The evolution of code is happening on a regular basis by various teams across the globe in the domain of agile development. In this regard, Selenium is the most powerful open source automation tool that is available in the recent times. It has a suite of tools that helps to automate the browsers. How to put this power into use completely depends on the developer. This portable software testing framework is used to test web applications and it provides a record tool to authorize tests even without learning the scripting language.

This language is, however, similar to Java to a large extent. Tests are majorly run to ensure that the quality of the product is accurate. Thus, the need for the regression tests arises. Each time a test is carried out a new feature is added and the test scripts are updated with additional cases. As a result these become lengthy and huge. During the time of execution such large test scripts affect speed of completing the project. Thus, the developers require an effective open source tool, like, Selenium which aids in automating these repetitive cases.

There are various other pros of Selenium tool owing to which it is preferred during the software development:

Low Cost Tool

Besides being an open source tool, it is also free. Thus, it is easily downloadable and so the programmers can use the tools to automate the testing of web applications in any given language.

Browser Compatibility Testing

Now you can conveniently test the applications to check whether they are running properly across multiple web browsers, like, Mozilla, IE, Safari. The developers are required to develop the scripts just once.

Choice of Language

There are Selenium client libraries which can be easily imported into popular languages, such as, Net beans, Eclipse, Visual Studio.net and others.

Multiple Testing Frameworks

It supports various testing frameworks, such as, JUnit, PHPUnit, TestNg, etc.

Easy to Integrate With Testing Ecosystem

This is another USP of this software. It can be integrated without trouble with various kinds of suite tools that include Selenium grid, Hudson, OMetry, Saucelabs, etc.

Support for AJAX

It also provides a strong support system for AJAX technologies.

Open for Enhancement

The developers can expand the Selenium for more complex testing like production monitoring and load testing.

Useful for Comprehensive Testing

It can be utilized for regression, user interface, functional and UAT testing.

Test Driven Development

Agile methodology and Extreme programming (XP) community are the two major areas where Selenium is widely used by the developers.

Selenium RC Server Not Required

This framework does not need the standalone Selenium RC server to function.

Strong Community

High quality documents and web community are available for Selenium.

While this framework is quite popular for its advantages but there are certain cons/disadvantages too. Here’s a list of cons of Selenium testing:

Problems While Testing

This is one of the major drawbacks of Selenium testing. After you have injected the code into the HTML source (application or website) for testing purpose, it might show unpredictable behavior. Moreover, you can only inject a single base URL in the JavaScript owing to its Same Origin Policy.

Issues with finding Locators

Locators supporting common attributes like names, ids, XPATH, javascriptDOM, etc have to be found by using firebugs.

Limitation in Browser Support

If you want the scripts to work on multiple browsers then they should be written using Selenium IDE and used with Selenium core or RC. Otherwise the scripts will only work on Mozilla.

Manual Scripts Not Allowed

Data Driven Testing has manual scripts, like, conditions and loops. This is not supported by this framework.

Recorded Scripts Not allowed to Run

Scripts are often converted to Java, C# or Ruby. But this software cannot run such applications.

Slow Performance

There are certain methods that might slow down because of implementation differences.

Image Verification

There are no options for image verification.

If you are opting for this framework then you will have to find solutions for the above-mentioned disadvantages. If you are planing to hire selenium testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

We provide selenium web testing services. If you would like to hire selenium tester for your testing requirements, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

QTP or Quick Test Professional is a tool designed and developed by HP, to assist the testers in performing automated functional evaluation of software packages in a smooth as well as seamless way. 

QTP developed by HP uses VB Script with a view to automating the applications. This means there is no need to install the scripting language as Windows OS comes up with an inbuilt scripting engine. Now, QTP comes with certain unique features that need to be discussed and understood.

The most prominent feature of the latest version (version 11) of QTP is that there is the provision of identifying the CSS based objects and the XPath. When we speak about object identification, it is not the customary object identification process that is seen in the QTP tools, but it comes with XPath as well as certain CSS identification properties.

The latest version has also come up with a changed getup that has made it more attractive than the previous ones. Particularly, there should be a special mention about the result viewing option of the latest version. It comes up with a visually appealing executive review page that contains summary data, a series of graphic figures like pie charts and stats for the current, as well as the previous test case runs. It also provides a quick link that takes the viewers to the results of the earlier runs.

