Android application developers find it extremely important to ensure that only a thoroughly tested Android app gets released in the market. With so many different devices running a variety of potential version of Android OS, it may become particularly difficult to make sure that the app is running properly on every device. Nevertheless, it is important that the users find the app smooth and give lots of stars to generate downloads. Thorough unit testing is trusted by many software developers for that. There are many places that have an amount of unit testing but implementation is quite an important step as well, so that they can ensure that the app is functioning just the way they expect it to. The unit tests must be written early on so that you plan the objects while coding; it also forces the resolution of ambiguities.
Another Android automation tool often used is MonkeyRunner which uses a Python implementation in Java, known as Jython for walking through the applications. It is best used when you want to walk through multiple emulators or devices. Its approach is not based on pass or fail testing; rather it walks through the application and clicks on buttons to take screenshots throughout, at designated points. After the running of the script, the screenshots can be compared with the ones that you had expected to see to find out the problems. This is a very easy approach but its main problem is its lack of a tight UI integration.
There are several other evaluation tools but amongst the various Android Automation tools, the most loved as well as trusted is the Robotium. This test framework is meant for the creation of easily written, robust as well as powerful automatic test cases for applications. Robotium helps test case developers write functions, acceptance and system test scenarios that cover multiple Android activities. By virtue of this, further details related to the implemented classes or structure of Android apps are not needed by test developers. The main class name along with the path linking it, are all that is needed. Full support is provided by it for the testing of hybrid as well as native applications.
Installing as well as using Robotium is extremely easy. It can be downloaded as single JAR file and then placed in whichever folder you want. To use it, you only have to put the JAR in the test project's classpath. Several differently build automation tools can use it. In fact, it may be used for both application testing with the source code available as well as for applications where just apk is available. To use it, just create Android test project to add test class.
Robotium usage has the following benefits as well as features:
- Powerful tests cases can be quickly written even with very little information about the application that you will be testing.
- APIs are offered so that direct interaction can be done with UI controls in the application.
- Android 1.6 as well as above versions are officially supported by it.
- Robotium does not modify the Android platform.
- Command prompt may be used for the execution of the test.
- Smooth integration of the framework may be done with Ant or Maven, helping in the addition of the framework to build the automation process of the project.
- Screenshots may be captured as well.
- There is no need for source code.
- Other measurement tools for code coverage like Emma and Cobertura can work with this.
- Quick implementation can be done.
- The test case can be read prominently when compared to other tests.
Robotium testing may also have certain shortcomings but despite those, the list of benefits is quite lengthy, making it a much-loved automation testing tool. Currently, it can be said to be the best Automation Testing Framework with many open source developers contributing to the introduction of many newer as well as better features in it to enrich the user experience even further. Android testing with Robotium can be executed with a customizable framework based on clients’ needs.
We provide Android automation testing services. If you would like to get your application tested by our certified Robotium testers, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.
The software industry's trends keep on changing on a daily basis and with that, trends related to testing change as well. There was a time when software testing did not have much prominence; some evaluation was manually carried out while the rest of the testing was outsourced. But gradually, people are waking up to the importance of software testing and as a result, this has become a professional career for many. New testing paths opened up with trends such as SOA or Service Oriented Architectures, Web-based applications, Wireless Technologies, SaaS or Software as a Service, Mobile Technologies along with an increased emphasis on robustness, re-use, reliability and repeatability. Everywhere, evaluation strategies are being changed so that the trends can be accommodated, making the sphere more and more professional.
The changes are being implemented for efficient as well as effective application development for quality systems. In fact, for that, huge amount of emphasis is being placed on improvement of Analysis as well as Design phases so that the early evaluation in the areas can be ensured. When capture tools of analysis as well as design requirements are built-in, Static Testing are robotized to lend clarity, better chances of completeness and facilitate eradication of ambiguity as well as assumptions. The product will surely become more robust, reliable as well as reusable.
