Software testing blogs by Q-Pros

15Dec

5 Ways AI is Solving Software Quality Challenges

Over the past recent years, software testing approaches became more complex to keep up with the constant advancements in software development practices and with the nature of digital services in general. As is the case in all industries, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) are shaping up new ways to speed up the production process and assure more accurate results. So is the case with software testing. AI solutions can not only scale up the level of productivity in all aspects but also solve issues that seemed inherent and unavoidable. In this article, we will discuss 5 ways in which Leveraging AI can solve software quality challenges, and how we at Q-Pros look to adapt such practices to further enhance our services in the world of QA. #1 Data Management Challenges Data gathering and documentation are at the core of any QA process. How well we manage our data decides the level of quality we seek to achieve. One problem testing engineers have struggled with over the years was data management. The amount of data being generated from the software development phase can be enormous. This amount of data can be so huge, that it can be impossible for human brains to fathom. This data includes: Values and parameters Environment data Build Data Data production and data coverage Giving this type of data a proper and accurate analysis can only be done by leveraging AI utilities. Relying on smart AI methods can secure better results in all software development phases, specially in the testing stages. It is likely that humans might fall to errors and get overworked while trying to comprehend enormous amounts of data. One crucial factor in assuring top quality is to collect data from end-users, and by doing so, it helps the dev team decide on what should be tested based on data gatherings and test configuration and combination. Test configuration can amount to millions of potential scenarios, and data-driven tests are essential to the testing process only running this data through smart analysis allows the testing teams to narrow down the number to prioritize the most valuable tests. #2 Challenges Regarding Time Organizations are constantly looking for ways to drive the Dev-Ops process even faster, and relying on smarter methods can further drive the cycle even faster and ensure better quality at the same time. While Agile methods can result in more organized and accurate outcomes, they can also take a heavy toll on the dev team. We must produce test configurations and test, and then the dev team must make the changes and wait for another testing cycle or sprint to ensure that no further changes are needed regarding the scenario at hand. Speeding this process and ensuring the same if not better quality of results can only be done via smarter AI solutions. By analyzing quality trends and assessing code-changing risks, developers can then plan for better more efficient sprints. #3 Keeping up with mobile and app advancements With the current state of exponential growth of mobile devices and mobile application services, it is getting more and more complicated for developers and testers to keep up. Most Mobile Operating Systems (OS) come with an SDK (Source Development tools) which are used to create native programming languages that are suited for each OS and each device. This accounts for many combinations which are still unstable as things are changing fast. Leveraging AI in the testing process can simplify things and assure the inclusion of all modern updates. #4 Integration Testing Within the Agile structure, QA has become a bottleneck or a speedbump. This is because while it is an essential step, there is little that can be done when it comes to constant updates and changes, we need to constantly test with each change! And while software development is shifting more to the front-end, testing on the front-end could be fragile. That is why we need to make the most of the AI to run more integration tests. #5 Continuous Monitoring Existing new possibilities lay ahead in the world of software development, and it is only fair to extend the same level of advancements to the world of testing services. In future years, we will begin to see automated functions running in the background always analyzing every level of code. The Use of AI can help establish the foundation for such continuous progress as it is difficult for human labor to keep track of every degree of development. Cognitive Automation As mentioned, one challenge facing software testing is our need for continuous testing. Doing so allows us to confirm expected behaviors and check for any changes or anomalies. This task is better done through AI, and we could allow automated tools to adjust and customize themselves to perform this process. QA engineers must harness the benefit of AI and make use of every viable way to automate the testing process, this allows for more time for creative thinking and planning for more tests and areas to serve the overall project. The need for human intervention in software testing will always remain, the key is to adapt and collaborate with automated means, and not to eliminate one on account of the other. For as long as the software is designed to be eventually used by humans, the need for human testers will only grow more as applications are getting bigger in scales of usability. AI Testing and Shifting Left In recent years, and with the emergence of such work models like agile and DevOps, testers started shifting left, which means testing is now becoming more present in the initial stages of development. The role of AI in shifting left is that it asserts cooperation values and by doing so allows the development teams to co-exist and align better with the testing team. One way to deliver better quality to the product is to involve the testing team in more stages, such as early planning and sprint execution. Q-Pros Q-Pros is a leading IT company that provides testing services at all levels, we at Q-Pros rely on manual and automated testing methods and tools to assure the best quality for our clients. We plan and strategies testing plans custom-made and crafted for our unique clients. The role of AI is eminent, we strive to lead the way in innovation and creative testing. Read more on how we plan to leverage AI in software testing. In Conclusion Software testing involves a set of unavoidable challenges. It comes down to either working hard or working smart; while we intend to do both, it is of extreme importance to remain on top of modern advancements. Establishing good foundations with AI and ML tools is a huge asset for software quality. Automation allows us to analyze data in real time. Through AI we gain more information from data builds, code changes, and test history, narrowing down thousands of possible configurations. By empowering the testing team through Automated tools, we receive better and quicker results. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