The latest version also features syntax hints that provide the users the option of creating REG EX. Then there is the REV or Regular Expression Evaluator that can be used to test the regular expressions that have been created. Another prominent feature is the option of identifying the objects that are not only related to each other, but also to the other neighboring objects. It is due to this particular feature, that the version 11 of QTP has gone many a miles ahead of its predecessors in terms of reliability.

This is more prominent when things are compared with the ordinal identifiers. Objects that are identified with the ordinal identifiers are good. However, they can be trusted only when they maintain their respective relative positions in an application. As soon as these positions get altered, these ordinal identifiers lose their credibility and efficacy. With the introduction of VRI or Visual Relation Identifier, this limitation has been eliminated.

Another feature that needs to be mentioned about is the Run Time Load Function Library. This is possible with the Load Function Library statement. With the help of this statement, it is possible to load a particular function library. QTP also comes up with an integrated Service Evaluation option that helps the users assess the GUI as well as the non GUI based applications in a singular run. Another key property of the QTP version 11 is its ability to receive .NET or Java log framework messages from an application that can be subsequently embedded or wrapped within the results yielded by the runs.

The users now have the liberty of using new two functions – EmbedScript/EmbedScriptFromFile and RunScript/RunScriptFromFile. These two functions help the JavaScripts to be loaded on the browser pages, which can then be subsequently used for performing various operations like retrieval of data from browser pages of applications.

The users can even use the WPF as well as the Silverlight Add-in Extensibility Software Development Kit (SDK) with a view to developing support for testing 3^rd party as well as customized WPF along with Silverlight controls.

It also features Extensibility Accelerator that helps in the development of WebAdd-in Extensibility. The feature also helps avoid the downtime that can be attributed to failure of license servers. Thanks to the redundant license servers, it becomes possible to create failovers so that in case the main license server gives in, the remaining ones will make sure that the license remains void and active. This ensures that there is a least or no downtime or license loss for the users. If you are planing to hire custom qtp testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not! 

We provide quicktest pro testing services. If you would like to hire certified software testing experts for your testing requirements, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

During the entire software engineering process, several challenges are faced in each phase. So it should not be a surprise that there are quite a number of challenges during the testing process as well. Mostly, testing can be divided into two types- manual and automated. Both of these processes involve individual problems associated with them which will be discussed here.

Manual testing challenges

Excellent skills required- In this process, no software can aid a tester, he or she has to rely on their skills to manage all the problems cropping up which may turn out to be a complicated process. Thus, this requires the person to be extremely skilled as well as able to handle various things efficiently at the same time.

Cannot be applied for entire application- Just some parts of an application are perfect for manual evaluation; the large amounts makes it impossible to manually execute all test cases. Executing all the test cases would consume a huge amount of time, thus delaying your project. Moreover, in some cases some steps might have to be repeated a few times on various machines, operating systems as well as browsers. In this scenario, evaluating manually will pose a huge problem due to the time needed for completion.

Error-prone- A huge disadvantage is not just its repetitive as well as monotonous nature, but the fact that it is extremely error-prone. Any slight miscalculation, incorrect data or missed step may lead to false results as well as defects.

Time constraints- There should not be any time constraints associated with the test cases since the process can be time consuming and if it is done with hurry there are chances of overlooking defects which might in turn result in poor quality products.

Automated testing challenges

Organizational challenges- Despite common perceptions, even automated testing is not that easy. It may be complicated and it needs the support of the management. It needs people with proper skill as well as training, the correct tools as well as time so that it is executed properly. The practise must be organized efficiently with proper as well as consistent documentations. In case of any problems in any of the factors mentioned here, the process may not turn out to be the one imagined originally.

Unrealistic expectations- Most often many people have a false sense or unrealistic expectations. They think all problems will be magically found in the shortest amount of time possible. However, in reality it may not be so. In case the software is complicated then straightforward processes may not work; there may be the need of repeating the same process several times on different scenarios. So, it is best to keep expectations to a reasonable level.

