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Huxley – An Opensource Visual Regression Testing Tool

Huxley – An Opensource Visual Regression Testing Tool

Today we are going to take you through Huxley, an open source visual regression testing tool which was built by Pete Hunt at Instagram. If you would like to manage all your captured expected images inside your own repository instead of saving them in cloud and to explore free/opensource options for visual regression testing, then we would strongly recommend Huxley.

To start with we would like to answer the following question – Which is the appropriate time to go for Automated Visual Regression testing? Consider the following scenario, one of your automated tests is just filling values in few textboxes and clicking a button on a page. Once the execution is completed, the result will indicate whether the expected action is performed or not. However, it won’t report you the missing images and something doesn’t look right on the UI.

Our recommendation: Use static data to perform automated visual regression testing. So that you will not get screenshot mismatch errors due to test data change. Eventually, we are trying to avoid false positives.

Record Mode

Huxley uses Selenium WebDriver to launch an URL and records actions. To save an expected screenshot, you need to press enter on Huxley Terminal. The recorded steps and screenshots will be used to playback and compare the actual screenshots. Note: Huxley is no longer supported or updated by Facebook or Instagram. You can fork it to customize the project.

Playback mode

You can playback the recorded scripts and it will report the failures if there is any screenshot mismatch. By default, Huxley will overwrite the old screenshots with the new ones. Which means you don’t have to rewrite anything when your UI changes like you would with a traditional WebDriver test — Huxley will just take a new screenshot for you and when it’s checked in your test is updated!

In Conlusion:

We have already forked this project and making some improvements. We will publish a blog article soon with technical details & sample snippets.

All about Usability Testing

All about Usability Testing

Usability testing is a qualitative technique used for evaluating the design of a product or website. The technique involves the testing of the product with selected representative users to ascertain its user experience. With ‘usability’ essentially being the degree of ‘ease of use’ of a product, three qualitative variables determine a product’s usability – efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

To know all about usability testing, it is important to understand some fundamental aspects of this testing technique including its basics, setting up and methods.

Basics of Usability Testing

Usability testing technique is used in user-centric interaction design, to test whether it is easy for a group of representative to use the design. In other words, the focus of usability testing is measuring the capacity of a product to meet its intended purpose, in terms of its use by real users.

Usability testing is largely a kind of performance testing of a product. It involves the observation of users while they attempt the completion of certain tasks. This testing is carried out repeatedly at different stages of a project, right from the early development stage of a product until its final release. Usability testing holds great significance for computer interfaces, websites, web applications, devices and documents, as well as food and consumer products.

All about Usability Testing

Setting up a Usability Test

A realistic scenario is simulated in order to run a usability test – making it easier to assess ease of product usage. For the test a participant performs some tasks using the under-testing product, while evaluators carry out a ‘dynamic verification’ of the product by watching and taking notes.

Thereafter, a ‘static verification’ of the product is made by evaluators to gather feedback on the product with the help of various test instruments including scripted instructions, paper prototypes, and questionnaires. Businesses must use the services of a top software testing company to run this and similar tests.

Common Usability Testing Methods

With usability testing being a common practice of user research, usability testing services pivot around different testing methods. The common usability testing methods are:

Hallway testing This is a fast and cheap usability testing method during which evaluators ask a few people, at random, to use the product being tested. This method enables designers to identify problems at the early design stage of a new product.

Remote usability testing This method of usability testing is carried out in a scenario in which the participants and evaluators testing a product are in different time zones. In such a case, usability testing is conducted with the help of WebEx, GoToMeeting, QuickTime Player and other remote application sharing and videoconferencing tools.

Expert review In this method, experts from usability testing specialist companies ascertain the usability of a product. The testing of the product by experts is based on certain usability principles including system status visibility, user control, error prevention, system matching with real world, consistency and standards.

Automated expert review This quick and consistent testing method revolves around the testing of a product based on programs that lay down the rules for good product design and heuristics. For a QA outsourcing company, this method is crucial for testing a product as it underscores an ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) approach in usability testing.

A/B testing This method, also called split testing, involves a comparison of two identical ‘A’ and ‘B’ versions of a product, but with one variation that can potentially effect user behaviour. This testing is mostly carried out in web development and marketing.

