July 9, 2024
Have trouble testing your code or getting good test coverage? This episode of the Dixre podcast is for you. Join us for a seamless journey of navigating software testing and mastering the essentials.
Software testing is the process of evaluating and verifying that a software product meets specified requirements and functions as intended. It involves identifying and fixing bugs, ensuring the software is free of defects, and satisfying both technical and user requirements efficiently and effectively. Good testing prevents bugs, improves performance, and enhances the overall quality of the software.
When it comes to software testing, having the right tools can make all the difference. For managing tests, JIRA and TestRail are top picks. Selenium and JUnit are great for automating tests, while JMeter and LoadRunner help with performance checks. Jenkins and Travis CI streamline continuous integration and deployment. Bug tracking tools like Bugzilla and Redmine keep track of issues, and SonarQube and ESLint are essential for checking code quality. For security, OWASP ZAP and Burp Suite are key. Mockaroo and Data Factory help with creating test data, Lookback and Hotjar are useful for usability testing, and Postman and SoapUI are go-to’s for API testing.
Choosing the right testing strategy depends on your project. Common strategies include Unit Testing to catch early bugs, Integration Testing for part interactions, Functional Testing for requirement adherence, End-to-End Testing for real-world scenarios, and Regression Testing to ensure stability. Performance, Usability, Security, and User Acceptance Testing validate speed, ease, and safety. Exploratory, Alpha, and Beta Testing provide additional layers of feedback.
As a software engineer, you might face challenges like tight deadlines, limited resources, and complex integration issues. To tackle these, you can use automation, testing frameworks, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and tools for security and performance testing. Prioritizing tests based on risk, using mocking libraries, and practicing TDD can also be beneficial.
“A good test coverage is between 40 to 80%. Strive to achieve 80% test coverage but do it in a way that you are testing what is crucial to your application. you will want to make sure that the bulk of what you test is the core of the software that adds value to that business and you make sure that you make unit tests that will run very fast and give immediate feedback to the software engineer and then maybe have like 20% of that 80%”- Habib
Good test coverage ensures that an application’s functionality and potential failure points are thoroughly tested. It involves understanding requirements, using code coverage tools, and focusing on critical paths. A comprehensive test suite should include unit, integration, functional, end-to-end, and regression tests. Never forget to review and update tests to maintain effectiveness.
“A common misconception for most people is 100% test coverage and then there’s really nothing like 100% test coverage because whenever the coverage reporter gives you 100% test coverage, what you actually have is that the test framework has touched 100% of your code base but it’s really not proof that there’s no bug hiding there.”-Habib
Many people have misconceptions about software testing. They think it’s just about finding bugs, but it also ensures the software meets requirements, performs well, and provides a good user experience. Testing isn’t a one-time task; it should be continuous. Another misconception about testing is the fact that people think they can always pick one out of the test pyramid and their code will be fine but in actual sense, it does not work that way. The Buck of your test cases should be unit, then little should be directed to the integration test and the little end to end test.
“It’s a great process to follow but don’t be dogmatic about these things when using TDD if you know exactly what needs to be done to get to the end goal then I think that it’s great to use TDD, but when you are developing something that’s never been done before and you don’t have a clear path forward, you might want to implement first and then test it afterward”- Habib
Test-driven development (TDD) involves writing tests before the actual code. Start with a test for a feature; it will fail initially. Write minimal code to pass the test, then refine it while keeping the test passing. TDD helps catch bugs early, improves code quality, and serves as documentation, though it may be challenging and time-consuming initially.
Communities bring together like-minded people to tackle common challenges and seize opportunities. They foster growth, learning, and innovation through collaboration and idea-sharing. Dixre community, for example, helps software engineers connect and exchange ideas. By joining a community, you can contribute your unique perspective.
“Communication, you cannot live on your own, you have to communicate with others even in a software development team, we have to meet, we have to discuss, we have to communicate, so if you work in a silo and me being your team lead cannot say what you’re doing at any point in time then maybe we have a problem because I don’t know if you’re going to meet the deadline or if you have any challenge that needs to be addressed so it’s important that people learn how to communicate. Also focus on contributing, in contributing you will get to exercise some of these skills like communication when you contribute. Another is stakeholder management, knowing that you are not working in isolation and that whatever your actions may be, it might impact another person, so I’ll say the soft skill that is really important is communication”- Habib
Interested in getting more information on skills in technology, business, remote work, and professional networking?
Then Dixre Podcast is an excellent place for you to learn.
Dixre Ltd was founded on the 13th of June, 2016 by Samaila Chatto Bashir who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the company. The company is a Licensed Private Information Technology company backed with the vision of building a reputation for Information Technology in Africa.
© 2024 Copyrights by ThousandthWords. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Dixre Ltd