Testers, in their day-to-day lives, have to do many types of tasks. And to enable them to do those tasks there are many types of testing tools in the market too. These tools usually specialize in helping the testers perform a certain task. Sometimes these tools can be used to completely automate the tasks while at other times these tools can make the tasks easier.



In this article, we will try to broadly categorize these types of testing tools. The categories have been created according to when these tools are used.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Types_of_Testing_Tools">1 Types of Testing Tools</a><ul><li><a href="#Test_Case_Management_Tools">1.1 Test Case Management Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Case_Generation_Tools">1.2 Test Case Generation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Data_Preparation_Tools">1.3 Test Data Preparation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Execution_Tools">1.4 Test Execution Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Cross_Browser_Testing_Tools">1.5 Cross Browser Testing Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Coverage_Measurement_Tools">1.6 Coverage Measurement Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Performance_Testing_Tools">1.7 Performance Testing Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Bug_Reporting_Tools">1.8 Bug Reporting Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Project_Planning_and_Tracking_Tools">1.9 Project Planning and Tracking Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Incident_Management_Tools">1.10 Incident Management Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Screen_CaptureRecord_Tools">1.11 Screen Capture/Record Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Tools_for_Analysing_Logs">1.12 Tools for Analysing Logs</a></li><li><a href="#Other_Tools">1.13 Other Tools</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="types-of-testing-tools">Types of Testing Tools</h2>



<h3 id="test-case-management-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/test-management-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Case Management Tools</a></h3>



A tester&#8217;s life moves around test cases and bugs. For the management of test cases of different features, the test case management tools are used. Some examples of test case management tools are TestRail, Practitest, TestCollab.



<h3 id="test-case-generation-tools">Test Case Generation Tools</h3>



To begin with, test cases are created manually but when there are some patterns that can be repeated for test case creation, test case generation tools are used. Some teams create these tools in-house while there are some available in the market for standard test case generation techniques.



<h3 id="test-data-preparation-tools">Test Data Preparation Tools</h3>



When test cases need to be tested with a good amount of test data,&nbsp; use of test data preparation tools proves beneficial in many ways. They could specially be very useful for data generation during performance or reliability testing. These tools can also be used during functional testing and acceptance by testers as well as developers.



Features or characteristics of test data preparation tools are as follows:



<ul><li>Extraction of required data records from databases and/or files;</li><li>For “data cleansing” of production data such that it can be used for testing purposes without any fear of data theft;</li><li>For rearrangement of data and records to facilitate testing;</li><li>Setting up of existing data or generation of&nbsp; new data according to requirements&nbsp;</li><li>To generate similar test data (from a template) in bulk for volume testing</li></ul>



Some majorly used test data preparation tools are:&nbsp;



<ul><li>MOCKAROO: Generate up to 1,000 rows of realistic test data in CSV, JSON, SQL, and Excel formats.</li><li>DATPROF: Data masking, subsetting, provisioning and discovery</li><li>Informatica: Enterprise cloud data management and data integration</li><li>CA Test Data Manager (Datamaker): High-performance data subsetting, data masking, test matching, etc. The tool generates, stores, and reuse the test data in the test data repository.</li></ul>



<h3 id="test-execution-tools">Test Execution Tools</h3>



 These are the tools that are used to execute tests. These tools are also called “Test running tools”. Originally, these tools started with recording and playing test steps hence these are also called record-and-play tools.



Though as the requirements changed and tests became more complex, just record and playback was not sufficient. Then there was the need of some scripting support to create the steps such that the steps could be edited as and when needed.



Selenium was one of the first tools that supported conversion of the recorded tests to required scripting language. This made the test cases easier to maintain according to changing requirements.



Now, there are codeless/scriptless testing tools too that allow maintenance of these tests even without writing code or script. They use different technologies for this. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-automated-testing-is-not-the-same-as-record-and-playback/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read here about all such technologies in detail. </a>



One such tool is <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a> that lets you write test cases in simple English language. The test cases are easy to edit and maintain too as Testsigma uses AI in the backend to add to the efficiency for all maintenance related tasks.



<h3 id="cross-browser-testing-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cross Browser Testing Tools</a></h3>



These tools help execution of test cases on different browsers and devices. Some examples are Browserstack, Browserling. When a test execution tool integrates with the cross browser testing tools, the tool becomes more beneficial.



There are tools that do like Testsigma which supports integration with 5 Browserstack and 4 other testing labs for <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross browser testing</a>.



<h3 id="coverage-measurement-tools">Coverage Measurement Tools</h3>



Coverage Measurement Tools are used to measure the thoroughness of testing by measuring the number of items that the testing covered. The item can be a number of lines of code or methods or components or conditions.&nbsp;



One example of these tools are code coverage tools. There are different code coverage tools according to the programming language in which the code is written. These tools are integrated with other software development tools. For example, They can be&nbsp; integrated with building tools like Ant, Maven, and Gradle as well as with <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/ci-cd-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CI/CD tools</a> like Jenkins.



Examples of some open source code-coverage tools are: Cobertura for JAVA



Codecover for Java and COBOL



Coverage.py for Python



EMMA for JAVA



<h3 id="performance-testing-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/performance-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Performance Testing</a> Tools</h3>



The purpose of performance testing is to make sure that the application is able to perform according to expected standards even when the load is varied. The performance testing is used to measure the metrics that ensure that the system is stable and performing as expected. These can vary depending on the functionality of the application. But the most commonly measured metrics are: &nbsp;speed, response time, reliability, resource usage, scalability.



Some examples of famous performance testing tools are:



LoadNinja



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/jmeter-vs-selenium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apache JMeter</a>



WebLOAD



LoadUI Pro



Gatling



<h3 id="bug-reporting-tools">Bug Reporting Tools</h3>



When testers execute test cases or do ad-hoc testing, they find bugs and a tool is needed to report these bugs. These tools also easily integrate with the other tools in the software development life cycle.



Examples of some majorly used bug reporting tools are:



Bugzilla



BugHerd



Mantis Bug Tracker



The Bug Genie



<h3 id="project-planning-and-tracking-tools">Project Planning and Tracking Tools</h3>



These are the tools that are used to plan and track the software development activities. Examples of widely used tools are JIRA, Trello, Microsoft Project Planner.



<h3 id="incident-management-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/incident-management-systems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Incident Management Tools</a></h3>



Whenever a customer faces an issue and reports it, they are handled by incident management tools. These tools integrate with other software development processes and improve the efficiency and productivity of the team. Some examples of these tools are crisis control, freshservice.



<h3 id="screen-capture-record-tools">Screen Capture/Record Tools</h3>



When testers report bugs, they need to give all information they have such that the developers and management are able to understand the bug completely. For this, the best way is to send screenshots and <a href="https://www.veed.io/learn/how-to-screen-record-on-windows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">screen-recordings</a>.



