Top 7 Developer Testing Techniques Important to Enhance Software Product Quality.
When the topic of testing in the software industry arises, many people immediately think of the QA engineer. However, if the goal is to deliver a high-quality product to customers in a shorter timeframe, the responsibility of testing shouldn’t rest solely on the tester. This introduces the concept of developer testing, which can significantly reduce rework in the software development life cycle. In this article, we will explore why developer testing is vital for enhancing the quality of a software product.
What is Developer Testing?
Developer testing, also known as programmer testing, involves developers testing each individual component or code unit they create. Typically, this is carried out during the development phase, prior to integrating various units or modules to form either the complete software product or a significant portion of it.
So, how does developer testing stand apart from other types of testing? Unlike many testing forms such as regression testing, smoke testing, and user acceptance testing, developer testing is distinct due to its focus. While developer testing zeroes in on individual components or units, other testing methods emphasize the entire system or specific system segments.
Furthermore, while the goal of developer testing is to identify and rectify bugs within individual components, other testing strategies determine the presence of defects in the system’s overall behavior and assess the interconnectivity of the various components.
Why Developers Hate Testing?
While unit testing falls under the purview of developers, some may question why they need to handle testing tasks when there’s a dedicated team of QA engineers. Here are some reasons developers might be averse to testing.
Time Constraints
Developers always work under tight deadlines and because of that, they might think testing is a drawback that prevents them from handing over a particular component within the given time frame. For developers, it might seem like testing is more time-consuming, especially when it comes to writing proper test cases and ensuring that they have performed thorough testing throughout the given software component.
Complexity
While it might appear that developers only need to test small code units, there are times when the components to be tested encompass a sizable portion of the codebase. In such scenarios, testing can become intricate. Developers must ensure they cover all possible test scenarios, including edge cases, in their test cases. This can be frustrating for developers, as their primary role is not just testing but also major development tasks.
Lack of Expertise
Developers aren’t typically trained specifically for testing tasks. Consequently, they might not always be familiar with the techniques, tools, and best practices of testing. This unfamiliarity can be a primary reason many developers are averse to testing.
While some developers might feel frustrated and disinclined to engage in testing tasks for the reasons mentioned, it’s worth noting that many developers today recognize the significance of developer testing. They understand its role in minimizing costly revisions and ensuring the delivery of bug-free code.
How Developer Testing Affects Product Quality
Developer testing can be considered an important factor that affects ensuring the quality of a software product. Here are some key factors that prove the above statement.
Fixing Bugs in Earlier Stages
When developers perform testing during the coding stage, it helps a lot to identify and fix most of the bugs and defects in the earlier stages of development which prevents the likelihood of such issues dragging to the later stages. This will ultimately reduce the amount of rework, cost, and time while decreasing the workload of QA engineers as well.
Ensure Code Quality
Code quality is one of the crucial matters when it comes to quality software products and this can be achieved easily through developer testing. Since developers are more familiar with the code, structure, and architecture than the testers, they are the best people to perform testing tasks in the coding stage. This will help to reduce the logical errors and provide a zero-bug code for the rest of the testing stages.
Prevent Regressions
When developers add new features or fix bugs in a system, the chances of discovering additional bugs and defects often increase, especially concerning software integration and overall functionality. To mitigate this, developers should rigorously test their changes to ensure that the overall system isn’t negatively affected. If a developer is uncertain about the broader impacts of their adjustments, they should specify those areas of potential concern. This allows testers to focus on them and confirm that no other components are disrupted by the recent code modifications.
What Are the Well-Known Techniques That Can be Used for Developer Testing?
Now, we are going to discuss some of the well-known techniques that can be used to perform developer testing.
1. Unit Testing
Unit testing can be considered a fundamental developer testing technique that tests small units of code such as methods, functions, or classes as isolated modules. There, developers write test cases with specific inputs and expected outputs. There are popular automated tools that can be used for unit testing such as Junit and Pytest.
2. Integration Testing
Integration testing is important for developers because it checks how different parts of a software system work together. It helps find issues when different components interact, ensuring the whole system functions correctly. This testing prevents hidden bugs and problems, saving time and money in the long run. Ultimately, it boosts confidence that the software will perform well when used by customers. There are popular automated tools that can be used for integration testing such as Junit, RestAssured, TestNG, Selenium, and Pytest.
3. End-to-end Testing
End-to-end testing helps to ensure that there are no issues related to the interaction between the developed units ensuring the overall software works are intended. There, developers can write and execute test cases covering various end-to-end user scenarios while testing the communication of data flow between developed modules and subsystems. There are popular automated tools that can be used for end-to-end testing such as Cypress.io.
4. Pair Testing/Peer Testing
To perform pair testing, developers need the support of another developer. In brief, in pair testing, what happens is a developer request for another developer to test a particular bug fix or a feature in the developer’s local machine. It helps a lot to identify the defects and bugs earlier before they drag into the later levels of development.
In peer testing, two developers can work together to test each other’s code. It helps to identify the issues which were not visible to the mother developer of the code and the peer feedback will also help the developers to improve the quality of the code too.
5. TDD (Test Driven Development)
TDD is a famous technique that most software development teams are trying to adhere to these days. There, developers initially come up with a set of test cases that are written for the given requirements and then they start coding to make the tests pass. What especially happens there is, that developers try to optimize the code with minimal lines of code while making all the tests pass. This is considered a best practice in the software industry.
6. Conduct Developer Testing Rounds in the Dev Environment in a CI/CD Process
In a software release process within a CI/CD environment, there are typically three main cloud environments Dev, Stage (QA), and Production. Before a software product is released to the Stage environment for QA testing, release managers can organize a brief smoke test round in the Dev environment to check the stability of the release. This test round is usually carried out by developers.
Release managers can quickly form a team with developers who primarily work on the features or improvements planned for that particular build. They can conduct this testing either manually or by running an automated test suite in the Dev environment. Once the test round is completed, the release manager and the team need to promptly gather and analyze the results.
If any major issues or blockers are identified, they must be addressed immediately by assigning them to developers for resolution. After the major issues are fixed, and verified, and the stability is confirmed, the release manager can give their approval to promote the build to the next higher environment, which is QA/Stage.
This approach prevents unstable builds from reaching the Stage/QA environment, saving time for QA engineers who won’t have to test unstable builds. It also speeds up the release process by identifying and addressing Level 1 (L1) blockers in the Dev environment, allowing for earlier fixes.
7. Involve QA Engineers in Early Product Design Reviews and Code Reviews
In many software development companies, the common practice is to conduct design and architecture reviews and code reviews for new features, feature improvements, or bug fixes with only developers involved. However, it’s considered a best practice to include the QA team in these code reviews and early feature design phases. This approach helps gather different viewpoints on the feature or development.
QA engineers often have a better understanding of negative and impacted flows, which can impact the end-user experience. By involving QAs early in the feature design phase and during code reviews, the development team gets a chance to address potential issues at the beginning of the development cycle. This prevents the release of a product with major Level 1 (L1) issues or gaps to higher environments and contributes to building a more user-friendly product.
Conclusion
Ensuring software quality is a collective responsibility, not just that of the QA engineer. Developers, who are intrinsic to the creation process, share a significant portion of this responsibility. Through diligent developer testing, the software’s quality can be enhanced, minimizing rework for both testers and developers. This collaborative effort ensures the delivery of a software product that resonates with customer needs.
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