on each release of the software application.

4) Optimize Software Quality: In comparison to manual testing methods, automation testing is more effective in improving testing quality. Along with testing a large volume of data within a shorter span of time, the testing tools are further effective in identifying all errors, bugs and flaws in an application. The detection and prevention of the defects can also be done without requiring any manual intervention. As the automated test cases can be executed repeatedly, it becomes easier for QA engineers to test all features and functionality of the application several times. At the same time, an organization can avail the advantages of automation testing to adopt test driven development approach without any hassle.

5) Enhanced Coverage: The QA engineers often require more time to test each feature and functionality of an application manually. But the automation testing tools make it easier for them to test each feature and functionality of the application simply by creating a test suite. The test suite can also be customized according to the size and requirements of the project. So it becomes easier for an enterprise to enhance the testing coverage without investing any addition time and resources.

6) Reuse and Maintain Test Cases: Each enterprise has to invest initially in customized automation testing tools and programs. But the initial investment will help it in reusing and maintaining the automated test scripts in the long run. The automated test scripts can be used to evaluate the features and performance of different versions of the same application, regardless of the changes in the user interface. Also, the scripts can be standardized to incorporate the changes required to test applications of similar nature.

7) Essential for Agile Development: Many organizations are adopting agile development methods to boost productivity and efficiency. But many experts have highlighted how complete testing automation is essential for adopting agile development. Also, agile development intends to change the test objects constantly, enterprises must choose the right testing tools to evaluate the functionality of the current sprint. So automation of component and unit testing, along with system and integration testing is essential to avail the advantages of agile development.

However, an organization must make and implement a comprehensive strategy to avail the advantages of automation testing. The test automation strategy also needs to be monitored and evaluated constantly to achieve preset objectives without investing any extra time and effort. You can hire certified automation testers from top automation testing companies who have proven expertise of handling automation testing projects as well to save you on the time and costs.

We provide automation 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.

automation testing companies, automated web testing, automation testers
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.

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

top automation testing providers, software automation testing, certified automation testers
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.

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.