Tag Archives: QA

Demand for software testers a boon to economy

The rising demand for software testing engineers can help position Malaysia as one of the leading niche players in the growing software testing business running into billions of dollars annually, says the President of the Malaysia Software Testing Board (MSTB), Mastura Abu Samah.

A software testing engineer is normally responsible for testing new computer software or programs before the product is delivered to ensure that they work properly, perform the desired functions, and are free from defects.

Mastura said the current trend in "our highly automated world is for software testing engineers to become the ‘third eye’ to identify ‘bugs’ or problems in computer systems before the procurer or purchaser takes possession of the system from the vendor for use or deployment."

"Against such a scenario, the potential of software testing engineering is tremendous with the business able to soar to a RM20 billion industry by 2020," she told Bernama in an interview.

Mastura said as European and other Western countries increasingly outsource their software testing business to the Asia Pacific, Malaysia could take advantage of the opportunities being offered to specialise in this sector and in the process enhance the national income.

Starting with only 20 software testing engineers in Malaysia more than 15 years ago, MSTB has helped to increase the number to 1,600 engineers and the board is targeting 10,000 software testing engineers in the country by 2015, she said.

MSTB is the national body representing industry interests in promoting Software Quality Assurance (SQA) and software testing as core competencies in the development of IT-dependent quality products and services.

As a member of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), MSTB regulates the accreditation and certification processes for Malaysia.

"The board has set up a platform to promote the industry and we need to ensure that the applications being tested are tested well and at the same time ensure that there are multi-skilled people undertaking the tasks," said Mastura, who is regarded as a pioneer in this specialised field.

She said companies usually clamour for multi-tasking engineers who can design, test and deploy software rather than being confined to "doing just one thing."

Mastura said MSTB initiated the Malaysia Software Testing Hub (MSTH) programme, a strategic public-private partnership with the government to "pilot" an eco-system that would also identify new opportunities in the global economy against the backdrop of an innovative economic model for high-income growth.

"In other words, MSTB is undertaking one of the niche areas which our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had envisioned in the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative in 1996 towards creating a multimedia hub of knowledge workers," said Mastura.

MTSB, she said, is now working with several local universities to ensure that software engineers performing such tasks would be able to "skill-up" and adapt to the different domains in the market such as banking, telecommunications or human resource management.

Mastura said MSTB hopes to help produce software testing engineers who can prove their worth anywhere in the world with their skills, adding studies have shown that these highly-skilled specialists can easily earn between RM15,000 and RM18,000 a month.

To help Malaysian software testing engineers keep abreast of the latest developments, MTSB has invited 14 renowned international experts in the field to speak at Softec, a three-day conference and workshop beginning here on Tuesday.

This year’s event, themed "The Art of Testing", focuses on the finer points of software testing, particularly on testing techniques and their effective application.

Source:
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/427696

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How to test Flex application using Selenium RC?

Testing Flex applications was difficult because the logic or behavior is encapsulated from the browser. Selenium RC uses JavaScript to communicate with the browser. Flex External Interface provides a mechanism for which you can use JavaScript to call an ActionScript function in a SWF file embedded in an HTML page. Therefore, we use FlexSelenium, a Selenium RC client extension that uses JavaScript as the medium between Selenium RC and the Flex application.

You can also test flex application by having a flex monkium plugin in selenium IDE. You need to compile your client application with sfapi.swc and automation_monkey.swc and the flex libs. This becomes your application to test. You can record your test and convert that into any format which you are comfortable in.

Recently I just got the chance to test one Flex application using selenium. To provide flex support to selenium, you just have to add few JAR files. But for this you need to rebuild your application with provided library file (SeleniumFlexAPI.swc) by selenium flex.

Below are the steps to test flex application using Selenium RC.

Rebuild your flex application with SeleniumFlexAPI.swc

Download the “Selenium-Flex API” zip file and extract the zip file. In FlexBuilder, add this SeleniumFlexAPI.swc in the /src folder, then build your application with -include-libraries SeleniumFlexAPI.swc as the additional compiler argument.

Click Here to Download SeleniumFlexAPI

Add JAR files in the project

Download “Flash Selenium Java client extension” and “Flex UI Selenium” jar files. Now Right click on Project name in Eclipse and Select “Build Path >> Configure Build Path >> Library Tab”. Add these jar files by selecting “Add External Jar files” button.

Click Here to Download Flash Selenium Java client extension

Click Here to Download Flash UI Selenium

Write Selenium Script

Before we write the script in Selenium RC we need to identify the elements of the flex application. So for this use FlashFirebug (extension of the firebug add-on) Firefox add-on to identify the elements.