Under the changing circumstances, professional testers would have to concentrate further so that value can be added both to software development lifecycle as well as to the business. They should operate in elevated positions by combining creativity, a process-driven structured approach, ability to define and articulate evaluation criteria and quality in the models as well as inquisitiveness. The tester's role is slowly becoming more essential as well as interesting. With that, software evaluation has become a great career option for many professionals. There is high a demand of skilled testers in the area so that they can analyze the test results, identify bottlenecks so that tuning techniques can be suggested.
To make professional evaluation a good career option, a tester should specialize in some main areas.
Knowledge of automation evaluation tools- Automation along with performance testers have a great demand in the market. As such, to succeed in test automation you need to have a good experience or knowledge of scripting languages that the tools come up with. A very basic requirement is the knowledge on enhancement, validation as well as creation of test automation framework.
Domain knowledge- This is one of the foremost requirements as good knowledge regarding the application's domain area leads to addition of value in the resume of any professional. Several popular domains are there like telecom, BFSI, manufacturing, healthcare, embedded, etc and every area has quite a number of certifications so that testers can be trained as well as certified.
Certifications- There are several institutes that offer certifications based on specific testings which help in the improvement of the client's confidence on the evaluation of the professionals. Managerial certifications will certainly help them to scale up the ladder to success by increasing their technical competency.
Niche testing areas- The evaluation of the niche areas such as Security testing, mobile testing along with SOA testing, is gaining a lot of momentum in recent times. These areas are seeing the emergence of a number of tools. Evaluation professionals must be aware of the direction that the industry is heading for and update their knowledge accordingly, so that they can be ahead of others.
Test automation tools have become entwined with software testing's evolution in such a manner that the the developers mustget familiar with the tools, so that evaluation knowledge can easily be dispersed. It must be remembered that the capabilities along with the reach of functional testing is advanced by the tool but the paradigms for driving the evaluation effort are not advanced. For that, tests must be created and test automation's success is affected by the intelligence that is needed for the creation. As such, professional software testing as well as professional testers are gaining much popularity which is here to stay. If you are planning to hire testing software companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!
We provide web application testing services. If you would like to hire software quality assurance tester for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.
The software developers constantly explore ways to make the application popular by delivering richer user experience. Along with the application’s look and feel, they also concentrate on improving its overall performance. A constant increase is also noted in the number of organizations adopting test-based development approach to deliver flawless user experience. The overall performance of a software application is evaluated by conducting a variety of tests. Normally, the testers conduct performance testing, load testing and stress testing to evaluate different aspects of the software. However, these three types of testing differ from each other based on some common points.
Major Difference between Performance Testing, Load Testing and Stress Testing
Nature of Testing
Performance testing is conducted to evaluate the performance of the components of a system under specific situations. Normally, the testing aims to validate scalability and reliability of the application, along with resource usage under a particular situation. However, the testing is conducted as part of the overall performance engineering process that aims to find the performance issues in the software’s design and architecture.
Load testing is carried out the maximum load that a system can restrain. This form of testing is often referred as endurance testing or volume testing. Under this testing, a constantly and steadily increasing load is applied on the system till it reaches the threshold limit. Unlike other types of software testing, load testing can be conducted smoothly by using test automation tools like LoadRunner.
As the name indicates, stress testing is done to decide the level of stress required to break down a system. A number of activities are carried out to overload the system with excessive resources and functionality. Often negative testing is also conducted as part o stress testing to remove non-functioning components from the system. This form of testing is essential to evaluate the capacity of a web application when it is accessed at a time by a larger number of users.
Objectives of the Testing
Each software application also needs to meet a set of industry-defined benchmarks. The primary objective of performance testing is to check the system’s benchmark behavior. Instead of concentrating on finding errors, flaws and defects in an application, performance testing emphasizes on evaluating the software based on several benchmarks and standards. The performance testing results must be monitored closely and accurately to decide if the software meets industry-defined benchmarks.
