It is necessary to understand that in software testing, there are different aspects by which the process is handled. Unit testing is one of the most prominent processes involved in the whole architecture of software testing.

In this article, we discuss what is unit testing and what are its various stages. After that, we will mainly focus on the various practices that a good software tester must follow to execute a fine unit testing session.

So first, let’s dig into the definition of unit testing and its stages.

Unit Testing – Definition

A unit testing session verifies every minor functionality and feature of your software. It authenticates the behavior of every element of the software individually. The process of unit testing mainly comprises of 3 parts. They are as follows:

1. Initialization:

A minor element of the application which is to be tested is initialized. The application under test is generally called System under Test i.e. SUT.

2. Stimulus:

After the first stage of initialization, a stimulus is triggered by the system under test. Generally, it is done by invoking a method that will have the code that is required to test the functionality of the system under test.

3. Result:

After the second stage, the result comes. There is a process of comparison here between the expected result and the actual result. If this comparison is satisfactory, then it can be said that the functionalities of the system are working fine. If not, one needs to diagnose the system in more detail.

Now, let’s have a look at some of the best practices followed by a good software tester while executing unit testing. These are the qualities a newbie in the testing field must follow. Let’s go!

Unit Testing Best Practices that should be followed while writing Unit Tests:

Tests should be isolated

While writing unit tests, it is important to keep in mind that the unit tests are written individually from each other. The arrangement of the cases might vary from person to person. The clusters also can be defined by your own choice. Just note that each test must be orthogonal in a certain way that it must be different from other test cases.

If not, any change in the execution of a certain test case might affect the behavior of the other test cases. That’s why remember; don’t try to add unnecessary assertions.

The assertions must be those that match the specific execution behavior of the software. They must be isolated and executed individually without any dependencies on external factors.

This verifies the addition of zero to a number. In this stage, multiplication functionality assertions should not be covered in this step.

Unit Testing Best practices to be followed while executing Unit Tests:

1. High Speed

Unit tests are planned by developers to be executed repeatedly to make sure that there are no errors and minor bugs in the system.

If the time taken to execute these tests is more and the speed is slow, it will consequently increase the execution time of the test cases. Even the speed of one slow test case will have an impact on the overall speed of execution of the test cases.

That’s why, developers must use the best coding methods to lessen the execution time of every test case, which will result in an overall decrease in the execution time.

Using stream concepts in the writing of unit test code is a good practice to increase the execution speed. If not, the whole process becomes exponentially slower.

2. High Readability

The readability of any unit test must be very easy and high. The test has to be clear and readable. One must be able to understand the functionality error the test is explaining only by reading it.

It must properly state the scenario that is going under test and if it is failing, it should mention the reasons for the failure in a clear way.

One should be able to know and comprehend the problem in no time and that’s why the design of the test cases must not be complex. To make comprehension easy, they should be well-structured.

A proper name must be given to the test case and its every variable. This name should also include the functionality and the operation that is being tested.

The naming style should not be anything fancy or overly irrelevant. For example, a name like ‘Show logical exception’ won’t work as it doesn’t mean anything specific and is kind of vague.

3. Good Designing of Tests

Just like the designing process of production tests, the process of designing these tests should be intense and careful. The framework used here must be good and qualitative.

Let’s say, the coupling between test code and production code should be low. The dead code must be cleared to gain more test efficiency.

The management of memory should be done well along with the efficiency of time. If you have a good codebase, it will make your maintenance and re-factoring very easy in the subsequent stages.

4. High Reliability

The unit tests that you are designing must be reliable in design. They should only fail when there is a bug or error present in the system. If they fail on these events, the whole testing process becomes useless.

Sometimes, when you run a test individually, it gets cleared but when ran in the test suite, it fails. Also, many a time, when tests are migrated to a continuous integration server, the tests fail. This is the sign of some design flaws in the system.

A fine unit test must always be independent of external factors like environment or hardware technical base etc.

Conclusion

These were some of the Unit Testing best practices that a software tester must follow to execute reliable and flawless unit tests. A reliable, confident, and efficient work ethic will always lead to optimum output.

How VTEST can help

Efficiency in the work culture is always promoted at VTEST. It is the basis on which the whole environment of VTEST runs. Using the time and resources most efficiently to gain an output which is both, seamless and improvised is what VTEST stands for.

Work with us and you see the difference yourself.

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With automation rising in every industry, software testing has also implemented it on different scales. Starting from smaller implementations in the software development life cycle to bigger uses in the testing process. Though the implementation is quick, the quality is not always good.

Poor implementation of test automation does not help in building a good testing system. Rather it blocks the way to execute many things smoothly. Many big organizations fail to do it smoothly and this is a bad thing because if used rightly, Automation technology might be the future of software testing.

So, what are the factors to attempt a successful execution of automation testing? In this article, we will discuss 10 things to consider while automating any testing process.

1. Build a Dedicated Team –

The first thing one needs to start with is building a dedicated team. A team that devotes its total creative and intellectual energy to the testing process. Employing newly graduated smart students’ local institutes might help. Younger employees like these students have more theoretical knowledge and have a knack of the ongoing digital scene.

The staffing must be preferably flexible as it gets easy to make changes in the team as per the business demands. For reference on solutions to eliminate the recruiting process, check out various sites that offer this. These sites will offer you the best people in business at an affordable price.

2. Selecting Tool:

A selection method that is completely tailored as per your needs is the best way to go forward. If you don’t evaluate and analyze the utility of the automation testing tool beforehand, it may have poor consequences on selecting a tool that is not compatible with your requirements. Identifying the needs and requirements and then choosing the best tool accordingly is one of the essential things to do in the testing process. If a wrong tool is selected, it will cost you money, time, and efforts.

Wait, Apache JMeter, Selenium, Wapt, etc. are some of the best automation testing tools in the market right now. Look for these tools as per your requirements, and you will get the best suited for your process right away.