Source:
http://www.softwaretestingdiary.com/2012/07/how-to-test-flex-application-using.html

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How to Do Automation Testing of iPhone Applications

Why automation? It saves precious time spent in running manually one and the same tests over and over again with each new build of the application. And secondly, it improves the stability of the application and decreases regression bugs by making it easy to run tests after each non-trivial code change or even at the end of each development day.

How about automation testing of mobile applications? Well, this area has always been foggy.

There are lot of tools for web application testing and some of them could fit automation testing of mobile applications either independently, or with an extension. For example, you could use M-eux Test as an extension on top of HP’s Quick Test Professional (QTP). M-eux Test recognizes and activates the GUI objects on the screen of the mobile device while utilizing best automation testing practices already incorporated into QTP. The restriction of M-eux Test comes from the lack of supported OSs – in fact, it supports only Windows Mobile apps (6.x and 5.0 Mobile PC).

What happens if you want to test an iPhone app? Recently Gorilla Logic, an enterprise IT consulting services company has launched free functional testing tool for iPhone apps named FoneMonkey. It provides the ability to capture, edit, and replay user interface tests on iPhone, thus covering the functionality of an iPhone app with automation tests.

Further, FoneMonkey provides options for integrated script editing while playing a recorded scenario, and modifiable assertion checks. Sounds familiar?

I think FoneMonkey will quickly become a standard for iPhone test automation. Besides, the people from Gorilla Logic are handling issues and change requests in no time, there is an extensive and easy-to-follow documentation, and a dedicated forum hosted by the company. If you are into the mobile application development business, I could highly recommend you the tool!

Source:http://www.bianor.com/blog/how-to-do-automation-testing-of-iphone-applications/

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Avoiding consumer testing: Why mobile performance testing is critical

Mixing mobile device users’ high expectations for application performance with widespread enterprise adoption of mobile networks increases the risks of high-profile failures. In addition, today’s growing demand for rapid, precise mobile application distribution across many devices, operating systems and networks raises the stakes for mobile application development and quality assurance managers. This high-risk scenario requires mastering new and time-tested approaches to pre-deployment performance testing now more than ever.

“You don’t want your end users to be your testers. This is a terrible idea. Before mobile and social media, this might have been okay because the negative feedback would be more muted and not be ‘viral’ in the sense of infecting your brand before you had a chance to administer the cure,” says Dave Berg, senior director of product management for Shunra.

Theresa Lanowitz, founder of voke, inc., agrees that software performance directly links to a company’s overall reputation and it is best to avoid consumer testing. “The software that runs your company is now inextricably linked to your brand. So your brand is reflected through the software you are putting out there; your brand is reflected through the software that your customers are using,” she explains.

Recent research findings

Even smaller issues can negatively impact the brand. For example, according to research cited by Aberdeen Senior Research Analyst Jim Rapoza, 7% of users abandon applications after just one second of delay in performance. 11% abandon at two seconds, 18% at three, 25% at four and 50% at five seconds.

New voke research explores the factors that are affecting the testing market, such as cloud and mobility.  Lanowitz says, “The testing of software at every stage of the lifecycle with all aspects of the supply chain is a standard and required practice, and continues to grow in importance.”

The growing urgency of application performance testing is reflected in recent Aberdeen research as well, which shows that 18% of businesses are currently performing application testing, while 54% plan to in the next year, according to Rapoza.

Testers now must act “in the strategic role of customer advocate and help deliver higher quality software throughout the enterprise by placing a laser focus on assessing the risk associated with every piece of software,” says Lanowitz. After all, it’s not just about producing quality applications, but also satisfying the expectations of end users and preserving the integrity of the company.

Cost benefit of doing pre-deployment testing

Conducting pre-deployment performance testing is critical, and it’s also much less costly. “It is easier, more cost-effective, and protects your brand to performance test before deployment,” says Berg.

Shunra surveys have pointed to the fact that “60% of the total cost in an application’s lifecycle come from remediating performance related issues after the app has been deployed,” according to Shunra CEO Gary Jackson. “If you cut that number down just a few points, you will see astronomical savings and ROI on the pre-deployment testing you preformed. It is close to 100-to-1 in cost savings.”

The costs can really add up, “because it’s not just a matter of having to bring an app down, or bring a newer version down in order to rebuild it and retest it, it’s also the lost user opportunity; one bad experience will often drive your users away,” adds Rapoza.

