You’re looking for Web testing services, but we know you’re really looking for Website testing or Web app testing. Correct? You’ve come to the right place.
We typically see three types of testing when someone asks us to provide Web testing services.
Functional Testing Gets the Inputs and Outputs Right
Does your website or Web app gather data, collect information or calculate any sums?
Does your website create reports or display graphs of data?
Or, maybe your website looks up data or connects with other databases to show the results?
Ever wonder if it’s possible to crash your website or web application with “bad data”?
If you want this type of web testing service, you’ll probably want some Functional Testing to make sure that the inputs and outputs all behave properly. What could go wrong? Usually, not much if your users are behaving as well. But, if they get confused and press the “Back” button one too many times, does your Website or Web app help them or just crash and make them start over? Functional Testing will find these problems for you before they frustrate your prospects and customers.
This is the primary concern for most people that want web testing services.
Cross Browser Testing Requires More than a Tool
Do your prospects & customers use a wide variety of desktop and mobile devices to visit your Website or Web app?
Have you tried your website or web app with something other than your favorite browser?
Can you see from your server logs that your prospects & customers use different browsers and operating systems?
Did your website or web app developers use some “tricky” code to get your site to do something “cool”? Will that “cool” code run on all browsers or only the one your developer uses?
If so, you’ll probably want some Cross Browser Testing (XBT) to make sure that you website or web app displays properly in the most popular browsers, devices and operating systems. Why could this be a problem? Some of the newest browsers and mobile devices won’t display some HTML/CSS code properly. The most common approach to solving this problem is to rent or buy a Cross Browser Testing Tool.
We use this approach as well. However, there’s more to using a Cross Browser Testing Tool than first meets the eye. Most Cross Browser Testing Tools emulate a mobile device/operating system/browser. This usually works but when it doesn’t, you won’t really know unless your very familiar with which tools work best and which devices don’t emulate very well. Additionally, just using the XBT tool is challenging if you genuinely want accurate test results. Sure, almost anyone can use them but we’ve found that an expert can get much more value with much less frustration from the XBT tool than an average or new user.
Load and Performance Testing
Are you worried about your Website or Web app crashing due to too many prospects or customers?
Do you know how many prospects or customers can visit your website or web app before it overloads and crashes?
Adding server resources is easy today, but they aren’t cheap. How will you know when to turn on more servers?
If so, congratulations! We hope the good part of your concern (too many prospects or customers) comes true and we can also help you make sure the “crashing” part doesn’t happen.
Load testing generally answers the question, “How many users can my Website or Web app handle before it becomes too slow or crashes?”.
Performance testing generally answers the question, “When and where does my Website begin slowing down or performing poorly?”
With performance testing, aspects of performance like responsiveness, speed, reliability and scalability can be quantified. There are different types of performance tests and they can gather different, specific results depending on the objectives. The data from performance tests can analyze the different KPIs such as response time, latency and errors per second. With this, you can identify bottlenecks, errors and bugs and figure out the next steps forward. Performance testing should be used when you want to check the performance of your website, apps, networks, databases and more.
Load testing provides several more insights than performance testing. Load testing examines how your system performs with many concurrent users. This will exhibit how your system will react when there is heavy traffic over a given period of time. Load testing differs from performance testing because it is something you should be doing all the time. Load testing allows you to test different user scenarios and optimize your system to handle large volumes.
Load Testing will typically be your biggest concern. Load Testing will give you a quick analysis of the user loads (number of simultaneous users of your Website or web app) that show performance problems. With this data, it’s a straight forward task to build reserve capacity for your Website or Web app that will engage when specific user loads are reached.
API Testing, or Not
API Testing can be included or ignored in your website testing services depending on how you use them.
How connected is your website or web app to other websites and web apps? Maybe more than you realize!
Is your “front end” separate from your “back end”?
On the Back End
Is the “back end” used by other website or web apps?
Sometimes, your website or app is built so that the “front end” is separated from the “back end”. This means that the “front end” website or app, where you input information and read responses, is unique, separate and autonomous from the “back end”. The “back end” is also a unique and autonomous system where your server application and databases store the user info, combine or compare it with various other data sets and then send outputs back to the “front end”. This front end/back end situation is largely a technical decision based on your unique situation and preferred technology.
On the Front End
The “front end” communicates with the “back end” by using API calls. API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs provide a simple and effective method for communicating between the “user side/front end” and the “server side/back end”. This allows development (and testing) to occur at different times without impacting the end users.
Do you need to include API testing in your website testing services?
Sometimes and it depends.
If you only have a single front end and a single back end, then your APIs are primarily a convenience connection and don’t typically need testing. Why? Since you only have a single front end and single back end, the only time the APIs are used is through the front end and front end testing can usually provide you with the quality and confidence you’re looking for. The possibility of overlooking an API in this situation is very small.
But, if you have multiple front ends or your front end calls multiple back ends, then you’ll definitely want to get your APIs tested. In this case, the possibility of overlooking an API call that is faulty is quite high if you only test through the front end.
Each API testing situation is unique. The decision to include API testing in your website testing services is your choice. We’re happy to take as much time as you’d like to explain our approach and recommendations.
Benefits of API Testing
Testing core for functionality: This is the first and most important benefit of API testing. API testing allows access to an application without a user interface. Testing the core functionality of an application gives an early evaluation of an application prior to GUI testing. This allows testing to be proactive because smaller issues can be resolved then before becoming large problems in the latter testing stages.
Protection
One of the most important functions of API testing is to protect you from malicious code and breakage. API testing removes any vulnerabilities that can lead to both malicious software and breakage.
Time effectiveness
API testing is time effective because it takes a fraction of the time it takes to do normal GUI testing. API testing can do far more testing than GUI tests in the same time period because it doesn’t have the same restrictions. For example, GUI tests have to have webpage elements polled which significantly slows down the testing process
Integration with GUI
API testing can easily integrate with GUI testing. Functional GUI tests can be done along with API tests for comprehensive testing.
Although the benefits of API testing are vast, there can be several issues that can arise from API testing in certain cases. Some the drawbacks include:
Tracking API Inventory
Since there are numerous APIs and they act independently, it’s important to keep up with any updates on APIs and how that can affect the overall program. Neglecting APIs can lead to many difficult issues down the road
Complex protocols
Since APIs interact with each other through defined contracts and protocols, the protocols may lead to difficulties when integrating and testing between different components
Sequencing API Calls
Often, API calls need to appear in a specific order for it to work. This can create issues for the testing team if they cannot come up with the correct order. Having a release candidate can help with managing and seeing the sequence of API calls
All of these drawbacks mentioned above are things that TESTCo has done and solved time and time again. When consulting with TESTCo, feel free to mention any of your API concerns and TESTCo will provide strategies and plans of action to assess your concerns.
