Articles

Graph showing how testing earlier costs less and means fewer overall defects The Shift-Left Approach to Software Testing

The earlier you find out about problems in your code, the less impact they have and the less it costs to remediate them. Therefore, it's helpful to move testing activities earlier in the software development lifecycle—shifting it left in the process timeline. This article explores the shift-left methodology and how you can approach shifting left in your organization.

Arthur Hicken's picture Arthur Hicken
Icons showing test optimization 5 Ways to Optimize Tests for Continuous Integration

Many teams have existing automated test suites that are not included in a continuous integration program. Maybe the tests take too long to execute, or they are not reliable enough to give accurate results. Here’s how to assess your test suites in terms of value added and time to execute, along with five proven strategies to optimize those suites for CI.

John Ruberto's picture John Ruberto
Hand drawing automation gears For Sustainable Test Automation, Look beyond the Surface

When it comes to achieving sustainable test automation, having an appropriate test automation team structure in place is the most important first step to take. This article has some proven practices for a few different test automation adoption scenarios—led by an automation team or a regression team, and with agile adaptations—that have helped organizations enjoy long-term test automation success.

Maximilian Bauer's picture Maximilian Bauer
Monitoring dashboard with criteria set up Solving Production Issues Using Testing Tools

Standard web-monitoring tools can ping webpages and verify that they’re responding, but they don’t alert you to an issue. But you can use the technology in load testing to monitor your sites by running an interactive script that can detect issues and generate emails as needed. It runs constantly like a silent sentry, never sleeping or taking a vacation, improving your sites' reliability.

Nels Hoenig's picture Nels Hoenig
Legos 100 Percent Unit Test Coverage Is Not Enough

Many people equate 100 percent unit test coverage with high code quality, but that is not enough. Code coverage tools only measure whether the tests execute the code; they make no judgment on the effectiveness of the tests. Testers should review unit tests, even if they have high coverage levels, and either help improve the tests or supplement them with extra tests where necessary.

John Ruberto's picture John Ruberto
Continuous delivery Test Coverage in the Age of Continuous Delivery

Test coverage is a strategy to help us spend scarce testing time on the right priorities. When things were tested last, how much automation coverage we have, how often the customers use the feature, and how critical the feature is to application are all factors to consider. Here are some ideas for keeping quality high when you're transitioning to continuous delivery.

Matt Heusser's picture Matt Heusser
Data—binary code The Value of Making Your Data Sources Reusable across Test Automation Tools

Many automation tools have a mechanism for storing data used in their test scripts. Typically, the specifics of this mechanism is different across tools, making it difficult to use this data outside the tool itself. Using an external, reusable data source allows organizations to avoid the cost of migrating or duplicating existing data, thereby future-proofing their frameworks.

Paul Grizzaffi's picture Paul Grizzaffi
Shift right Testing the Unexpected: A Shift Right in DevOps Testing

When it comes to testing in DevOps, more than simple regression checking can be automated. By shifting right in the lifecycle and testing in production, you can analyze the undefined, unknown, and unexpected by relying on real traffic and unpredictable test input. With shorter implementation and release cycles, testing and production come closer together.

Stefan Friese's picture Stefan Friese
checklist 7 Test Automation Requirements for Higher Software Quality

An advanced, efficient test automation platform, combined with a more systematic and comprehensive architecture, can help boost quality assurance operations to a whole new level. In order to best maximize a software product’s reliability, consider these seven requirements for your test automation efforts.

Sammy Tam's picture Sammy Tam
mind map diagram Using Mind Maps to Create Comprehensive Test Plans in Your ALM

Mind maps work well for planning the test strategy and monitoring project status. Mind-mapping software makes all this easy, and the visual presentation keeps everyone in the loop. Ritinder Kaur shows how mind maps can communicate ideas clearly and help you execute them exactly to create a comprehensive test plan.

Ritinder Kaur's picture Ritinder Kaur

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