Software Testing - Environment

Software testing is one of the key stages in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It is performed at different stages by different team members like developers, testers, product owners, and the customers. Thus specific test environments are configured for the testers to carry out their tasks. Similarly, developers continue with their unit testing in the development environments, and the end users work in the production environments.

What is a Test Environment?

A test environment is a particular environment used by the testers to carry out the entire testing process. It is configured such that most testing tools are compatible with this environment. Also, a test environment has the adequate resources in terms of the hardware, software, network connectivity to carry out testing seamlessly. The setting up of the test environment is a critical phase of the testing since without it the test team cannot begin verification of the software.

The parameters to set up a test environment varies from project to project and product to product. Also, the software being tested determines the configuration of the test environment. A test environment is not configured manually but also through automation since the organization needs to support multiple products, releases etc at the same time. In such circumstances, setting up environments manually takes a lot of time and effort.

A test environment is utilized by the test team to verify the software, detect bugs, and to resolve them. It helps to certify the software quality by testing multiple data combinations prior to being shipped to the customer.

Characteristics of a Test Environment

The test environment is somewhat similar to the production environment. The hardware, software, database, application, and the web server are also the same as the production environment.

A test bed is like a test environment. In fact, the test bed is a test environment having data already set up to verify the features of the software. A staging environment is created such that it is the copy of the production environment and the final tests are run on it before the software is deployed to production.

Why is a Test Environment Required?

A test environment is required to assess the quality of the software. It is the only environment where the code is segregated and the software behavior is analyzed so that other tasks do not affect the results of test cases executing on the server. A testing environment is just the replica of a production environment.

Thus a test environment is needed to test the software and identify bugs there. It provides a standardized environment where the application can be tested and certified in a secured environment. It helps to detect the software vulnerabilities, and gives feedback on its functionalities.

Different Types of Test Environments

The difference testing environments are listed below −

Security Environment

A security test environment is used to verify if the software is secured and does not pose a threat on confidentiality and integrity of the user.

Performance Environment

A performance test environment is used to verify if the software has the correct stability, usability, responsiveness, performance etc as per the customer requirements. It should have the required configurations of RAM, data etc to carry out the performance tests.

Integration Environment

An integration test environment is used to integrate multiple clusters of the software, and verify if the software is working together by assembling all the components. It should be very close to the production environment.

How to Setup a Test Environment?

The process of setting up a test environment are listed below −

Set up the test server so that the software need not be tested locally only.
Network connectivity through CAN, LAN, wireless etc need to be available to ensure that the software runs smoothly when the developers, testers, and other team members work simultaneously.
The different browsers and platforms need to be set up for the testing team.
A defect tracking system needs to be set up in the test environment.
The copy of the production data needs to be made available in the testing environment. For maintaining the privacy of the users, a jumbled and unidentified form of production data is used in the test environment.

How to Manage a Test Environment?

Test environment management is all about maintaining and modifying the test bed. It ensures that the test environment is updated with the latest version of the software and each test environment is assigned to individual teams based on their needs.

Test environment management involves keeping a watch on every test environment, and getting rid of outdated software versions, tools etc from there. It detects any problems faced in the test environment, and fixes them.

Thus test environment management is all about upgrading the quality of the test environments so that they are used more efficiently and also looking for scope of automation wherever possible to improve efficiency.

Challenges to Setup a Test Environment

The challenges to set up a test environment are listed below −

Resources aligned to test environments should be such that there are no conflicts and dependencies seen while multiple teams use the same test environment.
Test Environment requires assistance from external teams for the hardware, software and other configurations to be set up there.
If the test environments are set at different geographic locations, the test teams need help from external teams to obtain the required assets.
It is observed that test outcomes are not as expected if multiple test teams use the same test environment.
Configuring a complicated test environment requires a lot of time, resources and effort.

Best Practices to Setup a Test Environment

Identify that all the required software and hardware compatible with the application under test are set up in the test environment.
Verify the automation test tool along with debuggers, defect tracking are working in the test environment.
Validate how the test data is available in the test environment

Conclusion

This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Testing - Environment. We’ve started with describing what is a test environment, characteristics of a test environment, why a testing environment is required, different testing environments, how to manage a test environment, what are the challenges to set up a test environment, and best practises to set up a test environment.

This equips you with in-depth knowledge of the Software Testing - Environment. It is wise to keep practicing what you’ve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.