3. Automation Framework:

Even if one selects the right tool, the process doesn’t end. You cannot automate anything even with the correct tools. Just like all other processes, a proper framework must be made to implement the tool.

Ina framework, there are certain guidelines by which one should execute the process of automation. It is like a rule book. It maintains testing consistency and hence minimal changing of code. Reusability is improved by this.

There are 4 types of frameworks in automation testing –

• Keyword-driven automation framework
• Hybrid automation framework
• Data-driven automation framework
• Modular automation framework

Choose the appropriate framework, and you are good to go.

4. Measure Metrics:

To measure the success of automation by comparing it with the manual work is pointless. It should be measured in different variable metrics like Productivity improvement, percent of errors found, etc.

These things matter to industry persons and all the people as it justifies investments and Quality assurance.

Initially, the analysis of the amount of time one gets from a manual test and the money saved per annum should be done. After that, there are certain things that one must look for. Such as –

• Defect reduction (reduce production defects by 60%)
• Accelerate time to market
• SAP transport impact analysis
• Improve productivity with automation

5. Finding the Right Tool:

When anyone thinks about automated testing, selecting the right tool and framework is the topic that takes up most of the focus. Choosing the correct framework and tools is the basis for a healthy automation process.

There is hardly any example of a company that aims at full automation and is successful. One must have a good plan with balancing strategies.

Hence, one must think properly and take the time to decide how automation is going to help their particular testing plan. It will make the whole process more optimum and valuable and will increase the success rate.

6. Budget Cost and Process:

Going over budget or having a surplus amount at the end are both signs of a bad costing plan. Budgeting should be precise in the case of automation testing, involving costing for different aspects including development, training, test tool, and resources.

Also, a maintenance cost is involved while we talk about automation testing. As the testing process defines test-coverage, it must be well-defined and precise in defining the quality control and process and execution of the test. Also, the test criteria must be defined at each stage.

7. Preference of Tool Selected:

The technology used for the development of the application is one of the major impacting factors in the selection process of the testing tool.

To take an example, Informatics won’t be supported by QTP, hence it won’t be used for testing informatics applications. To conduct proof of concept of the respective tool on AUT sounds like a sensible idea.

Many a time, choosing the right tool can be a complex and tricky task. If you do the research right, you will find some essential criteria that will help you in selecting the best tool. Which scripting language the tool uses is one of them.

Also, it will support numerous types of tests including test management, Functional, mobile, etc. and will sustain the support for different testing frameworks.

8. Automation cannot be Done for Everything:

Before initiating the process, the scope of automation must be determined in detail. To select which test cases are to be automated, there are certain criteria. Check out the list below.

• Tests that are difficult to perform manually.
• High-risk business
• Tests that are executed on a regular repeated basis.
• Tests that are time-consuming.

However, for eliminating the tests from the automation list, there are other criteria. These factors determine which tests are not suitable for automation. Check out this list below.

• Tests that have changing requirements.
• Tests that are not executed manually and are newly designed.
• Tests that are executed on an Ad-HOC.

9. Reducing Time for Testing and Test Automation:

Another important goal of the software testing process is to reduce the testing time. But generally, the part of the process which is time-consuming does not have anything to do with automation.

The main time-taking task in the testing process is the detection of bugs. The detection and correction of bugs take place in a repeated manner. In the case of automation testing, maintenance, Execution, and Step-up may take longer compared to manual testing. Also, Analysis of Clear-ups and failures may take more time. In an ideal scenario, all these activities will take less time if the right kind of matured automation process is executed.

All in all, it is not easy to reduce the testing time using automation, but it is not impossible. One must consider it as a long-term goal to achieve.

10. Automated Maintenance:

The scripts of these automation tests must be added to the system that is under test with successive cycles. For each release cycle, they have to be thoroughly verified and maintained.

Maintenance is one of the primary factors that help improve the effectiveness of automation scripts.

Try using automation in simple routine tasks like cleaning out temp files, Restarts, and Defrags. Assurance of the up-to-date nature of your client’s machine with the latest software patches and assurance of a stable system can be confirmed by automating patch management.

You can either upload your script or run scripts from the library. Plan a proper schedule to execute tests on a certain date. You can also trigger them to run automatically after a failed monitoring check.

Even if anyone is not familiar with these scripts, various communities provide useful scripts like Fixit scripts, etc.

Conclusion

Considering all the aspects of software testing, one must figure out the prominent factors that play into the process of automation testing. The testing process, Selection of the right and most compatible automation tool, etc. are some of the crucial factors that matter.

How VTEST can help

By researching and executing both the software testing methods with perfect balance, VTEST carries out the automated tasks with fine precision. Knowing the Pros and cons of automation testing, VTEST executes it on the right processes and in the right amount.

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As the years are passing by, the intensity and viciousness faced by the software industry are getting severe. There are innumerable hackers and cyber criminals out there who are like vultures trying to attack their food in the form of information and data.

Consequently, Software Security has become a pretty important subset of any software development organization. It has become merit of success in today’s digitally outgrown world.

All the old software companies and the upcoming ones are slowly beginning to understand the importance of a tight security manifesto for their companies.

If we look closely, there are different elements to this. One has to consider the roles played by AI and the cloud system here. Also, certain technical angles are to be explored. In this article, Let’s have a look at some of these elements.

IoT and Ransomware

Working on the fuel of the clickbait culture, Ransomware is that part of the digital crimes where moneymaking is one of the primary intentions of the hacker. Many hackers rely on it.

A large number of people who use the internet are not aware of good and secure software and applications. This makes the overall usage more vulnerable increasing in cyber-crimes and software hacking cases. Due to this poor techno-literacy, criminals benefit financially. One shouldn’t underestimate the potential threat caused by Ransomware.

Let’s say a group of cybercriminals attack a certain city’s energy grids. If the city refuses to pay the ransom or doesn’t do it on time, the attackers threaten to close the whole circuit and might do it.

