Agile software testing

As a growing number of organizations have adopted Agile methodology, testers and Quality Assurance (QA) staff have struggled to keep up. Software testing was once a sequential task performed at the end of a development process. But with the accelerated pace of Agile methodology, these traditional testing timelines no longer work. To ensure the quality of applications and that software meets business requirements, Agile software testing must be performed throughout the software development lifecycle. Consequently, testers working in an Agile environment need new methods, new tools, and new practices.

Traditional software testing mirrors traditional Waterfall software development. To understand Agile software testing, it’s helpful to compare Waterfall vs. Agile testing processes.

In Waterfall testing, testing takes place once the development phase is complete. For any changes to be made, the project must start again from the beginning. User acceptance tests are performed at the very end of the project. In Agile testing, testing begins at the start of the project. Defects can be fixed along the way. Every iteration has its own tests, and regression tests can be run whenever new code is written or released. User acceptance tests are performed at the end of every sprint, ensuring that customers are highly involved in the development process.

In Waterfall testing, the process is highly structured and involves detailed descriptions of the testing process. Elaborate documentation is required to guide QA staff through their tests. In Agile testing, the process is somewhat unstructured, involves minimal planning, and there is far less documentation required.

In Waterfall testing, testers and developers work separately, and developers are not involved in reviewing requirements and planning the testing process. In Agile testing, testers are in constant communication with developers and they jointly analyze requirements and testing plans.

Agile software testing enables development organizations to:

• Produce better software faster. Agile software testing finds defects earlier in the development process, enabling them to be fixed sooner, and producing software that is more error-free.
• Minimize the time and cost of testing
• Use a flexible process that is highly adaptable to changes
• Regularly receive feedback from end users
• Engage testers more effectively. The close collaboration required for Agile software testing inevitably creates a more engaged and productive workplace where testers feel more valued and connected to their colleagues and customers.
• Improve customer satisfaction. Because customers are intimately involved and providing feedback throughout the process, the final product inevitably is more likely to meet and exceed their expectations.

Tricentis qTest includes a comprehensive suite of tools.

• qTest Manager, a powerful and easy-to-use test management solution, lets organizations test smarter, faster, and at scale.
• qTest Explorer, an exploratory testing recorder and documentation tool, tracks all interactions from the testing session and automatically creates defect documentation. Test sessions can instantly be turned into an automated test script to accelerate test automation.
• qTest Insights provides actionable, real-time test metrics, enterprise dashboard reporting, and reports that help to visualize application health.
• qTest Launch is a tool for scalable test automation strategy and a central location for launching automated tests and tracking results.
• qTest Scenario enables enterprise BDD for JIRA that supercharges collaboration and provides source code traceability.

Additionally, the Tricentis platform offers tools for data integrity testing, performance testing, test automation, smart impact analysis, Jira test management, ServiceNow testing, and Salesforce testing.