Maintenance- With the modification of software, some parts or even the whole test suite may have to be updated so that the re-run can be successful. For automated tests this is an extremely important step. This involves a lot of effort which might turn out to be slightly challenging.

Correct assessment of tools used- For the evaluation process, there are lots of tools in the market. But not all of them are suited for your requirements. In fact some of the tools might look really good on the paper but might not give you the result that you are looking for in that particular environment. So it is best to try and analyze the technical aspects of the software or tools before using them.

These are just a few of the most notable problems seen while carrying out the evaluation process. It is a general rule that no one process can be absolutely perfect. This is why most testers these days adopt the unique combo of manual as well as automated testing. They conduct manual evaluation on certain phases of software while on others automated evaluation is carried out. This offers the best aspects of both the practices, making everybody the winner. If you are planing to hire qtp automation testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

If you would like to outsource automated testing services or you would like to hire software testers for your testing needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

Development of Agile software is quite different from the development of traditional software platforms. The approach or the procedure of this type of development differs a lot from the conventional waterfall model of development, where the procedure follows a series of standard phases or activities in a definite sequential order. 

Designing this type of S/W provides the clients the option of regularly following the progress of the project through a transparent project management as well as a co-operation system. It also helps them to lodge a request for changes or incorporating additional functionalities, based on changing business needs as well as requirements at any given point in time. It also yields results much earlier. Besides, it also helps the developers to use the already completed functionality in the early stages of development. This helps the project to become a ‘self-funding’ project. 

Let us discuss some of the benefits of agile software designing.

Revenue

Designing this agile S/W is iterative in nature and this implies that the features are delivered incrementally. This enables certain benefits that become apparent pretty early, as and when the product continues to be developed.

Speed-To-Market

Speed-to-Market research implies that almost 80 percent of all the leading business players in the market have adapted this model of development. This mode of development yields higher amount of revenue from the incremental style of delivery. It also supports the concept of early as well as regular releases along the course of development.

Quality

One of the most important benefits of this type of designing is that it can be integrated throughout the lifecycle. It enables regular scrutiny of a working product as and when it is being developed. This enables the owner of the product in question to make alterations as well as adjustments if and when needed. It also provides the product team the early sight or idea about any issues regarding the quality.

Visibility

The designing principles of agile software lures the active users to be more dynamically involved with the development procedure and take a cohesive, collaborative as well as cooperative approach for the successful development. This provides an excellent visibility for the most prominent as well as important stakeholders, both in terms of the progress of the project and for the product itself. This in turn helps to guarantee that expectations are managed in an effective as well as seamless way.

Risk Management

Designing this type of S/W helps to make incremental releases visible to the owner of the product as well as the team of the developers. This helps both the parties to identify any change or emerging issue pretty early, which makes it easier for them to respond and take evasive actions accordingly. The transparency or clear visibility of the agile software designing ensures that all it is possible to take all the necessary decisions at the earliest possible chance, when there is still enough time to make a substantial difference in the end result or outcome.

Flexibility and Agility

In the traditional process of S/W designing, at first a big spec up-front is prepared and it is followed by informing the business owners about the expenses of incorporating changes in the project, in particular as the project is being developed. This particular process is such that changes are always accepted at any given point in time during the developmental phase. In fact, it is expected that things will be changed as development goes on in agile software development.

Cost control

It also helps in controlling the cost of designing by fixing a definite time frame and evolving the requirements. In this type of designing, instead of the cost involved, it is the product and its various features that are variable.

Business Engagement & Customer Satisfaction

This type of designing comes up with active involvement of user representatives, owner of the product, and a high level of product as well as progress visibility along with a scope of change if and when it is needed. All these help in much better business engagement, along with customer satisfaction. All these help immensely, particularly when it comes to creating more enduring as well as positive working relationships. If you are planing to hire testing software companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

We provide qa and testing services. If you would like to hire software testing engineer for your software testing needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

As a server-side software system, SignalR is used widely by ASP.NET developers to add real-time web functionality to their applications. The term real-time web functionality refers to the ability to push content from the server to connected clients as soon as the data becomes available. The functionality does not require the web server to wait till the client requests new data. Thus, ASP.NET SignalR used effectively to reduce the client’s waiting period.