Testers use many tools for this purpose. Some of most used ones are:



Screencastify: for recording your screen from a Chrome extension.



Apowersoft: Unlimited for mobile screen capture.



Snipping Tool : A windows tool for screen capture and recording



<h3 id="tools-for-analysing-logs">Tools for Analysing Logs</h3>



	Every application generates some logs during use. When testing, these logs can prove very useful for testers. They might need to add some logs to the bug reports too. To check and analyse these logs there are multiple tools that testers can use, some of which are:



Graylog



Nagios



Elastic Stack



LOGalyze



In addition to this, testers also use different tools in their day to day life to ease their day to day tasks. For eg. if a tester has to test the HTTP responses, they would use an HTTP proxy tool that will let them check the responses at a granular level. This is when they don’t need to automate the test cases. The examples of such tools are Fiddler and Charles.



<h3 id="other-tools">Other Tools</h3>



Another tool that has been designed to help think better is mindmaps. It helps testers to represent their notes in a easy to review, graphical format. One can note the test ideas, bugs, testing notes in the form of mind maps.



In the categories of types of testing tools we listed above, there are n number of tools in the market but all can not be used in all circumstances.



Many factors need to be considered before choosing the best types of testing tools for a purpose, most important of which are:



<ul><li>Optimized testing costs</li><li>Increased <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-efficiency/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing efficiency</a></li><li>Highest standards of Quality</li></ul>



Is there some tool that you would like mentioned in this list? Do let us know in the comments!

Different types of tools to help testers day to day life easier

12 Different Types of Testing Tools (Recommended by Tester’s)

<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Introduction">1 Introduction</a></li><li><a href="#Common_Challenges_in_Continuous_Testing">2 Common Challenges in Continuous Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Suggestions_for_Resolving_Some_Common_Challenges">3 Suggestions for Resolving Some Common Challenges</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">4 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>



Continuous Testing is the process of testing at all stages of software development – one after the another- without any human intervention. <a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Continuous Testing</a> is key to faster delivery of Agile products to the market. 



Continuous Testing makes it possible to eliminate testing as a bottleneck for faster software development and delivery. But the path to achieving Continuous Testing has its own challenges, most common of which are mentioned below.



<h2 id="common-challenges-in-continuous-testing">Common Challenges in Continuous Testing</h2>



1. Lack of Testability Support in Products: A test automation system is a very basic requirement for Continuous Testing. To achieve strong automated testing for a product, you need to have almost all of your test cases automated. But does the product have the testability support required to automate all test cases? Not always! If products are not designed, keeping testability in mind, achieving continuous testing may become a distant dream.



Achieving continuous testing for new feature work done in legacy products becomes more difficult if the product didn’t have testability support initially. Adding testability support to such products is expensive and may not always get prioritized as compared to other items on the product roadmap, draining down the efforts for Continuous Testing.



2. Lack of Standard Tools: For a variety of products, standard tools to achieve continuous testing don’t exist. Teams often resort to using in-house test automation tools or frameworks which are neither well-documented nor well-maintained. This adds to the woes of the testing team as they now have to struggle with the issues of the tool/framework also.



With in-house tools/frameworks, you have the benefit of code-ownership. You can make changes to the tool/framework to get desired behaviour, but that is a costly affair in terms of resources. You are now investing your resources to evolve the tool/framework rather than the product. Practically, teams don’t have the luxury to customize the testing tool/framework for their needs when they need to deliver a quality product on an impending timeline.



3. Lack of Faster Feedback Loops: To leverage Continuous Testing, it is important to incorporate feedback on an on-going basis. To incorporate feedback on a continuous basis, you need feedback loops in the system that can help you gather feedback in real-time. Lack of such feedback loops introduce a delay in action, later affecting the quality of the product.



For example, if one of the test environments used to run automation tests is down, an alert message for the same helps you act timely to rectify it rather than digging into the cause of the non-arrival of the test report for scheduled test automation run.&nbsp;



Similarly, it helps to have a real-time dashboard for performance which depicts the performance metrics over a period of time rather than digging into logs and code-profiler reports every time you want to check on a product&#8217;s performance. When such dashboards are accessible to everyone on the team, it helps in bringing critical issues to the table and gets them prioritized.&nbsp;



4. Lack of Testing Infrastructure: Often, organizations embark on the path of embracing Continuous Testing, without realizing the budgetary needs for it.



To implement Continuous Testing, you might need additional test environments that need to be maintained and kept up and running round the clock. You might also need advanced tools to incorporate faster feedback loops.&nbsp;



Although these costs aren’t significant as compared to the cost incurred due to the poor quality of the product, there is a need for organizational commitment. A half-way journey to continuous testing without adequate infrastructure only adds to the woes of the testing team and doesn’t help anyone.&nbsp;&nbsp;



5. Lack of Enough Testers: Most product teams don’t have enough testers, which sometimes creates bottlenecks for achieving continuous testing. Continuous testing is an on-going journey and requires high initial investments in terms of setup, which may create extra workload for testers.



Until continuous testing reaches the stage where it can replace the need for traditional testing, testers are often caught in balancing the efforts required for switching to continuous testing and their regular testing tasks that usually have a high priority w.r.t product needs. This adds to the pending backlogs for achieving continuous testing, creating a chicken-and-egg situation, where continuous testing can reduce the testing time but there is no time to set up continuous testing.



6. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-test-data-management-is-more-important-than-you-think/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Test Data Management</a>: Depending on the product and its testing needs, test data management sometimes becomes a bottleneck for continuous testing.



Test data when stored locally for testing environments may result in different versions of test data which may be difficult to maintain. Maintaining test data in a central repository and then accessing it from different test environments may ease this problem but may introduce other issues like network latency in tests.



7. Increased Complexity: As the scope for the product grows, so does the scope for continuous testing.



With a large number of tests added to the system, it becomes a challenge to make the tests execute quickly. If tests take too long to run, it defeats the whole purpose of continuous testing as quick feedback is not available. If not all tests are run, it seems like a compromise on the quality of the product. Also, if not all tests are run, it makes the effort of adding all those tests to the system go in vain.



8. Scalability Issues: Not all testing frameworks/tools may be suitable for scaling purposes.



Lack of support for large concurrent test sessions and slow test executions can become serious bottlenecks for your dream of achieving Continuous Testing.



Such scalability issues aren’t always noticeable in the beginning. They become clearly visible only after a significant amount of tests have been added to the system and the test system starts to get highly loaded. This makes the situation worse as at such a stage, it’s even more difficult to switch to a different tool/framework.



