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Crowdsourced Testing Vs Manual Testing

Crowdsourced testing is an emerging trend in the field of software testing. It is an approach which involves different people with different backgrounds across the globe in testing process. The testers need not be mandatorily from testing field or with an IT background, but having a basic knowledge of using a computer and access to the internet is sufficient. The testers are connected through a crowdsourcing platform and tests are conducted by multiple individuals at different locations.

It adds multiple dimensions to manual testing process by providing a diverse and temporary workforce, thus aiding the organizations with limited testing bandwidth in achieving quick results.

It is natural to assume that crowdsourcing is similar to manual testing and sometimes deemed as an extension of manual testing, but they have certain fundamental differences.

This blog helps in understanding how crowdsourced testing is different from manual testing approach.

Crowdsourced Testing Manual Testing Execution SpeedFastSlowScalabilityHighLessDevice CoverageHighLimitedLocalization testingHighLimitedVaried End user testingHighLimitedQuality of TestingMediumHighQuality of Exploratory TestingLowHighTest BrittlenessLow ( breaks easily)HighPeople ManagementLowHighCostLessHighTest Case ContentVery detailedTo the pointCommunication between testersVery limited High Confidentiality issues Yes No Fraud Tracking Thorough auditsModerate audits

Conclusion

Crowdsourced testing is not a replacement for in house testing. It accentuates the quality of testing by providing additional dimensions to the whole process.

Crowdsourcing offers different values as compared to manual and automation testing. Combining all three forms of execution offers a higher quality, faster overall execution time and the highest quality of defects. However, it comes with some challenges and for better understanding of how Webomates handles them, read “Overcoming the challenges of crowdsourced testing” on our website.Read for more : Crowdsourced testing

If you are interested in learning more about the services offered by Webomates then please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com. You can also avail a free trial by clicking here.

Crowdsourced Testing Vs Automation Testing

Crowdsourced testing is an innovative way to reap the benefits of crowdsourcing and cloud platform. It enlists the services of a community of testers, who collaborate online to test an application in addition to already existing testing processes of an organization. Crowdsourced testing involves leveraging on benefits of having a heterogeneous mix of people using diverse testing environments, which results in low cost, efficient and fast testing process.

Automation,on the other hand, achieves precision and speed that is difficult to match. Furthermore, integration with a CI/CD is easy with automation. However, automation, though efficient, does not have the creativity and vision of humans.

Human supervision and intervention cannot be completely excluded from the testing process. And there may be scenarios where in house resources are scarce and organizations look for suitable alternatives like Crowdsourcing as it is easier to adapt to modified test cases.

In our previous article we talked about how crowdsourcing is different from manual testing approach. We will now examine how Crowdsourced testing is different from automation testing approach

Crowdsourced Testing Automation Testing Scalability High High Re-run CostHighLow Device Coverage HighHigh Localization testing HighLowVaried End user testing HighLowQuality of TestingMedium HighExecution SpeedMediumFastCost of TestingLowHigh Test Case ContentVery detailedTo the pointAdaptability to change in test casesHighLessSupport for Exploratory Testing Yes No Need for proficiency in programming NoYesConfidentiality issuesYesNone Fraud TrackingThorough auditsNot required

Conclusion

Both types of testing, i.e. Automation and Crowdsourced, have their own range of benefits at the same time they pose certain challenges as well.

Initial cost of setting up an automated process for testing acts as a deterrent to many cost conscious organizations. However, it does prove beneficial in the long term, especially with CI/CD. It is important to identify and choose the right automation tool for long term benefits.

Crowdsourced testing is a powerful approach which harnesses the power of crowd talent and wisdom.It offers different values as compared to manual and automation testing. It scales as compared to manual testing and is more flexible than automation testing . However, it comes with some challenges and for better understanding of how Webomates handles them, read “Overcoming the challenges of crowdsourced testing” on our website. Read for more Information : crowdsourced testing

If you are interested in learning more about the services offered by Webomates then please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com. You can also avail a free trial by clicking here.

https://www.webomates.com/blog/automation-testing/crowdsourced-testing-vs-automation-testing/

Selenium GRID

Selenium testing automation is the pre-eminent open source software test automation system in the world of testing. Part of the rise in popularity of selenium was the addition of Selenium grid which allows for parallel test case execution, thus significantly reducing time for regression. In addition, selenium grid enables multiple parallel environments to be simultaneously tested. This article starts with a short overview of selenium and then dives into depths of Selenium Grid.