17Nov

Test Automation and Calculating ROI: Automated Tests’ Role in Improving the Return of Investments

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? ...

10Nov

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. ...

12Oct

What is The Global Star Rating System aka “7 Stars program”?

by q-pros

in software testing

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The United Arab Emirates is one pure example of thriving success. Over the years, the country has witnessed exponential growth across all fields and levels. In both Governmental and Private sections, the UAE has preserved a reputation of being a model of institutional excellence. A model that is truly worthy of following. This level of quality is achieved only through constant diligence and utter devotion, among many values that reflect wisdom in leadership and ethical thinking. This set of principles is portrayed clearly in what is called “The Global Star System for Services.” A prestigious ranking and service assessment system that empowers entities to enhance customer experience and service delivery across all channels. In this article, we will take a closer look at the 7-star program and how we at Q-Pros align our criteria to fit with such top-quality models. The Global Star Rating, Definition, and History The Global Star Rating System for Services is a service assessment model that seeks to enable institutions to better their customer's experience and services across all channels. The model intends to generate world-class services for all customers, upping the global standard for customer experience. The 7 Stars Program was created to pave the way for both private and public sectors. It looks to ease and facilitate customer engagement and preserve top-quality services with time. The Global Star Rating System (GSR) was launched by the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister in 2012, striving to increase the level of efficiency of government services. When it began, 19 service centers were part of the scheme, and in 2014, only 2 years later, that number grew to 159 centers. In the beginning, participation in the program was voluntary. The Emirati government would go about raising awareness programs and workshops to encourage entities to join. This would change later in 2015 when participation became obligatory for all government service centers. Every two years, awards are given based on an evaluation of participating institutions. “The government of the future needs to be hospitable like hotels and run 24/7 like airlines. All services need to be in one-stop shop” H.H. SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT 2013 The service delivery framework - The Global Start Rating system consists of 8 pillars used for the assessment. These pillars are supported by 35 elements and 233 questions that are assessed based on Maturity level. The star system model maturity levels are: Basic Developing Maturing Leading The Service framework consists of three main blocks: Strategy (The Why) - The entity would set out service delivery goals based on objectives and priority. Service delivery (The What) - This benefits the overall customer experience by defining the specifics of the service at hand, it also defines the channels and levels associated with the service. Enablers (The How) - To achieve the desired level of quality of service, entities need to empower themselves with a proper supporting process, organizational culture, and human capabilities, as well as information management systems. The Global Star Rating System (GSR) Focuses on 6 main Delivery Channels: Customer Happiness Centers: Cost-efficient service delivery. Digital Channels: Reaching a 7-star service satisfaction level on all access points, in-Person, Online, and via Phone. Contact Centers: Setting out towards an Ideal customer experience through training customer service agents and achieving customer satisfaction. Shared Service Center: Shared Service Centers are partnerships between different entities to achieve customer satisfaction by aligning the work and centralizing the access. Smart Service Centers: A service provided by the government to provide services via smarter and technological means, this in return guarantees a more efficient experience to a wider range of customers/users. Outsourced Service Centers: A partnership between both the public sector and the private sector to provide services for customers. Our Role at Q-Pros As a leading testing service provider and pioneer in the world of QA (Quality Assurance), we align our criteria and standards to guarantee our clients (Governmental and private) a 7-star rating. We have worked and achieved such status with our clients in the UAE for years, and we plan to grow even bigger with our clients. Quality Assurance and Software testing are key factors for both governmental and private entities' success, ensuring bug-free and defect-free software is essential for standard quality. Setting out to guarantee "World class services" the Global Star Rating system hopes to continue elevating the standard for customer experience on a global scale. The regressive effort by the UAE government is paving the way for a more global movement to scale up customer services. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...