9. Inefficient Processes: Sometimes, the processes followed in the team/organization are not conducive for achieving Continuous Testing. Let&#8217;s check:i. Change in Requirements: If requirement specifications keep on changing frequently, it creates a lot of rework for the team, especially the testing team as tests may need to be updated every time there is a change in the requirements. This may adversely impact the efforts for continuous testing.ii. Unclear Roles and Responsibilities of Team Members: If the roles and responsibilities of team members are not clearly defined, it may result in ambiguous ownership of tasks. Such ambiguity can lead to redundant efforts on some tasks and some tasks getting totally ignored. Clear ownership of tasks is important in achieving Continuous Testing.iii. Excluding Testing Team in Initial Discussions: If the testing team is not included in all product-related discussions from the beginning, it would create gaps in the understanding which may impact continuous testing. Also, it would require additional processes such as hand-offs from Developers to Testers from time to time, adding inefficiency to the whole system.&nbsp;iv. Bureaucratic Approvals: If your team/organization functions with heavy bureaucracy and approvals are needed for every small thing, it can add inefficiency to the whole system which can make it hard to achieve continuous testing.&nbsp;



For example, if a test environment has gone down and you don’t have the required access privileges to bring it back up and need to wait on some other team/person for this, it can lead to inefficiency in the continuous testing pipeline.&nbsp;



<h2 id="suggestions-for-resolving-some-common-challenges">Suggestions for Resolving Some Common Challenges</h2>



Most of the common challenges discussed above can be worked around with the help of some suggestions discussed below.



1. Include Testability from Beginning:i. Testability should be part of the low-level design for the product.ii. Any feature developed for the product should not be considered complete unless it has the required testability support for Continuous Testing.



2. Evaluate Tools/Frameworks before Including them in the System:i. It&#8217;s good to evaluate any testing tool/framework for required support before getting bound to it by making it part of the system.ii. The right combination of open source and paid test frameworks/tools can be used rather than relying solely on open-source test frameworks/tools.iii. Having a defined set of parameters to capture results of experiments with new tools can help in a better evaluation of tools/frameworks in a much-organized way.



3. Evaluate Budget Requirements before Embracing Continuous Testing: Implementing Continuous Testing may need a significant budget for test environments and tools/frameworks.



Evaluating budget requirements before starting on the path of Continuous Testing helps in making informed decisions early rather than being stuck in the middle of the path due to budgetary constraints.



4. Leveraging Cloud-based Virtual Infrastructure: Cloud-based test environments can be made accessible instantaneously on demand. They also save testing teams from most of the headache associated with managing and maintaining traditional test environments. Leveraging cloud-based virtual environments can help resolve a lot of issues related to the availability of test environments for Continuous Testing.&nbsp;&nbsp;



 Using test automation tools that support test automation workflows on the cloud can further add to these benefits. Testsigma is one such tool.



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5. Have Enough Testers: Continuous Testing is an on-going journey and testers are the major contributors to make this journey successful. It’s good to have sufficient testers in the team to share the load, at least during the initial period of switching to continuous testing. Once your Continuous Testing pipeline is well established and you have completely done away with the need for traditional testing, you can then try to reduce the number of testers on the team as per the new need.



6. Efficient Test Data Management: Test Data Management can vary from product to product. Maintaining a central repository of test data helps to avoid fragmentation issues and facilitates easy updation.



To workaround, the latency issues in accessing central test data repository from test environments, the network topology of the environments can be customized to get the optimum experience.&nbsp;



7. Leveraging Distributed Systems: To combat issues related to complexity and scalability, the continuous testing pipeline can be designed as a distributed system. Most modern tools and frameworks support distributed architecture and can be used for scalability.



 Also, if you use a tool hosted on the cloud-like Testsigma. It gives you the ability to <a href="https://middleware.io/whitepaper/the-ultimate-guide-to-auto-scaling-your-application-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scale up and down your infrastructure</a> needs according to your testing needs.&nbsp;



8. Resolve Inefficient Processes: Processes that are inefficient and not well designed are bound to create bottlenecks in the overall effort of achieving continuous testing. Such processes should be resolved before they become part of the continuous testing initiative.



Read here about <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/continuous-testing-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Continuous Testing Strategy</a>



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<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



Continuous testing is an important component of the <a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-integration">continuous integration</a> and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. To make CI/CD effective, it is necessary to make continuous testing effective. Continuous testing needs to have organizational and infrastructural support to achieve the speed and reliability that can enable quicker delivery of Agile products to the market.&nbsp;

Common Challenges in Continuous Testing

Gartner did predict that <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3975352/2020-future-of-work-hidden-trends-rising-demand-for-remo" target="_blank">remote working will be a trend in 2020</a>. But no one imagined that it would emerge as the biggest trend this year. For obvious reasons of course &#8211; companies that are able to adapt to remote working are being applauded and other companies that had not thought about remote working ever are now taking measures to adjust to it.&nbsp;



Companies are trying to actively recognize any challenges that their employees are facing. A major challenge that software testing teams across the globe face today are the dependence on physical machines. Other reasons include dependency on infrastructure and internet for the execution of tasks.



Automation, in various ways, can help testing teams work better in the remote working environment. Some such ways are discussed below:



1. Automate your regression testing: <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Regression testing</a> may require significant effort if done manually by QE team and multiple iterations can make it more tedious and error-prone.



On the other hand, if the product has test automation in place, it can help a lot in quickly executing the regression tests after any code changes made by developers. This helps a lot in improving the team’s productivity by providing quick feedback on the code changes and catching bugs early on. Also, QE team can continue working on their assigned tasks, meanwhile, test automation is running, thus improving productivity.&nbsp;



Having reliable test automation goes a long way in improving product’s quality and providing the DEV and QE team with the flexibility to work on their own time.&nbsp;



From the perspective of remote work, it becomes all the more important. During remote work, when every person is juggling a number of tasks during the day. Having things automated reduces the burden of regression testing and makes it more efficient.&nbsp;



With <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing/automated-regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">automated regression testing</a> in place, developers don’t need to wait for QE to perform the regression testing and provide feedback on the code changes. QEs don’t need to be available at ad-hoc times to test changes done by developers and provide feedback. 



Developers can get immediate feedback on their code changes through test automation results and rectify problems if any. Thus, independent work in a remote setting becomes easy and manageable.&nbsp;



2. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-driven-development-testsigma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Test-Driven Development(TDD)</a>: In test-driven development, tests are created before the feature is developed. QE team automates the test cases for the feature to be developed and integrates them into the system. These tests would fail until the feature is developed and exhibits expected behaviour. Once the feature starts exhibiting expected behaviour, the tests should pass.