Moreover, the world is becoming a more digitally-driven place. With the rise of smart and technological innovations like Smart fridge, Ovens, Smart cars, Television set, the whole affair becomes more delicate.

This is the reason why one shouldn’t underestimate the potential threats coming in from the hackers using the ways of Ransomware and IoT. The upcoming software companies and organizations must consider this while making a business plan as this is going to be an increasing approach in 2020 and the subsequent years.

Artificial Intelligence

Yes, we all know the benefits and the great potential Artificial intelligence has. It can do wonders in the coming future but what we are not seeing is that it can also become a great threat.

As it gets more developed, it will replace humans from many parts of the software work culture. This will make us more dependent on the software to create software. This removes the control of the software from our hands and that might create some severe problems.

Using AI, hackers will be able to threaten the software more intensely and indirectly. QA experts and Security personnel in Software development companies must utilize AI to tackle this before it goes out of control.

If we go deep down in this way, as the risk gets broader, AI might be a bigger tool used by countries to protect themselves and even in some cases attack others. Protectionist policies might be drafted to make the threat more dilute.

Software Update Supply Chain Attack

Another risk one should consider is the software update supply chain attacks. Here, a part of malware is embedded into an authorized software package at the respective delivery area.

It generally takes place in the development stage of the product seller, by redirection or by third party storage area.

This kind of attack takes place due to the rapid increase in the number of infections during the update of the product. Hackers most frequently target specific areas or divisions.

In the coming years, organizations must focus on their most vulnerable and weak areas in the product update supply chains. Many a time, some odd security breach can be counteracted before it happens. It’s rare but security developers and maintainers must be aware.

General Data Protection Regulation

In May 2018, a regulation named the GDPR, i.e. General Data Protection Regulation came into practice. It suggests many imperative changes to the current Data Protection Directive. Expansion of the regional scope, Stricter consent laws, and Raised rights for data subjects are some of them.

With this regulation. The organization doesn’t stand a chance to ignore software security. If any international organization fails to comply with this method, the penalties can go up to 4% of the annual global turnover.

This is a major test for software developers and testers. Some of the motives for a software developer in today’s era are Database testing, Handling of data and storage, adding cookies, etc.

Due to GDPR, the whole affair got more complicated for entrepreneurs, developers, and marketing divisions. But at least it triggers the need for security in all their minds.

Cloud-based security

Security departments of many organizations are walking on a tight rope and struggling to maintain security in old school ways. The new age of security demands a more flexible way to do things and Cloud-based security is one hell of a solution.

Well, it is a solution but not at all times. With the rise of cloud-based systems, the digital attack surface increases resulting in more vulnerable security space. With ignorant protection policies, this space tends to be the primary attack approach taken by hackers and cyber-criminals.

Cloud exploitation is easier and more dangerous than the Legacy management server’s stimulation to the cloud. The forerunners of SRM must consider taking full benefit of staff optimization, API-based access, Cloud scale, increased data telemetry, and other services and products that are problematic to the model.

Botnets and DDOS Attacks

You must have heard about the botnets. These are systems of mediated machines. The primary feature of this is that these can be remotely accessed and managed and mainly utilized to dispatch breaches on a bigger scale.

The Botnet control chain starts from Cyber criminals who control Command and Control networks, which leads the botnets. Mainly they can be used to release attacks named DDOS, i.e. Distributed Denial of service. It makes a certain site so engaged that it doesn’t process the correct requests.

DDOS can also completely crush any given web page. It works on the ransom give and take method.

Similarly, botnets can be used to breach secure frameworks. Here, each bot works at a low intensity to hide from detecting but the sum intensity of all the botnets turns to be a major security threat.

Using antivirus software and regularly updating the software is the best way to avoid such breaches.

Another aspect of this is the regulation of third-party organizations to breach your system. Considering the scale of this, a collaborative methodology involving law enforcement agencies, working with respective ISP, and system software vendors are demanded to resist.

Container Adoption

The infamousness of software container systems is that companies search for different ways to let applications run reasonably when a shift between environments takes place. On the other hand, every application on a respective server gets its environment to drive which shares the OS of a host server if a container is in place.

As there is no need for a container to load an operating system, it can be easily and quickly created. Also, they are movable. They are individual complex software into modular micro-services and are simple to scale.

In either way, the components that give power to the containers to build liveliness subsequently lead to many security-related concerns. The use of a shared OS model suggests a breach in the host OS. This could compromise the security of every container.

But, as containers are easy and quick to make, it is inexplicable for endpoint controls and conventional networks to stay alert of the developments needed to control them.

They create a different attack surface through the APIs and command plane. It presents itself as more delicate in the expression of the actual assessment setting and imperils application internals.

Members of the security must know about ongoing container deployments in the company. A persistent weakness assessment and remedial structure are a must for utilizing the container system.

Also, many suppliers of container security provide various tools for companies that offer full life cycle vulnerability management and application-customized run time security to secure containers from threats.

Preventive measures

Any single micro attack on any given system can make the system collapse. Until now, the article must have been all about the potential digital dangers we are about to face, but now we will focus on the preventive measures one should and must take to tackle the threats.

As we all know, Prevention is better than a cure. Taking immediate and careful actions is a way to tackle such attacks.

Using versatile and updated cyber security systems and solutions, strictly instructing workers, gaining in-depth knowledge of the dangers faced by your system are some of the ways to defend the attacks. These requirements are quite challenging for cyber security administrators.

Conclusion

In this blog, we discussed some very intense potential threats the software development industry might face in the coming years. With the rise of various technical innovations in the modern world, the number and vigorousness of threats will increase and software development organizations must take action against it.

How VTEST can help

With a high-end, regularly updated infrastructure, VTEST is set to change the software security game in the coming years. The cyber-attacks will be on a rise and so will be the defending models of VTEST.

Giving the utmost attention and priority to the security code of any system, VTEST confirms a safe environment for any software.

VTEST it!