Overview of Selenium

The first automation tool that comes into our mind when we listen to the word “Automation” is “Selenium”. It is the most widely used automation testing tool for testing web-based applications.

The organizations want to shorten the test suite automation cycle duration, and Selenium GRID is architectured to address this core problem. Webomates CQ framework supports distributed execution while using advanced elastic features in AWS and exhibits AI-based reporting. Webomates has a patented technology for multi channel testing, which reduces the test suite execution time immensely while getting maximum code coverage.

Selenium is a free/open Source Automation testing suite for testing web applications. It was developed by ‘Jason Huggins’ in 2004.

Selenium is a software suite with following components:

Selenium IDESelenium RC (Remote Control)Selenium WebDriverSelenium GRID

Selenium IDE: Selenium IDE enables the browser for record and playback. It is supported only on the Firefox browser.

Selenium RC (Remote Control): It resolves JavaScript’s ‘Same Origin Policy Issue’ and is a server that acts as an HTTP proxy and enables the browser to believe that Selenium Core and the web application come from the same domain.

WebDriver: it is a cross-Platform testing framework that can control the browser from OS Level. It is supported by multiple browsers, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.

Selenium GRID: Selenium GRID was developed by Patrick Lightbody. Initially, he named it “Hosted QA”. It was primarily developed for minimizing the test execution time. Its architecture (hub-node model) enables the user to run multiple test cases simultaneously in a distributed environment (on nodes). This is mainly used by organizations having needs to execute large regression suites on the cross-platform environment on a recurring basis.

Now that we have seen a quick overview of Selenium, let’s explore more about Selenium GRID. Selenium GRID is a feature of Selenium, that allows running test cases in parallel. It is a network of connected test case execution machines. Further, it enables running test cases on different Operating systems, browsers, configurations, etc. based on the application and requirement. Selenium GRID reduces the time of test execution multi-fold. It is based on a distributed (Hub-Node) model.

Benefits of using Selenium GRIDSelenium GRID Architecture

Following diagram represents Selenium GRID architecture.

Grid Composition

Hub: Orchestrator/Master/Central Point of test cases. There is only one Hub in a GRID. It communicates and orchestrates test execution on all nodes simultaneously.

Node: Any test machine that is added to the hub, that performs test executed based on a command from Hub. Nodes run their Selenium Browser Drivers. Nodes are Independent of each other.

Execution: To run test scripts on the Grid, one should use the DesiredCapabilities and the RemoteWebDriver objects.

DesiredCapabilites is used to set the test node configurations like browser/version and OS/version that we will be used in automationRemoteWebDriver is used to set which node (or machine) that our test will run against.

While executing test cases locally, the WebDriver client libraries talk to theWeb Browser Driver directly. Now, when you try to execute your tests remotely, the WebDriver client libraries talk to the RemoteWebDriverserver and the server talks to either the Firefox Driver, IE Driver, or Chrome Driver, whichever the WebDriver client asks for.Read for more : selenium testing automation

More Details : https://www.webomates.com/blog/automation-testing/selenium-grid/

Crowdsourced Testing : Introduction and Benefits

”Crowdsourcing is the practice of getting a task or project executed by enlisting the services of a large number of people via the Internet. There are several systems on the market such as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk that can be used to distribute regression tasks to thousands of people. Technically this is manual testing, but the key value is that the manual tests can be carried out with on-demand resources and the scale can be very large.

Curated or non-curated crowdsourcing Curated means do you want resources that are selected/tested/filtered for a skill. In the case of curated regression testing the people that are selected are those with a QA background, with various offerings providing resources with upto 5 to 10 years of experience in QA manual testing. In non- curated resources anyone that has a computer and can read and execute the instructions that are provided for completing the task are utilized for executing the task.

Test case based testing- crowdsource style There are systems on the market that require the creation of test cases by the customer. Others offer test creation as part of the service for a cost. In either case once the test cases are created, when the next software build is available, the test cases are distributed to crowdsource resources. This allows for hundreds or even thousands of test cases to be carried out in parallel. Although not as fast as scaled automation testing, the result is that test case based regression can be carried out far faster than typical manual testing, in hours as opposed to days. There are several issues that have to be thought through in this case:

Quality of testers – Was it accurate?

Fraud – Was the work done?

Platform availability – Do testers have the requisite browser, OS and mobile platforms?