Similar to regression testing, test-driven development will ensure that developers don’t need to wait on the QE team for feedback. They get real-time feedback for their progress on feature development by running their code through the already existing test cases and analyzing test results.&nbsp;



When TDD is in place, QE and Dev tasks need not be tightly coupled. Thus, it helps in ensuring a flexible work schedule for everyone in the team in a remote work setting.&nbsp;



3. Continuous Integration and Continuous Testing: Continuous Testing is the process of testing at all stages of software development – one after the other – without any human intervention. These different stages could be stages of tests: unit tests, integration tests, acceptance tests and performance tests as well as stages of environments such as Dev, QA, Staging and Production.



A CI/CD pipeline ensures that any code changes are tested as soon as they are integrated into the central code repository. For example, when a code change is integrated into the centralized source code repository, unit tests can be automatically executed followed by integration tests and acceptance tests.



Having a CI/CD pipeline not only helps developers get immediate feedback on their work but also empowers everyone in the team to work as per their own schedule.&nbsp;



4. Schedule your automated tests to run in the off hours: To avoid being delayed because of the internet connectivity woes, it is better to schedule the test runs for the time when the internet usage is not at its peak. These will be your night hours usually.You can schedule the test runs overnight and analyse the reports in the morning. Use a tool that lets you send the reports to your emails as soon as the test run ends. Also, it should allow you to analyse the testing status from wherever you are.



5. Start implementing in-sprint test automation to avoid any spillage of automation activities beyond a sprint:If your organization is implementing scrum, it is better to follow in-sprint test automation for its success. When a story is considered done only after its test cases are automated too &#8211; it helps the testing team keeping up with regression testing and development every sprint. This also helps in getting better results from continuous testing and integration. 6. Last but not the least, If you have not already &#8211; choose a test automation tool that fits your project requirements:



If a team has not started on automation yet, this time is good to start looking for a good tool. The tool should fit your project requirements and should help enable remote work. Having a cloud-based tool at this time would remove any dependency on infrastructure hosting. Also, it can be accessed by the whole team from anywhere anytime helping distributed teams collaborate better.



<a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma is a completely cloud-hosted solution</a> that solves all your web, mobile and API automation needs in the same place. Also, it is completely cloud-hosted.



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Other benefits of Testsigma as the tool to enable your remote work include:



1. Just sign up to start automating2. Quick and easy test creation in simple English, thus easy learning curve for anyone.3. Test cases are executed on the cloud that helps in quick feedback for every test run.4. Highly customizable test execution. Tests can be created and executed as needed. You can run the whole suite, run on the cloud, run on the device, run a subset of test cases.5. Run the test cases in parallel without any additional setup6. Easy debugging and maintenance. If there are some resources that are impacted due to another unrelated change, Testsigma compiles and reports them in one place for an easy fix.7. Test cases for web, mobile and API &#8211; all can be automated at one place.8. Seamless integration with any CI/CD tools you are already using in your organization.9. End to End test execution and reporting on the cloud &#8211; including cross-browser testing.10. Detailed and customized reporting that can be accessed anytime anywhere.11. Easily include non-technical members in the test automation workflow for reviews and feedback.



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Tips To Overcome Remote Testing Challenges

We know that <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">test automation</a> is expected to make processes faster and easier in software organizations and also to enhance the quality of the software significantly. However, in reality, test automation fails around 64% of the time to deliver according to the expectations as per Cigniti.&nbsp;



Here are some of the main reasons why test automation fails for your web automation:



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#1_Unrealistic_Expectations">1 1. Unrealistic Expectations</a></li><li><a href="#2_One_Size_Fits_All_Mindset">2 2. “One Size Fits All” Mindset</a></li><li><a href="#3_Improper_Management">3 3. Improper Management</a></li><li><a href="#4_Ignoring_Manual_Testing_Completely">4 4. Ignoring Manual Testing Completely</a></li><li><a href="#5_Lack_of_Clarity_on_When_to_Use_Automation">5 5. Lack of Clarity on When to Use Automation</a></li><li><a href="#6_Improper_Staff_Selection_and_Resource_Planning">6 6. Improper Staff Selection and Resource Planning</a></li><li><a href="#7_Not_Giving_Attention_to_Test_Reports">7 7. Not Giving Attention to Test Reports</a></li><li><a href="#8_Web_Elements_With_Undefined_IDs">8 8. Web Elements With Undefined IDs</a></li><li><a href="#9_Ignoring_Parallel_Execution">9 9. Ignoring Parallel Execution</a></li><li><a href="#10_Selecting_the_Right_Tools">10 10. Selecting the Right Tools</a></li></ul></div>
<h3>1. Unrealistic Expectations</h3>



This is one of the most common reasons for test automation failure as people tend to have impractical expectations from test automation. The management expects their QA team to automate everything. It might sound pleasing but it is not realistic. Going for a 100% automation is practically not possible as there are areas which would need human intervention and inspection to avoid unnecessary errors and delays in the release of the software.&nbsp;



Example: Suppose you are using Selenium testing for performing automated cross-browser testing, the tool can help you render the display of your web pages across various browsers but if you have to decide whether the website is rendering according to the design, or to check if the typography of the text is appropriate, you have to do it manually.



<h3>2. “One Size Fits All” Mindset</h3>



This is another major reason behind the failure of test automation. Test automation doesn’t follow a “one size fits all” rule as the need, type and percentage of test automation vary as per the requirements. For test automation to work efficiently, you need patience along with continuous improvement. Example: Generally smaller software companies work on low-budget projects and automating everything can prove costly to them which can highly impact the ROI.



<h3>3. Improper Management</h3>



It is unrealistic to hope automation testing is doing some magic trick to solve all the problems when half of the team lacks visibility. Every team member should have the right knowledge and skill to perform automation testing as automation is a collaborative effort rather than a one-man show.&nbsp;



It needs regular team meetings, discussion sessions on tools, practices, processes to leverage automation effectively. Example: Proper implementation of automation requires specific skill sets. If a tester is unable to understand the development trends or what the development team is headed to, he/she wouldn’t be able to carry out automation testing effectively.



<h3>4. Ignoring Manual Testing Completely</h3>



Inability to strike a balance between automation testing and manual testing can often lead to failures. Automation testing can’t replace manual testing completely, rather it should be taken as a technology which gives you more time to manually focus on a set of tasks which need manual intervention. In order to make automation more effective, strategise your testing process keeping manual testing in mind.



Example: There are many instances where manual checking or intervention is required, especially in the case of UI testing as usually, automation lacks cognitive ability.



<h3>5. Lack of Clarity on When to Use Automation</h3>



Generally, people are not aware of when to automate and when or not which results in automation failures.



Example: For instance, it is good to automate various webpage functionalities, but it is not ideal to use test automation for evaluating images, padding, rendering issues etc.



