5 Tips to Run a Full Test Suite on Your Web Application

These days, there are an increasing number of web apps being created, and quality assurance testing is the key to a perfect web application. Because of this, it’s crucial to do thorough web application testing before a web application is ready for release to identify defects as soon as possible and ensure seamless operation. The reason for this is that if web applications are not well tested, there is a greater possibility that a bug may develop in the code. Even a small bug can have a major negative impact on how well an app works.

As a result, the automation testing process is a crucial component of web development and should not be undervalued by developers. Ignoring an application issue at an early stage could increase the expense of bug remediation at a later point. Correct execution will reduce problems like weak security on the internet, broken functionality, and cross-platform incompatibility. To make sure an application is completely functional, responsive, and secure, web application testing often entails several processes.

Additionally, to reach a wider audience, organizations need to regularly add new features to existing web apps to improve the user experience. This necessitates recurrent cycles of thorough testing under pressure to meet deadlines. As a result, automation is required to accomplish repetitive activities faster and more accurately.

In this article, we will go over 5 tips for running a complete test suite on a web application to enhance web testing for the success of the application. Let’s first define automated testing and web app testing before moving on to it.

Automation Testing

Repetitive testing is required during application development cycles, frequently the same test. To make sure an application complies with stringent standards, automation testing is required. Because automation operates rapidly and effectively, it can drastically cut down on the amount of time needed to test an application.  In essence, it’s a test to ensure that the application performs its intended function. It checks for errors, flaws, and any other problems that might occur during the creation of an application.

Automation testing is carried out using a specialized automated testing suite that enables the execution of a test case using an automated testing tool. It then compares the actual results with the anticipated or expected results and generates comprehensive test reports all without requiring human involvement.

Significant financial and resource investments are required for test automation. It is used to automate monotonous operations and other testing tasks that are challenging to complete manually. Automation’s objective is to minimize the number of test cases that must be executed manually, not to completely replace manual testing.

Automation results in more frequent testing and better overall application functionality. Moreover, confirming that the application is prepared to deliver or go to the following development stage. This validation encourages the team to keep working and produce more precise and reliable results than manual testing alone.

Web Testing

There is more to web applications than just simple informational websites. Numerous QA and testing issues are brought on by the rise in size and complexity, shorter development cycles, and frequent changes in requirements. Keep in mind that the likelihood of bugs emerging in the web application grows as its complexity rises. Additionally, if issues are left unchecked it can result in an extensive loss.

Web app testing is a critical and necessary component of web development that ensures that an app is functioning properly before release considering all the predicted concerns. Before being made available to end-users, a web application is tested for potential problems, flaws, and bugs. This process is known as web testing or web application testing.

Testers can rely on automation to ease the load of repetitive and routine work when testing web-based applications. It is a testing technique that executes automated test suites using a variety of technologies. In the end, it assists in relieving the majority of tedious and repetitive human tasks and results in reliability and efficiency. It also improves the user interface and performance.

Testing a web application, however, is not a simple task and depends on several variables, including the application’s compatibility with different browsers, performance, user experience, and acceptance, as well as the security of the application and its functionality following its defined requirements.

Web testing also reveals defects and problems, including rush hour traffic, integration difficulties, functional issues, security issues, and other possible dangers. It is a phase carried out both before the deployment of an application and during maintenance following its release.

Therefore, to achieve reliable and precise test results without lengthening testing durations, testers must perform a full test suite on the web application and evaluate every component of the website across platforms, browsers, and devices.

Tips to run a full test suite on the web application

Carry out a functionality test

When it comes to web testing, make sure that the application’s features are examined and that it performs as intended for a user. Functionality testing evaluates the database connection, every link on a web page, cookies, forms used to collect data from users, etc. In the source code, functional testing is done by feeding input into the application and comparing the output to the functional demands and specifications.

To speed up the entire app-building process and lower risks later in the cycle, it should be done early in the development phases. A website’s testing process might be time-consuming. That is why it is crucial to divide it into various functionalities.

To establish test circumstances that are relevant to user needs, functional testing aims to emulate actual application usage as closely as feasible to the real world.

Functional testing involves identifying the tasks that the application is expected to perform, entering data, running the test case, and analyzing the actual outcomes.

 Utilize performance testing to assess the application’s performance under various circumstances.

Before users utilize an application, it is important to check that its functionality functions as intended under excessive pressure. Performance testing, including stress and load testing, makes sure a web application can withstand prolonged periods of use at various internet speeds and that it functions properly under both normal and peak demands.

Finding out how the application responds to stress requires conducting performance testing. Minor errors in the coding or design may negatively affect how well a website performs. Therefore, it’s crucial to carry out load testing to assess how the application works under various loads and to ensure that it bounces back from crashes as quickly as possible.

