At times when the internet was emerging, only a handful of people accessed the web. There wasn’t much craze revolving around the online world. We can justify this claim by the fact that only a handful of apps and online services were available back then. However, with the advancement of Technology and engagement in the lives of people, things have taken a turn. Now, millions of people access the internet every day to complete their daily tasks. Millions of applications are available on the Internet and thousands of apps are released every day. The competition in this market has become so intense that companies are struggling to maintain their market dominance. In this competitive time, the only solution is to quickly deliver high-quality web applications to the end-users. Various tools and frameworks play a vital role in achieving this goal.
With this article, we will try to discover some of the best tools for web application testing teams. We will also discover the most effective way to use a tool. The primary objective of this process should be to utilise the full potential of a web application development environment.
The Importance of Software Testing
During the early years of software development, testing wasn’t considered as one of the critical development processes. We can easily verify this claim with the fact that all the processes were conducted manually during the early times. However, as more and more web developing companies began to emerge, companies started to feel the pressure of delivering good quality stable applications to their customers. In this market, it will be foolish to expect the customer will stick to the company just because of their brand loyalty. Testing an application is not the ultimate solution if you fail to deliver the application on time. Various research studies have proved that using only manual testing can take almost 5 days to complete all the testing processes. This is a very long period considering that automation testing can complete this process in under two days.
So, to build a good audience base, companies must properly test the application and deliver it on time. Developers should also ensure the application performance remains consistent irrespective of the device, operating system or screen resolution. This consideration will also help them to maintain a good ranking in Google search results.
Role of Tools in the Testing Process
Completing all the test processes within a scheduled period is already a high-pressure job. It becomes, even more, hectic if the developer is new to the web application testing industry. A simple error can cause a critical bug in a good application and massively delay the production phase. The Easiest solution to this process is to introduce various tools in a web application development environment. These tools can assist the developers and simplify the development process to a great extent. However, it isn’t a wise decision to simply choose a random tool on the market and integrate it into the test bench. We can justify this claim by the fact that every tool is unique and will serve a different purpose in the web application development life cycle. Let us consider some of the factors that can assist in the tool’s selection process:
General Considerations: This includes some of the factors that every developing company has to keep in mind. For instance, the overall budget for the development project, deadline for application delivery and the trustworthiness of the tool.
Personalized Requirements: These factors vary depending on the company and the application tester. In this segment, the developers have to consider their programming language knowledge, preferences and individual project requirements.
Best Tools for an Elite Testing Team
Before integrating any tool, one of the most important processes is to check the trustworthiness and reliability of that tool. There are various ways to perform this process. The easiest and most reliable way is to check for user reviews present on various online forums. On this website, the developers find honest feedback and reviews. This data comes from the daily life experience of multiple users who are currently using the tool. Let us discuss some of the best tools that you can consider for your web application testing team:
1. LambdaTest
It is a cross browser testing platform that tests the cross-browser compatibility of various web applications. Developers can use this platform to test the proper functioning of both mobile and desktop applications. Using this platform, the developers can verify the proper functioning of the web application on more than 3000+ different browsers and OS. LambdaTest also helps web development companies to test the compatibility of the web application on older versions of a browser. It also allows companies to initiate parallel testing on web applications. Parallel testing help web developing companies to initiate multiple test cases at the same time. Using this platform, the developers can also verify the proper functioning of the local web applications. They have a huge audience base of massive web developing companies all around the world.
Apart from web-based testing, you can also perform Appium testing of mobile applications. LambdaTest offers 3000+ real devices and OS combinations that lets you perform manual and automated mobile app testing across Android and iOS devices.
2. Appium
Appium is a tool to test the proper functioning of mobile applications. This tool can test the performance of native, hybrid and web-based mobile apps. It also supports the testing of applications meant for both Android and iOS platforms. Various industry experts believe that Appium is one of the easiest to use tools for web development companies. However, the developers must remember that the process to use Appium on Android is different to that of the iOS platform. Another massive benefit of Appium is its open-source infrastructure. It allows the tech community to add updates to this tool. All these updates increase the testing capabilities of this tool.
3. Robotium
Robotium is a tool that developers can use to test the proper functioning of Android applications. However, web development companies must remember that they can use this tool only for implementing automated test cases. Most web development companies use this tool to perform black-box testing of Android applications. The developers can use JavaScript as the primary programming language for creating the test scripts on this tool. However, the developers must remember some additional considerations to ensure the smooth execution of test cases. These considerations include the implementation of Android SDK, the eclipse of the test project, JDK and the Android development kit. The developers also have the liberty to refer to the developing community for any form of assistance.
4. Test IO
Various app developers believe that testing a mobile application on virtual machines or emulators is sufficient. A recent study shows the weakness of this theory by establishing the importance of user interaction. This means that a developing company cannot analyze the behaviour of an application without testing it on real devices. This is the problem that Test IO aims to solve. This tool also ensures that the web application has the potential to stand up to the business requirements of a company. The developers can use this tool to verify the smooth functioning of web applications on various operating systems. It removes multiple bottlenecks from the testing process and helps the companies to cope with the business requirements.
5. TestComplete
The primary focus of TestComplete is developing a stable and attractive user interface for an application. It helps web development companies to initiate multiple instances of UI test cases. Using this tool, the developers can verify the UI of the hybrid mobile applications. This means that the application must have a smooth interface on both the Android and iOS platforms. Moreover, the developers can use this tool to perform automation testing on mobile applications. It creates a reliable test result by compiling both emulators and real devices. It also helps web developing companies to merge their manual test results with automation test cases.
6. Xamarin.UI Test
It is easy to understand the role of Xamarin.UI Test from the name itself. It is yet another tool that excels at UI acceptance test cases. UI acceptance testing is a process that checks whether the UI of an app is compatible with multiple different devices. It considers various physical factors. These factors include the device screen size, orientation and resolution. The developers can use this tool to run Test cases for both hybrid and native applications. The primary programming language of this tool is C#. It also allows the developers to perform cross-browser compatibility testing of web-based mobile applications
7. Expresso
This is one of the very few tools that is developed by the official Google development team. Moreover, it has been embedded in the core framework of the Android studio. This tool is suitable for all developers who want to run performance testing of native Android applications. One of the major limitations of this tool is that it can only create test cases for performing Android UI testing. This is because its primary aim is to enhance the functionality of the Android application.
8. XCUI Test
XCUI testing is a tool that is limited to testing the performance of only iOS Apps. The developers can use this to verify the proper functioning of the iOS App’s User Interface. It implements all the important codes with the help of an XCode integrated development environment. The developers can also use this tool to record the process instead of writing the test script. It is a tool that aims to simplify the testing experiences for small web developing companies. It focuses on the implementation of test automation for individual creators and small start-up companies. Currently, almost 4000 companies use this tool to test their mobile apps.
The Final Views
So, we can conclude that tools play a vital role in increasing the efficiency of a testbench. Developers should consider this factor very seriously as it is vital for the success of the company. Experts also believe that automated web application testing will continue to maintain its dominance in the future years. So, companies should integrate it into the test bench as soon as possible. A recent study also shows that almost 30% of companies are still using complete manual test cases. Google application development companies should also have the proper infrastructure to train their testing team. As a developer, you must remember that only a knowledgeable and experienced developer can utilise the full potential of testing tools. All these factors will ensure that companies keep maintaining a steady growth in the future years.