If you are testing a stable entity which requires certain action to be repeated again and again, automation is good to go, but in case you are testing something which is prone to a lot of changes, it is not wise to use automation.&nbsp;



<h3>6. Improper Staff Selection and Resource Planning</h3>



The belief that any developer or tester can carry out test automation proves to be costlier for the organizations and can result in big blunders. To design, configure, and implement test automation, a specific skill set is required. If a tester is carrying out automation, he/she should have the skills to clearly communicate ideas between developers and managers. It is always wise to hire testers having deep technical knowledge. Even though the cost of hiring a technically-sound tester is high, the returns you will be getting will be worth it.



<h3>7. Not Giving Attention to Test Reports</h3>



As automation testing carries out a lot of tests, the chances of failure are high and hence it is important to analyze the test reports carefully. If you are not analysing the test reports carefully or not paying attention to the test results, the key faults might remain unattended causing a waste of time, resources, and efforts.



In automation, some tests pass and some fail, so it is crucial to analyze the cause behind the failures to uncover hidden problems and solve them on time.



<h3>8. Web Elements With Undefined IDs</h3>



Most of the time, developers fail to allot IDs to all the web elements while it is&nbsp;mandatory for every web element to have an ID for effective testing. Due to this, test automation fails. If the automated test script is not able to find these web elements within a prescribed time limit, the test fails. Hence, in order to make sure that the synchronization of the script is proper, the QA team has to allot unique IDs to all the web elements.



<h3>9. Ignoring Parallel Execution</h3>



Generally, complex test suites take a longer time for execution than expected which compromises the quality of the test queue in your test automation framework. The sequential execution of tests abruptly halt test cases due to queue timeout issues and is one of the reasons why test automation fails for your web application. Parallel execution of tests lets you execute multiple tests in different environments at the same time.



<h3>10. Selecting the Right Tools</h3>



As there are plenty of automation tools available in the market, it becomes difficult to choose the best from the lot which can meet their testing needs along with all the end objectives of an organization. Every tool is unique and has specific capabilities, but due to lack of expertise, teams fail to pick the one which is capable to effectively take care of their needs. Before selecting your automation tool, it is important to line all your requirements and expectations from the tool along with the budget you can afford. Check out the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="factors that help you choose the right tool (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/10-points-to-help-you-choose-the-right-test-automation-tool/" target="_blank">factors that help you choose the right tool</a>.



<a href="https://testsigma.com/"target="_blank">Testsigma</a> is a completely cloud-based automation testing tool which offers a solution to all your automation needs including mobile, web and API automation in one place.



These tests can be executed and reported within the same cloud. In addition, it provides the ability to add custom functions to add capabilities specific to your project.&nbsp;



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Thus, <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automation testing</a> can no doubt prove to be a productivity booster for your organization. The key here is to effectively tackle all the bottlenecks and challenges that it brings along.



Instead of rushing through the implementation of automation, it is crucial to know the roadblocks first. Proper analysis of the project needs, team skills,&nbsp; available budget and time, before a correct automation approach is adopted will help reap the benefits of automation testing in real.

10 Reasons Why Test Automation Fails

There are lots of applications that users use these days, some are accessed via the internet while some of them are installed on the user’s computer. The former being categorized as the web-based applications while the latter falling into the desktop applications category. Lets have a detailed look into Desktop vs Web Application Testing here.



There are a lot of differences in the operating mechanisms of both and some groups even consider either one of them as being better than the other.



Let’s briefly describe the basic definitions of each of them first and then describe in detail the underlying Desktop vs Web Application Testing differences that make them fall apart in certifying the quality of each of them.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Desktop_Application_vs_Web_Application_8211_Overview">1 Desktop Application vs Web Application &#8211; Overview</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_Difference_Between_Desktop_Application_Testing_and_Web_Testing">2 What is the Difference Between Desktop Application Testing and Web Testing?</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="desktop-application-vs-web-application-overview">Desktop Application vs Web Application &#8211; Overview</h2>



Desktop Application &#8211; Desktop application is a name coined for a general program used to run on a personal computer or laptop. This is a standalone software program which doesn’t depend on any internet connectivity for its working and its performance is not impacted because of any network related latencies. Few examples of desktop applications are MS-Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and calculator etc. Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/desktop-application-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Desktop Application Testing</a>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="733" height="485" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Desktop-App.jpg" alt="Desktop Application" class="wp-image-22358" /></figure>



Web Application &#8211; Web Application is a general application program that is stored or hosted on a remote server and is accessed over the internet via a browser interface. The Internet is the basis for these types of applications to work. Any network-related latencies result in performance hindrances in these types of applications. Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/web-application-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Web Application Testing</a>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="733" height="485" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Web-Application-Testing.jpg" alt="Web Application Testing" class="wp-image-22360" /></figure>



Advantages of Web Applications Over Desktop Applications



Here are a few advantages of <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-web-application-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">web applications</a> over desktop applications –



1. Web Applications are run via a browser, so the developers need not develop different apps for different platforms.



For example, an application which can run on chrome will run on both Windows and Linux. By just updating the application on the remote server, all the users can have access to the updated application.



2. Web applications serve better in terms of providing a consistent user interface across different platforms as the UI is more dependent on the browser than the OS.



3. The data processing and storage in case of web applications happens on the remote server which can be easily accessed by all the remote users instead of heavy file transfers across computers.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="848" height="485" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Web-app-vs-Desktop-App.jpg" alt="Web Apps vs Desktop Apps" class="wp-image-22362" /></figure>



<h2 id="what-is-the-difference-between-desktop-application-testing-and-web-testing">What is the Difference Between Desktop Application Testing and Web Testing?</h2>



Having gathered a sound understanding of how Desktop vs Web Application differ in short, let’s see the major difference between web application and desktop application in terms of parameters and how those differences impact the way each of these is tested. 