Often users refresh web pages with the intention of seeing new and updated data. Each time a web page is refreshed or try to retrieve updated data by implementing long polling, the developers can use Signal R to reduce the waiting time. SignalR further makes it easier for programmers to build applications that need high frequency updates from the server, including collaborative applications, dashboards, real-time forms and real-time games.

Features that Make ASP.NET SignalR Effective in Reducing Client's Waiting Period

Selects the Best Available Transport Automatically

ASP.NET SignalR reduces the client’s waiting time by taking advantage of multiple transportations. It evaluates the best available transport of both server and client, and chooses the best one. At the same time, it also avails the benefits of WebSockets to enable bidirectional communication between the browser and server. However, SignalR relies on the HTML5 API only when it is available. If WebSockets is not available, it uses techniques to facilitate bidirectional communication. The programmers are not required to write specific or additional code to choose the best transportation.

Provides a High-Level API to Create Server-to-Client RPCs

The users can further create server-to-client remote procedure calls (RPC) by using the high-level API provided by SignalR. It uses ASP.NET code from server-side, and calls JavaScript functions in the web browser or any other platform of the client. At the same time, SignalR also allows programmers to smoothly manage connections by adding a variety of hooks, including grouping connections, authorization, and connect or disconnect events.

Facilitates Long and Consistent Polling

Normally, polling consists of making periodic connections from the client to server with the intention of checking if any relevant update to the server content. Some applications like chat programs frequently poll the server to deliver updated data to users. Some application requiring high frequency data often open a connection and keep it open. SignalR uses WebSockets to facilitate long and consistent polling. So the programmers are not required to write complex code to keep the connection open.

Pushes Data Effectively to a Variety of Clients

Often developers have to explore ways to reduce the overhead on server. Some programmers even add capabilities to the server to reduce the overhead by notifying the clients about any updates. They also use a variety of technologies to reduce the server overhead including WebSockets, long polling and Server Sent Events (SSE). But these techniques are not supported by all clients and web browsers. On the other hand, SignalR is designed as an ASP.NET library that uses the existing and available transport technologies. So it is effective in pushing data to a variety of clients including web pages, web applications and Window Phone Apps.

Helps in Building Asynchronous Applications

SignalR is used widely by programmers as a framework to create asynchronous applications. The framework makes it easier for them to build ASP.NET applications by overcoming the limitations of the response and request cycle of internet communication. They can further move to conventional one-on-one connection offered by the conventional client server architectures to push the content quickly from the web server to the client.

Despite being effective in reducing client’s waiting period, ASP.NET SignalR is simple and easy to implement. That is why; many developers rely on the efficient library to rapidly build applications that poll the server constantly to provide updated information to users. You can get in touch with a custom .net development company who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide .Net development services. If you would like to hire .net web developer for your web development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

Prior to discussing the benefits of hiring QTP testers, let us know what QTP or Quick Test Professional is. 

QTP, launched in November, 2002 can be defined as a graphical interface record-playback automation tool that allows the automation of the user actions on computer applications that are web/desktop or client-based. The tool is primarily used to smoke test along with regression test automation. The tool uses a specific scripting language that is built on Visual Basic Script for specification of evaluation procedures and for manipulating objects as well as controls of the application that is subject to QTP evaluation. 

Hiring a QTP evaluator naturally decreases the woes of a company by improving the quality of the projects. These professionals, with their expertise generate extremely powerful automation test cases as well as scripts in QTP.

These evaluators help with cost cutting of the companies by integrating a number of activities. This means, businesses can hire single QTP evaluation to cover up multiple areas of functionality. They complete the process of generating automation evaluation scripts in three different phases. While the first phase involves generation of initial scripts, the second phase involves enhancement of the existing scripts for generating more effective as well as robust scripts for evaluation. The final phase involves debugging of any errors in the evaluation scripts. This means, the ultimate product that is emanating out of the desks of the Quick Test Professional evaluator is absolutely foolproof, thereby reducing the woes of the companies to a significant extent.

Taking into account the need, these professionals also frequently run the evaluation scripts on various environments and are thereby able to track loopholes (if any). Thus, a successful batch running along with a defect logging helps the software to be absolutely free of bugs – something that each and every company looks ahead to. These testers do it successfully to ensure optimal client satisfaction, which in turn lessens the worries of the business itself.