Web Testing Services, Web App Testing, Website Testing — Call It What You Want
Yeah, there’s really no such thing as “web testing” but we know what you mean and we’re happy to help with our Web app and Website testing services.
Sure, you can do this yourself , but our clients have told us time after time that we find bugs they miss, and we do it faster. Better and faster wins every time.
Ask for help. You will be surprised at how easy it is.
What Are The Root Causes of Software Project Development Delays?
/0 Comments/in Product Manager, Software development /by Jeff HotzWhen software project development delays occur, customers have several pain points in addition to their frustration. Addressing some of these pain points can alleviate their difficulties and fix the project in a feasible manner.
Primary Pain Points for Customers Caused by Delays
The first and obvious pain point for customers is when QA teams are behind on the project timeline that had been communicated with their sales and management teams. This causes blame and frustration from both sales and management which affects the customer and the QA team involved.
Communicating the accurate timeline for a project can prevent these issues related with delays significantly. Trying to aim for a zealous and unrealistic timeline will only result in delays and difficulties. It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver in regards to the timeline.
Another customer pain point is relaying the risks of the project before delays occur. Product managers should explicitly go over all the risks associated with a project and explain what instances can cause a delay in a project.
If the customer and the QA team are on the same page in regards to considering risk, this will make delays more understandable. In addition to risks, product managers should also mention all possible concerns they have with a project. Communicating the potential concerns early allows the QA team, product manager and customer to incorporate ways to address the concerns in a plan. This gives everyone a response plan in case the possible concerns arise in a project. If product managers state concerns, risks and improve communication, this will address the majority of the pain points customers have with software project development delays.
How Should Project Managers Navigate Anticipated Delays?
Project managers can do several things to manage software project development delays. The first and most important aspect of managing delays is transparent communication.
Involving all stakeholders in the project like the customer and QA team is necessary to minimize frustrations and finish the project quickly. Clearly communicating the exact reasons why a delay is anticipated to occur is crucial so the involved team members can accommodate for the work needed from them.
After communicating the cause of delays, it’s important to continually update all the stakeholders in a project of the progress the team is making frequently. This frequent communication is necessary to produce the project at its earliest time and it lets everyone know what their responsibilities are.
Next, project managers should also gather any resources required to tackle the delay. Assessing the current resources project managers have is necessary because some teams simply do not have enough time or staff to finish a project in a timely manner. It’s the project manager’s responsibility to evaluate whether additional staff are needed to complete the project. Additional temporary staffing can help alleviate the operational pressures in a cost-effective manner and avoid software project development delays.
How can Project Managers Prevent Software Project Development Delays?
There are several preventative measures project managers can take to prevent software project development delays.
First, the project manager must communicate when specific features and components will be available for release. This simple clarification can prevent misunderstandings, frustrations and delays significantly. If the customer is aware of exactly when features will be released, this prevents delays significantly.
Project managers must also ensure that QA teams are being highly productive, so they can develop more features. Ensuring the productivity of teams allows product managers to gauge the progress of projects and how much more work their teams can produce.
Project managers should also compliment the customer’s analysis of requirements. This means that project managers should ask questions on documentation and find gaps in the requirements and user stories. By doing this, product managers will ensure everyone has a clear understanding of the functionalities.
Project managers should emphasize establishing and improving the testing process. The testing process can be very time consuming if there is not an established procedure that allows for adequate testing before the release of a product. Testing quickly, documenting the process and improving it repeatedly is needed to improve the overall testing process.
In addition to testing, managers should not report invalid bugs. Reporting invalid bugs will make the customer have more work to triage all the defects. This additional overhead will slow down testing processes and contribute to the delay of a project.
What Are Customer Preferences in Project Development?
In project development, there are several preferences customers have when working with project managers to ease processes. One of the primary preferences customers enjoy is having the flexibility to adjust to their priorities.
During the beginning stages of a project, a customer will outline their general goals, deadlines and expectations. The flexibility they request doesn’t mean unreasonable deadlines or a complete shift, the flexibility refers to minor pivots in the project to accommodate for unseen circumstances. Additionally, customers like defects to be well-documented; well-documented defects are necessary to meet project deadlines
With well-documented defects, the customers can accurately address the defect and allow for proper defect management. The customers also prefer that project managers take a holistic approach and take care of the entire product instead of just their own particular portion. When project managers take ownership of the entire product, the team can find problems that are hard to predict. Product ownership helps managers approach projects with a long-term approach; with this vision, product managers will take the best approaches long-term instead of focusing on avoiding minor day-to-day obstacles. Other customer preferences include:
If you’d like more information on how to prevent software project development delays, I’m happy to talk with you at any time.
The Website QA Lessons We Learned in 2018
/0 Comments/in Website testing /by Jeff HotzIn This Post
My company was awarded a record number of website QA projects in 2018. I recently called a meeting of all of our QA Managers for the purpose of sharing what we had learned after conducting so many test plans for the new and existing clients. Here’s a recap of what I heard from the team. Use this information to help guide your next website QA project.
Dig Deeper into Website QA Requirements – Every Time!
Defining requirements upfront has been a key tenet of TESTCo’s software testing since we started in 2002 It’s no different for website testing. “Just test it” just doesn’t turn out very well.
Deeply understanding the client’s needs about their website leads us to design the right test plan – how much effort do we place on functional testing versus feature-based testing for example. Or, if the site has been updated, should we consider regression testing?
In 2018 we were reminded, time after time, how important it is to know the client’s target audience well. If we know who will be using the website we can design the correct test coverage. Knowing the devices and browsers used by most of the website visitors is mandatory, but so is demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Of the client’s audience we like to know how techie they are, what countries do they reside in? Knowing age and gender of the users is also useful to us when designing an effective test strategy.
There’s a dollar and cents rationale for designing the test coverage to match the user profile. It seldom makes economic sense to invest resources testing on a device used by, say, 1% of your website’s visitors. There are too many devices, operating systems, and browser versions to test them all. Therefore we communicate with the client to define upfront the scope of the test coverage.
Set the Website QA Bar for Customer-Found Defects
Not all defects are considered equally unacceptable by the client. We have learned over the years, and it was reinforced in 2018, to help the client define for us what type of defects are the most important to them and to their users. We ask two simple questions about Customer Found Defects (CFP):
For example, a button that doesn’t resize correctly but is still readable might be acceptable to some clients as long as the button functions properly. For other clients, the button must resize and function. Our testing finds both defects, but, we will report them differently. In the former case the resizing defect will be classified as Low Priority. In the later example, the defect will receive a High Priority status.
