q-pros | Quality Professionals

24 Nov

An Introduction to Agile Testing Methodology

With software testing shifting left (i.e., testing is becoming more present in the initial stages of development) the need for an organized project management strategy to keep up with multiple operational factors in the software development life cycle (SDLC) are more immanent than ever. Relying on Agile methodologies, the testing teams can operate on more levels and secure a bug-free/defect-free product that is constantly tested in all integration stages. For that reason, Q-Pros has adopted Agile practices and consolidated them with our testing process, assuring a swift and efficient outcome for our clients. In this article, we will define the Agile testing approach and connect the dots between Agile and modern software testing and software development. What is Agile Testing? Unlike its predecessor (the Waterfall method), which had a more linear approach, Agile focuses on reiteration and feedback. Agile methods would emphasize flexibility and cooperation between more than one stakeholder in the entire SDLC. A key feature that distinguishes Agile methods is that it relies heavily on continuity and constant testing, gathering information and feedback, and providing it to developers. Agile would increase the quality of the product and ensure improvements, clearing the way and allowing for more integration testing to take place within the process. The main principle in Agile is breaking any project into phases and sprints. It involves constant collaboration with stakeholders. So instead of waiting for one project to end to start with the other, teams cycle through a process of planning, executing, and evaluating. Benefits of using Agile Methods Here are some of the main benefits of using Agile methodology: Develop better quality products Strengthen the relationship between end-users and product owners by constantly collecting feedback Track bugs quickly Saving time and cost and decreasing the risk of releasing crashing products Gaining more flexibility and allowing for more creativity and improvements How Agile Mythology Works in Testing After defining Agile and its benefits, now we will investigate the ways to do it - Firstly, the Agile method can only be achieved through early planning. We start by gathering information from stakeholders and planning the scope of the project. Next would be establishing a testing plan that ensures Quality and aligns itself with the requirements. The testing plan would include milestones, where involving stakeholders would meet in weekly meetings to discuss the ongoing progress of the project at hand. Agile methods embrace mistakes and lesson learning. One distinct value of Agile is that allows the teams to circle back and improve based on previous trials. One way we can fully achieve an Agile-based workflow would be to rely on modern project management software. Tools such as Jira, Azure, ClickUp, and many others are used to assert Agile principles in projects. Agile Testing & Q-Pros Agile testing goes hand in hand with QA, it is now becoming an inseparable approach to setting new guidelines for projects. As a leading testing service provider, Q-Pros takes Agile development as a criterion for any service we provide to our clients. In the coming years, Agile methodology will slip its way into all areas and industries because of its flexibility and clarity concerning achieving desired outcomes. Learn more about Q-Pros and our approach and request a service via our online form. ...

