Web application testing: short guide
Web application testing service is a general term that denotes different types of testing.
The main goal of any testing endeavor is to detect where there are faults/bottlenecks in your software that may cause harm to your business and find possible ways to prevent them.
In this 5-minute read guide, we’ll help you understand what every of these terms mean and how they help you to get what you want most – certainty of success in your IT project.
Three areas of concern that web application testing addresses
1. Does your app do what it is expected to do?
Functional Testing is the process of evaluating the behavior of the application to determine if all the functions perform as you expect them to perform. Examples of functional behavior include everything from limiting access to authorized users to accurately processing all transactions and correctly logging out.
Functional testing can be performed in different ways: using formal test cases or by means of exploratory testing techniques.
2. Will you app function correctly on all browsers and devices that your customers use?
Compatibility or Cross-Browser Testing is the process of evaluating the behavior of the app in a variety of configurations that include numerous browsers, screen resolutions, and operating systems.
Examples of proper Cross-Browser Testing may include testing on the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, Safari and on Windows 7, 8 and 10. It’s advised to run tests on a number of latest versions as not all users are prone to go for updates as soon as one is released.
3. Will your web solution survive with a lot of users at the same time? Or will it crash?
Load or Performance Testing is another type of testing that determines the performance limits of the app. The typical final report by QA engineers will include the following:
- Statistics on the response time from the server for the most crucial transactions
- Diagrams that show the dependence of the app performance on the number of concurrent users
- Data about the maximum possible number of concurrent users that would allow the system to cope with the load
- Information on the system stability and its ability to cope with the continuous load
- Error statistics
- Conclusions on the system performance in general, its performance bottlenecks
- Recommendations for improving the system performance.
Check out how the a1qa web app testing team ran full-cycle testing and ensured the quality of the online movie website.
Other risks that web app testing helps to mitigate
The list of questions that the team of professional QA engineers answers can be continued. Depending on the type of your business and your desire to accept risks, there are other reasons to perform your app testing.
1. Can unauthorized users access the app?
Security and Penetration Testing is the process to determine how and under what circumstances the app can be hacked. Security testing engineers employ a number of techniques to perform thorough analysis and assess the level of the app security.
Moreover, if the app uses personal data of the customer, it’s vital to make sure the passwords are strong enough.
2. Is you web application properly adapted to the cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the target regions?
Obviously, the localized product creates more business opportunities. Localization Testing is the process of verifying localization quality.
Localization testers will deal with the following:
- Content and UI elements translation
- Data and time formats
- Currency
- Color schemes, symbols, icons, and other graphic elements that can be misinterpreted in various regions
- Legal requirements of various regions that should be taken into account.
Actually, the latter point lies in the scope of responsibility of both Localization and Compliance Testing.
3. Compliance testing is the process that verifies the app behavior against the rules and regulations your business is subject to.
An example of compliance testing is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) accessibility compliance that should be considered when developing web products available to people with disabilities.
5 Questions to help you make the right choice
We hope that now you understand the purpose of every testing type. However, it can be still a difficult task to make the right choice and select one or several of them that will help your project.
Here’s a list of five quick questions. If you make your selection based on the answers to them, your chances to select the right testing type and the best QA vendor to perform it get high.
- What is the goal for your software development project?
- What are the project constraints?
- What are the top 3 risks for the project delivery?
- What strategy does the QA provider recommend considering the goals and constraints?
- What does the provider recommend to mitigate the risks?
Web application testing can be messy and complex but it can also be safe and reliable when you are able to understand your options and select the services that are most valuable for your business.
a1qa provides on-demand web app testing services to help you make it faster to market and delight your customers. Contact us now and get an obligation-free consultation.