By now, all of you must have heard about the Spiral Model used in the Software Development Life Cycle, i.e. SDLC. Though we have heard it, many of us don’t exactly know the theory and implementation of it. Let’s discuss it in a bit detailed way in this blog.

The spiral model is a combination of the Prototype model and the Sequential Model. It is a specific design executed and planned for bigger projects. Also, these kinds of projects generally require constant improvements.

One can say that it is quite similar to the incremental model but it is still different because it emphasizes risk engineering, analysis, and evaluation.

A basic structure of the Spiral model is as follows.

Let’s dig deeper into it. In this article, we will have a look at various phases in the spiral model, its advantages as well as its disadvantages. First, let’s see what are the 4 stages involved in the Spiral Model.

Spiral Model – Stages

1. Planning phase: In this initial phase, all the required data and information regarding the project is collected. This includes requirements such as SRS (System Requirement Specifications), Cost estimation, BRS (Business Requirement Specification),Design Alteration, Resource Scheduling for iteration, etc.

2. Risk Analysis: Here, Project requirements collected in the earlier phase are analyzed and brainstorming sessions are held to predict future risks and errors.Once this is done, the planning and drafting of a report of strategies to eliminate and correct the errors are made.

3. Testing phase: In the third phase, the actual execution of tests takes place. This happens with the simultaneous execution of developmental variations.This includes actions like Test Case development, Test Summary report, Coding, Drafting of Bug report, and actual Test Execution.

4. Evaluation phase: Beta testers and focused groups of customers verify these changes before the project goes to the next phase. Can evaluate the tests and can give feedback before the project goes to the next level.

   1st iteration – Preliminary risk analysis, Collection of required information and data, Panning, Engineering evaluation.
   2nd iteration – Thorough risk analysis and evaluation, Advanced level planning.
   3rd iteration – Selection of tools, Tests selection, Coding, Resource allotment.
   4th iteration – Customer evaluation.

Spiral model – When to execute?

• At the time of high risk and budget.
• For a Project with risk ranging from medium to high.
• At the time of the regular requirement of release.
• For any complicated project.
• For Projects requiring regular variations.
• For non-reasonable long-term projects that owe to the change in financial preferences.

Spiral model – Pros and Cons

Pros

• Easy management of risk makes this model a more efficient option to handle complicated and budget heavy projects. Also, it makes all the software testing projects transparent.

• In this model, the consumer or end-user can and does review the test results and its various levels.
• Segregation of the project into different stages makes the managerial aspects smooth.
• Control on the documentation is strong in this model.
• A realistic estimation of all the aspects of the project is an advantage of this model.

Cons

• An unhealthy model for small-scale projects due to the budget.
• Several intermediate stages owe to a large amount of documentation.
• The estimation of the closing date of the project cannot be done in the initial stages of the project.
• It is a complicated process.
• The primary requirement for the model is high expertise. If not, it won’t work.

Conclusion

As seen in the above image, each loop is a separate process in software testing. Remember, the main four stages discussed above, determining objectives, identifying risks, Development and Testing, and planning the next iteration are to be repeated several times until a satisfactory output is not achieved.

How VTEST can help

To execute and implement this model properly, a set of intellectual and technically sound software testers is required and VTEST is all about it. VTEST employs a good number of software testers who are techno-geeks as well as great planners.

The interpretation of the model done by VTEST is fine and more modified and we take pride in our hardworking testers for having a good success rate in the field of software testing. VTEST it!

May it be any field, one can never ignore quality. Both as a customer and even as a businessman, we need quality. Quality work, Quality Products. It is the one parameter that cannot be compromised.

Software companies with the most efficient, intelligent, and hardworking development team make a strong mark on the market. May it is any company or organization, Quality is always the main ingredient in the making of its impression.

A company should constantly focus on the maintenance of the quality of their product. There are so many variables in place. Only with a good management team and efficient work ethic, quality maintenance becomes possible.

To assure the quality of their products, every company must have a proper Quality Assurance department and a team of individuals who won’t pass any product with even a single mistake. Without it, the product will fail to deliver a quality standard, and eventually, the company will suffer loss.

For all the software enthusiasts out there, we have listed 5 pointers to go about while approaching a good QA assessment session. Have a look!

1. Be Doubtful

Always be dubious and curious towards everything in your testing zone. Do not blindly trust the software developers’ work and try to find errors even in the obvious and simple things.

If on any occasion, you find the system to be bug-free, then appreciate the assembly for it.

Implement your insights into the testing process. Don’t trust anybody under the influence of their respective positions or the assignments they hold. Trust your instincts and try to find the bugs with an unbiased approach.

Pursue this approach throughout the whole quality assurance process.

While examining, being open to new ideas, and still questioning everything and being a skeptic in the process is the balance one needs to achieve. If and when this balance is achieved in the Quality Assurance process, a satisfactory outcome will be achieved.

2. Explore newer Ideas and Keep an open mind

Consider everyone’s opinions and suggestions while approaching the process. Having insiders as well as outsiders’ insights helps in giving the whole process a wider approach.

There is a wide scope for many updates and upgrades in the system and that’s why to cover all the aspects, taking suggestions from fellow testers helps.

Every Quality assurance team should have the capability to react to change because as we know Change is an inescapable truth of life.

If a situation arises when the testing of all the elements of the system is not completed and the deadline has come, a proper report of all the executed and non-executed tests should be made and to be given to the developers’’ team. This helps them decide the actual status of the software and leads to the decision as to whether the application should be released or not.

3. Organize Tests and Plan Tasks

In the initial stages of the process, the Quality assurance team should decide their priorities well and fine and plan and organize the whole process accordingly. The overall execution and implementation of the testing process depend on this planning.

This ensures that all the complex and critical experiments get completed early and there won’t be any need to fasten things up at the end due to a time crunch. Also, they should include different parts of the product that are either obligated to the administrative system, most basic to execute, or bound to carry disastrous errors.

