Canada's QA Experts

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What is Regression testing?

Regression testing is a type of software testing that is used to ensure that recent code changes do not negatively impact the existing features. In this type of testing, the tester will execute existing tests partially or completely to check if features that currently exist are not negatively impacted by the recent code changes. Regression testing can be done any time after the code changes happen. This could be because of a requirement change or after implementation of a new feature, or after a bug fix or a performance issue fix. Regression testing is done to ensure the product works fine with the new functionality, bug fixes or any change to the existing feature. Usually, regression testing is incorporated into the daily life cycle and is also performed before weekly releases. Regression testing can be done either manually or by using automation tools. A smart tester will decide the best approach based on the extent of tests as part of the regression. The smart approach on regression testing is to automate the tests as much as possible, as regression tests would need to be done many times in a single product release. By doing this, the tester can save lot of time, effort and in the meantime reduce the cost. A QA expert can classify regression testing techniques into various groups such as retest all, select a particular group of tests and prioritize the tests depending on the features being tested. Regression testing can help ensure the product is meeting customer expectations. Regression testing can detect bugs and defects in the early stages of software development life cycles and therefore reduce the time, cost and effort invested to resolve the defect and speedup the software release process. Integrating new features with existing ones can generate lot of conflicts and side effects. Regression testing is very helpful to find the root cause and then help modify the design issues to maintain the integrity of the product. Regression testing can be done either manually or by using an automation framework. Manual regression testing consumes lot of time and effort. In order to save the cost and time, implementing automation testing is a good solution. There are lot of different automation tools and frameworks available in the market. A good QA company will be able to research the best tool and methodology that matches the project. Once a good tool and framework has been selected, the tester can then work on automating the required tests to make the whole process efficient and cost effective Read the full article

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What is Automated Testing?

Automated testing is a software testing technique to test and compare the actual outcome with the expected outcome. This can be achieved by writing test scripts or using an automated testing tool. Test automation is used to automate repetitive tasks and other testing tasks which are difficult to perform manually. There are different approaches on automated testing and some of them are GUI testing, API driven testing and Continuous Integration testing. Automation testing can be classified as functional testing or non-functional testing based on the type of testing and phase of testing. A QA company can automate functional tests by writing scripts to validate the business logic and the functionality expected from the application. Automating non-functional tests are based on non-business requirements like performance, security and databases. In addition, the phase of testing helps classify the testing as Unit tests, API tests and UI based tests. A test automation framework is an integrated system of function libraries, test data sources, object details and various reusable modules. A testing framework is set up to define a format that is used to express expectations, creating a mechanism to drive the application under test, executing tests and reporting results. It is application independent, easy to expand and maintain. There are different types of framework and some of them are scripting framework, data driven framework, keyword driven framework, modular testing, or hybrid testing framework. Nowadays, most organisations prefer automating tests as much as possible. That is mainly due to advantages that automation provides including reusable tests, low cost of maintenance and no manual intervention. An example of this is regression testing. Regression testing is required to be done frequently through the process of development. Typically, manual testing will consume a lot of time and human effort. The best way to save time and effort here is by automating repetitive tests and increase the test coverage. To ensure that the automation process works correctly, it is important to choose the correct framework for the project. While choosing a framework, consideration must be taken about different factors like scalability for future requirements, maintenance and reusability, reliability, and consistency, maximizing test coverage and capability to provide test results in the form of reports. Another consideration for testing is to decide what to automate. Priority should be given to repetitive tests like smoke tests, tests that are difficult and take a lot of time to perform manually. In addition, it is preferable not to automate certain types of tests. Some examples of these are tests which frequently change, test cases for features that are not core to the project and one-off test cases Read the full article

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Smart Home Products QA

Smart home devices are everywhere in a modern house nowadays and range from products such as doorbells, home security, lighting, door locks, smoke detectors etc. Smart home technology is the use of devices in the home which are connected via a network. It uses devices and associated applications that can be remotely monitored, controlled, accessed and provides services based on users needs and expectations. The core function of smartphones and wireless technology is to sync applications through a network. A smart home device communicates through a hub that can be remotely controlled by a smartphone. Several similar devices make up a connected ecosystem(smart home), and they mutually communicate to transmit data and enable decisions. To ensure the smart devices work as specified, companies need to ensure the entire process includes activating the device, testing of the associated applications, network environment and their communications to bring the expected result function properly. Smart home device testing must cover the entire product which includes groups, sub systems, components and services. Smart home technology uses many techniques via the internet commonly known as IOT (Internet of Things) such as RFID: Radio Frequency Code, EPC: Electronic Product Code, NFC: Near Field Communication, Bluetooth, Z-Wave, WiFi, Zigbee etc. An outsourced QA company can help the clients implement a smart test approach where expectations, conditions and human actions can coordinate together and bring a better result. A smart QA company can follow some best approaches like testing the ability of different software to communicate in any given situation, ability of testing different devices to communicate with one another, test the environment where a situation triggers smart devices into action, test the necessity of a human action to trigger a response from a smart device, replacing repetitive human activities with bots, automating repetitive tests etc. Since the application is connected with many devices of different hardware, testing each device’s hardware and API integration is a big challenge here. To address this, a dynamic test app can be created, with all basic functionalities required to test app integration with the hardware. One of the best approaches to simplify the areas of testing is to categorize the areas as Hardware – Software Performance testing, Cross-Domain Compatibility testing, Security testing, User experience testing, Exploratory testing, functionality testing and Exploratory testing. A QA company will also help overcome several challenges that come with Testing Smart Home Products. Replication of test environment is expensive as there are different groups, subsystems with 3rd party units, components and services and is risky when the user cannot access a single dependent which could affect testing of entire system. Therefore, collecting correct data for different systems requires a lot of effort and multiple teams. The other challenges involved in testing devices are, compatibility, complexity, connectivity, power problems, security, privacy, and safety, A good QA company with experience in these multiple platforms will be able to set up the test environment faster and be able to address these challenges. Read the full article