17 Nov

Test Automation and Calculating ROI

by q-pros

in software testing

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Calculating ROI (Return of Investment) is important for business owners. It judges how well an investment has performed and evaluates the efficiency of the overall project. Amongst its many purposes, QA (Quality Assurance) has to do with increasing the ROI for clients. And relying on better means of testing asserts this benefit, including many other financial gains. In this article, we will discuss how test automation is helping business owners increase their ROI levels and our role at Q-pros to increase and satisfy our clients' ROI. Test Automation as a Cost-effective Tool Limiting the dependency on manual means is a top priority for any company looking to save on project budgets. Working with automated tools not only results in more accurate findings but also cuts a substantial amount of cost compared to manual processes. Take for example Regression testing. If you were to consider doing regression testing manually, you would have to bear in mind the large amount of data to be tested each time a change occurred internally. This results in more labor- hence more time and cost - and a higher chance of inaccuracy. With all the benefits that automated testing carries over manual testing, manual testing is far from being completely canceled. The need for hands-on procedures is necessary. Because at the end of the day, applications will eventually be used by humans! and for that reason, testing phases adopt many manual testing methods to verify defects and ensure quality. Calculating Automated Testing ROI As mentioned, not only does automation testing cut time and cost, but it also guarantees better results, improving the overall quality of the product. Manual testing will always carry the risk of missing specific defects and causing the quality to go down or simply requiring more tests and more time. cumulated costs over time - Source: methodsandtools.com Significant metrics to calculate automated testing ROI include: Measuring the quality of the product (e.g., improving MTTD (Mean Time to Detection) Cost analysis. cutting back on hardware and software costs by unifying the work through singular or lesser channels The speed of test execution. Limiting test duration and manual tests. Software testing is constantly evolving. Automated testing tools are getting better and better at doing their job. This means that calculating ROI could hold more in its criteria than what it does now. How to Calculating ROI (ROI Formula) ROI is the ratio between the net income and the initial investment. The higher the ROI, the better. It means the investment has compared favorably to the costs. ROI is a great metric to evaluate the efficiency of the investment in comparison to other different several investments. To calculate Automated testing ROI, we rely on the following formula: ROI = Savings ÷ Investment Savings: The amount accumulated by replacing manual tests with automated tests. Savings = (time to run one manual test case - time to run one automated test case) * number of tests * number of runs Investment: The costs piped into setting up test automation channels. Investment = time to build framework + (time to code one automated test * number of tests) + maintenance costs (Maintenance costs include the cost it takes to fix failed tests and false positive tests) In Conclusion ROI is a solid identifier for the success of a project. By relying on automated testing, you not only increase the ROI and save on costs, but you also ensure better quality for the product. There is more than one way to recognize the actual benefit of automated testing, one is calculating ROI concerning the actual amount of investment and in comparison, with manual methods. Q-Pros is a leading Quality Assurance and testing service provider, know more about us and check out our list of offers that will help you increase ROI for your projects. Read another blog: What is The Global Star Rating System? ...

15 Nov

Load Testing vs Stress Testing: What is the Difference?

by q-pros

in QA Comparisons

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In the software quality assurance field, two terms seem to stick out the most, “load testing and stress testing” - It is on any client’s top priority list to make certain that their application can handle larger levels of usage and maintain all factors of quality. Our methods at Q-Pros guarantee that software applications are set and ready for extreme scenarios for future users. In this article, we will investigate and differentiate the two tests we conduct to eliminate the possibility of such malfunctions as overloading and stress, which cause the application to either stop performing and crash, or to perform slower and force users to uninstall the application altogether. What is Load Testing? A load test will help us understand how an application behaves under expected loads. In other words, it allows us to monitor the overall performance of the application under the basic demands of real users. Load testing is not concerned with overusing the application, but it is all about measuring the performance stats under what is expected of the application. This is done via requesting several demands from the application and then investigating the speed at which it accomplishes its required responses. Load testing helps determine the bottlenecks of applications. Load testing comes in handy in certain periods of the application's usage. For example, your application might have a standard number of users most of the time, but it is not until there is an update or an offer in which will cause the number of users to spike up, take for instance a government portal in which there was a certain event that caused citizens to suddenly request an official paper, or a shopping application on black Friday. Having a good testing foundation firsthand allows you to prepare for all kinds of circumstances, and it will guarantee an increase in ROI (Return of Investment). What is Stress Testing? Stress testing allows us to identify the breaking point of the application. Breaking points are the maximum level of load an application can endure before failure. The benefit of stress testing is not only to inform companies of their application’s limitations but also to make use of such results and scale up the application based on the data gathered from stress testing. For example, knowing the breaking points allows developers to make certain changes in the application's behavior before the breaking point is reached to allow for adjustments and adaptation and avoid extreme results. This in return evaluates the robustness of the application. Stress testing is necessary for developers to know what features break first in case of extreme stress. Knowing that will help them act accordingly to make sure that no permanent crashes occur and to limit the possibility of catastrophic events. What are the differences between Load Testing and Stress Testing? Load Testing is more of an organic approach. It is not concerned with breaking the application as much as it is concerned with finding out if the application has covered its basic requirements of handling the expected levels of load. Load testing is essential for companies because it asserts confidence in the application in case of future challenges. On the other hand, Stress testing is mainly concerned with finding an application's upper limit. Stress Testing helps us determine where the application is most likely to have some sort of failure, and by doing so, it evaluates the robustness of the application. Stress testing also allows developers to enhance the application's behavior by knowing how it will react in case of failure due to maximum usage. Both load testing and stress testing are essential for companies, especially when dealing with bigger service applications that will require more usage and constant maintenance/updates. At Q-Pros, we rely on a team of testing experts using the best testing tools to achieve the best results. If you want to learn more about Load & Stress testing, request service now via our list of offers. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