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table style="border: 1px solid black;border-collapse: collapse"><tbody><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Parameters</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop Application Testing</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web Application Testing</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Environment</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop Applications are platform-dependent and are confined to the machine that they are deployed on.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web Application testing is performed with the application deployed on a server which can be accessed by other computers with just a browser.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Platform</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Separate desktop applications need to be developed for different platforms.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web Applications are platform-independent, hence they can run on multiple platforms without needing a separate development altogether.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Deployment/Upgrades</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Deployment or any code upgrade needs to be done separately on all the client machines.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Deployment or any patch upgrade needs to be done on a single set of server machines only.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Security</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop applications, on the other hand, are better equipped in terms of authorization and administration control and are hence more secure. Security testing can hence be either skipped or can be performed at a very trivial level.&nbsp;</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web Applications are more prone to security risks which are attributed to its mass accessibility. Security testing plays an important role in case of web application testing due to its large exposure to the multitude of audience.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Storage of Data</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop applications have all the data stored on the machine on which the application is deployed.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">In the case of web applications, the data is stored remotely on the server and is accessed by our personal laptops remotely with the help of a web browser &amp; internet connectivity.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Types of Tests Performed</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">GUI Functionality Load Backend</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">User Interface TestingLoad, Stress, Volume Browser/OS CompatibilitySecurityData Volume testing cross Browser testing static page testingBroken Link Testing</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Architecture</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop applications have a single-tier architecture where the application under test runs on a single computer. There is no client and server in these.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web applications are built on a tier architecture which can run on 2 or more than 2 computers. These have clients and servers in their architecture.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Connectivity</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop applications don’t require internet connectivity as they are hosted on the user machines only. Hence internet connectivity tests need not be in scope for these applications under test.&nbsp;</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web applications are dependent on the internet connectivity for their functioning Internet connectivity tests need to be performed to check the application performance at various speeds.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Accessibility</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Desktop applications are confined to physical locations and hence can only be accessed from the machines on which they are inherently deployed. Hence the tests would involve the user testing all the application features on the machine on which it is deployed.</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Web applications don’t have any location constraint to be accessed as they are deployed on servers which can be accessed from anywhere. Testing should involve different users testing the application under test from different computers from remote locations as well.</td></tr><tr style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse"><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Number of Users</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">At any given point in time, there is a single user testing or using the desktop application on a machine</td><td style="border: 1px solid black;padding: 10px;border-collapse: collapse">Multiple users can access web applications across the internet and browsers.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



To summarize, in order to test a desktop application, the focus should be environment-oriented as a desktop application is operated in a specific environment only. Desktop applications should be tested for usability, functionality, backend and load.



Here get the list of Best <a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/desktop-automation-tools/">A</a><a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/desktop-automation-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">utomation Tools for Desktop Applications</a>



While doing the Web testing, it’s critical to ensure that the web application under test can be easily accessed by the real users and is functioning properly across all browsers and operating systems. Web applications should hence be tested for functionality, compatibility, security, performance, usability and accessibility.



Know More: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/web-app-testing-checklist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Web Application Testing Checklist</a>



If you have been doing website testing and are now wondering if you need to implement automation then this is the article that can help you figure it out:<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/5-signs-you-need-to-implement-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> 5 signs you need to implement test automation</a>



Testsigma, a cloud-based test automation tool has revolutionized the way you you can automate your website testing. It enables you to automate your test cases in simple English. Simple English does not just work for simple work flows but also for the complex ones.



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Desktop application testing versus Web application testing

Desktop Application Testing vs Web Application Testing

According to Wikipedia, <a href="https://testsigma.com/data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Data-Driven Testing(DDT)</a> is a software testing methodology that is used in the testing of computer software to describe testing done using a table of conditions directly as test inputs and verifiable outputs as well as the process where test environment settings and control are not hard-coded.



 In the simplest form, the tester supplies the inputs from a row in the table and expects the outputs which occur in the same row. The table typically contains values which correspond to boundary or partition input spaces.” 



If done manually, the process of data-driven testing is really time-consuming. It is usually used for <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">regression testing</a> or with test cases where the same test scripts are run by providing huge test data as input, sequentially. 



Therefore, the requirement of automating the process of data-driven testing arose and today we have several automation-testing tools and automation testing frameworks for this purpose.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_data-driven_automation_testing">1 What is data-driven automation testing?</a></li><li><a href="#Advantages_of_data-driven_automation_testing">2 Advantages of data-driven automation testing</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">3 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-data-driven-automation-testing">What is data-driven automation testing?</h2>



In <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data-driven automation testing</a>, the test-script/ test case code is kept separate from the test data set. This separation is usually made by storing them at different locations and by having no dependency on each other. Test scripts and test data both are independent of each other and can be stored, modified, added and deleted without any implications on each other.



The order of actions in a DDT (Data-Driven testing) process is as below&#8211;



1. Read the input data from the data source, using parameterised variables in the automation test script.



2. Fill in the input test data in the AUT(application under test).



3. Perform the action according to the test script



4. Compare the expected and actual output



5. Mark the test case pass or fail



6. Continue the above steps with the next input test data from the data source.



The expected output is also entered in the test data sheet or file. So that the automation script reads the expected output, compares it with the actual output and accordingly marks the test case – Pass or Fail.



Test data storage can be achieved by any of the below options-



1. Excel files



2. CSV files



3. XML files



4. Database tables



5. Arrays



6. Text files



Tools/ frameworks for data-driven automation testing-



1. Selenium, TestNG, Apache POI (for reading and writing in Excel sheet)



2. QTP



3. <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a>



4. Katalon Studio



5. TestComplete



<h2 id="advantages-of-data-driven-automation-testing">Advantages of data-driven automation testing</h2>



Let us discuss the top benefits of using a data-driven automation testing framework or any DDT tool.



1. Reusability



&nbsp;Once we have test scripts ready, the same test script can take any number of test input, present in the files as test data. There is no need to make any changes to the script since it will just read the test data from the file and execute the test case. Whereas, if the test data is hardcoded in the test scripts, the lines of code increase tremendously and such coding practices compromise on the reusability of the program.



2. Enhanced clarity



Since there are separate folders/locations of the test data and test scripts, there is clarity in the development and maintenance of both. If test data needs any changes then it can be done easily without referring to the testing scripts and vice-versa.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SvRcQMx99B8R3EZNq3GqkqaRFTdi7ruUfQsaa8fTYqt1cp7_9zdyvrEnj5rxRSm4KkKWcnRpycJYzLTZdNHu4hYLLHcSX4_xN1ehGmY5YCYuiORc0U-pJdw6QJDuTbaHYpAUf9m8" alt="Testsigma - Enhanced clarity"/></figure>



&nbsp;Image shows separate Test Data and Test Scripts.



3. Maintainability



If there is any update required either in test scripts or test data, it is hassle-free because both test data and test scripts are placed separately with no dependency on each other. While the automation test engineer is working on the test scripts, any team member with knowledge of AUT can maintain and update the test data file without any dependency on the test scripts.



4. Broader test-coverage



With high-quality test data which perfectly reflects the real production data, we can achieve a very good test-coverage. This helps in achieving high quality and better stability of the application. The result will be a very few defects in the production environment because all the possible data is already tested and issues have been fixed accordingly.



5. Time-efficient



The automated test-run can be set up for a nightly run when there is no one working. The results can be verified in the morning, and hence a great amount of time can be saved in the testing activities. Also, if compared with manual testing, data-driven automation testing is faster because all the benefits of automation testing are underlying.