Because writing test plans for UI testing is very time-intensive, we prefer to use checklists. Test plans are always written for features, function and regression testing.
A Website Testing Checklist for You
Website QA Common Sense?
At the end of my meeting with the QA Managers, I said something along these line, “Guys, this is good stuff, but it’s just plain common sense. Software Testing 101. Why are you telling me that identifying requirements is the biggest lesson of 2018?”
Here’s what they told me. “Jeff, it’s because our clients’ internal QA teams don’t do it well and neither do the other website QA companies they’ve tried. The testing starts to go off the rails immediately because the goals and requirements aren’t clearly set first.”
Enough said. Have a website testing project coming up? I’d welcome the opportunity to talk to you about it. Just request a call back by using for blue and green button on this page.
The Mobile App Testing Lessons Learned in 2018
/0 Comments/in Mobile application testing /by Jeff HotzIn This Post
The market for mobile applications is continually shifting. Failure to get it right, the first time, and keep it right, results in pretty severe consequences. In 2018, TESTCo ran tens of thousands of tests on our clients’ mobile applications. Here’s what we learned. Plus, I’ve included a link to our Mobile App Testing Checklist.
Lesson #1 – Quality Matters in Reviews
The quality of your mobile app will directly influence your app’s ratings and reviews. Users definitely use the ratings and reviews to determine if they should download and use your app. Poor ratings and reviews, especially regarding quality, will cause users to avoid your mobile app.
Improving ratings and reviews, especially pointing out improvements in your mobile app, will cause users to give your app a try. Ratings matter and the quality (of lack thereof) have a big impact on the quality and quantity of your reviews.
Lesson #2 – Choose Your Test Devices and Browsers Carefully
There is no single reference page for determining which devices, operating systems and browsers have the most market penetration. Nobody really knows how many people are actually using any particular flavor of mobile device or operating system. You can’t test every one so how will you know which to test and which to avoid? If you test the wrong group of devices and browsers, you’ll have defects.
Lesson #3 – Don’t Stop! Keep Going! But Not Too Much!
The mobile app market is moving quickly and still gaining steam. Without a real and almost daily need to use your mobile app, users will quickly forget about your value proposition and move on to another offering or app.
If you refresh you mobile app, your users will fall in love with you all over again. Except! Not too often. Too many upgrades and your mobile app users will avoid your updates and miss your new value propositions/features or become confused and delete your app because it appears buggy.
The Preventable Reason Mobile Apps Fail
Mobile apps are almost a strict business requirement – like a web page for a business but harder and more expensive to maintain. They also allow you and your business value proposition to sit, literally, in the pocket of your customers! Get it right and your cash register will ring. Miss a few steps or deliver poor quality and they’ll slide right by and go to your competitor.
Give your innovation a chance to succeed. The #1 reason that mobile apps fail is poor testing. We can help you do it right the first time.
When Is Automated Mobile App Testing The Right Solution?
/in Mobile application testing /by Jeff HotzIn This Post
Automated mobile app testing seems like a silver bullet to the problem of testing your mobile app quickly and inexpensively. After all, computers can run tests faster than humans and don’t need breaks or time off. And, seldom does a day go by that you don’t hear a story about a business using process automation to improve their speed to market and lower their human costs. Seems like a good idea, right?
Well, one of my business mentors taught me that all my biggest problems started as a good idea that I failed to explore in detail before starting on it.
Here are three things you should consider before starting your automated mobile app testing.
Issues To Consider About Automated Mobile App Testing
Speed Versus The Rise of False Positives
One of the primary benefits of automated mobile app testing is the speed at which the testing can be completed. Faster testing cycles means faster mobile app releases which allows you to seize more opportunities. The higher up-front costs for automated mobile app testing should be offset by faster release cycles. But, is your mobile app development team really ready to go faster? How much faster and what might happen if it’s too fast?
A distinct drawback to automated mobile app testing is the constant need to update your automated test scripts to match the new and changed functionality in your mobile app. An automated mobile app testing system can only test when it has been told to test and nothing more. If you change your mobile app, then you need to change your automated mobile app tests – every time.
And a common failure in automated mobile app testing is the rise of false positives over time. A false positive is when your automated mobile app testing systems reports a defect but it isn’t really a defect. Your mobile app is correct and your automated mobile app testing system is wrong. It is probably out of date and trying to test the last version of your mobile app and not the current version where functionality has changed. This results in false positives that have to be categorized, prioritized, verified and then resolved. If your automated mobile app testing system is reporting false positives, you will waste and enormous amount of time and money chasing them down.
How To Do Mobile App Performance Testing Right
The ideal situation for automating your mobile app testing is when you have a relatively stable mobile application and you and your development team are committed to increasing your process automation. The best reason to automate your mobile app testing is to improve your software release speeds and reduce human error due to repetition in your testing cycle.
Automating the testing of a relatively stable mobile app produces far better results than trying to automate a young or new mobile app. There is a minimum investment required to build a test automation harness that will then be filled with automated tests. A young mobile app presents a very difficult target to automate due to the highly dynamic and changeable nature of the app. A young mobile app, by definition, is subject to numerous changes as the team works to try a variety of different approaches to please their customers. Automated testing for a stable app is easier to build, less costly to maintain and more accurate in it’s results.
The Impact You Can Expect
Make no mistake, automated mobile app testing will have an impact on your development process. You’re probably using a small collection of dev automation tools to help you manage your codebase and produce a releasable version. Adding automated mobile app testing into your automation stack will require someone on your team to manage and integrate it into your overall system. You and your team will need to be ready for this.
Lastly, automated mobile app testing is more expensive than manual testing but it is faster and more accurate. Since that’s the case, the only really compelling reason (and it is compelling in a *lot* of cases) is to increase the speed and reduce the time needed to release new features into your mobile app. If getting “faster” isn’t a distinct market advantage, it may make more sense to look at other alternatives to automated mobile app testing.
Confused Yet?
Automated testing, especially for mobile applications, is an important decision and worth evaluating (and re-evaluating) on a regular basis. It can be an expensive investment and you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck.
The best place to start is a conversation about what might be possible for you, the goal you’re working to achieve, the strategies available to you to achieve your goal, and the costs and benefits of each strategy.
I help managers straighten out their mobile testing strategies every day. Sometime I even get paid for it. If you’d like to talk about your options, I’d like to listen. Call me at 888-254-9709, or click the green button on this page to request a call back.
Three Criteria to Select the Best Software App Testing Company
/in Software testing company /by Jeff HotzIt seems there is a new software app testing company born every week. That can be good or bad depending on your situation.
It’s good in that newer companies can bring innovation and higher levels of customer service to a very mature market. This can give you a broader set of choices to meet your unique needs.