Test case writing effort

Exploratory testing – crowdsource style Here testers are focused on finding defects without any script or guidance. The wrinkle here is that you are working with an arbitrary pool of resources on the Internet. The companies that offer this service typically uses a curated set of QA crowdsource resources. The focus is on finding defects in a focused amount of time. There are a couple of concerns that come up with these kinds of services:

Quality of testers

Fraud

Number of defects found

Qualify of defects – the severity/priority of defects for the customer

Crowdsource vs Manual vs Automation

Why Choose? Clearly, crowdsourcing offers different values as compared to manual and automation testing. Combining all three forms of execution offers a higher quality, faster overall execution time and the highest quality of defects.

Webomates offers a regression testing service that uses manual testing, automation and crowdsourcing testing together to guarantee all test cases(even modified ones) are executed in ONE day with exploratory testing! In fact, the output is a list of prioritized defects for software teams to review and fix.

What is Agile Testing?

Agile testing is the software practice that is in sync with the Agile Development methodology.Agile Testing is the software practice that is in sync with the Agile Development methodology.

Agile Testing can be integrated with the Project lifecycle and is a continuous testing process.

It is on par with development. It is a collaborative effort between everyone involved in the project — Project Owners, Developers, and even sometimes customers Agile Testing enables to capture of defects from the beginning of the product development and results in fewer defects at the end of the releases.

Many companies have a separate dedicated team that is involved in Agile testing.

For More understanding on Agile testing read more at our blog what is agile testing

If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

Agile Testing

Agile testing is a continuous testing process which is iterative in nature and aligns itself with Agile Development Methodology.

The Agile development model is iterative and incremental. Agile approach in Software Development revolves around collaboration, transparency, flexibility and responsiveness to feedback throughout the software development lifecycle .

Agile testing is a continuous testing approach spanning all the phases of development until delivery to the end customer.

Core Principles/Values ​​of Agile Testing

Testing is Continuous and not just a phase Testing is not phased at the end, but is done throughout the project development life cycle. Testing is a collective responsibility Traditionally, testing was done by a team of Quality Assurance individuals.

But in Agile approach, everyone ie developers, analysts, QA team is involved in testing from the very onset of the project as one agile team.

Development approach is test drivenIn Agile testing process, the test cases are written along with customer requirements analysis. (A popular form of agile requirements is the story, which conventionally includes acceptance tests.) This ensures that the tests are aligned with the end goals. Hence, the development process is actually test driven.

Focus on people and their interactions This principle implies that there has been a paradigm shift from stringent processes to flexible approach which encourages free communication flow between teams. It means that agile testing can leverage tools and processes as much as possible, but positive outcomes will happen only when there is communication between the teams regarding test results and fixing them as soon as they are discovered.

Feedback is continuous Agile testing process makes sure that there is a continuous feedback loop for bug reporting and fixing, and even requirements and plan changes. For example, if a story has too many defects to fix in the current sprint, it can be pulled and deferred to the next, or another comparable in effort story or set may be pulled if they are lower in priority.

Improved Collaboration with CustomersFrequent interaction and collaboration helps in establishing better understanding between the working team and the customer. It also helps in checking whether the progress of work is in sync with the delivery (eg sprint or iteration) plan.

Focus on stable and working software at every rollout point The aim of agile testing is to ensure that a functional and usable software is ready after every iteration. Continuous testing , feedback and bug fixing cycle plays an important role in this.

Keep the Code clean The defects are fixed as soon as they are reported. This is done within the current iteration instead of delayed fixing. This ensures that quality is maintained.

Responding to change A disposition towards embracing change is the key for implementing agile testing process. Testing process and plan are defined keeping in mind certain requirements. There should be a provision and flexibility to implement any change request raised by customer or process.

Easy to manage Documentation Documentation is important, but the key is to document the right things . Agile methodology encourages usage of reusable test plans and checklists which can be shared across the development and QA teams.

Agile Testing Quadrants

Developers/Testers need to have clarity about end goals of testing for designing a good test plan.

Tests could be either Business facing or Technology facing . As the name suggests, Business facing tests are designed to address the business needs. Technology facing tests are designed within the gamut of technological domain.

Another aspect to consider is whether the test is supporting the team in product development or it is aiding in product verification.

These relationships can be explained with the help of Agile Testing Quadrants.

Agile Testing Quadrants aid in understanding the relationship between various types of tests which help the team address the business and technological needs by employing stringent testing approach, both manual and automated, at different phases .