4. Learn Basic Coding and have a basic debugging knowledge

Well, we know that Coding and Debugging come under the work territory of a software developer/designer. But it is highly recommended that software testers in the QA team of a company must have a basic knowledge about coding. Let’s see why.

In automation testing, a fundamental sense and knowledge about programming is a must. Similarly, in manual testing, if a tester is supposed to create and utilize snippets to revive manual testing tasks, a sense of programming helps.

Also, this basic knowledge of different coding languages like JavaScript, etc. helps one to increase his/her credit as a software quality assurance tester.

Though it is not a must-have skillset as testing is not primarily about the code, one must fabricate his/her fundamental learning of programming dialects such as VBScript, Java, etc as it is vital to the process.

Also, knowing DBMS ideas, SQL ideas helps.

5. A constant learning approach

As in the current world, technological innovations are getting rapid and more creative. If the people in the quality assurance and checking industry won’t learn the new techniques, they will get left behind and the world will experience a decrease in the quality of the products.

The only constant thing is change and one should be able to embrace it.

And lastly, a proper sense of analytics and good testing skills are the primary things a tester requires to be good. Also, the capability to work individually will sail the ship of a good QA software tester.

Conclusion

As we discussed above, these 5 tips are the essentials of a good QA team.

Always questioning the software and being curious, exploring newer ideas, and keeping an open mind towards any good suggestions, A Proper planning, and organization of the assigned tasks with prioritizing based on their significance, learning basic coding and debugging, and having a consistent learning approach are the basics of an incredible QA team.

Trust, Actions are taken without any dread, Unity, and Respect for other team members is the basis to build any effective QA team. Revise your current work ethic and implement these 5 tricks to make it better!

How VTEST can help

With conducting reviews regularly, VTEST assures an efficient and hardworking software testing team. The build of any software is nothing without a quality assurance team to verify it and VTEST knows it.

We work with the most optimum work ethic and leave no stones unturned to deliver a product with the best quality and fine code.

VTEST it!

Though Mobile apps have taken charge of the digital world lately, many small, as well as big organizations, have a strong customer base and communication through their website. A website plays an important role in developing a solid base for any given company. All the information related to the company, their earlier work, ongoing projects, and all other information can be known from a company’s website.

To make it a proper way to do these things, it has to be smooth, and here comes the role of software testing. In Website testing, there is a special category of testing called Bucket testing also known as Split testing or A/B testing. In this blog, we will focus in more detail on Bucket testing and why is it a good way to go about.

In Bucket testing, at least 2 different versions of the website are tested to verify which one of them is doing better. It involves different metrics like Downloads, Clicks, or Purchases that are measured from variations of each page.

Many organizations in the arena of the website invest more into bucket testing for a finer website and ultimately for optimizing the conversion rates to maximize their profits.

How does it work?

The first step of any bucket test is drafting a hypothesis. It can be in any form like Design, Text, or usability change. The testing team decides this. It involves a statement which states that a certain change in the system will have the stated consequences. To verify this is to test.

When the test is executed, if any certain variation seems to be working better than the other then the control page for key metrics, the given variable is combined in the final version of the website.

On any given page, n number of Bucket tests can be performed. A satisfying outcome is the only limit to the number of bucket tests carried out on the page.

Let’s say. There is an already existing page for a magazine which is free. The term used for this version of the page is ‘Variation A’. It includes all the data and information related to the magazine and a sign-up window with a ‘Submit’ button.

Now, if a minor textual change is done on the website by replacing the word ‘Submit’ by ‘Get the free copy’, that version is known a ‘Variation B’. Now a Bucket test is the comparison and analysis of the number of visitors who properly fill the form from both the versions.

Now, because it is an ad campaign landing page, the potential number of people visiting the page is going to be very high. But, very few of them will be able to fill the form successfully. In this case, as the key metric used is the ‘Number of People’, the results are unsatisfactory. So, the team is supposed to conduct the bucket test once again with some other change.

Common elements to test

Several common elements are tested in this type of testing. Below is a list.

• Changing Titles and Sub-titles. Size, Length, Font alteration.
• Changing the placements, numbers, type, or subject matter of images on the page.
• Changing text like a variation in Text style, Number of words, Font, etc.
• Variation in Call-to-action i.e. CTA buttons like ‘Sign Up’, ‘Get Started’, ‘Buy Now’, ‘Submit’.
• Variation in logos of third-party sites or customers.

Conclusion

A basic purpose of any website is to generate more leads by increasing the number of visitors. This only happens smoothly if and when a regular execution of Bucket tests is in place.

Sometimes, making variations in simpler things like image, text or layout can make wonders for your website. Bucket testing eliminates the need for subjective opinions about the website’s layout or design. The decision becomes clear and the output is visible.

How VTEST can help

Most of all, Bucket testing is all about creativity. The software testing team must find out about the box variation to try out on the website. A creative and innovative testing team along with a strong technical sense and knowledge is a utopic situation. At VTEST it’s a reality.

Our software testing team comprises of smart and intelligent technicians who find creative solutions to any problem.

VTEST it!

To make sure that a certain task is completed in the right manner, an approximation or estimation of the potential outcomes should be done. It also helps the software testers in estimating the time required to execute the test.

In all the software testing scenarios, time management plays an important role. It is necessary to plan the testing process with respect to time and plan things accordingly. One of the primary things which a client looks for in a testing agency is time efficiency. So, to not lose your clients, make a timely plan.

So, when one talks about estimation, what exactly is it? What is there to estimate in a test and what are the ways to go about it? Well, let’s discuss these questions in detail along with different tips from our experts.

Test estimation – What to estimate?

First, we will have a look at all things that are to be estimated before starting the actual process of software testing.

• Time – Not just software testing but all projects work under a timeline. It is necessary for any project to have a deadline to complete it within and thus estimation of what is it going to be is necessary.

• Cost –Budget is another important thing which is to be estimated. If you want things to be in control financially, you will have a plan out the costs of the project properly and have an estimation of the budget with you before starting the project.