It’s bad in that there are so many choices! Pages and pages of them and then more websites to help you evaluate their particulars. It’s been proven that too many choices can actually make it harder to make a wise choice.
Why Bother? The Risks of Making a Bad Choice for your Software App Testing Company
There are many risks in business and technology. Testing your app properly will identify these risks so you can make a smart decision about what to do with the risk. If you fail to identify and eliminate the risk, your business will suffer the consequences.
Selecting the best software app testing company also has risks.
Testing is Secondary
Your software app testing company is not really a testing company. They primarily build apps but do offer testing when they don’t have enough work building apps. Your risk is that your app won’t be properly tested by trained, professional Test Engineers. Rather, your app will be tested by junior developers who’d rather be building something than testing it.
Test engineers are better than junior developers because:
No QA Manager
Your software app testing company provides a “project manager” but doesn’t provide a QA Manager. Your project manager will make sure your “testers” are working but won’t have much information on how to focus or optimize their work. Poor work, poorly led seldom produces outcomes that you’ll be confident in.
Using competent QA managers for your project is vital because normal “project managers” cannot perform the same functions needed to complete a project. QA managers are superior to project managers because of the multiple roles they play within a QA project. Some of the roles a QA manager plays include:
No Strategy
Your software app testing company can’t offer an effective QA Strategy or Plan. They don’t specialize in software testing and QA. They can “test it for you” but you won’t be able to see and measure how deep or how broad your app was tested.
Specializing in software testing and QA is important because it correlates with the service your application will get. General software service providers who additionally offer QA services do not have the expertise or the staff needed to do QA for your application at a high level. Specialization in software testing and QA is one of TESTCo’s unique value propositions. The industry experience and the talent at TESTCo ensures your application will have the correct strategy and testing for all your needs. How does TESTCo specialize in software testing and QA?
At TESTCo, we are built on top of these three foundations – Test Engineers, QA Managers and proven/tested QA Strategies. If your software app testing company is missing any of these foundations, your risk of failure is higher.
Three Criteria for Selecting a Software App Testing Company
You’re going to need at least three really important things from your software app testing company if you want to be successful with your app launch or update.
You have a huge variety of choices when you select a software app testing company to help you complete and release your software project. Making a wise choice will save you countless hours and thousands of dollars that a poor choice will cost you.
Ask us these questions at TESTCo. I’m confident you’ll be pleased with our answers. I’d enjoy speaking with you about your project. Call me at 888.254.9709 or schedule a call back using the green button on this page.
We’re different from most outsourced qa testing companies in refreshing ways. Browse our case studies and testing tips to learn why.
Bonus – Three Traps to Avoid when Selecting a Software App Testing Company
So, you’re clear on your goals and constraints. You’re on the alert for how your choice of a software app testing company can improve your situation now and in the future.
Now, be on the alert for these three common traps.
1. Price Vs. Cost
Seeking the lowest hourly rate – their price – can lead you into a trap where the hourly rate is low but your project cost is high. This can happen when your software app testing company struggles to attract and find top quality software testing talent. They might also possibly be testers that were originally software developers but weren’t good enough. Be on the alert for “too good to be true” hourly pricing.
2. Missing Manager
Software app testing companies can also reduce their hourly rates by “body shopping”. This occurs when you rent or lease a person’s time to perform tasks for you. One of the most common ways to reduce the price of a tester is to eliminate any management oversight or coaching. You get the tester and that’s it. This may or may not work well for you. If you’re an experienced QA Manager with plenty of experience managing remote teams, this might work for you. If you’re not experienced with outsourced testing or QA, you might be disappointed when you find out that you’re going to need to manage and task this person every day.
3. Testers Vs Test Engineers
It is very common to find “testers” available to help you at a relatively low cost. This might work for you if your software app is simple and you already have a QA Strategy, Test Plan and Test Cases. A “tester” can probably run those test cases for you. If you have anything other than a very simple app or don’t have a QA Strategy, Test Plan and Test Cases, hiring a “tester” will lead you to disappointment. Only a Test Engineer is educated and experienced in the art and science of software testing and quality assurance.
If you are on the alert for these Three Software Testing Traps, you’ll make a better decision with a higher degree of certainty. That’s what you’re looking for, right – a Certainty of Success?
Double Bonus – Three Tests Plus One Guarantee to Consider When Selecting a Software App Testing Company
So, now you’re clear on your software testing goals and constraints and you’re on the alert for the traps to avoid.
You’ve “pre selected” one or two testing companies that you think can help you achieve your goals.
You’ve talked with them in depth and shared all of your relevant project information.
You’ve received a “proposal” that tells you what they will do, what it will cost and how long it will take.
Here are four “tests” you can use to make sure you’re getting everything you need to be successful with the software app testing company you are going to select.
1. Repeat Your Goals and Constraints
Your proposal should clearly explain your goal and constraints. This is evidence that the software app testing company *knows* and *understands” your goals. If this is missing from your proposal, you should be concerned that they don’t clearly understand your project or goals.
2. At Least One Strategy and A Plan
Your proposal should show “the math” – just like your grammar school mathematics teachers required. Software and software testing projects are complex and there are many different ways to achieve your goals. Your proposal should show the software QA Strategy that was selected as the best approach to achieve your goals within your constraints. It also goes without saying that your proposal should also include a plan that implements the selected Strategy. Double check that the Plan actually follows the Strategy. Award bonus points if your proposal shows more than one QA Strategy and the thinking behind how the best Strategy was selected.
3. A “Fixed Price” Offer?
You probably won’t see a Fixed Price offer in your Proposal unless you ask for one. So, ask and see what their response is. This will give you an indication of how confident the software app testing company is in their Strategy, Plan, and Estimates. Be aware though, that Fixed Price projects can be more contentious to manage to completion. That said, it never hurts to ask.
4. A Success Guarantee
You almost definitely won’t see a Success Guarantee in your Proposal. But, what types of success guarantees will your software app testing company offer you? Ask and see what their response is. The is a powerful conversation to have with your software app testing company and here’s why. Not every project goes according to plan and your’s may not either. Wouldn’t you rather know how your software app testing company is going to respond now, before the crisis happens, than later when everyone is caught by surprise? You deserve to know if your testing partner is committed to your project and how they are going to help you resolve the crisis – if and when it occurs.
If a software app testing company can pass these tests, you’ve found a partner to help you achieve your goals.
If they can’t pass these tests, you’re taking on additional risks needlessly.
Why Regression Testing Must Be Included in Mobile Application Testing
/in Mobile application testing, Regression testing /by Jeff HotzAre your mobile apps prone to breaking after implementing a new feature or update? If so I encourage you to make mobile application regression testing a regular part of your test plan?