Available tools

Fortunately, the market is responding with various tool and service offerings that address each layer of software performance.

Lanowitz discusses the proliferation of mobile test vendors and their willingness to partner with each other. “You have a whole host of mobile testing companies coming out. What they’re doing a really great job of is, they’re building this incredibly complex matrix that will allow you to test your mobile application from anywhere in the world into any geography. So you can do your testing from Bangalore, and say, ‘Okay, I have to make sure this will run perfectly in Chicago, in the United States, on these carriers.’”

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Automation Anywhere Launches Testing Anywhere for Cloud Applications and HTML5

"Automation Anywhere and our Testing Anywhere product line have grown rapidly because we make it easy for people in the application lifecycle including QA testers, software developers and people in non-technical roles to automate tests intelligently," said Mihir Shukla, founder and CEO of Automation Anywhere. "80% of our customers are already building cloud or web applications and asked us to expand into the cloud. So in this release we set the goal to make it easier to test cloud, web and HTML5 applications, which are increasingly important in mobile and online. Our mission is to build products that provide our customers intelligent, powerful and easy to use automation."

–  Automatic Language Identification for Objects: Testing Anywhere’s
intelligent technology was developed for the cloud. It detects an
object’s programming language and then automatically chooses the best test automation technology for that language. This increases the
efficiency of the testing process, especially when there are multiple
types of objects and languages. Testing Anywhere works with languages including .Net, Java, WPF, HTML,Silverlight, Flash, Flex and more.

–  Application Testing in the Cloud: Automation Anywhere customer
feedback says more than 80% of recorded test cases initially fail in
the cloud using other testing tools. Testing Anywhere aims to
significantly improve that percentage and also extends support for
nested inline frames and framesets.

–  HTML5 support: With the growth of HTML5 in both web and mobile
environments, Testing Anywhere now supports automated HTML5 testing.

–  Power User Functionality: Although Testing Anywhere was initially
designed to be used by a wide range of users, many advanced users have requested more control over their testing environments. As a result, Testing Anywhere has added some power user functionality such as a free-flow editor for testers to quickly type and create test cases, a multi-tab editor, advanced debugging support, and support for regular expressions in many actions.

–  PDF testing support: Testing Anywhere now automatically tests PDF
capabilities for applications that export or work with PDF documents.

–  Email testing support: More advanced email integration allows testers to easily connect to an email server from within Testing Anywhere and test email functionality of any software or web application.

–  Enhanced Testing for Mainframes: Testing Anywhere has always used terminal emulator technologies to test new and legacy applications. Testing Anywhere 7.5 offers more advanced mainframe testing and now supports SSH1 and SSH2 protocols

–  Testing Anywhere first launched in December 2009 and is being adopted by large system integrators and other software development teams looking for significantly better efficiencies and quality around
automated software testing. Testing Anywhere tests any application on any Windows platform; tests web applications on Explorer, Firefox,
Opera, Safari and Chrome; and tests custom applications written in
more than 20 languages including Python, Perl, C++ and C#. People
interested in Testing Anywhere can download the free trial version

Read More:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/automation-anywhere-launches-testing-anywhere-for-cloud-applications-and-html5-2012-05-23

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Why Your Business Needs Software Testing Solutions

More and more businesses rely on complex software applications for the efficient and successful running of their organisations. This heavy reliance on software for everything from databases, project management and sales to software applications, which are entirely Internet based with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people using the applications at the same time. This increased reliance on software for most, if not all business functions, means that it is imperative that it is tested thoroughly to ensure that whatever software you rely on is adequate for the demands of your day-to-day operations.

Downtime is not an option as this can lead to the loss of thousands if not millions in terms of lost revenue depending on the size of your business. In addition, the increase in business reliance on IT solutions over time has lead to an increase in malicious hackers trying to break into companies computer systems. The increase in security of these systems has meant that today, many hackers turn to the application layer. According to technology research giant Gartner, the application layer accounts for up to 90 per cent of all vulnerability when it comes to malicious threats to business. Software testing can identify potential threats. Software testing tools such as those made by Veracode, help to identify such threats in the code of your software.

What Is Involved
Software testing involves running the software through a series of tests in order to identify any bugs or system defects. This is called regression testing. Software testing can not only enable you to find bugs in applications, but it can also help you to identify what could go wrong so that you can then implement ways of stopping things from going wrong. Software testing can also ensure the following:

* That the software meets the needs of the users.
* That the software works as it was intended to work.
* That the software can be applied with the same characteristics as it was intended for in the design process.

