When developing software or application, it is imperative that you check how well it fares across devices and platforms. And for this, cross-browser testing steps in. Developers and tests depend heavily on the software’s cross-browser test analysis to determine its efficacy to perform equally well across multiple device types, browsers, platforms, and operating systems.
*What is Cross Browser Testing?
*‘It is typically a non-functional test that determines if the software or application tested works as efficiently as expected or not. You can use it across multiple devices and OS platforms and is compatible with various browsers.’
The browser-agnostic nature of applications and software help them render a higher user satisfaction and, in turn, a higher market adoption.
This test unveils any errors or bugs that might be hidden and impacting the cross-browser compatibility and efficacy of the application and helps in the timely rectification of the same.
**Why Cross Browser Testing is Important?
**As we delve deeper into the subject, let us take a quick peek at why cross browser testing is significant in the software/application development process.
Every browser is different and needs a different level of compatibility for websites and applications to run smoothly.
This can be substantiated by the example of how certain websites and applications do not work on one web browser while it works perfectly fine on some others, like Google Chrome, Firefox, Thunderbird, Internet Explorer, Opera, etc.
Cross-browser testing can help you ascertain where the compatibility of the software stands and where it is lacking when it comes to supporting multiple browsers.
Cross-browser testing also enables you to check whether the software or application is compatible enough to work on a range of operating systems, be it Windows, Android, iOS, etc.
It helps you attain a higher versatility of the software. Thus, ensuring a better reception and user experience in the market.
Here are some of the key factors that are commonly tested in cross-browser testing:
Javascript orientation
Font size discrepancy
Browser compatibility across OS
HTML5 tags support
Image adjustment
UI/UX design
Accessibility
Responsiveness
Need for Automating Cross-Browser Testing:
Automating software testing is no rocket science today, but rather a basic among the testing fraternity for its numerous benefits. When it comes to cross-browser testing, the scenario is no different.
*Here are some reasons why automating cross-browser testing can prove beneficial for you:
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Save Time:
Cross-browser testing needs continuous testing, which, when done manually, can be extremely tedious. Automating the testing process thus makes testing easier and faster, thus ensuring a lesser turnaround time.
Better Bug Detection:
It is easier to detect hidden bugs when the process is automated.
Enables Continuous Delivery:
Given the turnaround time for browser testing gets shrunk manifolds, the continuous delivery of new software code releases becomes more feasible and impacts the delivery pipeline in a positive way.
How to Automate Cross-Browser Testing?
Now that we know what cross-browser testing is, its significance, and why automating cross-browser testing can be a better approach, let us focus on how that can be done in a few no-sweat steps.
Design The Test Cases With Defined Steps:
The very basic of performing any form of software testing is designing the test cases. To design test cases most efficiently, first, you need to identify the factors to be tested. Now identify the browsers against which the compatibilities need to be tested.
Develop a Test Suite and Club in The Test Cases:
Once the above rudimentary step is done, the first step towards automating the testing process begins with creating a test suite wherein you need to club the test cases that you have designed in the previous step.
Set up The Execution Plan and Add Individual Test Environments:
Design and execution plan with a separate test scenario/environment for each individual browser. This will allow you to test your application across thousands of browser and OS platform combinations.
Thus making your application as robust as possible. For this, you can follow the framework-specific steps to create execution while automating the process and select the test suite and environments for setting up the execution.
The same needs to be repeated for each browser-platform combination and can be speeded up by running parallel tests simultaneously.
Consolidate The Continuous Integration Pipeline:
Use the CI/CD tools to integrate the pipeline for agile and DevOps teams. This will ensure that the quality of your applications is maintained in continuous delivery methods.
Evaluate The Results of The Enviro:
Once you receive the comprehensive test results and bug details, analyze the same for each test environment individually for more dynamic and customizable reports. These are equipped with text logs, video recordings, screenshots, and other details to enable better analysis.
Report The Errors and Debug:
Now that you’ve reached the final step, it is time to report, catalog, and troubleshoot the bugs identified during the testing process. You can use automated programs for this process for a prompter resolution.
Summing Up:
While many assume software and application development is a fairly uncluttered process, the reality is far from what it seems.
Especially when you intend to develop an application that works equally well across any and every browser and operating system framework, it is imperative to perform cross-browser testing.
Automating the testing process is critical to ensure successful and continuous delivery. It allows parallel testing of different test cases across testing environments for optimum results.
Source: _This blog was originally posted on Testgrid.
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