Quadrant 1

This quadrant supports the team in developing and executing technology facing tests which results in high quality of code. The tests performed in this quadrant can be automated .

Quadrant 2

This quadrant supports the team in developing and executing business facing tests keeping business objectives in mind. This involves interactions between developer/tester and business stakeholders on a continuous basis. The tests performed in this quadrant can be either manual or automated .

Webomates CI/CD service allows the agile teams to do regression testing as a part of each build.

Quadrant 3

This quadrant provides feedback to Quadrant 1 and 2. The iterative tests performed in this quadrant verifies business needs with stringent testing. The tests performed in this quadrant are manual.

Quadrant 4

This quadrant focuses on non-functional requirements like security, stability, performance , scalability, maintainability etc. Special tools are employed to perform these tests. Some tests are also done using automation scripts.

Agile Testing Methodologies

Agile testing methodologies assist the teams in extracting maximum benefits for precise results.

Test Driven DevelopmentThis methodology focuses on unit tests. The developer writes unit test cases to address a specific requirement. The code is then written for those test cases. This fundamentally differs from traditional programming practice where developers write test cases after the code was written. The code should pass all the test cases for a specific requirement.

Behavior Driven Development Behavior Driven Development calls for higher level tests at business level equating to specific business goals. It encourages free flow of communication between project stakeholders, ie developer, tester and customer, for a better

understanding of the functionality of each feature. Behavior Driven Testing employs easy to understand language which non-technical people on team can also understand. This encourages better collaboration between analysts, customers and technical team. Read for more : Agile testing

If you are interested in learning more about the AI ​​tools or services offered by Webomates then please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

4 Reasons why you should not miss QA Testing

The contentious issue of Developer based testing vs QA based Testing

Developers make the code – to build the application. Testers break the code – to test the application and ensure its defect free. The Development and QA teams may seem two different teams on two different paths. However, the end goal of both teams is the same – a quality product that satisfies the customer.

Organizations nowadays are pivoting towards Agile DevOps delivery resulting in the developer-tester silos being shattered in the software development process.

The organizations are also intending to reduce the cost of testing without impacting application quality. With the need of rapidly shipping new features in time-boxed sprints, there is an ongoing thought-provoking trend of making the developers perform testing. This is called the Developer-based testing or Development testing.

What exactly is Developer-based testing?

The main role of a developer is to code new features or enhancements as per the requirements. However, it is also also important to ensure that the new code does not give rise to any defects when integrated with existing functionality of the application. So testing the code as soon as it is developed ensures quicker defect identification.

Currently, most of the developers perform unit testing, and few code-based tests to ensure that the particular unit of the application meets its design requirements and behaves as intended. Developers take the common approaches to write these tests – either Test Driven Development (TDD) or Behavior Driven Development (BDD).

Should developers test their own code?

Yes, because this is a good thing as it expedites the process of exposing and fixing coding errors. It helps in reducing uncertainty in a unit. However, any additional testing responsibility put on them may take away the coding time that they are pro at and lead to decreased coding productivity.

Why QA-based testing is so important and cannot be overlooked A chef may whip up exotic dishes with exotic ingredients, but unless the consumers are satisfied, it wouldn’t matter. Same goes for an application.

A developer may perfectly write a zero-error-code as per the requirement. But what if a page loads a few seconds late due to performance and load issues? What if there are security issues? “Our code is error-free’ will not come to the rescue and help you save face!

Development testing aims to eliminate coding errors before the code is passed on to the QA team. A developer focuses on a particular requirement or rather one part of the application and may not have a bird’s eye view of the entire application’s working or additional features being developed by other developers.

A product that has good functionalities would still lose its face value if it’s not user-centric.

QA-based testing focuses on the holistic approach and covers the full spectrum of testing like Security Testing, Performance and Load Testing required to discover a host of issues that would otherwise go unnoticed until production.

The Final Destination – A Good Product and A Happy Customer A perfect blend of both Developer-based and QA-based testing would ensure easy defect identification along with quality feature release. Hence, equal focus needs to be given on functional testing as well as non-functional testing that will help in bridging the gaps between business logic and user experience. ** Grumbles of the Developers**

Now that we have settled the Developer/QA based testing controversy, let’s get into the head of how a developer thinks and bust the typical stereotypes.

Does the development team think ‘QA does not provide any value? ** Why Developers hate testers

If yes, it’s time to rethink your testing strategies. Following are the 4 major challenges faced by developers, and effective ways to resolve them..