These professionals also take special care for identifying the changes over major as well as a few minor releases to ensure that the script are not rendered defunct or out of place in a few months after installation. This is one of the main challenges a development companies face and these professionals help companies to get rid of this concern. The evaluators put special emphasis on identifying the changes that the product undergoes and hence change test cases to make them compatible with the changing business scenarios.

A majority of these QTP evaluations also involve UI test automation, data driven functional test automation, database test automation, User Interface test automation and so on to make sure that the software solutions are error free. This understandably lessens the concerns of the software development companies to a large extent. 

Quick Test Professional itself comes up with the following features:

• The tool is absolutely simple to use and it comes up with a simple interface.

• The tool presents test cases as business workflow to the concerned tester and that makes it simpler to understand.

• It uses a real language for programming with a number of resources that are available

• As QP is easier to understand, even a non technical person can adapt it and create various test cases. This means, there is no need for any technically sound person for running the evaluation – a fact that goes down well within the business fraternity.

• With the help of QTP, integration of data table gets better as well as easier

• Parameterization is far easier with QTP that it is with WinRunner

• It is possible to enhance the existing QT scripts, even if “Application Under Test” is not available. It can be done by using ActiveScreen.

• There are a number of existing functions that are available in QTP to be implemented

• The tool supports .NET development domain and supports XML

With all these advantages, there is no doubt that QTP comes in handy as a software evaluation tool that reduces the concerns of businesses to large extent. If you are planing to hire custom qtp testing company, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

We provide qtp automation services. If you would like to hire certified qtp tester for your testing requirements, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

It is high time for the business as well as IT community to fully unleash their power and they are doing so through Cloud Computing. Various cloud based tools are there which can aid several facets of IT development. There are several benefits associated with the usage of Cloud based testing tools instead of creating testing labs so that loading as well as performance testing can be carried out. 

Some benefits

Using the tools help you to have an idea about the performance in realistic conditions, not in ideal conditions without any problems or complications. In fact, results based on such idealistic conditions cannot be trusted. All the important applications can be tested under real-life conditions. Another benefit is cost reduction as you do not need to invest in resources that support the building of separate evaluation labs. Time as well as effort is saved in the process. 

There are several other benefits associated with using such tools, but which tool you should be using is a question that goes on in the minds of many people. Here are the top 3 tools that can benefit you; you can choose any one from these.

SOASTA CloudTest- This is available is virtual or physical appliance as well as on demand service from the cloud. There is a solo integrated platform that allows performance as well as functional evaluation. The test creation environment is patented as well as visual which is specifically designed for evaluation of modern mobile and web applications. Rapid editing along with creation is enabled by it, even if the tests are most complex. The cloud can be leveraged and tests distributed globally so that they be run affordably and executed at almost any scale. Actionable, immediate intelligence can be provided by virtue of real-time analytics which is a must requirement for environments to test live production. Through this you get an all-inclusive set of components which allow the accessing of options which can enable teams to execute scalable, frequent as well as affordable performance along with functional testing, no matter what the team size. In fact the tests can be carried out from the lab itself right through the live production.

PractiTest- This Test Management Platform is meant for IT teams and software applications. It is Software as a Service, combining the robust attributes of conventional quality management solutions along with the accessibility, cost effectiveness as well as flexibility of SaaS models in general. When you use PractiTest you are offered the advantage of being able to plan the test case, manage the issues along with increasing the QA team’s efficiency. This can be done immediately without any need for some basic initial investment, application issues or licensing hassles as such.

Keynote- This is often referred to as the international leader in matter of mobile as well as internet cloud monitoring and testing. This is self-service as well as extremely cost-effective. Keynote enables companies to know exactly how their applications, content along with websites perform on real networks, mobile devices and browsers. By virtue of the unique business model of keynote you can control your costs so that productivity can be maximized with cutting-edge performance and high-reliability. Its measurement services as well as products along with on-demand test help you receive performance metrics and feedback right then so that critical problems can be solved before the customers are even affected.