10 Nov

What is Accessibility Testing: An Introduction

by q-pros

in software testing

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With most services becoming digitized, the dependency on mobile applications and online services is growing. It used to be the case that we would have traditional alternatives to compensate for the lack of availability of a digital medium. But even the most basic services are becoming solely available through digital means. Taking this level of dependency into consideration, we must think about and put in mind the various and diverse nature of users-Abled and Disabled- And with that notion in mind, Q-Pros believes that all software applications must be accessible and available for usage for all users, and we set out to make sure that everyone has the right to an efficient digital experience. In this article, we will discuss a software testing type called Accessibility Testing, what it means and how we do it. Why is it Important to Test Accessibility? Based on statistics published by the world bank, 15% of the planet’s population undergo some sort of disability, which amounts to over one billion people. For that reason alone, we really must take accessibility seriously to make sure our applications and digital services in general are usable by all people regardless of capability. Types of Disabilities Physical Disability - The type of disability that affects people's ability to interact with applications on a hardware level. Cognitive Disabilities - The type of disability that involves having difficulties in understanding and expressing, as well as having a poor memory. This leaves the user incapable of performing basic tasks. Eyesight Disabilities - This Involves visual impairments or blindness. Hearing Disabilities - The incapacity to hear, whether partially hearing aids or complete deafness. Temporary Disabilities - A disability caused by accidents or environmental conditions. How to Perform Accessibility Testing? The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has determined a set of guidelines called (The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)) which most organizations must follow to make their applications compatible and accessible to people with special needs. These guidelines should be followed through each phase of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) and be listed in Non-Functional Testing Practices. Physical Disability The criteria to overcome physical disability challenges through accessibility testing are as follows: Making sure to have an efficient keyboard option for people with speech impediments Testing voice recognition software Applications should offer an option for human help that can be requested easily by people with special needs Testing the applications while using special hardware that is manufactured for people with motor disabilities Cognitive Disability Make sure the applications are simple and not too complicated to use Make sure to have clear menus that users can easily choose from to reach certain places and take advantage of all services Having media components such as images and graphs to make sure to explain the context of the application Make it clear that the application offers help options, including that of human contact Take the user’s journey to complete an action and make sure there were no limiting or distracting factors throughout the usage Eye-sight Disability Make sure to have text to audio option and testing its efficiency Make sure to include magnifiers Making sure that the fonts used are compliant with WAI standards for clarity Having a filter that takes into consideration people with color blindness Hearing Disability Having an alert system that can function without the need for sound, visual, or vibration alerts Making sure to include sign language options for essential services Audio-to-text option Accessibility Testing Tools To align all the disabilities with WC3 standards and validate the success of the testing process we rely on multiple tools some of which are open-source and available for all users. Some of the most prominent tools used to achieve accessibly compliance are: Screen Readers Screen readers will give a detailed narration of everything on a web page. This includes texts, links, images, buttons, etc. Here are some screen readers you can use to leverage accessibly in an application: IE and Chrome: JAWS (Job Access With Speech) Safari: Voice Over iPhone: Voice Over Android: Talkback Color Contrast Analyzer (CCA) Color Contrast Analyzer helps in establishing a contrast between foreground and background colors, enhancing clarity, and making things easier for people with sight disabilities and all users in general. Screen Magnification People with limited vision have a tough time reading text at certain sizes, which is why it is important to have an option where users can magnify them to have a clearer UI/UX. Some of the tools we could use to magnify screens are: Magnifier App in Windows Zoom option in macOS Speech Recognition Tools Speech recognition tools are used to transfer audio commands by users to applications. These commands could include data entry/input, buttons, opening the applications, and other actions. Good tools to use for speech recognition are: Windows Speech Recognition Apple Dictation Dragon Axe Browser Plugin Axe scans web pages to validate compliance with WCAG 2 (Web Content Guidelines 2) and reports any violations. Axe is a plugin for Chrome and Firefox. The Axe-Chrome extension is an open-source JavaScript library. In Conclusion It is without a doubt essential to even the plain view for all users regardless of disabilities. The foundation of Quality Assurance and Software Testing has always been to eliminate the possibility of bugs and defects, and up the quality level of applications overall, the latter can only be achieved by putting people with disabilities at the top of our lists to validate the success of any testing project. Accessibility Testing results in giving equal rights in the digital world and helps us include as many users as possible. Q-Pros is a Testing service provider with years of experience pioneering in the field. Learn more about Software Testing and get to know more about us. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