Example Product
There are a number of software testing products on the market, which claim to help you improve the quality of your software, and enhancing your productivity levels. HP Quicktest Professional or HP QTP provides automated regression testing for software and forms a part of the HP Quality Centre Tool Suite. This software-testing tool is currently the market leader, but there are a few others on the market such as Veracode Tools and there are also some open source software testing tools available.

The HP Quicktest Professional application claims to provide a unique approach to automated testing. The software boats keyword driven tests which simplify the creation of tests and the maintenance of those tests so much so that your IT team can easily integrate it into their functions with minimal training. Clearly, this would allow any quality control team members within IT departments to quickly and easily identify bugs and to simply document and replicate any regressions and communicate them to the developer team. This allows for bugs to be fixed faster and more efficiently. Obviously, this would then allow for optimal functionality across all departments, data sets and business processes, improving efficiency and helping to maintain security.

Source:http://www.tipsblogger.com/2012/06/why-your-business-needs-software-testing-solutions/

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Apple Releases Guide to iOS Security

For years, mobile app security was essentially an afterthought. This was not only true for consumers, but also for development shops. Recently, it’s become quite clear that something had to be done to combat the rising tide of mobile malware, viruses and other threats.

Last week, Apple took a major step in the right direction by releasing A Guide to iOS Security. This 20-page document takes a fairly in-depth look at the iOS system architecture, encryption & data protection, network security, devices access and other areas.

Testers and developers would be wise to read the entire document, but here is a good summary from the guide’s conclusion:

Each component of the iOS security platform, from hardware to encryption to device access, provides organizations with the resources they need to build enterprise-grade security solutions. The sum of these parts gives iOS its industry-leading security features, without making the device difficult or cumbersome to use.

Apple uses this security infrastructure throughout iOS and the iOS apps ecosystem. Hardware-based storage encryption provides instant remote wipe capabilities when a device is lost, and ensures that users can completely remove all corporate and personal information when a device is sold or transferred to another owner. For the collection of diagnostic information, unique identifiers are created to identify a device anonymously.

Safari offers safe browsing with its support for OCSP, EV certificates, and certificate verification warnings. Mail leverages certificates for authenticated and encrypted email by supporting S/MIME. iMessage and FaceTime provide client-to-client encryption as well.

The combination of required code signing, sandboxing, and entitlements in apps provides solid protection against viruses, malware, and other exploits that compromise the security of other platforms. The App Store submission process works to further protect users from these risks by reviewing every app before it’s made available for sale.

Businesses are encouraged to review their IT and security policies to ensure they are taking full advantage of the layers of security technology and features offered by the iOS platform.

Apple maintains a dedicated security team to support all Apple products. The team provides security auditing and testing for products under development as well as released products. The Apple team also provides security tools and training, and actively monitors for reports of new security issues and threats. Apple is a member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). For information about reporting issues to Apple and subscribing to security notifications, go to apple.com/support/security.

Apple is committed to incorporating proven encryption methods and creating modern mobile-centric privacy and security technologies to ensure that iOS devices can be used with confidence in any personal or corporate environment.

Source:

http://www.mobileapptesting.com/apple-releases-guide-to-ios-security/2012/06/

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Facebook’s app store being tested on iPhones

Facebook’s recently announced App Center has appeared on a number of iPhones, which the company says are being used as a test group for the store.

“Since we announced the App Center to developers last month, we’ve been testing it with a small percentage of users. We have no further details to share at this time,” said a Facebook spokesperson in an email to VentureBeat.

According to screenshots recently published by TechCrunch, the App Center has a similar look and feel to Facebook’s current iPhone application. There is a black side bar on the left-hand side of the screen, which lists apps you have already downloaded, as well as a link to the Center itself. Those apps with notifications are pushed to the top of the black sidebar. The store itself has two sections: social picks and top apps. In social picks, apps are listed with star ratings and the names of friends who have already downloaded the app.

Facebook, which is bent on the idea of discovering new content through your friends interests, decided app stores needed the Facebook touch earlier in May. App marketplaces are notorious for being dense. Many apps rely on making it to the top 25 categories in order to be seen, and user acquisition continues to be a hot topic of conversation amongst developers. The Facebook App Center, on the other hand, will use your social graph to help you find apps relevant to you, and it won’t confine you to Facebook-oriented apps only.

It will be a collection of apps of all kinds from any genre. Apps listed will be available for iOS, Android, and as web apps, mobile web apps, and desktop apps. The App Center acts more like an aggregator. Developers will create a page for their app in Facebook’s Center, but links to download the app will go back to its listing on either the iOS App Store or Google Play.

