The testing phase has become one of the most important components of the modern application development lifecycle. This is because modern applications have become so complex that all the components present in the application must work perfectly to ensure stable performance.
During the early years, an application was usually used to perform one task at a time. However, the busy nature of the modern lifestyle has forced the end users to expect one application to meet all their demands.
For providing this one-step solution, app development companies had to massively improve the working capabilities of the code framework. Moreover, organizations also have to take into account that thousands of different users will be using the application at the same time. Therefore, the companies had to use different advanced manual and automation testing techniques like end to end testing, unit testing, functional testing, and UI testing on the applications.
In this article, we are going to discuss everything that you need to know about performing end to end testing. We will also try to find the best way for performing these test cases to avoid any unwanted errors during the testing process.
What is End-to-End Testing?
End to End test cases help the application developers to analyze the performance of the application based on user workflow. This means with this testing process the developers can simulate a specific amount of stress on the application and analyze how the application reacts to it. This process is an important step in determining the stable performance of an app as it will have to deal with all of these scenarios daily. Using this testing, the developers can also verify the proper performance of all the functional and technical components in the application. In simple terms, we can define an end to end testing as a process in which the computer will pretend to be a normal user and access the app. Front-end testing processes help the developers to understand that all the functional and technical aspects of the application are working perfectly.
On the other hand, end-to-end test cases help app development companies to verify that all these aspects are available to the end users. The availability of all these features present in an application is very important to create a positive image for the brand. Using end-to-end test cases the app developers can also verify the proper functioning of all the individual elements present in an application. This feature is highly beneficial for applications that undergo a frequent update process. This is because it helps to verify that any new feature does not break the stable performance of all the previous features present in the app.
Major Disadvantages while Implementing End-to-End Testing
As we all know that none of the testing processes present in the modern application development market is perfect. This statement becomes even more critical when the topic of discussion is a complex testing process like end-to-end testing. So let us take a quick look at some of the major drawbacks of this testing process that all new developers must be aware of:
- The test execution speed of end-to-end testing is much lower compared to all the other testing processes that are currently practiced. So, we can easily justify that the execution of end-to-end testing is one of the major bumps in the path of continuous integration and continuous development. The slow execution speed of end-to-end testing can often frustrate the developer as he would be waiting for several hours to get the final Test result. Moreover, end-to-end testing makes it almost impossible to practically collaborate between the different teams present in an application development company.
- Many experts believe that end-to-end test cases are not only expensive to maintain but also error-prone. Therefore, app development companies need to create a proper idea about end-to-end test cases before beginning their execution. It is also very important for app development companies to have a proper plan and testing strategy to utilize the full potential of end-to-end testing. Many industry experts believe that all the errors present in end-to-end test cases rise due to the complex debugging processes. As a tester, your primary goal should be to create test cases that assist in the testing process and does not hinder the performance of your test bench.
- Many veteran testers believe flaky test cases to be one of the biggest nightmares in the life of a tester. Flaky test cases are often referred to as those testing processes that are conducted in the same manner but output a completely different result. These test cases often arise when the new application developers do not analyze the capabilities of a web application properly. So, the end-to-end testers need to have a proper idea about the application that is undergoing the development process.
Understanding the Balance in Automation Testing
As we continue to understand the superiority of automation testing, many app developers can get the misconception that automation testing is capable of completely replacing the need for manual test cases. It is a wrong idea as the technology hasn’t reached the stage where it can eliminate the need for a human developer’s knowledge and experience. We can further justify this claim by considering two of the most prominent testing processes involved in an application development process:
- Exploratory testing is a form of testing that helps the developers to understand not only the individual performance of an element but also the overall performance of the system when all the elements are combined. This is a very important testing process as it finds out certain errors in the application that are usually overlooked by the automation test cases. Exploratory testing also helps to understand the functional capabilities of the app and to verify whether it is ready to be released to the end users.
- Visual testing is a modern testing practice that ensures that all the UI elements of a web application maintain their definite position. This means with the help of visual testing, the app developers can ensure the pictures and videos are present in the intended location. Therefore, it is almost impossible to properly execute visual testing without the involvement of watchful human eyes.
With the help of both the examples that we discussed above, we can easily justify that the best testing practice is to maintain the correct synchronization within manual testing and automation testing.
Factors to Consider While Conducting End-to-End Testing
Now let us discuss some of the best factors that the developers must consider conducting end to end testing in the best way possible:
- It is very important for the new automation testers to begin with small end-to-end test cases. This practice will help them to get themselves accustomed to this new testing practice before moving on to the complex sections.
- While implementing automation testing with end-to-end test cases, the developers must consider it to be a long-term investment. This is the most important approach as it will help the developers to secure the future of the company as a business organization.
- While measuring the success of end-to-end test cases the developers should not use the wrong metrics. Many market experts believe that user workflow coverage is the best metric to understand whether you have successfully implemented end-to-end test cases or not. This coverage measures the user interaction on an application. This means the higher the user introduction on your app, the better it is serving the demands of the common user.
Role of Tools and Platforms in End-to-End Testing
Different tools and platforms help app developers to improve the efficiency of their application testbench. Moreover, different platforms help the developers to introduce additional features in the test environment to further improve the quality of the testing process and also the application. For instance, cloud platforms help app developers to save a lot of money and time by eliminating the hassle of maintaining a physical device test lab.
This is because with these platforms the developers can initiate the testing processes on an online cloud grid. These servers contain multiple real devices stored on them. The developers can access these servers from anywhere in the world and initiate the testing processes by paying only a minimum license fee.
We can introduce LambdaTest to the new developers as a secure digital experience testing platform to perform manual and automation testing for web and mobile across an online browser farm of 3000+ real browsers, devices and OS. LambdaTest provides support for several test automation frameworks like Playwright, Selenium, and Cypress.
The Conclusion
So, we can easily conclude that end-to-end testing is one of the most important components of the modern app development industry. With the proper execution of these test cases, the developers can massively improve the quality of the final application. In this article, we discussed some of the best ways that can help developers properly execute their end-to-end test cases. We also discussed how different tools and platforms can help developers to improve the efficiency of their end-to-end test cases. App development companies need to spread proper awareness regarding the proper execution of end-to-end testing. Lastly, we would recommend that app developers consider the knowledge of modern testing practices like end-to-end testing and automation testing as one of the most important parts of their profile.