 Focus on Compatibility Testing

Compatibility testing is crucial in an era of portable devices and various screen sizes to make sure that the web app operates as intended in all browsers and on all device types. The following are the components of compatibility testing:

• Browser Compatibility

The application might not function as planned in the targeted browsers by the time it is ready for deployment because browsers are routinely updated.  Despite utilizing an outdated operating system, users could have the most recent browser version.

By automating cross-browser testing, developers can determine whether an application is compatible with the most widely used browsers like Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and others, before an end user sees it.

• Operating System compatibility

On some operating systems, web applications may experience issues similar to those with various browsers. Various app parts get rendered differently by different operating systems. This is why it’s crucial to do compatibility testing on as many different operating systems as possible, particularly the most widely used ones like Windows, Mac, and Linux.

• Compatibility with Mobile

The mobile browser compatibility test should be performed as well because, as the name implies, it verifies that the app functions properly on all mobile browsers. Nowadays, smartphone compatibility is taken for granted. Web testing is crucial to ensuring that the developed app operates on all platforms and performs equally well on Android and iOS.

Select the appropriate variables for usability testing

Usability testing and user acceptance testing are not the same thing, yet both are crucial to the success of a web application and to keeping users engaged. The goal of usability testing is to ascertain how well testers comprehend an application, under given circumstances and demands, that is simple to use, simple to learn, and appealing to users.

Therefore, it is crucial to assess the applications’ usability using the most applicable criteria. It takes into account several factors, including UI design, speed, navigability, readability of the information, and accessibility.

The following steps are included in usability testing:

• Create a testing plan that makes sure to look at every aspect of the application. Which comprise content and navigation.
• Finding participants, both internally and internationally.
• Running the test under the observation of an expert team.
• Examining the findings and updating the application as necessary.

 Use security testing to validate all security issues

It is crucial to make sure that the web application is adequately tested for security after it has been created. Security testing ensures that the application remains safe from unauthorized access and adverse actions caused by viruses or other malicious attacks. This kind of testing entails identifying and fixing applications’ flaws.

The fundamental steps in doing a web application security test are listed below:

• Describing coding standards and quality assurance measures.
• Being aware of the security objectives and preparing the test while taking into account the application’s internal and external security requirements.
• Recognizing and listing all potential threats and weaknesses.
• Making a threat profile based on the mentioned risks and vulnerabilities and figuring out the best strategy to reduce them.
• In addition to manual testing, there should be automated testing.
• Creating the security test case document, running the test cases, resolving any errors found, and running more tests.
• Compiling a thorough report on the security testing, highlighting both the risks that have been resolved and those that still exist.

Automated Website Testing with Real Devices and Browsers Using LambdaTest

More users are using all kinds of applications, whether it is web-based, mobile, or desktop-based. In addition, there are numerous devices, browsers, and operating systems, each with numerous variations. They include a variety of standards & protocols, quickly evolving technologies, and minor but sometimes major discrepancies in connection speeds. There is no way that testing for websites will become simpler given everything that is going on in the application space.

Therefore, for developers and testers, automating test cycles has become an essential requirement. However, for automated website testing to be thorough and accurate, real devices and browsers must be used. This is especially true when cross-browser testing is involved. To monitor website behavior and evaluate how it renders and functions under actual user circumstances, QAs must execute automated website tests on a variety of different browsers, real devices, and operating system combinations.

To successfully conduct automated cross-browser compatibility testing, QA teams will need access to a sizable on-site device lab (constantly updated with newer devices).  Such a lab requires expensive setup and ongoing maintenance, which is very challenging.

To avoid this they can utilize a cloud-based cross-browser testing platform like LambdaTest, which provides access to a real device cloud of more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating system combinations for website test automation. Testers can use the LambdaTest infrastructure to obtain accurate results in real-world situations whether they are performing manual testing, automated Selenium testing, automated visual testing, or Cypress testing.

Additionally, testers have access to a variety of tools that aim to speed up and simplify testing. To maintain a strong automation pipeline, it supports integration with well-known CI/CD technologies like Jenkins, Travis, and CircleCI, making it one of the best platforms for the automated testing of web applications.

Testers may efficiently manage their test data with LambdaTest to improve test coverage and conduct data-driven testing. They can either import test data profiles to rigorously automate their tests or test their app utilizing a variety of test data inputs. LambdaTest can also be integrated with several debugging tools, enabling the capture of screenshots and videos to aid in the tracking of issues or defects and the quick reporting of such by email, Slack, Teams, etc.

With LambdaTest, testers can perform cross-browser testing on real devices, parallel testing on multiple environments and browsers simultaneously, data-driven testing, geolocation testing, to work with remote teams, access the app from anywhere in the world at any time, and many other tasks.