Source:http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/07/facebook-app-center-iphone/

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Enterprises get serious about mobile app testing

With mobility now a necessity, the software testing space is now making accommodations to ensure enterprises can extend their applications to run on devices, according to an analyst report being released on Tuesday.

Voke’s Market Mover Array Report on software testing platforms says an explosion of mobile testing companies focusing on enterprise applications is a “clear indicator of the enterprise’s need to deliver quality software to a plethora of mobile devices.” Mobile testing vendors, the report states, will ultimately be acquired by traditional testing vendors. But for now, innovation “must be allowed to flourish.” Keynote Systems’ acquisition of DeviceAnywhere last fall represents this shift in the market; meanwhile, innovation in mobile testing also is occurring from companies including Experitest, Parasoft, Perfecto Mobile, and Soasta, according to the report.

“What we’re seeing [with mobile applications] is every organization now has to have some sort of mobile strategy, and that mobile strategy has to already fit in with what they’re doing with their existing apps,” said analyst Theresa Lanowitz, a co-author of the report and founder of Voke. “There’s very little tolerance for a mobile application that does not work from a functional perspective as well as from a performance perspective.” Software testers, she said, really need to look for commercially available tools to manage “that complex grid of what they’re going to test.”

Mobile application testing is becoming more commonplace and has been moving to the cloud, she said. Keynote DeviceAnywhere’s Test Center Developer, for example, provides online access to any mobile device, network, and operating system worldwide. Perfecto Mobile has a similar SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform with its MobileCloud platform.

Overall, software testing has to be done earlier in the application development lifecycle, to make sure defects do not leave the development phase, Lanowitz said. Companies like Electric Cloud and Microsoft are offering capabilities to apprise developers of what exactly is going on with their software builds.

Voke’s report found the software testing market “currently in a renaissance,” in terms of testing professionals and vendor innovation. Market leaders could face challenges from innovators tackling emerging technology like the cloud, mobile, device software, and infrastructure as well from innovations delivering simple solutions to classic and age-old problems by leveraging virtualization. Vendors solving problems of entrenched testing tools also could pose a challenge.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227751/Enterprises_

get_serious_about_mobile_app_testing?source=CTWNLE_nlt_app_2012-06-07&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A

+computerworld%2Fs%2Ffeed%2Ftopic%2F11+%28Computerworld+App+

Development+News%29

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Enterprises get serious about mobile app testing

With mobility now a necessity, the software testing space is now making accommodations to ensure enterprises can extend their applications to run on devices, according to an analyst report being released on Tuesday.

Voke’s Market Mover Array Report on software testing platforms says an explosion of mobile testing companies focusing on enterprise applications is a "clear indicator of the enterprise’s need to deliver quality software to a plethora of mobile devices." Mobile testing vendors, the report states, will ultimately be acquired by traditional testing vendors. But for now, innovation "must be allowed to flourish." Keynote Systems’ acquisition of DeviceAnywhere last fall represents this shift in the market; meanwhile, innovation in mobile testing also is occurring from companies including Experitest, Parasoft, Perfecto Mobile, and Soasta, according to the report.

"What we’re seeing [with mobile applications] is every organization now has to have some sort of mobile strategy, and that mobile strategy has to already fit in with what they’re doing with their existing apps," said analyst Theresa Lanowitz, a co-author of the report and founder of Voke. "There’s very little tolerance for a mobile application that does not work from a functional perspective as well as from a performance perspective." Software testers, she said, really need to look for commercially available tools to manage "that complex grid of what they’re going to test."

Mobile application testing is becoming more commonplace and has been moving to the cloud, she said. Keynote DeviceAnywhere’s Test Center Developer, for example, provides online access to any mobile device, network, and operating system worldwide. Perfecto Mobile has a similar SaaS platform with its MobileCloud platform.

Overall, software testing has to be done earlier in the application development lifecycle, to make sure defects do not leave the development phase, Lanowitz said. Companies like Electric Cloud and Microsoft are offering capabilities to apprise developers of what exactly is going on with their software builds.

Voke’s report found the software testing market "currently in a renaissance," in terms of testing professionals and vendor innovation. Market leaders could face challenges from innovators tackling emerging technology like the cloud, mobile, device software, and infrastructure, as well from innovations delivering simple solutions to classic and age-old problems by leveraging virtualization. Vendors solving problems of entrenched testing tools also could pose a challenge.

Source:http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/enterprises-get-serious-about-mobile-app-testing-194814

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