• Resources –Resources like Funding, Equipment, People i.e. Human resources, facilities, etc. is another aspect of a software testing project which needs to be approximated. All the project requirements should be listed down first and then after having a proper estimation report, planning should be done.

• Human Skills –TA talented team with all the essential knowledge and experience can pull off wonders. Estimation of who all are going to be working on the project in the given time and with full efficiency is important.

Test estimation –Various ways to estimate
Below is a list of various techniques used to estimate the software testing process. Check it out.

• Breakdown structure on the working basis
• 3-point estimation technique for software testing
• Ad-hoc method
• Delphi technique for the wide-band
• Use-case point approach
• Testing point and function point analysis
• Percentage distribution

Test estimation – A Four-Step Procedure

There are four main stages in the test estimation process. They are as follows:

• Divide the project into smaller modules.
• Allocate the divided tasks among the team members.
• Estimate the total efforts invested in completing the tasks.
• Estimate validation.

Now let’s have a deeper look at these stages.

1. Dividing the project into smaller modules.

When one divides a bigger task into various small tasks, the whole work ethic becomes much more detailed and accurate. The chances of any mistake become less and the whole process gets more efficient as the responsibilities are now divided and each small unit of work is being looked at with utmost attention.

2. Allocating the tasks among team members.

After the division of tasks, make sure that you assign them properly to the respective team member. Like Development for developers, Software testing module for the testing team, Environment built for the test administrator, etc.

3. Estimating the total efforts invested in completing the tasks.

Functional Point Method and Three-point estimation are the two essential parts on which the estimation technique will work. The functional point method is divided as per the cost, size, duration of the testing project. On the other hand, in the three-point estimation, the three points i.e. Worst-case estimation, Best case estimation, and Likely estimation are measured.

4. Estimating validation

After following the above three stages, finally one needs to aggregate the project as per the estimation in the system. In this stage, thereview and approval of the aggregated estimation are done. It’s the most reasonable and logical.

Test Estimation – Best practices

This is the part where we discuss some tips and tricks to go about test estimation. To get the estimation more accurate, follow these and you are done.

• Buffer time – Always remember to have some extra time in your hand when you plan a project. Anything can happen at any part of the process. Anyone can quit, any technical inconvenience, ANYTHING can happen. It is always easy if you have some buffer time to spare on these sudden problems.

• Reference experience of past –The estimation with reference to the past experiences of the team and the team members is an easy way to get things more accurate. The past project experience tells many things about how future projects are going to be, helping in time estimation, team efficiency, etc.

• Estimation on planning account resource – If you are real enough in thinking about the estimation, you have to take into consideration that many smaller things might o=come up at the execution period and thus you must have some spare days in hand. Timely delivery should be preferred.

• Re-estimation–The word estimation itself is suggestive of approximation. While estimating, you should understand that it is just an approximation of the said thing and not a fixed declaration. A liberal workspace with modifications and changes as per the changing scenarios should be promoted. Convincing the modification to the customer and similar third parties is also an important task here.

• Bug cycle – One can never be sure about the bugs in software even after a software test. A software is to be tested constantly, like in a cycle to make it completely bug-free but it’s still not. Well, one should consider that this bug testing cycle will take time and should estimate that beforehand.

• The scope of the project – The scope of the project, meaning what your project is projecting and how far does the execution and implementation are going to go, should be estimated as early as possible in the process. This mainly includes test data, test scripts, and test beds to start the work.

Conclusion

All in all, one must understand the importance of test estimation in the process of software testing. It is one of the most dynamicstyles that is used in the process of software testing. Going by this method, many professionals would work on their experience to get more involved with the approach the industry has taken.

The process of software test estimation works well on the use case and test case point. If in the process of software test estimation, one realizes that something is not going to turn out as it is supposed to, he/she can make modifications in the testing plan and reduce the probability of that error to occur.

How can VTEST help

In software testing, accuracy accounts for an important element of the whole process and VTEST knows it. We have our preferences clear and right and estimating a software testing project’s various aspects and work towards making that estimation a reality is pretty much what we opt for.

VTEST comprises a talented team of testers with an accurate and efficient work ethic. If you seek a work culture with the utmost precision and time-saving quality, VTEST is there for you. VTEST it!

When software is developed, the testing of its various elements is a necessity that no sane engineer would ignore. In the wide arena of different types of testing, Information and Data Security testing is a prominent category. One cannot overlook the security aspect of their software.

In Security testing, a specific type called Penetration testing confirms that there are no data threats or security breaches in the software’s security code. It is an eminent part of the testing process as it replicates certain threatening scenarios and tests the software for its strong information security program.

If you have thorough knowledge about penetration testing than you have nothing to worry about the security of your software as the wildest threat to the security will be checked earlier in Penetration testing.

So, let’s dig deeper into Penetration testing and have a look at its Definition, Need, Types, and all other aspects.

Penetration testing – Definition

Penetration testing, also known as Pen testing offers a proper analysis of the security of the software including different vulnerabilities and threats that affect it.

Now, we will see the reasons why your company needs to execute penetration testing on the respective software.

Penetration testing – Need

Apart from the increasing number of cyber criminals and Cyber-attacks, there are several reasons why a company should perform Pen testing. From financial security to following security regulations, the list is as important as the cyber attacks which we hear about.

We made a list. Have a look,

• A larger frequency of transfer of critical financial data.
• Security of the user information.
• Deployment of a system and not being aware of the vulnerabilities in it.
• Assessment of the business impact and maneuver risk mitigation.
• Verification of the company’s information security regulations obedience.
• Implementation of an impactful security strategy.

Penetration testing– Types
1. External Pen Test

As the name suggests, External Pen Test mainly comprises a testing technique where the tester or the testing team puts themselves in the shoes of a devil-minded hacker and verify the security of publicly exposed systems. Unleashing all the potential external hacking scenarios that are a threat to the system and are breaching the security firewall is the main task here.