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Free Website Test For Canadian Businesses

At this challenging time we wanted to give something back to Canadian businesses. So we thought with so many people needing to move their businesses online, perhaps we could help by offering 5 businesses a Free Website Test to identify any issues that may interfere in the smooth operation of their site. This high-level web test would include testing of Navigation, Functionality, Usability, Layout, Responsiveness, Mobile compatibility. We will provide detailed feedback of any issues found and also suggestions on how to improve the website. If you think you are in need of this free service to help your Canadian business at this unprecedented time, or you know someone who could benefit, please fill out the contact form on our Testing4Success website (subject: Free Web Test) telling us your story. http://testing4success.com/contact-us/contact-us.html Read the full article

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Sanity Testing

Sanity testing is a version of regression testing to ensure a specific section of the application is still working after a bug fix or a functionality improvement. Sanity testing is different from smoke testing as it is typically focussed only on one or two functionalities whereas smoke testing is aimed at all major functionalities. When the sanity test fails, testers reject the build and send it back to the developers for a fix. Sanity testing doesn’t use prewritten scripts and is usually done when a quick test is required to see if the build is functional. A QA expert will identify the new features, functionality changes or fixes and then verify that the new implementation works as expected. The QA tester will also ensure that the existing functionalities still work as expected. If the new and associated functional tests pass, the QA tester will approve the build as a pass. Advantages: - The main advantage of sanity testing is that it reduces the time cost for a detailed regression testing. As it is focussed on a specific area, sanity testing provides a quick evaluation and minimises unnecessary effort. Sanity testing helps us to detect errors in the early stages of software development and helps minimise time wastage in development cycles. Instead of waiting for all of the testing to be completed, the developers depend on sanity testing to figure the next steps. If the test is successful, the development team can move onto the next task and if the test fails the build goes back to the team for fixing. In most situations, regression testing follows a successful sanity test and that will be used to identify additional bugs. Challenges: - One of the challenges of sanity testing is that it is usually undocumented and unscripted and so future references are not possible. It might be difficult for some testers, especially when they are new in that project. Sanity testing doesn’t go to the design level of testing and it is difficult for the developer to identify and find a way to fix the issue. Also, sanity testing is focused only on certain functionalities which may miss issues with other functionalities. Improvement: - To minimise the problems that arise due to sanity testing not being scripted, an outsourced QA company can implement a simple way of documenting a sanity testing process. This can be done by creating a test run that uses a pool of existing test cases which can be derived from multiple modules. The results of these test cases are tracked to pass or fail the sanity test, and this provides the developer and the tester a record of the testing that has been done. Read the full article

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Usability QA With Smart Home Devices

Smart Home devices are still a relatively new form of tech, but the market is now being flooded as the demand for Smart Home products is increasing at an exponential rate. While many such products are innovative and of high quality, many are lagging behind their competitors. While the actual “smart” device may be well designed and manufactured, the accompanying web or mobile apps are often severely lacking in several key areas. This negatively impacts the end-user experience and can be the deciding factor between a Smart Home device’s success or failure. Smart Home devices range from light switches, thermostats, security systems and even fully functioning robots. Smart technology is being implemented pretty much everywhere in the home right now, and this trend shows no sign of slowing. While the diversity of Smart Home products varies quite considerably, a key factor in it’s overall success must be “usability”. In a highly-competitive market place, any product that is not intuitive to use, the customer will simply switch to a competitor’s product…..fact! Traditional usability testing will be isolated to a specific web app or mobile app. However, with smart home devices, usability testing must encompass the entire product, i.e. the device itself and it’s accompanying apps. For smart home devices that have been usability tested to a high level, this will result in the user having a positive experience while using the product. A good QA company will evaluate a smart home device and it’s associated web or mobile apps along with any supporting documentation. From there, appropriate test approaches and methodologies can be defined and documented into a formal test plan. An optional suite of test cases will then often be designed. Many usability issues are often seen during the on boarding process. As this is the area that is used to typically set-up a new smart home device, it is of paramount importance that the user has a positive experience here. By methodically working through not only the on-boarding, but all end-user workflows, user scenarios, supporting help/documentation etc. the testing can discover all usability issues which can be clearly documented for all product stakeholders to evaluate. The development team can then work with the usability defect reports to resolve the issues. Usability testing should ideally be performed before the product is launched, however as most smart home devices and their associated apps can be upgraded with new firmware/software updates, usability testing can also be  highly effective after the product’s initial launch. Read the full article