After the phase of functional testing, comes the very important phase of performance as well as load testing. This warrants a major decision to be implemented. The tool used should be such that it can relieve you of workload as much as possible. There are plenty of excellent options available to this effect, which are not even mentioned here like Parasoft SOAtest, BlazeMeter, GCLoad Proxy Sniffer, CLAP, LoadStorm, TestMaker, etc. Now it all depends upon your discretion. You can hire software testers from load and stress testing companies in India who can check for stability of your application.

We provide load testing services. If you would like to hire certified load testers for your testing needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

The busy nature and financial situations of the world today demand fast completion of projects so that money as well as time can be saved. As such it is a challenge for developers and software development organizations to complete their projects in lesser amounts of time, while using the minimal resources. Software testing can be tedious, laborious as well as time consuming which demands resources, resulting in more expenses. This has led to the popularity of automated testing which refers to the automation of the manual testing process. There are a lot of things which cannot be done manually but can be accomplished through this. Life becomes much simpler when this kind of evaluation is adopted. The immense popularity has led to the development of several kinds of automation testing tools. Some of the notable ones along with their features are given here. 

QTP Professional- This HP tool provides regression as well as functional test automation meant for software environments and applications. Featuring graphical user interface, it supports scripting interfaces as well as keyword. Its main features include broadest as well as deepest insight of the industry into assets controlled by IT, a comprehensive, secure and operational environment, cascaded optimization system, screen recorder, business process testing, enhanced expert view, etc.

TelerikTestStudio- This testing software is all-in-one and used for load, functional, mobile app as well as performance evaluation. The functional evaluation is in-depth, including desktop, native, AJAX, HTML5, WPF, Silverlight, tablet along with mobile web app evaluation. On top of that, the product may be relied upon for testing of Telerik controls, JavaScript calls, client-side behaviours, dynamic page synchronization, XAML animations and UI virtualizations.

TestComplete- This tool allows the creation, management as well as running of tests for whatever windows, rich or web client software that you want. Anyone can easily create automated tests. Some notable features include easy extensibility, applications validation, test cases automating with scripts which gives total flexibility, black-box evaluation, extended support for 64-bit applications as well as third party controls, scripting, keyword testing, open APIs, tons of documentation, web as well as windows evaluation, etc. It is like a package which contains almost everything; almost anyone can start the evaluation without requiring any special sets of skills. The price is low, but the features are powerful with impressive support resources.

Rational functional tester- This automated regression as well as functional evaluation testing tool provides evaluation capabilities to testers for functional, regression, data-driven as well as GUI evaluation. The features include simplified visualization as well as test creation with storyboard appraisal, provision of lifecycle traceability, streamlining of automation by virtue of keyword testing, dynamic data validated by virtue of dynamic data validation wizard, controlling test script version for parallel development, proxy SDK, etc.

Selenium- This portable framework is perfect for web applications. A playback or record tool is provided by Selenium to author tests without knowing about the test scripting language. The features include playback and record, Xpath when needed, intelligent selection of fields, automatic completion of all normal selenium commands, setting as well as debugging of breakpoints, walking through tests, ruby scripts along with other formats support, options for automatic assertion of title in each page, supporting selenium user-extension file, etc.

Watir- Pronounced as water, this open source tool belongs to ruby library family for automating of web browsers. Easily legible as well as maintainable tests can be written through this. Simplicity and flexibility are its elements. The features include connecting databases, reading spreadsheets as well as data files, exporting XML, structuring the code as libraries which can be reused. Results are also cross-checked by it.

Automation testing tools are must-have for any QA team which needs to conduct software appraisals so that the rapid development schedules can be maintained and software be delivered on time. The tools described here conduct the various kinds of tests that include code auditing, functional along with load tests, test management and coverage monitor. Developers can choose the tools according to their requirements so that bugs, if any, can be found and changes be made accordingly. You can outsource automated testing services to software testing companies in India who can help you in testing your application within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide test automation services. If you would like to hire automation test engineers for your testing needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.

Nowadays, software quality assurance (QA) has become an integral part of each project. Many organizations even adopt test-based development approach to make the coding compatible with testing modules. The QA professionals further use several test automation tools and frameworks to facilitate test management. As a compact and robust software testing framework, Selenium is used widely to web application. The open source framework was originally developed by a team of testers at ThoughtWorks in 2014.

