Application testing can be defined as going through the way the software works, finding out error areas also called evaluation of software for satisfying end-user requirements. This can be explained as testing, analyzing, or examining the working of a software/application before launching it for users, to resolve any bug or a mistake is a crucial step included in the aim of getting a positive response from users.

As a person responsible for testing different applications it is important to  understand Testing lifecycle which can be shown as follows,

1. Requirement Analysis:  Determining Expectations and needs.
2. Test Planning:  Setting up the test environment & tools.
3. Test case development:  Creation of points that are to be tested.
4. Test Environment setup:  Where the test will be executed software/hardware.
5. Test Execution: Use the application and check performance.
6. Test Cycle Closure: Report generation based on the above points.

Included in these lifecycle events there are some phases that are to be considered for performance testing they are shown as follows

1. Web Application Testing.
2. Desktop & Mobile Application Testing.
3. Testing functionality on different browsers, and screen sizes.
4. UI, Performance, security, and different system requirements.

Application Testing Types

1. Manual: The manual testing approach is used more frequently by developers in the initial phases of development for testing specific features.
2. Automation: Ready-made tools or software are used to test performance and output also without human errors.

Challenges in Application Testing

In the basic arithmetic calculator application numbers are taken as the first input, second comes the operator it may be (add, subtract, multiply, etc.) and third is the number with which the first number is to be operated.

So, it is the responsibility of a tester to confirm the working by using multiple input combinations for example: do testing for 1+1, 2+3, 10+101, 12.30+8.90, etc.

This may showcase any errors like,

1. Getting wrong answers.
2. Decimal calculation issue.
3. Not refreshing previous answers after adding new numbers.
4. What if the user did not select an operator and press the show result button.
5. How a large number is displayed as an answer.

Similarly, for video viewing applications such as YouTube or Netflix, Checks have to be done on all possibilities the user will use to watch a video and the test cases are,

1. Is the exact video selected by the user viewed or something else
2. Is the video selection mismatching for multiple users,  

Example: If “user-A” selects “video-A” to watch, and “user-B” selects “video-B”, but the tester should confirm that “user-B” should not see “video-A” by mistake instead of “video-B” and vice versa.

1. Is the duration showing correctly?

Testing must also include if all the breakpoints, and contents added only for debugging purposes are completely removed from the code before launching an application.

So finally, all the possibilities are to be checked by a tester as well as a developer by becoming a user for an instance, this will obviously take the progress graph up.

Software Application Testing Tools:

So to overcome the above given challenges we can have some tools that will help QAs to manage and regulate the test process. But now the problem is which tool is to selected be used, let’s see some examples,

1. Selenium: Cross-browser compatibility can be checked.
2. Cypress:   Useful for effective and asynchronous testing.
3. Percy:   Visual testing / UI appearance on multiple screens.
4. Appium:   Helper for testing  Android and IOS platforms.

Having different screens/browsers/operating systems in one place cannot be that easy so the solution is to use available tools some of which are mentioned above. There will be new r&d’s every time and the list will get updated with more options.

Conclusion:

Today it has become essential for businesses to leverage effective mobile test automation to get scalable, robust, and high-performing applications, for delivering a great experience to users worldwide.

So just by following the life cycle procedure, and using different tools one can get rapid growth in fast delivery to market, effective usage, and positive reach to customers.

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