The main objective of load testing is to identify the defects that affect the application’s performance negatively. The defects can be related to memory leak, memory mismanagement or buffer overflow. Also, the testing aims to decide the maximum limit of various components related to the application including hardware, database and network. Along with deciding the capacity of the existing system, load testing also identifies bandwidth problems and load balancing problems. Thus, the defects and components are managed effectively to make the app take more loads.
Stress testing is performed to check the behavior of an application after its failure. The post-crash reports are analyzed to decide what caused the failure. While determining the reason why the system failed, the testers need to ensure that the sensitive data remain completely secure despite the failure. An effective stress testing strategy will ensure that all components of the application become normal after the crash. The right stress testing plan can further make it easier to avoid the most terrible break downs in future.
An organization must keep in mind the key differences between performance testing, load testing and stress testing while choosing test automation tools. As the objective of each of these three types of testing differs, the testing automation needs to be done according to specific objectives. If you are planning to hire testing software companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently agile or not!
We provide independent software testing services. If you would like to hire software test professionals for your projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.
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.
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.
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
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.
In the software industry, the terms testing and quality assurance (QA) are used interchangeably. Many organizations even deploy a team of dedicated testers, and name it QA department. While considering software QA as a separate process, most organizations undervalue its significance as a significant and ongoing process. In nutshell, software quality assurance can be defined as the methods used to ensure quality by monitoring different software engineering processes constantly. However, the methods of QA can vary according to the nature and requirement of the software development approach. Along with adopting ISO 9000 standards, an organization can further ensure quality by adopting CMMI model. But each organization must consider QA as an integral part of the overall software development process, instead of isolating it as a distinct department.
Why Organizations Must Consider Quality Assurance as a Key Process?
1. Easy to Adopt Agile Processes: A constant increase is noted in the number of organizations adopting Agile methods to iterate software development projects. Along with making it easier to incorporate changed during different stages of development, the methodology further emphasizes on delivering high quality. With companies constantly exploring options to reduce project cost and time to market, it has become essential to ensure quality from the initial stages of the project. So organizations must integrate QA in each development process to avail the many advantages of Agile methods.
2. Address Different Changes: While developing a software application, the company has to address both technical and business quality issues. As the application needs to be developed rapidly within a stipulated timeframe, there are always chances the defects may naturally creep into the software. Similarly, the constant changes in end-user requirements results in several business quality issues. These issues must be addresses during each stage of development to deliver rich user experience. Thus, QA must be integrated into the development processes from the initial stages to handle different quality issues without putting any extra time.
3. Meet Exact Needs of a Business: The enterprise software applications are developed to solve specific business problems efficiently. So there must not be any gap between the end user requirements and the software delivered by development. The software also needs to be evaluated at various stages of development according to the requirements of the client. Further, there are chances that the client will want new features and functionalities to be included in the software during development. So QA must be integrated seamlessly with each development process to ensure that the product is meeting end user requirements exactly.
4. Save Both Time and Resources: Most business software applications, nowadays, need to be integrated with third-party solutions and services to deliver rich user experience. Further, the complex and complicated nature of the applications makes it a daunting task to complete the project on time. The extremely tight deadline also does not allow organizations to take additional time to evaluate the software’s efficiency and performance. When an organization considers QA as a distinct department, the testing professionals evaluate the software once the development is over. So many organizations are adopting test-based software development model to save both time and resources.
5. Facilitates Distributed Development: Within a short span of time, distributed software development has becomes widely popular among companies as a medium to curtail project cost. Many organizations deploy seasoned software developers and QA engineers who work in different regions. When a software program is being developed in a distributed environment, it becomes essential for the organization to integrate quality assurance in each process. When software testing is conducted at the end of development, there are always chances that the developers have to rework. But the gap between the end user requirements and software developed in a distributed environment can be eliminated by adopting QA as an integral part of the overall development process.
As an ongoing process, software quality assurance further makes it easier for enterprises to beat competition. Along with reducing time to market, the process will further make the software application popular by delivering flawless user experience. If you are planning to hire testing software companies, 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 testing engineer for your software projects, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.
