Software program Take a look at Engineering, also called Software program Testing, is a important section within the software program improvement lifecycle. It’s the strategy of evaluating and verifying {that a} software program utility or system capabilities accurately and meets the required necessities. The first objective of software program testing is to establish defects, bugs, or points within the software program and be sure that it really works as anticipated.
At GfK, Software program Testing is extremely vital to making sure that our merchandise are as much as scratch and assembly our clients’ wants. To be taught extra about this course of, we spoke to Dzarrin Zubairy, Software program Take a look at Engineer at GfK in our Kuala Lumpur workplace, who shared her insights into the function, what she does every day, and what advantages it brings to the group.
What sort of work do you do at GfK?
As an Automated Software program Take a look at Engineer, my main duty is to make sure the standard and reliability of software program purposes. I deal with validating software program performance, figuring out and testing bugs, and making certain that the software program meets efficiency and safety requirements. My every day duties are in the direction of SDET (Software program Improvement Engineer in Take a look at), the place I develop and preserve automated take a look at scripts that simulate consumer interactions and carry out regression testing. I additionally create complete take a look at circumstances, take a look at plans, and eventualities based mostly on software program necessities and consumer tales, not solely performance but additionally the efficiency of the purposes. Except for that, I had my palms on integrating automated take a look at scripts into the continual integration and steady supply (CI/CD) pipeline to make sure that exams run routinely as a part of the construct and deployment course of. The half I get pleasure from essentially the most is working carefully with the Software program Engineer to know the applying structure and codebase. We collaborate on figuring out potential points early within the improvement course of and help in debugging and fixing defects, and on the similar time, I be taught some greatest practices and codes!
What’s automated software program testing and the way is it used at GfK?
Automated Software program Testing is a course of the place the testing procedures and take a look at circumstances are executed routinely by utilizing software program instruments and scripts fairly than manually by human testers. In GfK, we use automated scripts not solely to check the software program performance but additionally to check utility efficiency. The take a look at scripts are developed based mostly on the consumer tales and the tester’s information. Consumer expertise is transformed into codes and run every day. We use Conduct-driven improvement Testing frameworks as it’s scenario-based testing that may be simply learn and understood by a non-technical particular person after which set to run within the pipeline. The pipeline is ready ‘able to go’ for others to run regression or smoke take a look at packs when wanted. A scheduled run for our automated efficiency take a look at was performed to establish sudden or gradual efficiency degradation launched by code modifications, making certain points are recognized and addressed promptly. Enhancement might be created when there’s a degradation in efficiency. We wish customers to have solely one of the best expertise!
How has your work with automated software program testing helped enhance the work performed by GfK?
We transfer in the direction of shift-left testing, the place automated software program take a look at helps establish and get rid of defects and points within the early improvement course of. This ends in higher-quality software program and reduces bug-related prices. By automating testing processes, GfK can launch new options and updates extra rapidly. This, in flip, results in quicker improvement cycles and the flexibility to launch new options and replace extra quickly. Embracing automated testing can reply extra successfully to altering buyer wants and business developments, giving a aggressive edge out there. Automated exams may be run constantly and repetitively, lowering the danger of human error in testing. It additionally helps in useful resource effectivity, the place automated testing can scale to accommodate bigger and extra advanced purposes, lowering the necessity to rent further testers for rising initiatives. This could contribute considerably to an organization’s profitability and long-term success in a aggressive market.
What are some automated software program testing instruments you have had the prospect to make use of?
With virtually 5 years of expertise in Software program Testing, I’ve expertise in several sorts of testing instruments based mostly on their classes. I’ve used Selenium in Java with TDD and BDD take a look at frameworks and in addition skilled utilizing Protractor and Cypress, that are in Typescript. It was difficult to maneuver from Java to Typescript, however I loved studying completely different languages and instruments. Efficiency exams and API testing are new to me. Right here, we used k6 and JMeter to check the efficiency of the purposes. For API testing, we’re utilizing Postman and sending scripts to make sure it behaves accordingly. It additionally may be automated within the CI/CD pipeline by utilizing Newman. CI/CD instruments play a big function in automated testing. Some instruments I had my palms on are Jenkins and GitLab. This platform automates the software program supply pipelines. Take a look at administration instruments play an important function in automated software program testing. It helps not solely in organizing take a look at circumstances but additionally in creating an environment friendly take a look at design and model management. Like TestRails, we retailer take a look at circumstances as a reference when there are modifications within the take a look at eventualities. One of the best half is that it may possibly combine with our automation take a look at scripts.
What are some advantages automated software program testing provides over “conventional” software program testing?
There are various important benefits of automated software program testing. The primary stat that stands out is its speedy execution. Automated take a look at scripts may be executed a lot quicker than handbook exams when it comes to getting faster suggestions on code modifications. Scripts additionally may be reused throughout completely different take a look at cycles and initiatives, saving effort and time in take a look at case creation and upkeep. Additionally it is each constant and dependable because it performs the identical actions and checks constantly each time they’re executed and might run 24/7, offering dependable take a look at outcomes.
Automated exams are additionally best for regression testing, making certain new code modifications don’t introduce defects within the current performance. It additionally reduces the danger of overlooking points arising from code modifications. In comparison with the normal method, it could result in human errors when the identical take a look at runs over once more. And it helps to cut back the necessity for handbook testing efforts, which results in price financial savings when it comes to person-hours.
In conventional software program testing, it may be a little bit of a wrestle to maintain up with the updates and fixes in comparison with an automatic mannequin, which seamlessly integrates the software program enhancements and ensures that the software program at all times will get the most recent modifications and enhancements. Lastly, Automated exams facilitate collaboration amongst cross-functional groups, offering a standardized and shareable option to validate software program performance.