But within a decade, Selenium has become synonymous with internet application testing. A number of recent reports have highlighted that Selenium skills has become one of the most commonly and widely required test automation technology. As each enterprise has to optimize the look, feel and performance of a web application to deliver user experience, Selenium testing is expected to grow steadily over next few years.

Why Selenium will Grow Steadily Over Next Few Years?

Open Source and Free

Selenium was released by ThoughtWork under the Apache 2.0 license. So the testing framework is open source, and can be downloaded by users without paying in charges. The open source and free nature of the framework helps enterprises in curtailing testing costs. They can further use the web application testing frameworks along with several commercial tools to optimize test management. As an open source framework, Selenium can also be accessed by both small, medium and large enterprises, and independent QA professionals.

Support for Multiple Web Browsers and Operating Systems

Each internet application must run across several web browsers and operating systems to keep the users engaged. So QA professionals look for a set of tools that allows them to quickly evaluate the performance of the application on some of the widely used web browsers. At present, the framework supports major web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. The users can simply launch Internet Explorer or Chrome, and run the tests. But they can record and playback the test scripts using Mozilla Firefox. Selenium also supports several operating systems like Windows, Linux, OS X, and Solaris.

A Complete IDE for Internet Application Testing

The Selenium IDE comes with a set of advanced tools that allows users to record, edit and debug tests without putting any extra effort. As the IDE was earlier known as Selenium Recorder, it includes the tools required to test web application tests. In addition to being recorded automatically, the test scripts can be edited manually to optimize test management. The testing professionals can quickly edit the test scripts by using the auto-completion feature and moving around the command.

Client API for Several Programming Languages

The Selenium IDE records scripts in a special test scripting language called Selenese. But the testers have option to write the test scripts in a variety of programming languages in addition to Selenese. The Selenium Client API supports a number of widely used programming languages like C#, Java, Perl, PHP, Ruby and Python. So the QA professionals can choose the client API according to their choice of programming language, and call methods to communicate with Selenium smoothly.

Comprehensive Documentation and Support

While migrating to a new web application testing framework, the QA professionals require additional training. The tools provided by Selenium are well documented. So the QA professionals can refer to a complete documentation and use guide to understand how the tools function. The Selenium IDE further includes a full functional reference that the testers can refer to. At the same time, the QA professional also have option to avail the assistance of the official user group. There are also a number of companies that provide commercial Selenium support according to the needs of clients.

An organization further has option to choose from several Selenium components according to the requirements of a web application development project. Along with the Selenium IDE and Selenium Client API, the users also have option to use Selenium Remote Control (RC). These components further allow enterprises to choose optimize test management by using customized and advanced tools. If you are planning to hire selenium web services testing companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

We provide selenium web application testing services. If you would like to hire selenium tester for your testing needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.

There is no doubt that testing is the heart of a software project development process. Without a tester the project won't release for sure. Every project team member has their role to play, everyone has their own distinctive challenges. The Quality Assurance Tester gains respect by holding the bar high, carrying the quality of the product and being the champion for the extent of quality product throughout the organization and is also responsible before the project gets on the web.

Every work is unique and dependant on each other in software development field. A developer needs a tester and viceversa before a defectless product is set on fire on web. A testers job is equally tough and stands high than a coder's job. The entire project depends on a tester's consent. No matter what type of product or application one working on, it’s important that the final product be high quality and free of bugs.

3 Essential demands of software testing by testers

Mobile web: People are going mobile these days. Every person look into their smartphones to get the latest update that he/she wants. According to a recent Pew Internet Research study, 64% of adult Americans go online using their mobile phone and 21% use their mobile device primarily to go online, so it is important to have a user-friendly mobile experience. Users find it easy to tap on links or buttons may be too close together or too small to allow for comfortable tapping. Be it booking a movie ticket, or finding the nearest Mcdonald's restaurant near by to his location, users peep into their cellphones for this information.

Call-to-Action: The landing page or the homepage where users land on should explain to the user what they can use the site for and how to get started. Check the main pages have a clear “Get Started” or “Do This Now” indicator. If not, users will leave the site instantly or wander around aimlessly. The main aim of any good website should be first impression last longer and pull more and more customers.

