What is Agile Testing? (Process, Strategy, Test Plan, Life Cycle Example)


What is Agile Testing?

Agile Testing is a method of testing that adheres to the rules and concepts of agile software development. Unlike the Waterfall technique, Agile Testing may commence at the beginning of a project with continuous integration of testing and development. The agile testing approach is not chronological (in the sense that it is only conducted after the coding process), but rather consistent.

In this article, we will talk about −

  • Agile Test Plan

  • Agile Testing Strategies

  • The Agile Testing Quadrant

  • QA challenges with agile software development

  • Risk of Automation in Agile Process

Agile Test Plan

The kind of test performed in that iteration are included in the agile test plan, such as test data needs, architecture, test environments, and test results. In contrast to the waterfall paradigm, an agile approach includes a test plan that is produced and modified for each version. Agile test strategies often comprise the following items −

  • Scope of Testing

  • New features that are being tested

  • Levels or types of testing depends on the complexity of the characteristics

  • Performance and Load Testing

  • Consideration for Infrastructure

  • Plan for Risk Mitigation

  • Obtaining Resources

  • Milestones and deliverables


Agile Testing Strategies

The agile testing life cycle is divided into four segments −

Iteration 0

You conduct initial setup chores at the first step, or iteration 0. It entails locating test subjects, deploying testing tools, arranging resources (such as a usability testing lab), and so on. In Iteration 0, the following steps are planned to be completed.

  • Creating a business case for the project b) Defining the project's initial conditions and ambition

  • Describe the necessary criteria and use cases that will influence design trade-offs.

  • Describe one or more potential architectures.

  • Recognizing the danger

  • Cost estimates and development of a pilot project

Construction Iterations

Construction Iterations is the second stage of agile testing methodology, and it is during this stage that the bulk of the testing takes place. This phase is viewed as a series of iterations to construct a solution increase. To do this, the group employs a combination of approaches from XP, Scrum, Agile Modeling, and agile data, among others, in each iteration.

The agile team implements the prioritized requirement approach during construction iteration − with each iteration, they choose the most essential elements left from the work item pile and execute them.

Confirmatory testing and investigative testing are the two types of construction iteration. Confirmatory testing, which is conducted by the group, focuses on ensuring that the system satisfies the consumers' purpose as presented to the team so far. While the investigative testing uncovers an issue that the confirmatory team missed or overlooked. In investigative testing, the tester identifies possible issues in the form of faulty stories. Integrity testing, load/stress testing, and security testing are examples of investigative testing.

Likewise, there are two types of confirmatory testing: developer testing and agile acceptance testing. Both are automatic, allowing for a continuous testing process throughout the lifespan. Confirmatory testing is the agile counterpart of specification testing.

Agile acceptance testing is a hybrid of traditional functional and acceptability testing since the development team and clients collaborate on it. Developer testing combines classic unit testing with conventional service integration testing. Both the application code and the database schema are validated during developer testing.

Release End Game Or Transition Phase

The purpose of “Release, End Game” is to successfully deploy your system into operation. This step includes activities such as end-user training, support personnel, and operational personnel. It also comprises product release marketing, backup and restores, system and user documentation finalization.

The last level of agile methodology testing consists of comprehensive system testing and acceptance testing. In order to complete your final testing stage without stumbling blocks, you must evaluate the product more thoroughly when it is in building iterations. Testers will be concentrating on fault reports during the final phase.

Production

Following the release stage, the product will enter the production stage.

The Agile Testing Quadrants

The agile testing quadrants divide the entire process into four quadrants and assist in understanding how agile testing is carried out.

  • Agile Quadrant I – Internal code quality is the primary focus in this sector, and it comprises technology-driven test cases that are built to help the group, which involves −

    • Unit Tests

    • Component Tests

  • Agile Quadrant II – It includes business-driven test scenarios that are developed to improve the team. This Quadrant is concerned with the prerequisites. The type of test carried out at this phase is −

    • Experiment with various circumstances and procedures.

    • Testing of User experience such as prototypes

    • Pair testing

  • Agile Quadrant III – This quadrant feeds information back to segments one and two. The test cases can be used as the foundation for automated testing. Many cycles of iteration evaluations are performed out in this quadrant, which increases trust in the product. The type of testing carried out in this region is −

    • Usability Testing

    • Exploratory Testing

    • Pair testing with customers

    • Collaborative testing

    • User acceptance testing

  • Agile Quadrant IV – This quadrant focuses on non-functional criteria such as efficiency, safety, and reliability, among others. The application is designed to offer non-functional attributes and intended value with the aid of this quadrant.

    • Non-functional tests, such as pressure and performance evaluations.

    • Security testing for identification and hacking

    • Infrastructure testing

    • Data migration testing

    • Scalability testing

    • Load testing

QA challenges with agile software development

  • Because documentation is given less emphasis in agile, the possibilities of failure increase, putting an additional burden on the QA team.

  • Upgrades are released fast, reducing the amount of time available for testing teams to determine whether the current features are in accordance with the requirements and actually address the business needs.

  • Testers are frequently forced to take on the job of a semi-developer.

  • Test execution periods are quite short.

  • There is very little time to design a test plan.

  • They will use the shortest amount of time possible for regression testing.

  • Shift their job from being a quality gatekeeper to a quality partner.

  • Changes and modifications to requirements are inevitable in the agile technique, making QA the most difficult task.

Risk of Automation in Agile Process

  • Although automated UI gives a high degree of assurance, it is slow to implement, unstable to manage, and costly to develop. Automation may not boost test productivity considerably unless the testers understand how to test.

  • Untrustworthy tests are a key source of worry in automated testing. Addressing failed tests and fragile test problems should be a high focus in order to avoid false positives.

  • If automated tests are begun manually rather than through CI (Continuous Integration), there is indeed a chance that they'll never be executed on a routine basis, resulting in a test failure.

  • Automated tests should not be used as a substitute for exploratory manual testing. A variety of testing methods and levels are necessary to achieve the intended quality of the product.

  • Several commercially available automation solutions include basic functions such as automated capture and playback of manual test cases. Such a technology fosters testing through the UI, resulting in tests that are inherently fragile and harder to manage. Furthermore, keeping test cases outside of the version control system adds extra complication.

  • In order to save time, the automated test strategy is frequently badly designed or unprepared, resulting in the test failing.

  • During test automation, test setup and break breakdown processes are frequently overlooked. Manual testing, test setup, and tear-down processes appear to be simple.

  • Productivity measures such as the number of test cases developed or performed each day can be extremely deceptive, contributing to a big expenditure in performing ineffective tests.

  • Agile automation team members must be effective consultants: accessible, collaborative, and resourceful; otherwise, this system will collapse rapidly.

  • Automation may offer and offer testing solutions that need excessive continuing maintenance in comparison to the value supplied.

  • The skills required to design and implement good solutions may be lacking in automated testing.

  • Automated testing may be so effective that it runs out of critical problems to tackle, forcing it to focus on irrelevant ones.

Conclusion

Agile software testing technique emphasizes testing at beginning of the software development lifecycle. It necessitates extensive consumer interaction and testing of code as soon as it is made public. The code should be reliable enough to be tested on the system. Extensive regression testing may be performed to ensure that all problems have been repaired and tested. The main reason for the success of agile model testing is the interaction between teams.

Updated on: 09-Jun-2021

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