You see, after an update or new feature has been added there’s a really good chance that you have some new defects in your older, previously working code. Why might that happen? There are several reasons that your previously “good” mobile application now has new defects after your last update.
Why Defects Appear in “Good” Mobile Applications
Smart Mobile Application Regression Testing Begins with a Smart Test Plan
Regression testing doesn’t fit easily into an Agile software development process. And yet, going without regression testing for your mobile application can lead to loss of prospects, customers, and revenue. Working with the right outsourced mobile app testing company certainly goes a long ways to removing the risk associated with rolling out mobile app enhancements.
Go ahead, call me. 888-254-9709. Even if you just want to pick my brain, I want to hear from you. Or, if you prefer, click the blue button on this page to schedule a call back.
How to Select a Mobile Application Testing Company
/in Mobile application testing /by Jeff HotzMobile application testing is arguably more important than regular software testing.
Here’s why. Most mobile applications are free and most software is paid for. Additionally, most mobile applications are designed to attract new customers and retain your current customers by making it easier to buy from or work with your company. Most software is used within a working environment. See the difference? Mobile applications primarily attract and retain customers where most software is used to accomplish a task.
Now, defects or bugs in ANY software are a problem but defects and bugs in mobile applications have a much higher cost than most defects in regular software.
Why?
Because people seeking help or a new source to purchase from have ZERO TOLERANCE for defects that make it hard to begin or continue doing business with your company. If they find a defect in software they’ve purchased from you, you’ll get a help desk call. If they can’t get your mobile application to work, what do they do? Think about it for a second – what happened the last time you encountered a defect in a mobile application. What did you do? Yeah, you probably closed the mobile application and went somewhere else. I do.
The cost of a defect in a mobile application is higher than the cost of a defect in most software. The cost is a lost customer or new prospect
Mobile application testing is little different from software testing in a couple of other key areas, as well.
“Walled Garden” Software Distribution Challenges
Releasing your mobile software requires “approval” from a third party prior to listing on Apple Store or Google Play. How will this requirement impact your release dates and software testing schedule? What do you need to know to avoid Apple or Google declining your mobile app?
Inputs & Navigation Vs Display & Calculation
The intense focus on Inputs and Navigation in mobile apps requires different software testing strategies to avoid wasted time and effort. How will you know you’ve tested the most vulnerable areas in your mobile app?
Devices, Browsers, Networks and Emulators
So many and growing every day! Your mobile software will operate slightly differently on various device, browser and network combinations. Which combinations are required and which are optional? Which combinations need testing on a real device or network and which can be tested on an emulator? Making the wrong choice can cost you prospects and customers!
Test Engineers & QA Managers Vs Testers
Almost anyone that has used a mobile device “can” test your mobile app. But should they? Test Engineers coupled with a QA Manager can give you full QA coverage and Risk analysis. Testers can usually do what you tell them to.
Not every software testing company will know these key areas well enough to meet all your needs as a mobile application testing company.
Where to start?
There are many mobile application testing company choices available to you. What should you consider and where should you start to make your selection?
The Cost of a Bad Choice
You must already be convinced that testing your mobile application is important and needed – as evidenced by your visiting this page.
Congrats! Some of your competitors either don’t bother to test their mobile application or do it poorly.
Don’t believe me? Just download one of them and see how long it takes before you can crash it. Not long, right?
Here are the big costs you need to avoid when selecting your mobile application testing company.
The Real Cost of Working with a Bad Testing Provider
When doing mobile testing, there are several strategies you can employ. You can test the application yourself, have developers test it, have a 3rd party team test it or you can choose to not test it at all. Out of these choices, having an expert 3rd party team is generally the most cost-effective option; this allows you to access expert testers and get your application into the market as soon as possible. While the ROI of a good 3rd party testing provider is great, working with a bad testing provider comes with its challenges.
The costs of working with an incompetent mobile testing provider is multi-layered. First, there’s the obvious cost of hiring the testing provider to test your mobile application. Prices for selecting a provider can range between companies, but it’s important to be cautious about providers that may charge well below industry prices or providers that are located overseas. While the upfront cost may be lower than other providers, the back-end cost of failed testing and wasted time in addition to the upfront cost can be enormous.
Working with a bad testing provider generally accompanies working with incompetent testers. This doesn’t mean that the testers are bad in general, but a regular software tester might be unable to see your application from the code and system level. This is why it’s important to have software test engineers because they have the understanding to develop and implement a test plan that achieves your project goals.
A good provider is generally very cost-effective. The price of the testing done is reasoned by all the facets of mobile testing that is done for your application. This can include functional testing, performance testing, network testing, cross-device testing, usability testing and more. With each type of testing, there’s a subset of testing that is done to make sure all avenues of mobile testing is done for your application. With good providers, all of these services are provided by competent staff that include testing engineers and QA managers. Having that kind of technical bandwidth and expertise for your application would otherwise require full-time salaried staff and an array of testing platforms.
The Keys to Successful Mobile Application Testing
The three key areas where mobile app testing differs from software testing are:
With these three big differences in mind, can you see how selecting the right mobile application testing company might be important in the success of your mobile application project?
Questions for Your Next Mobile Application Testing Company
Here are some great questions to ask when you’re shopping around for a company to test your mobile application.
Mobile application testing is similar to but different enough from traditional software testing that a slightly different approach to selecting the best mobile application testing company can mean the difference between your success and failure.
Want to talk with someone at TESTCo about how we’d test your mobile app? Most clients, at first, aren’t even sure how much testing will be necessary. We will give very practical advice in the first call. Call and talk to me personally. 888.254.9709 Or, click the green button on this page to schedule a call back.
The Problems with Agile QA Outsourcing
/in Agile testing /by Jeff HotzThere are two problems with Agile QA Outsourcing and we have a solution.
Here’s the first problem.
“Testers”, and particularly, outsourced software testers are poorly qualified to provide all the quality assurance services that you need in your Agile software projects.
Surprise! 80% of Quality Related Activities are Non-Testing Activities
Consider all of the quality-related activities in your agile software project:
You can easily see that 80% of the quality related activities are non-testing activities.
Why are “Testers” the problem?
Most “Testers” have little or no training in technology engineering, software development methods, or team work.
Most offshore “Testers” have been identified and selected as “Testers” because they are not qualified to be “Developers”. They may have experience testing, possibly even in an Agile software project, but they haven’t been trained in software engineering or software quality.
See the potential for issues?
But Wait, There’s More!
The second problem we frequently see with Agile QA Outsourcing is the fact that “agile” is different in every organization – sometimes it’s different on every project!
So….if Agile is different every time, what does Agile QA Outsourcing really mean? Well, we believe that it means that we adjust how we work to match how you work. We start every software testing and QA project the same way – with this question.