Steps for Performing Usability Testing

There are four main steps to perform usability testing:

To create a test plan: A test plan is created for defining the scope of testing, identifying objectives, recruiting users, and establishing metrics.

To facilitate the test: Evaluators employing the usability testing technique should be good facilitators for the test. They should interact effectively with test participants, record the test sessions, and gauge the overall user experience.

To analyze case data: After a testing session, evaluators should analyze the inputs provided by test participants. All the information should then be put together to determine the emerging trends and gain insight into potential problems and their possible solutions.

To prepare test report: Usability testing should be followed by creation of a test report that includes a brief background summary of the test, the testing methodology, test outcomes, findings, and recommendations.

In Conclusion:

Usability testing is a cost-effective, convenient, accurate, and unbiased technique for examining the user experience of a product or website. It gives the evaluators precise information about what the users do with the product and the reasons behind the actions taken by a user. Based on this pertinent information, designers can benefit immensely from usability testing and create an intuitive and high-quality final product which is well received by targeted consumers. Connect with us for experts to conduct this and other types of testing, to create high impact products.

Defining Black Box Testing and its Advantages

Defining Black Box Testing and its Advantages

Black Box Testing is a software testing methodology that hinges on high levels of anonymity. Software testers who undertake Black Box Testing remain aware of the formal inputs and expected outputs; however, they lack knowledge with regard to how the program actually arrives at outputs. This technique is also known as a form of behavioral testing or opaque box testing based on functional specifications.

Some experts define Black Box Testing as “a method which is used to examine software functionality without knowing its internal code structure. It can be applied to all software testing levels, but is mostly employed for the higher level acceptance and system related ones.”

More Effective

The advantages of Black Box Testing include the fact testers are not required to have knowledge of software implementation or specific programming languages. This stance of software testing implies that a large body of testers can undertake Black Box Testing under the aegis of a given software development project.

Black Box Testing and its Advantages

Driven by Specifications

The test cases for Black Box-driven software testing regimes can be designed as soon as software specifications are complete. This implies distinct time advantages that allow testers to undertake detailed testing schedules. Such software testing techniques help unearth ambiguities or inconsistencies in code and software specifications. Some experts note Black Box Testing methods promote the point of view of the users, thereby allowing testers a unique perspective on test results and outcomes.

Lack of Bias

Black Box Testing offers unbiased tests based on the premise that software designers and testers work independent of each other. Under such software testing regimens, testers are at liberty to assess the reliability of a body of code independent of their knowledge of specific programming languages. In addition, the lack of bias reflects in the fact testers can author test cases while reading technical documentation.

Structured Test Plans

These software testing techniques hinge on methodical test plans wherein, testers develop a software testing plan; perform external interfaces testing; perform load testing and stress testing; undertake a security review of the code; and start a globalization testing schedule. These actions benefit software development programs by allowing acceptance testing and system testing procedures.

Structured Test Plans

Complete Testing Possible

The scope of Black Box-based software testing regimens includes an unending combination of possible inputs, states, and time sequences. This implies that software testers must undertake many sub-sets of tests before they arrive at conclusions. The sheer number of such tests can check the validity of a software program from multiple perspectives. However, testers can elect to plan defined test cases that target a specific feature of a software program. This is especially useful when testers seek to unearth potential glitches in a body of software code.

Spur of the Moment Tests

Black Box testing specialists can begin test regimes at short notice. This ability stems from the fact such coders need not peruse wide expanses of computer code that underlie a software product. The tester may simply try to use the software and note whether outcomes match the designer’s intent in developing the product. In addition, the social distance and critical distance between software developers and Black Box testers allows for a wide variety of outcomes independent of the expectations of the software designer.

Many Tools

A profusion of software vendors has developed tools that enable automated Black Box software testing regimes. Some of these functional or regression testing tools capture results of Black Box tests in a script format. Once captured, these scripts can be executed against future builds of an application to verify new functionality has not encroached on previous functionality.