09 Nov

The Difference Between Component Testing and Unit Testing

by q-pros

in QA Comparisons

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Understanding the hierarchy of testing is elementary for QA practices, it helps us keep all activities coordinated with one another and stabilize what could be a long and tedious procedure. For that reason, we at Q-Pros have established a constructive approach for software testing to make sure our clients get guaranteed results. look at the differences between Component Testing and Unit Testing and identify the specific comparing basis to distinguish the two essential levels of testing. To begin with, we will start by identifying each method individually. What is Unit Testing? Unit testing is a software testing method which takes every unit of code into consideration for testing, to make sure that all code-sets are appropriate based on requirements and standard suitability before stepping further with the code building. Computer data is examined to check if it fits or not. This is done to completely avoid any future errors that may become hard to detect if not dealt with sooner. Unit testing is done by the developers, and it comes first in the hierarchy of testing levels. What are the testing levels for software systems? Unit testing: Unit testing takes top priority before stepping further into code. Integration testing: Modules are combined and evaluated as one with specified functional requirements. System testing: In system testing, we take all the integrated components that passed the test as input. Acceptance testing: Finally, we measure the degree to which the application has met the user’s approval. In Unit testing, the word “Unit” means every element within the application that could be tested during the development stage. What is Component Testing? Component testing also referred to as module or program testing, is a test where each component of the system is tested individually without looking at integration in-between other components. Each component receives an input, and then the data should be processed through the system and produce an output. This output will be examined based on requirements separately. The main objective of this type of testing is to make sure that all components within a system are user-understandable and can be used individually. Component testing is usually done by a developer before creating a new component. Developers can choose to move to build a new component once all identified defects are fixed in a previous one. Developers use this method to examine testing objects without integration, meaning that testing objects are tested separately from the whole design or any other components or modules. The Differences between Component Testing and Unit Testing After we have defined the two types, we can now start to look at each in comparison to the other to get a further understanding of how we can relate them in an overall testing strategy. We will now look at key factors to differentiate the two kinds distinctly: Comparing Factor Unit testing Component testing Execution Unit testing is processed by the developers in the initial stages Component testing is performed by a team of testing engineers using various testing tools. Method used White-box testing: Testing the application with knowledge of internal structures. Black-box testing: Testing the application with little to no internal knowledge of its code. Validation Validates the efficiency and accuracy of the design documents Uses test cases and validates specific components. Detecting error Unit testing detects errors more easily. Component testing detects errors with more complexity than unit testing. Level of Testing Unit testing is performed at a granular level. Component testing is performed at the application level. Component Testing and Unit Testing are fairly related, both require a level of segregation from the overall system. Component testing is done on an application level by testing experts, On the other hand, unit testing is done on an agranular level by developers. It is also worth highlighting that component testing can only be done after unit testing. Q-Pros Constant updates require constant testing. Before launching any application, requirements should be set and met. Q-Pros is a leading testing service provider with years of experience in accomplishing just that. To know more about our testing approaches and to request a customized testing service, visit our online service request page now. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...