QA testing helps to improve product quality Lack of a Strategic Agile Testing Plan

Benjamin Franklin has rightly said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

Agile Testing is a continuous testing approach spanning all the phases of development until the delivery to the end customer. Ensure end-to-end functional and non-functional testing for a hassle-free release.

The Agile Testing Quadrants aid in understanding the relationship between various types of tests which help the team address the business and technological needs by employing stringent testing approach, both manual and automated, at different phases.

No bugs are reported by the testing team – Go exploratory!

Is testing just proof that no errors are found in the developer’s code? Not all defects are due to the developer’s coding errors.

What happens when there are zero defects in the code but it still fails? Go exploratory – A place where no scripted test has gone before!

The basic aim of exploratory testing is to pinpoint how a feature works under various conditions. It helps you scrutinize the potential risks by combining exploratory testing with regression testing. Read for more : QA Testing

At Webomates, we continuously work to evolve our platform & processes in order to provide guaranteed execution, which takes testing experience to an entirely different level, thus ensuring a higher degree of customer satisfaction.If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

Media: AI Enhanced Validation

Streaming across multiple devices is a fundamental expectation now. Consumers are increasingly reliant on streaming media.

For the first time, in 2019, the percentage of consumers with at least one streaming video subscription eclipsed those with a traditional cable TV subscription.

The demand for a seamless, multiscreen viewing experience across every device, every time makes on-demand video and streaming media testing all the more essential.

Challenges

The Media and Entertainment industries have an array of challenges like device availability, regression time & environments, UI complexity, Data integration, audio/video testing, latency testing, and multi geolocation and time zones.

Webomates is optimized for the media segment, and we provide production, mobile, TV devices, TV performance, and geolocation testing and is DevOps enabled Click to read more about this blog

If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

6 Best Practices that get you to robust Devops

An extension to the preferred agile model, DevOps’ adoption has been growing faster than ever, gaining tremendous fame in the past few years. Keeping communication and integration as the key, it leverages on collaboration between operations, development and businesses, thus ensuring seamless and efficient deliveries.

The increasing number of organizations leveraging on DevOps to unleash the untapped potential and close barriers amidst their departments to build quicker and robust software and execute a seamless delivery, shows the potential DevOps has.

Process-Automationn Proven Productivity Increase Data proves that organizations following devops have seen a business expansion by 38%, as well as a productivity increase by 51%. (source) However, despite understanding DevOps and its working modalities, many companies struggle to efficiently incorporate DevOps into their IT framework.

Perhaps because this is a mindset and cultural change to be adopted rather than as a checklist for mere actions.

Process Automation The most critical and essential step for a successful devops implementation is the end-to-end process automation. From infrastructure set-up, to configurations, from development, to testing and deployment – automation at all stages to ensure more frequent yet quality deliverables are met.

For instance in the testing process, an early identification of errors in development gives more opportunities for issues to be rectified as compared to the actual development phase. Hence, taking into account the continuous issues in parallel with ongoing development, a nimble automated testing adds more fuel to software development. Test automation can simply be achieved by determining priority test cases, then running and analyzing their relevance in different scenarios, and achieving quicker, consistent, accurate better quality deliveries.

Process automation at each stage is imperative to achieve DevOps.

Listed below are some DevOps best practices in process automation that can certainly help.

Integrated Configuration Management Integrated Change Management Continuous Integration Continuous Testing Continuous Delivery Security – Monitoring & Alerts Integrated Configuration Management As the essential part of operations, configuration management enables agility – the base to DevOps.

Optimizing the use of existing systems in place and maintaining system-wide configurations across networks, servers, application, storage, and other managed services, configuration management enables the development teams to look at the bigger picture.

It promotes utilization of the existing services during the software development rather than investing time and efforts in reinventing the new services from scratch. Click to read more about this blog : devops

If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

Manual Tester

Webomates is an exciting new start-up offering ground-breaking, patented Software Taas testing as a Service (TaaS) for IT enterprises that provides a lower cost and more efficient ways to perform software Quality Assurance.

We are looking for a dynamic and a fast learner for a Senior Test Engineer role.

The suitable candidate must have proficiency in manual testing The primary responsibilities will be to interact with the client, create test strategy, create test cases, review test cases, execute test cases, work closely with team members, internal and external stakeholders. Must possess the ability to adapt to a dynamic and agile start-up environment.

Click to read more : Manual Tester