Software Testing Tools

Multiple Techniques

Black Box Testing includes multiple testing techniques; these have been labelled as Equivalence Partitioning; Boundary Value Analysis; Decision Table; and State Transition. In addition, Black Box Testing includes functionality testing and non-functionality testing regimens. The former includes information on what the system actually does, while the latter gauges the actual performance of the software being tested.

In Conclusion

The listed advantages inherent in Black Box Testing regimens are easily provided by any top software testing firm. The enduring significance of Black Box Testing is resident in the fact such testing is undertaken from the point of view of the user; such testing also seeks to evaluate the performance of a software product in real world conditions, as opposed to the cloistered view of the software developer. We are experts in ensuring that the user perspective is taken into account while conducting this type of testing and more – connect with us and we will be happy to demonstrate.

Solving the Top Three Automated Regression Testing Issues

Solving the Top Three Automated Regression Testing Issues

Software development is a gradual process working with a bottom-up approach. There are cohesive teams, and numerous sub-teams working on different modules and functionalities being developed simultaneously and integrated later on for building a software application. Along the course, it is essential to ensure that the old expanded functionalities and the configuration of the software is seamlessly integrated with all the new additions to the pre-existing software application.

Solving Automated Regression Testing Issues

This is where regression testing plays a role. Conceptually, regression testing is nothing but a technique to ensure the compatibility of older developed software with the newly added functionalities.

Why is Regression Testing Essential?

Bugs in the software application are inevitable during the development phase. When the development team is cruising through the functionalities for building the foundation, there is a considerable possibility that many of the features might have some serious bugs. There are compatibility issues with the pre-existing application software. This creates a chain reaction that starts with a functionality which does not function properly. In addition, there are numerous interconnected workflows which are not processing information and executing features. It ultimately leads to the creation of many loopholes and nothing seems to work in the end. The consequences cause problems for the product managers as they drastically bring down the ROI, crash productivity and give rise to a significant increase in the time material cost.

Here are the three most common issues faced while implementing regression testing during test automation:

Incomplete Implementation of the Regression Test PlanIt is essential to lay down a proper test strategy which forms the basis of present regression test plan. The test plan should be frequently run with the test to ensure the best possible chances of highlighting the bugs in the software. The software development personnel should ensure that regression testing plan is executed and re-executed after every spell print. It can be fatal to implement regression test plan directly at the later stage. It can lead to finding fewer bugs and difficult to debug scenarios because of inter-related functionalities, which may have found existence in different past sprints.

Communication HurdlesDuring automation testing, it is highly critical to have a fruitful, easy to access shared communication channel between all the developers, testers, QAs, and product managers. It is a vital part of test automation that regression test plan execution is accompanied by clear communication. All the bugs and abnormalities which are encountered should be conveyed to the chief developers immediately. A delay in communication or misrepresentation of bugs can lead to ‘incurable’ circumstances.

Once the development has passed through the particular phase of developing a class of functionalities collectively called a module, it might be challenging to fix problems arising from unforeseen circumstances. It indeed leads to higher expenses in terms of time material cost, and there is a massive risk of fumbling around deadlines.

Solving Automated Regression Testing Issues

Call to Action: Low ResponsivenessRegression testing is all about creating test cases in sprints and then running them later to run a statistical test on the performance. The tests are highly critical for successful deployment and bug free application software. It can only be achieved with a proper call to action by people having specific roles and responsibilities. For instance, a substantial frequency of regression test plan is maintained during development. The bugs and issues found out during each execution should be handled then and there without any delay or further development.

It is advisable to keep the QA team well versed with the complex test cases. They should be in a comfortable position to analyze and fulfill the testing requirements to ensure proper functionalities.

In Conclusion

Automation testing is rising significantly, and is experiencing acknowledgment from the software development industry. Test automation is a combination of skill and in-depth analysis which requires human aptitude before successfully automating test cases. Gradually growing regression test plan is like an asset which helps the quality assurance team to ensure constantly good performance of the application software. Though none of the theoretical aspects can support a project filled with bugs and facing issues in deployment, an expanding general awareness, and in-depth knowledge are highly useful. We at Codoid have an experienced and highly skilled team to manage this and a lot more for your company. Connect with us now to allow us to help your business.