January 2018 Summaries

The browser wars are resuming as Firefox Quantum, the new version of Mozilla's Firefox browser, challenges Google Chrome's dominance in the market. Firefox Quantum is built for speed and features a new look with a more polished experience, thanks to the Project Quantum initiative that improved the Gecko engine. This may lead to increased competition among browsers, making it essential for software testers to ensure their applications are compatible with multiple browsers. The release of Firefox Quantum may also require extensions to be rewritten using a new framework, which could be frustrating for users. However, this development is seen as a positive step towards healthier browser competition, ultimately benefiting users with improved user experiences and faster browsing speeds.

Appium is a mobile automation framework that provides a WebDriver interface on top of various automation engines such as XCUITest and Espresso. Its value proposition lies in its ability to leverage the strengths of different tools, provide a stable interface, and offer a community-driven approach to mobile testing. Unlike other frameworks like XCUITest and Espresso, Appium does not compete head-on with vendor-provided tools but instead provides an alternative that can be used on top of these engines. This allows developers to write tests in any language and leverage their existing Selenium test architecture and knowledge. While Appium has its pros and cons, it is well-suited for organizations with cross-platform mobile apps and expertise spanning multiple languages. The choice between Appium and other frameworks ultimately depends on the specific needs of the organization and the type of interface desired to talk to the chosen automation engine.

The challenges of mobile testing include deciding which test automation framework to use, staying agile with testing, integrating testing with DevOps tools, and incorporating ITIL processes. To overcome these hurdles, it's essential to choose the right framework that addresses specific needs, adopt an Agile approach to ensure structure and consistency, integrate testing with CI/CD pipelines, and leverage ITIL principles for reproducibility and consistency. By addressing these challenges, organizations can establish a world-class mobile development life cycle.

The concept of model-based testing (MBT) is an evolving software testing approach that involves generating test cases automatically from models created by software developers and testers. This approach allows for a more integrated piece of modern test automation, where the responsibility to create testable applications is shared among the development team. MBT has several benefits, including creating better software quality, reducing test suite maintenance, and increasing flexibility in testing, but it also poses challenges such as training the development team on model-based testing and investing significant upfront time for initial implementation of the tool. By incorporating modeling into the development workflow, MBT can help ensure that specifications are reinforced at the beginning of the discovery stage and design bugs are found before code even exists, ultimately leading to a more thorough and efficient testing strategy.

Automated testing is crucial for ensuring the quality of software, shortening development cycles, and increasing customer satisfaction. By implementing automated testing at any scale, developers can catch bugs before they appear, reduce debugging time, and make efficient use of resources. This allows teams to focus on building and releasing software quickly and productively, while also facilitating complementary test strategies such as parallel testing and cloud-based testing. An automated testing solution brings numerous benefits, but requires investment of time and energy to develop, maintain, and scale. Planning for success is key, and companies should consider migrating to a modern testing solution if they still rely heavily on manual testing.