“We have a full toolbox but we’re only truly useful if we understand how to work *with* you. So, can you tell us your agile process and how you’d like to see us work with you?”
That’s where Agile QA Outsourcing starts at TESTCo.
Agile QA Outsourcing, the TESTCo Way
TESTCo’s success in Agile QA outsourcing is based on three distinct advantages that most software QA companies do not have.
Business Outcomes to Expect from TESTCo Agile QA Outsourcing Services
The most important business outcome we produce for our clients is a measure of the risk and certainty of your software. We will tell you, on a daily basis, the quality of your software which will allow you to make a business decision about when to deploy your software for the maximum benefit with the least risk.
Mostly this looks like a daily report with a list of defects and recommendations.
But, there are also many other business benefits that you can expect from working with TESTCo on your Agile QA outsourcing project:
If your Agile QA Outsourcing is not making your Agile software projects better, faster and cheaper, then contact us and let’s discuss your unique situation and how we can help you. Not ready to talk, but want to learn more about software testing for Agile projects. I’ve written an informative report you can download here.
A Short Guide to Web Application Testing Services
/in Web application testing /by Jeff HotzWeb application testing services is a general term that can quickly spiral down into a techno babble of software testing methods and practices. That perspective misses the real point about why you want to test in the first place.
In this short guide, I’ll help you understand what those terms mean and how to get what you really want – Certainty of Success.
Testing evaluates and minimizes risk exposure. Testing shows you where there are faults in your web application that might cause you or your business injury or harm.
Web Application Testing Can Be Your Most Valuable Investment
Modern web applications are no longer a simple or inexpensive business tool. They typically take many weeks or months to build and can easily cost tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a business owner or manager, you need and want to make sure that your investment is successful and produces the business value you expect – increased sales, reduced expenses or even more customers.
Not only have you invested a lot of money, you’ve also invested a lot of time, energy and thinking in your web application project. It should go right but you know there are many, many moving parts and it’s possible that something might not work right.
Why is Web Application Testing so Important?
Web application testing has many effects on your website’s visibility and how users are affected by your website’s features. With web application testing, you can see exactly what are the causes to the root issues on your website. This allows you to fix any major and minor bugs and other issues on your website to ensure that the user experience is seamless. Ignoring web application testing can lead to broken links, image loading, keys not working and more. Customers have a short attention span when visiting your site, so fixing these issues will increase the time users spend on your site.
Some of the main benefits of web application testing include:
Compatibility:
Web application testing ensures that your site is compatible across browsers, devices and more. Your current site may look different when accessed from different browsers like Chrome, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Since browsers are constantly changing, testing will help make sure that your website performs well regardless of which browser a user is using.
Website performance:
Web application testing is also crucial to optimizing performance. There are a lot of factors on your website that influence performance; aspects of your website like code, graphics, user interface, etc. have a significant impact on your website’s performance. Testing illustrates which of these factors is slowing down your performance and how you can fix it.
SEO ranking:
Web application testing can also increase your SEO rankings significantly. SEO rankings are not random and Google takes many aspects of your website into consideration in regards to SEO. For example, things like broken links, images not loading and duplicate content can hurt your SEO rankings. Web application testing can find the root cause of your SEO issues and resolve them permanently.
Security:
Testing is also essential to show all of the security risks your website is experiencing. Cyber attacks can damage your website, brand and entire business. Web application testing can reveal the vulnerabilities your website has and how you can address them immediately. Without testing, you can’t know exactly what cyber attacks your website is susceptible to. Depending on the nature of your business, a cyber attack can lead to personal customer information being stolen and that can have significant legal ramifications.
Here’s How Defects Cost Your Company
These are just some general ways that defects can cost your company significant capital. There can be additional costs depending on your business, the complexity of your product and what type of industries you operate in. For example, heavily regulated industries such as aerospace and healthcare will require you to prove your product is safe multiple times before getting out to market again. Additional defects in the future can lead to the closure of your entire business.
In short, web application testing can help insure the value you’ve built in your web application and prevent any unexpected risks or losses to your business. This might be one of the most valuable investments you can make!
The Three Primary Areas Of Concern Leading To Web Application Testing Services
Other Business Risks To Mitigate With Web Application Testing Services
Depending on your type of business and your willingness to accept risks there are other justifications for web app testing.
Web application testing services can look complex and baffling when you’re just given a web page full of techno babble. But, it can also be safe, easy and reliable when you can easily understand your options and select the services that are most valuable for you and your business.
A Quick Checklist To Help You
Even after you understand what web application testing services are, it can still be daunting to get the help you want and need for web application software testing your project. So, here’s a quick checklist of questions you can consider as you decide what works best for your web application testing project.
This isn’t a complete list and there are a lot more questions that can help you improve your chances of success. But, if you know the answers to these six questions and make your selection based on those answers, you have an extremely high probability of selecting the best web application testing services partner and having a successful testing project.
A Sample Web Application Testing Project
Everyone’s web application testing project is different. But, with the hundreds of web application testing projects we’ve completed, it possible to show you an outline of what you can expect for your web application testing project.
Monday – you just got out of a product meeting and your web application project is nearing completion – you need to be ready to test in a week!
Tuesday – you Google “web application testing” and find our website. You send us a contact form asking for help with your project. We write back within an hour and agree to talk on the phone on Wednesday.
Wednesday – we talk on the phone for 30 minutes and discuss your web application testing project’s goals and constraints. You’re clear that you need help and you need to get it right the first time. We answer all your questions and you’d like for us to provide you with a proposal and quote. We schedule a 60 minute Scoping Session on Thursday with a QA Manager and Senior Test Engineer.
Thursday – you meet with our QA Manager and Senior Testing Engineer in a web-based “show and tell” to demonstrate your web application and show us the details of where you are concerned. We describe several different strategies that match your goals and constraints so we can get an idea of which strategies appeal to you.
Friday – we deliver a quote and proposal that clearly shows which strategy we recommend along with a detailed work plan and price quote that meets your budget constraints and timeline. You agree and ask us to begin work on Monday.
Monday – you begin by meeting with your QA Manager and Senior Test Engineer to discuss any last minute changes. Your web application testing project has begun! Your first Daily Production Report arrives in your Inbox early in the evening for you to review.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – You receive a Daily Plan in your Inbox with full details of the day’s work. You can also expect a call from the QA Manager if anything is unclear or we are blocked in our work plan. You receive a Daily Production Report each evening that details the testing work completed with links to all of the test cases we’ve built and defects we’ve found.
Lastly, after your web application testing project is completed, you’ll receive a Final Report with a detailed list of our work and links to outcomes (you own the test cases we build for you). You’ll also receive a list of recommendations from our QA Manager of things that you might improve to lower your risk and expenses in the future.