2. Internal Pen Test

This one is about all the systems that are connected internally. The primary task of the testing team here is to assess the security code of all the systems that are internal and are operated remotely by an external attacker. When hackers can get through your internal hurdles, the Internal Pen test is executed to make sure that the security of the internal system remains uncompromised.

3. Hybrid Pen Test

The word is in the name. This one is a hybrid of the Internal and External Pen tests. To tackle more complicated and smarter hacking attacks, A hybrid Pen test is used. This one guards the systems against distant and local penetrations.

4. Social Engineering Test

This kind involves a trick where a certain individual will be trapped in a scenario without his/her knowledge and a situation will be created where he/she will be tempted to reveal sensitive information. It could something like a phishing link sent in a mail to an employee.

5. Physical penetration testing

The effect of the injection of external physical devices like USB sticks or external Hard-drives is verified in this test. Normally, this type of testing is performed in high-secret facilities like military services.

6. Network Services Test

This type of testing is used to find entry and exit points in a certain network system.

Penetration Testing – The Span of Control

Penetration testing is considered a form of testing which is rigorous. It analyses and verifies the stability of the entire system.Here, every application, network, access layers, and the whole system.These testers are professionals who are experts in reviewing the code of front-end web software. This is done to reveal different potential possibilities of cyber attacks on the said network.

All in all, below is a list of vulnerabilities that a penetration test helps reveal.

• Verification of Data Infrastructure and Network Protection.
• Identification of Potential risks attached to the business.
• Analysis of the intensity of how dependable the ongoing security solutions are and the respective provisions to tackle and avoid any external invasions.
• Defining various measures to make your web protection and security systems strong and improve their quality. This minimizes risks.

Penetration testing – About the technicians who execute it, The Pen testers

The mindset required to be a Pen tester who simulates the scenarios of real-world hacking is a similar one that of a Policeman who thinks like a thief to catch one. The pen tester has to think like a hacker and acquire some skill set that a hacker would possess. Only that helps him to identify and resolve issues that go into hacking the security of certain software.

And as you guys know by now, there can be some dangerous situations which go into hacking. A good pen tester is always able to tackle those situations efficiently.

It’s like an oath for him/her to guard the security of the software by doing anything and everything possible. He/she is supposed to help the company know their system better and should be suggestive of newer ways to protect it.

Penetration Testing – Process

In Pen testing, there are 2 main ways to go about it. Black box testing and White box testing. These 2 have their independent aspects in their working culture. Let’s see what each of these offers.

1. Black Box Testing

In this type, Pen testers outside of your company who are unaware about the target network will get access to your system for testing purposes.It’s like its name, the tester walks into it blindly, without knowing anything about its internal arrangement. It’s as we discussed it before, the pen tester should put in the shoes of a hacker to execute this type of testing. He/she is treated as outsiders who are not allowed access to any of the internal workings of the current system.

Evaluation of the response of the IT team and actions taken to tackle the breach is the main part of this process.

2. White Box Testing

On the contrary to what happens in the process of Black Box testing, Here, The Pen testers know all the ins and outs of the system and the target network. Even the security auditors working on this know all the information about the target network. The data generally consists of IP addresses of the systems, Versions of the installed operating systems, Network topology, and Source codes of applications.

Auditors here, enjoy full visibility of the internal infrastructure given by the internal technological innovations. Also, they are supposed to be co-operating with the internal security team.

3.Gray Box Testing

This is the third type of Penetration testing. This one is a hybrid of Black and White Box testing. This gives the security auditors some access to knowledge and data about the internal infrastructure and allows them to work around some of the information.

This approach reveals vulnerabilities as well as detects weaker threads.

Penetration testing – Getting the timing right

After discussing the definition of Pen testing, its types, and the process, now we will see what might be the right time to execute penetration testing on the software.

One of the primary variables here is the scheduling of the Pen test. It helps later in the management of the security plan which is tightened with strict counter offensive manifestos.

Many organizations and companies make the mistake of conducting a pen test too early in the whole process.

Now, we will go into the step by step process of execution of penetration testing or software security assessment.

Penetration testing – Step-wise process of security assessment

1) Audit:

The first step a security auditor should take part in is Audit. The security auditor initiates the pen testing by collecting all the basic details of all the activities practiced by the organization on a routine.

When they perform a system audit, the security auditors get a better understanding of the quality and standards of different technical elements that have taken on and also it helps to uncover various situations that can be enhanced.

A good pen tester will focus on different elements of the process concerning the hardening of the system, Automated security patching, and Verification of the capabilities of the system to find intrusions. Verifying whether or not the right procedures are being implemented is the primary part of the system audit.

2) Vulnerability Management:

This step is about effective management of the weaknesses detected after making sure that all the security measures are correctly placed and planned. Numerous vulnerabilities scans are executed on the system software in this stage. This reveals many coding issues intercepted indirectly into the system in the primary stages. It checks into the type of software that is being used as well as uncovers the potential exploitation zones of the software.

3) Pen Testing:

After a thorough analysis of the technical base of the system and verifying that the execution is taking place with the right set of procedures, the actual execution of Penetration testing must be done.

With taking on the blanket of external auditors, Pen testers now perform actual and simulated attacks and breaches on the system. After these attacks, they can reveal the potential threats and security leaks to the system. This way they get into the minds of hackers to know their game and secure the system fully.

4) Report of your Security Plan:

The last step is to draft a report. A summary of all the stages and observations and conclusions should be made into a document. The document is called a Penetration Test Report. The Penetration Test Report is like a handbook to assess the status of the given software’s security system.

Penetration testing – Top 15 tools

1. Spyse
2. Intruder
3. Kali Linux
4. Cain and Abel
5. Core Impact
6. Canvas
7. John the Ripper
8. IndusFace
9. Metasploit
10. W3af
11. Nessus
12. Burpsuite
13. Netsparker
14. SqlMap

Conclusion

A big concern of every software testing related organizational meeting is the amount of importance given to security testing and its ever-important subset, Penetration testing. If one ignores this, hackers will easily break into the system and consequently, the company will lose everything.

