Software program Take a look at Engineering, also referred to as Software program Testing, is a crucial part within the software program improvement lifecycle. It’s the technique of evaluating and verifying {that a} software program utility or system features accurately and meets the desired necessities. The first aim of software program testing is to establish defects, bugs, or points within the software program and be certain 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 position, what she does every day, and what advantages it brings to the workforce.
What sort of work do you do at GfK?
As an Automated Software program Take a look at Engineer, my major accountability 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 guaranteeing that the software program meets efficiency and safety requirements. My each day duties are in direction of SDET (Software program Improvement Engineer in Take a look at), the place I develop and keep 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 in addition 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 assessments run robotically as a part of the construct and deployment course of. The half I take pleasure in 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 identical time, I be taught some finest 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 robotically by utilizing software program instruments and scripts reasonably than manually by human testers. In GfK, we use automated scripts not solely to check the software program performance but in addition to check utility efficiency. The take a look at scripts are developed based mostly on the consumer tales and the tester’s data. Consumer expertise is transformed into codes and run each day. We use Habits-driven improvement Testing frameworks as it’s scenario-based testing that may be simply learn and understood by a non-technical individual after which set to run within the pipeline. The pipeline is about ‘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 achieved to establish sudden or gradual efficiency degradation launched by code adjustments, guaranteeing points are recognized and addressed promptly. Enhancement can be created when there’s a degradation in efficiency. We would like customers to have solely the most effective expertise!
How has your work with automated software program testing helped enhance the work achieved by GfK?
We transfer in direction of shift-left testing, the place automated software program take a look at helps establish and eradicate 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 shortly. This, in flip, results in sooner improvement cycles and the power to launch new options and replace extra quickly. Embracing automated testing can reply extra successfully to altering buyer wants and trade traits, giving a aggressive edge out there. Automated assessments will 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 extra testers for rising initiatives. This may 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 possibility to make use of?
With nearly 5 years of expertise in Software program Testing, I’ve expertise in numerous 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 likewise 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 assessments 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 will be automated within the CI/CD pipeline by utilizing Newman. CI/CD instruments play a major position 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 a vital position in automated software program testing. It helps not solely in organizing take a look at circumstances but in addition 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 adjustments within the take a look at eventualities. The perfect half is that it might combine with our automation take a look at scripts.
What are some advantages automated software program testing affords over “conventional” software program testing?
There are various crucial benefits of automated software program testing. The primary stat that stands out is its fast execution. Automated take a look at scripts will be executed a lot sooner than guide assessments by way of getting faster suggestions on code adjustments. Scripts additionally will 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. It is usually 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 assessments are additionally splendid for regression testing, guaranteeing new code adjustments don’t introduce defects within the current performance. It additionally reduces the danger of overlooking points arising from code adjustments. In comparison with the standard method, it could result in human errors when the identical take a look at runs over once more. And it helps to scale back the necessity for guide testing efforts, which ends up in value financial savings by way of 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 all the time will get the newest adjustments and enhancements. Lastly, Automated assessments facilitate collaboration amongst cross-functional groups, offering a standardized and shareable option to validate software program performance.