16Mar

7 Principles of Software Testing

by q-pros

in software testing

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Software testing is an essential component of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). Testing software reveals flaws, faults, defects, and the overall quality of the built software. This post will look at seven software testing principles that can improve the testing process. What is the Importance of Software Testing Principles? Software testing principles outline how software testers or testing engineers should write code. Engineering isn't a science where you can wave a magic wand and turn variables into clean code. But basic guidelines can help you ensure your code is bug-free, understandable, and maintainable. This section will go over the seven fundamental principles of software testing. Let's take a look at each of the seven testing principles individually: ● Defects are found during testing. ● Exhaustive testing is impossible ● Early-stage testing ● Defect clustering ● Pesticide Paradox ● Testing is dependent on the situation ● The absence of error is a fallacy 1. Defects are found during testing. We can only determine whether or not the application or software has any flaws during testing. The test engineer will run the program to ensure that it is free of bugs and faults. The primary purpose of testing is to discover any problems because the complete test should be traceable to the customer's desire. We can reduce the number of bugs by testing any program. While running various forms of testing on the software, it may appear bug-free at times. The software will be deployed to the production server if the end-user detects no defects during the testing phase. 2. Exhaustive testing is impossible. Your test coverage may be kept excellent with diligent planning and evaluation. You can ensure you are testing the most critical functions without testing every single line of code. It can appear to be quite challenging to try all of the modules and their features during the actual testing process using effective and ineffective combinations of input data. Because product timelines will not allow us to do such testing scenarios, we can complete this type of variation according to the importance of the modules. 3. Early Testing Early testing in software development refers to introducing testing as early as possible. It's an essential part of the software development process (SDLC). Modifying issues early in a project's life cycle is far less expensive and time-consuming than amending difficulties later in the project's life cycle. Program testing should start at the beginning, during requirement analysis, to increase software performance. Software testing should start at the very beginning, during requirement analysis, to optimize software performance. In the first scenario, you discovered an inaccurate requirement during the requirements-gathering process. Fixing an incorrect need is less expensive than improving an entirely created capability that doesn't operate. 4. Defect clustering Defect clustering is a term used in software testing to describe a small module or feature with the most defects. This could be due to variables such as the modules' complexity, the coding connected with them, etc. The Pareto Principle (80-20 Rule) states that 80% of problems are caused by 20% of modules and that the other 20% is caused by the same number of modules plus some extra 'human error'.As a result, we concentrate our testing efforts on the 20% of modules that account for 80% of the problems. 5. Pesticide Paradox The Pesticide Paradox is a term used in software testing. It describes the habit of repeating the same test cases repeatedly. This leads to software developers writing tests that pass, so they don't have to worry about damaging or edge scenarios. Often making the same difficulties will eventually lead to no new issues being discovered - so it's important to re-evaluate and update them regularly. 6. Testing is dependent on the situation. Testing varies depending on the context; therefore, how you test an e-commerce site differs from testing a commercial off-the-shelf program. The software that has been created is not all the same. You can utilize a variety of approaches, methodologies, techniques, and types of testing depending on the application. Testing a banking application, for example, differs from testing an e-commerce or advertising application, and each application carries a distinct level of risk. As a result, you should not test various apps with the same approach, technique, or testing type. 7. The absence of error is a fallacy. The software we create must not only be bug-free, but must also meet business and user needs, or it will become unusable. If erroneous requirements are included in the program or the product fails to satisfy the business demands, even bug-free software may become unusable. It's a common misconception that users will flock to it if you design a bug-free system, but this is not the case. Software solutions must meet corporate needs and user requirements to be usable. So, no matter how faultless or error-free a system is, it is only a failure if it lacks usability and is challenging to use. Conclusion As you can see, software testing is based on seven principles that result in high-quality products. Incorporating these ideas into your testing can improve your overall testing strategy while increasing efficiency and focus. Incorporating testers at the requirements stage, for example, can assist in avoiding the "lack of mistakes fallacy" by ensuring the product fulfills customer expectations and needs. Our "Principles of Software Testing" blog comes to a close with this. I hope you found this article interesting and gained a solid understanding of the many principles. https://q-pros.com/online-test-request/ ...