Instead of DevOps being an extension to Agile, the software testing strategies in DevOps and Agile are very different to each other. DevOps is more of an advanced approach that calls for automation in the entire software delivery lifecycle to keep things streamlined.
For most QA Testing Services Company, an effective DevOps testing strategy begins with agile methodology that further involves Continuous Integration or CI practices. This is done purposely to do code check ins for detecting any errors for an automated build with the help of automation frameworks and CI tools speeding up the release with faster testing and deployment.
So, What Exactly Is DevOps?
DevOps is one of the top testing trends and a practice that is meant to build better, and highly responsive software technology which is made through the collaboration of Development and Operations teams. It is neither a methodology or a development suite but rather an evolution in a culture that has brought both Dev and Ops closer to be more precise on deliveries. Moreover, DevOps has proven to be the secret of success for most software testing service provider in India as it is the hub for finding quality DevOps testing services.
Why DevOps?
Although there are not many differences between Agile and DevOps Testing, people working with Agile find DevOps familiar to work with. While Agile conventions are implemented successfully in the development & QA iterations, it works differently on the operations side. With the help of DevOps this gap is amended by most QA service providers.
You can read also DevOps & Automation: Driving The Best Of Both Worlds
Drawback of Using the Old Method for Testing
The traditional way of testing a build includes a cycle in which the build is deployed to the QA environment and the functional and regression testing is done on this environment. For the period in which the testing is being done the build ideally sit until the testing status is provided by the QA. This approach is changed in DevOps.
The traditional software testing process involved the use of age-old waterfall methodology. Since the process involved only single phase of continuous development, the software testing only started after the development process is completed. Moreover, the process used to be completely manual and therefore more error-prone and consuming in terms of time and resources.
One of the biggest differences between the modern-day agile DevOps practices and traditional development was the isolated work environment for software testers and development teams. This means any bug detected at the testing stage would require development teams to get back to entire coding phase to fix the errors and attain the desired outcomes by removing every error-scenario right from the beginning.
Besides, the practice simply led to added complexity in the development project, making it difficult for software testing service provider and development company to deliver on time or meet the defined quality standards.
DevOps To Enhance the Quality of Your Software
Speed and agility are the basics for DevOps and for this we automate all the testing processes. Simultaneously, when development is completed in the QA environment, all the processes are configured to run them automatically. There are different types of tools used for automation and continuous integration tools for integration. A solid and easy to user framework used for writing the scripts also speed up the process of testing and therefore is usually preferred by any brand that claims to be the best software testing company.
At present, DevOps culture have enabled testers to adopt the shift left approach, which unlike traditional testing environment supports testing in parallel to the development. This has simply made DevOps a more beneficial practice offering extensive features that have helped QA and testing companies to meet the quality goals while making way for advanced techniques like DevSecOps implementations. Some of the key features of DevOps could be highlighted as:
- DevOps allows continuous and automated processes leading to faster and constant deliveries.
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DevOps allows testing at every stage of software development life cycle.
- DevOps allows a different form of testing practice for every unique stage of software development lifecycle. This reduces backtracking in case of error detection.
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Above all, DevOps runs on shared testing responsibilities reducing the chances of error and improving the development process.
Prerequisites for QA:
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QA efforts are aligned in DevOps cycle.
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Our QA ensures that the test cases they make and automate have about 100% code coverage and no important point is missed.
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QA make sure that the environment on which the build is deployed is standardized and it is automated.
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QA already prepares the automation scripts for all the pre and post tasks that are aligned with the Continuous Integration cycle.
Strategy that We Use in DevOps:
When it comes to Software Testing and DevOps, making the most out of both the practices need software testing services providers to have a well-defined strategy. Moreover, it is necessary that the defined strategy should be implemented in the most effective manner to yield maximum performance from the end product.
1. The test cases are identified first that are required to be executed.
2. After a new build is released, our QA and dev team sit together discuss and identify for the affected areas. Sanity testing is done and also the related tested cases are.
3. We make sure that 100% code coverage is achieved by using coverage tools.
4. All the regression test cases that are required to pass a test are executed by our DevOps testing solutions expert.
5. When a new feature is introduced to existing code, before deploying it to the production the interim build is given to QA, who create test scripts for these features and run these on interim builds until the build becomes stable.
6. All the environments on which testing is to be performed are standardized and all the deployments are automated.
7. To make the application more compatible and have a high performance, different automation techniques are used and for web applications cross-browser technique is used.
8. One of the main specialties of DevOps is the time constraint. Thus, to reduce the time parallel execution of tests is done.
9. There needs to be criteria to take the build to the production. For this an exit criterion is set for each run. If this exist criteria is passed then the build is taken to the production environment.
10. Before deploying the build to the production environment, the blockers and bugs with high priority need to be reported & fixed. Only after these bugs are resolved and passed, the DevOps Testing Services proceeds with the build deploying to the production environment.
Application Monitoring
QA works proactively and detects and reports the bugs as early as possible. Also, to avoid any failure at the production environment, we set up monitoring on the production environment. This helps to find bugs before they turn into failures.
For getting a finer testing, we set up specialized counters like response times, memory & CPU utilization, etc. which provide a lot of insight into the end-user experience.
For example, if the average response time for submitting a contact form is more than the expected time in a build, the issue is reported and is handled in current build as it makes become a concern for the future builds due to high response times.
Execution of high priority test cases periodically on production environment can also be helpful to catch bugs like “This is a random bug” or “Unable to reproduce”. This will help to get a more stable build and more customer satisfaction.
Making The Selection with the DevOps Tools
When it comes to driving the benefits of DevOps along with software testing, it is the right choice of test tools that define the ultimate performance of your business operations. Here we have a list of few tools to consider:
- Selenium: An open-source test framework-based tool that can offer the best web automation testing experience. Above all, selenium allows testers to write test scripts in so many different programming languages.
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Katalon Studio: One of the top ranked automated testing software that comes with both free and paid version of the tool. The best part is it can be used for web automation, API, mobile testing, and desktop related testing operations and that too with multiple platform support.
- JMeter: Another open-source tool based on Java which can be used to run load and performance test. Also, the tool offer support on testing diverse protocol types.
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SoapUI: a tool that can be used to test GraphQL, REST, and SOAP APIs. It is an open-source tool that offer cross platform support that aid with more convenient GUI.
Conclusion
The hierarchy of software testing includes Waterfall Model that was replaced by V-Model which in turn was taken over by Agile testing.
Now, if we look to the future DevOps is what we see. It is a methodology that has the ability to deliver applications and services at high speed as discussed in starting. It’s a continuous development.
The concept basically is the same to produce a product that is user friendly and gives them a sense of satisfaction. Here at BugRaptors, we use DevOps to give you a quality product in less time using automation.
These days, DevOps for many QA testing services providers have become an ideal approach for remaining competitive. Especially, the techniques like continuous testing have leveraged the CI and CD components in the testing process offering rapid deliveries without compromising on the quality.
All in all, the success of your testing operations entirely depends on the testing best practices adopted your software testing service provider. If you are working in collaboration with a company that runs on DevOps culture keeping the automation, agile, and essential tools at the heart of DevOps strategy, there is nothing that can stop you to be the market leader developing a solid software launch proficiency.
Good Luck!
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