Agile is a revolutionary software development and testing methodology that has dominated the industry in recent years. In reality, agile is used in some form by 9 out of 10 businesses. However, respondents note that implementation is not always broad throughout their businesses, implying that adoption and maturity have a long way to go. Agile testing has had a tremendous impact on software development, testing, quality assurance, and has become a crucial aspect of application lifecycles. It’s also been widely recognized as a critical factor in the delivery of high-quality goods.
In this post, we’ll go through the Agile testing process, its primary benefits, and why businesses nowadays prefer agile processes to older methods.
1. What is Agile Testing
In software development, agile is a methodology that focuses on the people doing the job and their collaboration in order to deliver the best result to the client. It is an adaptive development process in which the client and cross-functional self-organizing teams collaborate to build requirements. Agile testing is a method that follows agile development principles and facilitates the creation of solutions that are specific to the needs of the user.
2. What Exactly Is the Agile Testing Process
The Agile software testing process is not significantly different from traditional practices. Nevertheless, there are few unique distinctions in the process. In Agile, testing is not a separate activity, but instead an important component of the development process that is viewed as a precautionary measure. This means that tests must be run more regularly and in quick periods. The fully-tested software should be provided at the end of each session, which normally lasts one to two weeks, and then handed to the user. All bugs uncovered throughout the tests are recorded and analyzed subsequently, which improves the overall quality and test coverage.
Every relevant test, such as unit, functional, and performance tests, must be designed and implemented ahead of time at all stages. This assists in the detection and resolution of issues in a timely way. It should be noted that automating test procedures enables considerably more frequent testing – such as several times per day – while also shortening the feedback cycle. In an agile environment, automated regression testing is critical. This form of testing guarantees that the device’s new feature does not create new defects and that the existing functionality functions as expected.
Conducting exploratory tests is one of the most significant aspects of the agile testing process. If there are no precise requirements for software functionality, agile testers may have to select what needs to be tested on their own. Exploratory testing relies on testers’ abilities, knowledge, and innovation to test systems on the go, allowing for the discovery of both superficial and deep defects that cannot be expected.
Another distinguishing feature of the agile testing process is the function of each team member, which is substantially different from the role in the traditional software development process. All team members, especially agile testers, are collectively responsible for the product in an agile environment. On the one hand, this implies that team members’ duties are merging; on the other hand, an experienced tester gives crucial assistance during the software development process.
3. How to Integrate Testing into an Agile Development Process
You’re not finished yet if you’ve decided which testing approach is best for your company. You must still coordinate testing and delivery. A three-pronged approach is recommended to attain this goal:
3.1. Engage as early as possible in the Development Process.
The quicker testers can participate, the better. Testers should be there from the start. That’s because including testers at every stage of the process gives them a better understanding of the requirements and goals, stimulates teamwork, and emphasizes the importance of conducting regular (if not continuous) testing.
3.2. Test Regularly, but Carefully
Efficiency becomes increasingly important as more teams adopt the Agile process. In order to keep things moving, teams have turned to DevOps and continuous integration, which necessitates more frequent testing. However, in the middle of a shakeup focused on productivity and regularity, testers must be careful not to add unnecessary overhead or run tests that slow down the process.
3.3. Create Tests the Right Away to Get Started
In today’s Agile, DevOps world, testers must be quick to create tests. The more testers who can shorten the time it takes to gather requirements and create tests, the better. Having a seat at the table for all discussions from the start should help.
4. What Are the Most Significant Benefits of Agile Testing
According to VersionOne’s State of Agile Report, 75% of surveyed companies adopted agile practices in order to speed up product delivery, and 46% of respondents chose Agile to improve software quality. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of agile testing methodology:
4.1. Higher Quality of Product
Agile approaches enable better product delivery than traditional approaches because of increased team collaboration and more intensive testing throughout the life cycle. The agile methodology enables timely implementation of both preventive and corrective measures, significantly improving software quality.
4.2. Rapid User Feedback
An Agile method for development and testing helps you to gain immediate input from end customers, allowing you to improve the product’s quality and functionality at the proper moment.
4.3. Improved Collaboration
Instead of depending on documentation, agile developers and testers collaborate closely and communicate immediately. This enhances team communication and provides for faster test results.
4.4. Increased Time-to-Market
You can get the best product to market faster with dynamic models because they shorten the time between specifying test criteria and approving findings.
4.5. Greater Adaptability
The agile methodology considers requirements to be a prioritized bundle that can change throughout the life cycle. The agile method is very adaptable, allowing you to collect feedback on user needs and make adjustments as needed.
4.6. Work Sessions are Shorter
The adoption of a test-driven development strategy and team communication that is consistent allows the time between comprehensive specification and validation of requirements to be considerably reduced.
4.7. Greater Investment Yields
Agile teams, especially agile testing teams, have a higher return on investment than traditional teams. It could be due to the agile testing process’s quicker feedback cycle, which lowers the average cost of defect correction. Additionally, by getting the product to market sooner, you might earn a higher profit.
5. Agile Testing Tools
Along with Agile application development, a variety of incremental methodologies emerged and matured. Service providers can now use a variety of Agile methodologies in their production systems. Whether using Scrum, eXtreme Programming (XP), Dynamic Software Development Method (DSDM), Crystal Methodologies, or Feature Driven Development(FDD), or any other framework, testing is an essential aspect of any project. Although programmers rely extensively on these frameworks, many software testers and quality assurance teams continue to rely on iteration-based processes and technologies. Agile testing solutions must be capable of fast adapting to changing environments as well as appropriately handling software checking and issue reporting. Testers use both automated and manual kinds of testing to be at the top of this approach.
The choice of testing tools is determined by the current issue tracking software that a firm employs for Agile project management, such as Atlassian’s JIRA Software, Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server (TFS), and others. JIRA is currently the most popular product due to its ease of configuration and the ability to add specific plug-ins such as Zephyr, X-Ray, and others to significantly increase its performance capabilities. JIRA incorporates quality assurance procedures into every step of software development, involving all team members, and fine-tunes workflows to conform to project requirements. The proper configuration of the tool allows for the management of tests, test cases, and reports, which are the foundation for comprehensive test results.
6. Conclusion
Testing is done concurrently with software development under Agile, which emphasizes close collaboration between programmers and testers. With mobile technology, online technology, and the Internet of Things, this process is especially popular. Agile is gaining popularity among businesses because it allows them to provide bug-free apps at a faster rate than waterfall-based solutions. In software testing, the agile methodology promotes testing as early as feasible in the software development lifecycle. It necessitates a high level of client interaction and the testing of code as soon as it is made available. The code should be stable enough to be tested in a production environment. To ensure that the bugs are resolved and tested, extensive regression testing can be performed.
Unlike other more traditional software testing companies, TestDel encourage intrinsic part of the Agile process from the start. Our well-balanced Agile team will include a QA associate who will keep reporting and involve relevant developer to focus on mitigating errors as they go rather than waiting until the end of the process to figure out where they went wrong.