Page layout: Items that belong together should be placed close to each other. Make sure that labels and instructions for input fields, such as a phone number format example, appear close to the input field. Dropdown arrows for accordion elements should be next to the section title rather than all the way off to the side.

11 characteristics of a good tester and the way he looks what testing is all about:

Be Skeptical: As a good tester don’t believe that the build given by developers is bug free or quality outcome. One has to question everything dissect and get into the roots and should check whether the product meets upto client's requirements. Tthe build provided that one takes a look at and realize it defect free. Don’t believe anyone no matter be the designation they hold, simply have to go to details and take a look to seek out errors. And every requirement has to be tested thoroughly till the last testing cycle.

Ensure user Satisfaction: Need to think of the fact that what will make users happy. So that they will use the applications with ease. Don’t stop by testing the quality needs. User are often satisfied only if testers give flawless free product. So put yourself in their shoes. Know the taste of end users first. Their age, education even the location matters most while using the product. Make sure to prepare test scenarios and test data accordingly. After all project is said to be successful only if end user is able to use the application successfully.

Prioritize Tests: First identify important tests and then prioritize execution based on test importance. Never ever execute test cases sequentially without deciding priority. This will ensure all important test cases get executed early and won’t cut down on these at the last stage of release cycle due to time pressure. Also consider the defect history while estimating test efforts. In most cases defect count at the beginning is more and goes on reducing at the end of the test cycle.

Be Open to Suggestions: Listen to everyone even though you are an authority on the project having in depth project knowledge. There is always scope for improvements and getting suggestions from fellow software testers is a good idea. Everyone’s feedback to improve the quality of the project would certainly help to release a bug free software.

Test Early: Oneshould not wait till initial build for testing. Have to begin analyzing necessities, getting ready check cases, check set up and test strategy documents in early style part. Beginning early to test helps to test the complete project scope and therefore designing is done consequently. Most of the defects is detected in early style and analysis part saves large time and cash. Early demand analysis also will assist you to question the planning choices. Risk management is a three step process. Risk identification, analysis and mitigation. Incorporate risk driven testing process. Priorities software testing based on risk evaluation.

Do Market Research: Don’t think that your responsibility is just to validate software against the set of requirements. Be proactive, do your product market research and provide suggestions to improve it. This research will also help you understand your product and its market.

Develop Good Analyzing Skill: This is must for requirement analysis but even further this could be helpful for understanding customer feedback while defining test strategy. Question everything around you. This will trigger the analysis process and it will help you resolve many complex problems.

Focus on Negative Side: As Well Testers should have test to break attitude. Concentrating on only positive side will almost certainly create many security issues in your application. You should be hacker of your project to keep other hackers away from it. Negative testing is equally important. So cover a good chunk of your test cases based on negative scenarios.

Be a Good Judge: Judge product well whether it is right or wrong. Judge listens to both the sides. Same is applicable for testing. As a software tester if one think something as right, try to prove it why it is not wrong and then only accept it. One must have valid reason for all the decisions.

Stop the Blame Game: As a team one should not blame others. However in any state of affairs never blame anyone. If a blunder happens,we have to first try and resolve it instead of finding somebody answerable. As an individual's everyone makes mistake, therefore try and avoid blaming others. Work as a team build a good application where everyone feels responsible about it.

Be a Good Observer: Keep track of all major and minor things on a software project. Observe the way of developing the code, types of testing and its objective. Observe and understand test progress and make necessary changes if it is off the track in terms of schedule or testing activities. A good tester should be updated and ready with course of action for any situation.

Building a career in testing is indeed challenging and with right spirits and positive attitude one can excel in testing filed. “Fight for the right”, should be the testing aim for everyone who does testing. As a tester one should continuously strive to become better and better. Remember testing indeed a challenging job and it is also creative too. Its all about delivering the best flawless product to your customers. If you are planning to hire software testing companies, you must evaluate them to see if they are sufficiently dexterous or not!

We provide QA testing services. If you would like to hire software tester for your software testing projects, please contact Mindfire Solutions.