6. Reduced manual error



Unlike, manual testing the test-data is read from the files and not manually entered in the application. Human error is unavoidable when a large amount of data is being entered. Data-driven automation testing reduces the chance of manual error to a great extent and a high-quality product is a result.



7. Reduced test scripts



Because we are not hard coding the test data in the script logic, the size of the code written is reduced considerably. The same test script can be used for a huge set of test data. 



8. Better use of human skills



The redundant work of manually entering the test data is monotonous and time-consuming. Human skills can be used for better purposes like exploratory testing when data-driven automation testing is in place.



9. Faster decision making



Due to the faster speed of automation and quick execution of a broader data set, the management and defect-related decisions could be concluded faster. In the Agile and DevOps environment, shorter development cycles need quick decisions and quick resolution of issues. The data-driven automation testing aids the Agile and DevOps intricacies to a great extent.



10. Independent of application development



The data-driven automation testing framework can be developed in parallel or before the actual application development. Since, we will be dealing with parameterised variables, independent test data sheets or files and separate test scripts. 



The framework development is independent of the actual AUT. If an automation tool like testsigma is being used for the DDT, this process becomes easier. To create test scripts for reading/writing test data from files and scripts of test functions need expertise and effort.&nbsp;



11. Minimum technical knowledge required for test data creation



We have separated the test scripts and the test data in the data-driven automation testing process. The scripting part requires expertise and technical knowledge; however, the test data creation does not require any technical expertise. A person who has knowledge of the AUT and domain would be able to fill in the test data values in the sheet/file. 



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



As the name suggests, data-driven testing (DDT) means testing which is driven by data. Data is of the extreme importance here in data-driven automation testing. A judicious selection of the test data thus becomes imperative in this case. 



Simply running the automation scripts on a massive test data set, without a proper vision is such a waste of time, effort and resources. A proper understanding of the AUT and a very good domain knowledge prepares the background for a great test data set.



In current times data is everything- Big Data, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine learning) endorse this fact with the highest splendour.



Testing can not be any different, to cover a broader spectrum of scenarios in the software testing – a diligent selection of test data is needed. So that any possible defect is already taken care of during testing and the risk of any potential defect in production is minimised.



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<a aria-label="Testsigma, a tool for data-driven testing (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/automated-data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma, a tool for data-driven testing</a>, has greatly simplified data-driven testing and made it very easy for anyone to get it going. Check how Testsigma does it here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Data Driven Testing Simplified!</a>

Top Benefits of Data-Driven Test Automation

Quality Assurance VS Quality Control (QA VS QC): What’s the Difference?

<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Introduction">1 Introduction</a></li><li><a href="#Types_of_Software_Bugs">2 Types of Software Bugs</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Implementation_Bugs">2.1 1. Implementation Bugs:</a></li><li><a href="#2_Specification_Bugs">2.2 2. Specification Bugs:</a></li><li><a href="#3_Absent_Specification_Bugs">2.3 3. Absent Specification Bugs: </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#What_Causes_Bugs_in_Software">3 What Causes Bugs in Software?</a><ul><li><a href="#1_RegressionInjection">3.1 1. Regression/Injection: </a></li><li><a href="#2_Inadequate_Testing">3.2 2. Inadequate Testing:</a></li><li><a href="#3_Communication_Gap">3.3 3. Communication Gap:</a></li><li><a href="#4_Improper_Planning">3.4 4. Improper Planning:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#How_can_Software_Bugs_be_Prevented">4 How can Software Bugs be Prevented?</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Test-Driven_Development_TDD">4.1 1. Test-Driven Development (TDD):</a></li><li><a href="#2_Continuous_Integration_Continuous_Testing_CICT">4.2 2. Continuous Integration Continuous Testing (CICT):</a></li><li><a href="#3_Behaviour_Driven_DevelopmentBDD">4.3 3. Behaviour Driven Development(BDD):</a></li><li><a href="#4_Specification_Review_and_Management">4.4 4. Specification Review and Management:</a></li><li><a href="#5_Clear_Communication">4.5 5. Clear Communication:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Why_are_not_all_Software_Bugs_Preventable">5 Why are not all Software Bugs Preventable?</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Effort_Tradeoff">5.1 1. Effort Tradeoff: </a></li><li><a href="#2_User_Immunity_to_Bugs">5.2 2. User Immunity to Bugs: </a></li><li><a href="#3_Team_Structure_and_Dynamics">5.3 3. Team Structure and Dynamics: </a></li><li><a href="#4_Software_Patch_Releases">5.4 4. Software Patch Releases: </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">6 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>



Creating a bug-free software is hard, to the extent that it seems like a myth. Bugs in software represent the discrepancy between the expected and actual behaviour of the software. Although it&#8217;s unrealistic to make software bug-free, efforts can surely be made to minimize the number of bugs in software through various prevention and detection techniques.&nbsp;



Prevention techniques are the ones that can be used to prevent bugs from occurring in the software. Detection techniques are the ones that can be used to detect the bugs that exist in the software. As bug detection can happen only after the bugs begin to appear in the software, detection is a costlier technique than prevention to minimize the bugs in software.



Let us discuss the major types of software bugs, factors causing them, and how to prevent them.



<h2 id="types-of-software-bugs">Types of Software Bugs</h2>



Software bugs can be broadly classified into 3 major categories:



<h3>1. Implementation Bugs:</h3> Bugs introduced during the implementation of software can be classified as implementation bugs. These bugs don’t exist in the requirements and design phases of the software but get introduced when the corresponding specifications are implemented in the code. Therefore, these can also be termed as coding bugs.



For example, consider the login page for an application. According to the specification, a valid username may contain alphabets and numerals. During implementation, the developer allows the use of symbols in the username along with alphabets and numerals.&nbsp;



These are the most common types of bugs prevailing in software and can be prevented to a large extent. 



<h3>2. Specification Bugs:</h3>Bugs introduced at the time of creating specifications for software can be classified as specification bugs. These are the bugs that get introduced when technical specifications for requirements and design are created.&nbsp;



For example, according to the specification, if a user enters an incorrect password, the error message “Incorrect Password!” should be shown to the user. As per the standard security guidelines, the error message in this scenario should be “Incorrect Username or Password!”.



 If a naive developer, who doesn’t know about standard security guidelines and practices followed in software products, is tasked with implementing the specification and he/she unknowingly goes ahead and implements the behaviour as mentioned in the specification, then the bug occurring here is a specification bug.



Such bugs, if not caught early, can impact the product development cycle. 



<h3>3. Absent Specification Bugs: </h3>Bugs that get introduced in the software because workflows and use-cases related to them were not considered during the creation of specifications can be termed absent specification bugs. These are the bugs that arise because nobody thought they could happen or would be needed when the specifications were created. </li></ol>



For example, the specification for a website doesn’t talk about supporting HTTPS. Therefore, it is assumed that HTTPS support is not needed for the website.