That’s it! This process took two weeks but can be compressed to a single week if you find yourself in a rush.
TESTCo provides on-demand testing services for websites, web apps, and software. software testing services that are Safe, Easy and Reliable so that you can delight your customers and eliminate any nasty surprises when you release your software.
Tips For Product Managers
Many of our clients are Product Managers and we’ve collected a few Best Practices for Web Application Testing that should help you get more of what you want with less hassle and worry.
If you’ll do these three simple things, your web application project will complete Faster, Better and Cheaper!
When “Just Test It” Isn’t Enough
/in Web application testing, Website testing /by Jeff HotzIf your goal or the goal you give to a web testing company is “go fast and break things” then you should skip this.
But, if your goal is to build websites and web apps that delight your clients and that propels your company to achieve its goals, then there is something for you to learn in this post.
We’re occasionally asked to “just test this for us” and we’re happy to do that. After all, we’re a software and web testing company. It would be silly not to.
But, if you knew a little more about what is possible with software testing and quality assurance, would it influence your decision about which web testing company you choose and what you asked them to do?
OK, then, here’s what’s possible that you might be missing when you ask a web testing company to “just test” your software.
You want it tested to find the defects that will cause your software or web application to ABEND (any old JCL/Cobol programmers out there?), crash or disrupt your customer from achieving their goal.
You want defects!
But Wait, Just Defects?
Yes and no.
Yes, you want as many defects as your web testing company can find for you. After all, it’s better that we find them than your customers and prospects, right?
And, all software has defects, right? It just goes with the territory and that’s why all software needs to be test.
But, what if you could also reduce the number of defects your team produces and figure out how to build software faster?
Would it help you, your team and your company if merely by having your software tested, you also found out how to measurably improve your software production speed and reduce your software development costs?
The Hidden Secret of Effective Website and Web App Testing
Here’s a secret that few people take advantage of – your web testing company should also have a QA Manager that can help you pinpoint broken places in your software development process where you are building your web software inefficiently or ineffectively. The QA Manager should help you see where you’re either doing it poorly or doing it wrong.
And yet, most people never take advantage of this hidden gem for one of two reasons.
You should expect more from your web testing company. More than just defects or bugs. You should get help to improve your process so you spend less time and money in the future.
Give Your Web Testing Company Clear Goals If You Want Clear Outcomes
You will almost always need more testing than you can afford. It’s just the nature of software and the art/science of software engineering. You already know this. I’m sorry that it is this way and hope you’ll find some hope and relief in this article.
Since there is more testing work than you can afford, your web testing company will need to decide what to test and how to test it.
Clear goals prevent wasted time and money chasing the wrong thing.
Clear goals for your software testing company will ensure that you are satisfied with the outcomes and value they produce for you.
Clear goals are the #1 factor leading to effectively achieving your goals.
Crystal Clear Constraints Equal On Time Results
You can only afford so much. Budgets are budgets and we all have to make do with less sometimes. Sometimes, even your patience and available time are a constraint – you hired a web testing company to help – why are they asking all these questions?
That’s fine and expected. But, you still need to get the testing coverage you need in the timeline you’ve got so you can achieve your business goals.
Clear constraints (money, time, talent, patience, etc) will help your web testing company make accurate promises, plans, and estimates.
Clear constraints help us further understand your goals and how we can help you.
Lack of clear constraints is the #1 reason most projects end abruptly without completion.
Clear Strategy Equals Repeatable and Sustainable Results
For TESTCo, Strategy is the process of assembling a set of assets with advantages and actions relative to achieving the goal. A solid Testing Strategy will help us achieve your goals within your constraints.
There is always more than one way to skin a cat or test your software.
“Just test it” is a strategy but it ignores almost everything you need to be successful.
What is a Software Testing Strategy and How do We Use It to Help You?
Very simply, a strategy is a collection of assets that have a specific advantage that can be put into action to help you achieve your goal within your constraints.
A strategy helps you fill the “How will we do this?” gap that sits in between your goal and your constraints.
Most goals are aimed at Zero or very minimal defects when the software is deployed. Most constraints are time and budget – it needs to be done by a certain date and within a certain budget.
Once you know the goal and the constraints, you can begin to find and organize your “assets” to work (within the constraints) to achieve your goal.
There are three challenges in this approach that you’ll need to be prepared for.
If you’re a seasoned QA Manager, you probably already have a list of “go-to” software testing strategies. If you’re not a seasoned QA Manager, your web testing company should have a QA Manager that can walk you through this easily.
At TESTCo, we typically evaluate two or three strategies before selecting and recommending the best for our clients to achieve their goals within their constraints.
“Testers” Usually Don’t Have a Strategy
“Test Engineers” and “QA Managers” have a library of different testing and QA Strategies they can employ to achieve your goals. That’s why TESTCo only employs test engineers. That’s why a QA Manager is assigned to every project. Your web testing company should provide these for you!
“Just Test It and Hope For the Best” is also a strategy, it’s just not a very good one. That’s one reason you want to be careful about hiring a company to test your software, website and apps.
Lack of a strategy is the #1 reason for looking foolish to your boss or customers.
Goals, Constraints and Strategy Equal Value and Delight
You know you need testing for your software, website, or web application and you also know you have a limited budget.
Sure, you can get it “tested”.
But, why?
If you’ll share your Goals and Constraints with us, we’ll show you that you can have more.
Your boss and customers will appreciate it.
Common Web Testing Services Explained
/in Web application testing, Website testing /by Jeff HotzYou’re looking for Web testing services, but we know you’re really looking for Website testing or Web app testing. Correct? You’ve come to the right place.
We typically see three types of testing when someone asks us to provide Web testing services.
Functional Testing Gets the Inputs and Outputs Right
Does your website or Web app gather data, collect information or calculate any sums?
Does your website create reports or display graphs of data?
Or, maybe your website looks up data or connects with other databases to show the results?
Ever wonder if it’s possible to crash your website or web application with “bad data”?
If you want this type of web testing service, you’ll probably want some Functional Testing to make sure that the inputs and outputs all behave properly. What could go wrong? Usually, not much if your users are behaving as well. But, if they get confused and press the “Back” button one too many times, does your Website or Web app help them or just crash and make them start over? Functional Testing will find these problems for you before they frustrate your prospects and customers.
Cross Browser Testing Requires More than a Tool
Do your prospects & customers use a wide variety of desktop and mobile devices to visit your Website or Web app?
Have you tried your website or web app with something other than your favorite browser?
Can you see from your server logs that your prospects & customers use different browsers and operating systems?
Did your website or web app developers use some “tricky” code to get your site to do something “cool”? Will that “cool” code run on all browsers or only the one your developer uses?
