Traditional office applications have long evolved from bulky desktop software to sleek web-based interfaces. But has it made testing easier? Quite the contrary.
In today’s competitive landscape, it is crucial to build faster, test harder, and release earlier. Automated testing for web applications helps create a solid high-quality product that can be rolled out on time and within the budget. But how can it do that? Let’s see.
The fundamentals of automated testing
When it comes to testing your web app, you’ve got a lot of options. You can manually test each feature individually, or write a self-executing test that replicates an entire use case for your application. Alternatively, you can resort to codeless or low-code testing tools like DogQ to hand over the entire validation process to intelligent algorithms. Each case has its application matrix.
Automated testing is about writing code that can automatically execute itself so a developer can focus on high-priority tasks. When you generate a test script, you are creating a set of instructions that tell the software to perform certain actions on your web app. While a hands-free script does require some maintenance, increased test coverage and scalability make up for this effort.
How can you gain from automated tests
Over 33% of organizations are aiming to automate between 50% to 75% of their testing cadence while almost 20% are seeking 75%. And there is some solid reason behind this upward tendency. Instead of focusing on shortening testing times, automated testing tools for web applications help you cover all the maximum scope and make the most of your testing regimen.
Speed
Once created, automated tests can be run multiple times per day with no additional costs. Manual testing is time-consuming and is often done once a week or less frequently. This means that an automated test suite can catch regressions much sooner than manual testing and with more confidence since it’s easy to repeat the tests.
Repeatability
Self-executing tests can be run across multiple devices and platforms, ensuring your solution works as intended across all device sizes and operating systems. This helps you deliver high-quality applications to your customers quickly.
Quality
Hand-free tests are less prone to human error than manual tests and therefore produce fewer bugs in the application under test, which reduces maintenance costs and improves product quality over time.
What types of web testing can you automate?
You can rely on automated testing web applications when you want to extend the scope of validation and run multiple checks across different environments. Below, you can find the most common use cases for the hands-free approach.
Functional testing
This type of check makes sure that the web application doesn’t crash when the user’s journey takes an unexpended turn. In other words, it makes sure that the entire solution works as intended no matter whether the button is clicked or a form is entered. Although this type of testing still requires a human touch, a large part of this validation can be automated.
Regression testing
Regression testing enters the stage whenever your application welcomes a new feature, module, or modification to make sure that the update is integrated seamlessly into the whole infrastructure.
When this part of validation is handed over to hands-free scripts, a developer can monitor the changes and go through simple test scenarios faster compared with a manual check.
Cross-browser testing
This testing makes sure that your solution delivers the same quality across browsers, be it desktop or mobile. These checks can be a bit of a pain, but they are essential to making sure that your website or app works well for all users, regardless of which browser they prefer.
To ease the burden of cross-browser validation, developers run automated checks to make sure that the application is compatible with target browser versions.
Performance testing
To make an application infallible, QA engineers run performance checks. These determine how a system or component performs in terms of response time, throughput, and stability under a given workload. In other words, performance testing is a way to ensure that your system can handle the load that will be placed on it.
Performance testing can be conducted on various levels, from individual components to entire systems. Some common methods of testing include load testing, stress testing, and endurance testing. To add the intended level of stress, developers rely heavily on automation, hence its paramount role in performance tests.
To automate or not to automate?
As software development has fallen into the ‘faster, higher, cheaper’ paradigm, hands-free testing tools have evolved as core components of quality assurance. They help perform at-scale checks, reduce costs of development, and increase the quality of web applications. Therefore, a test automation strategy is indispensable when entering the web testing field.
