In the current technological era, applications perform numerous functions. Application development is done by writing code to instruct the application on how it will perform the required functions. Within each line of code exists the potential risk of bugs. For the development of web applications and websites, web testing comes in handy.
Website testing, known as web testing, entails analyzing the functionality of a web application. In web testing, the web app is tested for potential logical or semantical errors in the code that can lead to bugs in the web app. The testing occurs before the web application is released to the intended users.
Web testing looks at specific aspects of a web application such as:
- Web application functionality
- Web application or website performance
- Web app security
- Web app ease of use
- Web app compatibility
When it comes to web testing, six fundamental testing aspects are significant to the user. We shall look at the critical things that one needs to know about each of these testing aspects.
1. Functional Testing
Functional testing is a type of quality assurance for a web application that runs tests based on the use cases of the web application. It tests the web app to ensure that all its intended uses are well designed and function perfectly.
Functional testing uses sample data that already has its predetermined output. The sample data is fed to the web app. The resulting output is compared to the predetermined process result.
Note that functional testing does not look into the web application’s underlying structure. This is what differentiates functional testing from white box testing.
Functional testing can end up being a tiresome process if the web application is robust and includes very many use cases. Such situations depict the essence of testers starting to learn automation testing. Automation testing takes the manual load from the tester through using automated testing tools.
2. Usability Testing
Usability testing combines the ease of use for the web application, the overall user experience when using the app, and some aspects of application functionality. An error seen in novices is the assumption that usability testing is the same as user acceptance testing.
Usability testing can be done by the development team (internal testing) or by a sample of the intended users (external testing).
There are four critical steps in usability testing. These are:
- Develop a robust testing strategy for the application. Include navigation and content analysis in the strategy.
- Recruit the participants for the testing. Participants can be internal, external, or both.
- Run the tests as experts observe the testing process.
- Analyze the results from the test process and use gained insights to improve the web application.
Usability testing is for all the main stages of the development process for the application. These stages are the concept stage, design stage, prototyping stage, and the final release stage.
3. Interface Testing
Interface testing aims to ensure that all the pages of the web application interact smoothly with the webserver.
A critical aspect of interface testing that is often neglected is the checking of error messages. For most web applications, testers always consider smoothly running use cases and rarely consider what happens in the event of an error.
To ensure that the user will have an easy time using the web application, the error messages should be designed in a manner that will be easy to understand for the user.
The last aspect to check on is that any interruptions experienced by the web app are handled correctly. Interruptions can be either from the user or the server.
4. Compatibility Testing
Compatibility testing ensures that the web application can work with all the browsers available. Compatibility testing also ensures that the mobile version of the web app is implemented and functions well.
A commonly used test for browser compatibility is the Lambda Test. Browser compatibility testing checks Web Sockets, JavaScript, authentication requests, browser requests, etc.
A new item that should be added to the compatibility testing list is the operating system compatibility. Unlike in the past when there were only two main operating systems that were widely adopted, these days there are numerous adopted operating systems.
As a developer, you should check that your web application runs smoothly on the various operating systems and does not encounter any errors.
5. Performance Testing
After checking that all the intended use cases of the web application run smoothly produce the expected results, the next step is to check how the app performs. This includes factors such as processing speed and behavior of the web application under high load.
Stress testing is a type of testing meant to establish the breaking point of an application. In stress testing, the app is run under the worst conditions, such as slow internet, heavy load, etc. Stress testing aims to note the breaking point of an application. If the breaking point is too easy to reach you go back to the drawing board to ensure that the application is more resilient.
An application that constantly breaks will reduce user acceptance significantly.
6. Security Testing
The final aspect of a web application to be tested is its security. Security testing ensures that the web application is secure against malicious software or viruses and that access control works well. Access control helps to ensure that unauthorized access cannot be gained.
At this final stage of web testing, a checklist is important to know the aspects that the web application is getting tested for. The checklist should include:
- Secure data and information transmission
- User authentication
- Session management
- Cryptography
- Denial of service
- Error handling
Having such a list will help to organize and structure the tests.
Conclusion
Keenly following the testing steps above and noting the key factors will ensure that the final released product runs perfectly.
A key factor to keep in mind is that the importance of web testing is significantly depicted in costs. Discovering and solving bugs during development is a cheap process while the same cannot be said for bugs discovered after product release.