Security vulnerabilities in products are a classic example of such bugs. The security aspect is generally not considered during the initial phases of product specifications and may get missed in later phases until someone starts seeing the associated risks and raises alarm.&nbsp; 



<h2 id="what-causes-bugs-in-software">What Causes Bugs in Software?</h2>



Following are some of the common factors which cause software bugs:&nbsp;



<h3>1. Regression/Injection: </h3>A regression/injection is known to have happened when a new code change impacts the existing code in an undesirable manner, like a side-effect. This means that until the new code change was made, the software was working as expected but after the new code change, a bug has been introduced in the software.&nbsp;



Regressions/Injections are common when:



i. Teams are working with large and complex codebases of legacy products.ii. Teams are working in a disjoint manner such that they are not aware of how the modules they are working on may impact each otheriii. Product design is not clean enough to avoid side-effects in the code.



Whatever be the reason, regressions/injections pose serious challenges to the quality of a product and surely need to be prevented.



<h3>2. Inadequate Testing:</h3> If the software has not been thoroughly tested during its development cycle, there is an increased likelihood of bugs being left undiscovered in the product. These bugs would eventually be discovered by the end-users, raising concerns about the quality of the product.



This lapse in testing could be due to various reasons such as:



i. Lack of appropriate testing procedures for the product.ii. Shortage of experienced testers in the team.iii. Lack of time and resources needed for testing.



These bugs can surely be prevented from reaching the end-users by addressing the factors leading to inadequate testing.



<h3> 3. Communication Gap:</h3> Specifications depict the thoughts and vision of the people creating them. Any gaps in communication among people creating the specifications would eventually find their way in the specifications created by them.



These gaps in specifications can give way to miscommunication, assumptions, and conflicts leading to bugs. If some scenarios were not considered during creating a specification, expected behaviours for these scenarios would also be missing in the specification. 



This lack of information in the specification creates the opportunity for the development team to make assumptions regarding the expected behaviour for these scenarios. 



As assumptions are the first step on the path that leads to the difference between the expected and actual behaviour of a product, new bugs can get introduced in the product.



Sometimes, it may happen that different specifications or different sections in the same specification have conflicting expectations for the same use-case or scenario. 



Since development teams working on implementing these specifications may only refer to the sections relevant to them, such conflicts may be hard to catch early paving the way for bugs.&nbsp;



<h3>4. Improper Planning:</h3>Not considering scenarios that can impact the product later reflect poor planning. Such lapse in planning could also be due to a lack of relevant expertise in the team.



For example, if there is no security expertise in the team, it’s easy to miss on the planning of security-related efforts.&nbsp;



Improper planning may result in a lack of crucial components/modules in a&nbsp; product which may put the whole product at risk later.



<h2 id="how-can-software-bugs-be-prevented">How can Software Bugs be Prevented?</h2>



Following are a few techniques that can help in preventing software bugs:



<h3>1. Test-Driven Development (TDD):</h3> TDD encourages creating failing tests for the feature/product before developing the feature/product. As the development for the feature/product reaches completion, the test cases begin to pass, validating the expected behaviour for the feature/product.



If tests are created before the feature/product, the likelihood of a feature/product reaching its end-users untested is greatly reduced. TDD can serve as a powerful technique to prevent bugs arising due to inadequate testing.



<h3 id="2-continuous-integration-continuous-testing-cict">2. Continuous Integration Continuous Testing (CICT):</h3>



CICT emphasizes that every code change integrated into the central code repository should be automatically tested with predefined test cases. Thus, continuous testing is possible only when <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="automated testing (opens in a new tab)">automated testing</a> is implemented and integrated with CI/CD system. 



To achieve CICT for a product, it is crucial that the test automation system is integrated with the build system of the product.



Having a CICT pipeline for the product makes sure that any regressions/injections in the product are caught as soon as they are introduced. This saves a lot of time and effort that is otherwise spent in tracking down the changes that caused the regression/injection.&nbsp;



<h3>3. Behaviour Driven Development(BDD):</h3>BDD encourages the use of a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for communication between and within teams. Using DSL helps in reducing miscommunication among stakeholders.



When BDD is used, tests can be created in a simple text language like English which makes it easy for everyone in the team to participate in creating and reviewing tests without getting into the nitty-gritty of code syntax. 



This flexibility and transparency in creating and reviewing test cases can help a lot in reducing bugs occurring due to communication gaps between and within teams.



Testsigma is a unified test automation tool that has taken test automation to a new level by allowing automation in simple English. To know more about <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma click here</a>.



<h3>4. Specification Review and Management:</h3> As the scope for the product evolves, so do specifications related to it. The dedicated effort may be required to review and track the updates happening in specifications. Early catching of any updates in the specifications which may lead to a potential conflict, can help in preventing bugs later in the implementation of the product.



<h3>5. Clear Communication:</h3> Open and clear communication among teams and team members can help a lot in highlighting absent/conflicting scenarios in specifications. If every team member is encouraged to communicate about use-cases or scenarios that they think are missing/conflicting in the specification then, such issues can be identified much quickly and early.



Encouraging teams to seek inputs from relevant stakeholders and brainstorm for the possible expected behaviours in cases of missing/conflicting specifications can help in reducing bugs arising out of assumptions made for implementation.



<h2 id="why-are-not-all-software-bugs-preventable">Why are not all Software Bugs Preventable?</h2>



Despite various prevention techniques available, bugs still find their way in products. There can be multiple factors for this, such as:



<h3>1. Effort Tradeoff: </h3>At times, you might need to choose between preventing bugs and evolving the product for new user groups, technologies and business domains.
With limited resources at hand, prioritizing bug prevention over new product features and updates may not always be a good business decision.



<h3>2. User Immunity to Bugs: </h3>Unless the bugs in the product make it really hard to use from a performance and stability perspective, users understand that bugs do exist in software and a bug-free software is not a realistic expectation.



<h3>3. Team Structure and Dynamics: </h3> Some of the bug prevention techniques might not work for you depending on your team structure and dynamics.



<h3>4. Software Patch Releases: </h3> If a critical bug in the product has made its way to the end-user, you know it’s not the end of the world and there is an option to provide a patch release or an early next release.



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



It is always good to prevent bugs whenever possible. It saves a lot of time and effort later. But as discussed above, despite best efforts, some bugs might still find their way in the product. And it&#8217;s alright as long as these bugs don’t threaten user loyalty of the product.&nbsp;



A software with lots of features but poor stability and performance is as useless as a stable and highly performant software that doesn’t have enough features to achieve user workflows. To choose between preventing bugs and adding more features to the product, you need to find the right balance between the two.&nbsp;

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