If so, you’ll probably want some Cross Browser Testing (XBT) to make sure that you website or web app displays properly in the most popular browsers, devices and operating systems. Why could this be a problem? Some of the newest browsers and mobile devices won’t display some HTML/CSS code properly. The most common approach to solving this problem is to rent or buy a Cross Browser Testing Tool.
We use this approach as well. However, there’s more to using a Cross Browser Testing Tool than first meets the eye. Most Cross Browser Testing Tools emulate a mobile device/operating system/browser. This usually works but when it doesn’t, you won’t really know unless your very familiar with which tools work best and which devices don’t emulate very well. Additionally, just using the XBT tool is challenging if you genuinely want accurate test results. Sure, almost anyone can use them but we’ve found that an expert can get much more value with much less frustration from the XBT tool than an average or new user.
Load and Performance Testing
Are you worried about your Website or Web app crashing due to too many prospects or customers?
Do you know how many prospects or customers can visit your website or web app before it overloads and crashes?
Adding server resources is easy today, but they aren’t cheap. How will you know when to turn on more servers?
If so, congratulations! We hope the good part of your concern (too many prospects or customers) comes true and we can also help you make sure the “crashing” part doesn’t happen.
Load testing generally answers the question, “How many users can my Website or Web app handle before it becomes too slow or crashes?”.
Performance testing generally answers the question, “When and where does my Website begin slowing down or performing poorly?”
With performance testing, aspects of performance like responsiveness, speed, reliability and scalability can be quantified. There are different types of performance tests and they can gather different, specific results depending on the objectives. The data from performance tests can analyze the different KPIs such as response time, latency and errors per second. With this, you can identify bottlenecks, errors and bugs and figure out the next steps forward. Performance testing should be used when you want to check the performance of your website, apps, networks, databases and more.
Load testing provides several more insights than performance testing. Load testing examines how your system performs with many concurrent users. This will exhibit how your system will react when there is heavy traffic over a given period of time. Load testing differs from performance testing because it is something you should be doing all the time. Load testing allows you to test different user scenarios and optimize your system to handle large volumes.
Load Testing will typically be your biggest concern. Load Testing will give you a quick analysis of the user loads (number of simultaneous users of your Website or web app) that show performance problems. With this data, it’s a straight forward task to build reserve capacity for your Website or Web app that will engage when specific user loads are reached.
API Testing, or Not
API Testing can be included or ignored in your website testing services depending on how you use them.
How connected is your website or web app to other websites and web apps? Maybe more than you realize!
Is your “front end” separate from your “back end”?
On the Back End
Is the “back end” used by other website or web apps?
Sometimes, your website or app is built so that the “front end” is separated from the “back end”. This means that the “front end” website or app, where you input information and read responses, is unique, separate and autonomous from the “back end”. The “back end” is also a unique and autonomous system where your server application and databases store the user info, combine or compare it with various other data sets and then send outputs back to the “front end”. This front end/back end situation is largely a technical decision based on your unique situation and preferred technology.
On the Front End
The “front end” communicates with the “back end” by using API calls. API stands for Application Programming Interface. APIs provide a simple and effective method for communicating between the “user side/front end” and the “server side/back end”. This allows development (and testing) to occur at different times without impacting the end users.
Do you need to include API testing in your website testing services?
Sometimes and it depends.
If you only have a single front end and a single back end, then your APIs are primarily a convenience connection and don’t typically need testing. Why? Since you only have a single front end and single back end, the only time the APIs are used is through the front end and front end testing can usually provide you with the quality and confidence you’re looking for. The possibility of overlooking an API in this situation is very small.
But, if you have multiple front ends or your front end calls multiple back ends, then you’ll definitely want to get your APIs tested. In this case, the possibility of overlooking an API call that is faulty is quite high if you only test through the front end.
Each API testing situation is unique. The decision to include API testing in your website testing services is your choice. We’re happy to take as much time as you’d like to explain our approach and recommendations.
Benefits of API Testing
Testing core for functionality: This is the first and most important benefit of API testing. API testing allows access to an application without a user interface. Testing the core functionality of an application gives an early evaluation of an application prior to GUI testing. This allows testing to be proactive because smaller issues can be resolved then before becoming large problems in the latter testing stages.
Protection
One of the most important functions of API testing is to protect you from malicious code and breakage. API testing removes any vulnerabilities that can lead to both malicious software and breakage.
Time effectiveness
API testing is time effective because it takes a fraction of the time it takes to do normal GUI testing. API testing can do far more testing than GUI tests in the same time period because it doesn’t have the same restrictions. For example, GUI tests have to have webpage elements polled which significantly slows down the testing process
Integration with GUI
API testing can easily integrate with GUI testing. Functional GUI tests can be done along with API tests for comprehensive testing.
Although the benefits of API testing are vast, there can be several issues that can arise from API testing in certain cases. Some the drawbacks include:
Tracking API Inventory
Since there are numerous APIs and they act independently, it’s important to keep up with any updates on APIs and how that can affect the overall program. Neglecting APIs can lead to many difficult issues down the road
Complex protocols
Since APIs interact with each other through defined contracts and protocols, the protocols may lead to difficulties when integrating and testing between different components
Sequencing API Calls
Often, API calls need to appear in a specific order for it to work. This can create issues for the testing team if they cannot come up with the correct order. Having a release candidate can help with managing and seeing the sequence of API calls
All of these drawbacks mentioned above are things that TESTCo has done and solved time and time again. When consulting with TESTCo, feel free to mention any of your API concerns and TESTCo will provide strategies and plans of action to assess your concerns.
Web Testing Services, Web App Testing, Website Testing — Call It What You Want
Yeah, there’s really no such thing as “web testing” but we know what you mean and we’re happy to help with our Web app and Website testing services.
Sure, you can do this yourself , but our clients have told us time after time that we find bugs they miss, and we do it faster. Better and faster wins every time.
Ask for help. You will be surprised at how easy it is.
Project for Software Testing
/in Software testing project /by Jeff HotzHow can you get help with a project for software testing when you’re not a big software company or sizzling startup? Can you get the same quality of software testing services that the “Big Guys” and “Cool Kids” get?
Watch Video or Continue Reading
Three Great Criteria for Selecting the Best Partner for a Software Testing Project
Project for Software Testing or Outsourced QA Support
Making a smart choice for your software testing project can be a challenge. But, if you know (and try) these three simple software company selection criteria, you’ll save time right now and you’ll save money on your software testing project.
At TESTCo, we believe in honoring promises and delivering safe, easy and reliable value. This is as true for our on-demand software testing as it is for our long-term outsourced QA services.
Feel free to chat with us at any time about your project for software testing – big or small.