It's no secret that the later a bug is found in a software product, the more expensive it will be to fix it. If a bug is discovered after a product is released to the market, it can cost thousands of dollars or more to fix. Therefore, the question of how to avoid such "late" finds is of interest to any customer and team that works on software development. The answer to this question is continuous testing.
What is continuous testing? The name says it all. Continuous testing simply means conducting tests from the initial concept to the release of the finished product. And even though the app has been in use for some time, testing continues. The right testing should happen at every stage of the development process — from research to designing and publishing. Code generation also needs to be tested.
Even before developers write a single line of code, as in the design and assembly stages, there are errors. In fact, it has been shown that more than 80% of errors appear at this time. It’s best to have proper QA in place from the start of creating the product to prevent bugs from affecting the revenue stream.
How should you set up your continuous testing process? To get started, everyone on the team should agree on a development pipeline. This process should include the steps it takes to move an idea from commit to production deployment. Once this process is created, the team should analyze their current capabilities and select the best type of testing for their needs.
After evaluating the testing methods, you will decide which tests are best to determine whether or not the product is up to snuff during a certain stage of production. You will only use those test methods that meet your standards. So instead of using one method just before deployment, you will thoroughly test each stage. This is a quick and simple way to reduce the number of errors.
And now let's try to more formally identify all the stages of continuous testing (but keep in mind that this process may differ slightly on each project and each team):
Now let's speak about the benefits of continuous testing. There are many benefits to continuous testing, including:
However, this approach presents its own set of challenges, which must be overcome if continuous testing is to be successful. Let`s overview some of the most popular them.
The biggest challenge posed by continuous testing is the conventional testing process itself. This process is loosely defined and often results in inefficient use of resources and test environments. It is often difficult to replicate production environments in a test environment. This can lead to delays in identifying and fixing bugs.
Additionally, the complex application architecture and business logic found in many organizations today limits DevOps adoption. And, the lack of DevOps skills and the right tools for testing in Agile and DevOps environments can create delays and integration issues.
And, of course, one more of the biggest challenges is getting everyoneon board. Developers and QA need to work together closely to make sure that the process is followed correctly and effectively. In order to overcome all these challenges, developers and QA must work together to establish a continuous testing process that is tailored to the specific needs of their organization.This process must be well-defined and take into account the unique characteristics of the application under test. Furthermore, it is essential to have the right tools and skills in place to execute this process effectively.
Even though some developers always feel confident that their code is perfect, testers should check every stage of their work. Continuous testing can reduce the number of critical problems that arise. By developing a strategy for continuous testing, you can reduce the cost of fixing bugs if they are discovered later on.