Penetration testing makes sure that the Basic security manifesto of any given software is in place and goes ahead a step to simulate certain hypothetical scenarios where the attacks are properly planned and all the major and minor potential security breaches are found.

We hope this blog has been a help to you guys. Feel free to write to us.

How VTEST can help

A team of young, dynamic, and creative software testers is available at VTEST who know how a hacker or a cyber criminal thinks. This mindset helps VTEST perform the best quality Penetration testing and guard any given software or application against all the potential threats.

VTEST will provide your organization with the utmost secure code and will never lose your trust.

VTEST it!

Without testing, any software is incomplete. The codes and other elements in software must be tested before launching it in the market or else the software might be full of bugs and errors and it directly affects the user experience. To avoid this and have a good image of your software in the market, software testing is a must.

There are various models and styles used in the software development process and we are here to discuss all of those. Well, each model has its pros and cons, and it’s upon the complexity and overall technical nature of your project. In this article, we will be digging deeper into all of those and have a wider analysis of each.

Let’s go then!

1. Waterfall Model

Waterfall Model is a well-known model which is followed broadly in the software testing industry. Like implied in the name, this process starts from a bigger source and subsequent phases fall done under it. Various steps. Each step or phase has its intention and functionality.

There are 4 stages in this as follows,

1. Requirement gathering and Analysis
   All the needs for the development of the required software are listed and analyzed. This involves detailed data of end-user requirements.
2. Software Design
   Using the document created in the earlier phase as an input, this phase tests the design of the software.
3. Programmed implementation and Testing
4. Maintenance

Now, we will have a look at the pros and cons of this method.

Pros

• Smooth and Easy implementation and Maintenance.
• The opening stage saves a lot of time and effort in the developmental stages.
• Minimal requirement of resources.

Cons

• Impossible alteration of the requirements later.
• Have to stick to the model as no changes can be made in later stages.
• Have to wait until the previous step is finished to start the next phase.

2. V Model

This is a well-known competitor of the Waterfall Model and many believe that it is better than that. In this case, the Test execution and development goes on in a simultaneous time frame. The testing initiates at the unit level and then spreads throughout the system.

This one is divided into five phases. Those are Unit testing, Integration testing, Regression testing, System testing, and Acceptance testing.

Pros

• Planning the test and designing it is done before writing the actual code which makes this model easy to use.
• Time saver and therefore increasing the chances of success.
• The downward flow of defects is avoided as errors are found at the initial stages.

Cons

• It is a rigid and uncompromising testing model.
• The software is developed at the implementation stage so early prototypes of the product cannot be available to have a look at.
• If any changes are suggested by the team in the middle of the process, the whole test document has to be updated.

3. Agile model

Different cross-functional teams collaborate and discuss to evolve requirements and respective solutions. This one has a wide reputation for being an incremental and iterative model.

Pros

• It makes sure that the consumer is satisfied with the quick and constant developmental flow and delivery of the products.
• The 3 pillars of this dynamic, Developers, Testers, and Customers, constantly interact with each other in this phase.
• The quick development of working software can be done and the changing requirements can be easily and smoothly adapted.

Cons

• In a larger case where the complexity of the software is more, the assessment of efforts that go at the initial stages becomes hard.

• Though it is a pro, a constant consumer interaction can distract the ultimate aim of the project as the developers know more about the whole process, and it not always the case that customers know what they want.

4. Spiral model

This one is more similar to the earlier phase with a slight modification. It gives more importance and emphasis on Risk Analysis. The 4 stages it involves are as follows. Planning, Risk Analysis, Engineering, and Evaluation. Here, the base level involves requirement gathering and risk assessment on which every subsequent upper spiral has been built.

Pros

• Risk is avoided as risk analysis is considered as an important part.
• Fantastic model for larger and complex systems.
• Additional functionalities can be added later if any circumstances change in the middle of the process.
• Early production of software in the cycle.

Cons

• A heavy budget and expensive model. It also requires proper expertise in risk analysis.
• A low rate of smooth working in simpler projects.

5. Rational Unified Process

Each stage in this model is organized into various iterations. It involves 4 stages. The different aspect of this model is that each iteration here should differently satisfy the said criteria before the initiation of the next phase.

Pros

• This method emphasizes accurate documentation which indirectly resolves the risks involving in the ever changing needs of the consumer.
• The process continued through the Software Development Life Cycle and therefore the integration takes much less time.

Cons

• It’s not a layman’s job. The team members have to be technical experts in the respective fields.
• Constant integration gives rise to confusion in the big projects.

6. Rapid application development

Again, this one is also similar to the Agile model. It is incremental. The development of the components here is parallel. After that, the developmental assembly takes place.

Pros

• The simultaneous development of components makes it a quicker method as the development time gets lessened. Also, the components can be reused.
• Integration issues are easily and quickly solved as integration begins from the initial stages.

Cons

• This method needs a strong team of very capable testing hands. The team members should be individually efficient in recognizing business needs and requirements.
• Many systems that can be modularized can be developed in this and only this model as this one is a module-based model.
• Again, a costly budget makes this model an unsuitable option for cheaper projects.

Conclusion

The SDLC i.e. Software Development Life Cycle consists of the various methods and the 6 methods which we just discussed are not the end of this. With the rise of innovations in the technology and software development fields, hundreds of new methods have been introduced by the experts in the industry.

The newer methods and stages in these methods change constantly as more efficient ways are being discovered. One needs to understand all the elements of these methods and then plan the SDLC according to their Project requirements and preferences.

How VTEST can help

With a team of young and dynamic testers who are not only updated with the new and upcoming technology but also know the old methods which are helpful and working, VTEST can change the game for your SDLC. Keeping a cooperative approach towards the work, VTEST will help you go through the SDLC like butter, resulting in very crisp and tasteful user experience for your customers.

VTEST it!