End-to-End Testing is a methodology of testing applications or software from the beginning to the end. This methodology aims to replicate the real end-user experience to evaluate the system under the testing process and check for its data integrity and overall integration.
Any software product designed these days is extremely complex and involves multiple systems and subsystems. E2E Testing comes into play in this scenario where it ensures the performance of the software with integrated applications and also in relation to databases, network connectivity, hardware, and external dependencies.
E2E Testing eliminates the failure of software products in any subsystem and protects the software product from crashing.
What is the Importance of E2E Testing?
Since most non-trivial applications are integrated with multiple systems, workflows are extremely complicated. In this situation, End-to-End Testing determines how the application under test behaves when integrated with all the external dependencies and checks for errors at every interface.
The multiple system components where E2E works are,
1. Backend
The core functions of any application are dependent on the backend structure. E2E Testing is the only one that evaluates the databases and layers involved in the backend of an application.
2. Multi-Tier System
As mentioned before, countless applications work through multiple systems and subsystems, which creates a complicated workflow and increases the chances of errors. E2E Testing eliminates the risk of errors in this format as it verifies all the layers involved in an application’s systems and subsystems.
3. Distributed Environment
Applications that have several components or the ones that are based on cloud environments and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) are said to be having distributed environments. These applications have to go for End-to-End Testing for successful operation compulsorily.
4. Consistent User Experience
E2E Testing involves testing an application from the beginning to the end; hence, it provides Cross Browser Compatibility. It involves a satisfactory user experience across multiple devices, environments, and platforms.
What are the Processes Involved in End-to-End Testing?
End-to-End Testing involves going through multiple systematic processes, which are:
1. Test Planning – includes planning and organizing vital tasks, schedules related to the tasks, and the necessary resources.
2. Test Design – Designing a test includes evaluating test specifications, generating test cases, analyzing the test’s risks and usage, and scheduling tests.
3. Test Execution – This step involves executing test cases and results after testing documents.
4. Result Analysis – This step analyzes the test results and evaluates the need for additional testing, eventually performed.
What are the Types of End-to-End Testing?
E2E method is divided into two different types, and they are:
1. Horizontal End-to-End Testing:
- It is the most widely used method of End-to-End Testing.
- Horizontal End-to-End Testing allows Testing across multiple applications. For example, a user places an order from their mobile app, this order then flows to the SAP system, upon approval, this goes to the web application that handles shipping.
- Nowadays, most platforms use multiple application interfaces. Hence, it’s important to ensure each application’s credibility and minimize the risk of a software crash or failure.
– This method of Testing verifies every workflow or transaction of each application and ensures that any bug or error is corrected from the beginning till the end.
– The USP of this method is that it works on platforms with both single and multiple interfaces.
Advantages:
- – Completely user-focused testing method.
- – No errors or bugs can reach the production.
- – Uses multiple interfaces.
- – It has coverage for business logic requirements.
2. Vertical End-to-End Testing:
- Contrary to the horizontal method of Testing, the vertical method of E2E Testing is applicable only when single application testing is required.
- This method will test each subsystem of a single application independently and ensures Testing from top to bottom.
- This Testing is begun by Testing at the granular layer known as unit tests, following which it moves to UI and API layers.
- The use case scenario is limited to the Vertical End-to-End testing method as it works on single application architecture.
Advantages:
– Focused test results.
– Quicker test execution.
– Maximum code coverage.
– Useful for safety-critical software.
What are the Steps Involved in Setting Up End-to-End Tests?
Any software methodology requires a systematic and organized procedure to be followed and stuck to. These steps ensure the superior quality of the software product.
The steps involved in End-to-End Testing are:
- First, list out the requirements of the application for E2E Testing.
- Setup the testing environment and also evaluate the hard and software requirements.
- Describe all the system and subsystem processes.
- Describe all the roles and responsibilities of all the systems.
- Chalk out the testing methodology and testing standards required to continue the test.
- Outline the requirements for tracking and designing test cases.
- Finally, enlist input and output data of each system.
What are the activities involved in E2E Testing?
E2E Testing involves performing three categories of activities, which are:
1. User Functions.
E2E Testing requires building user functions.
The following steps are required to build user functions:
- Outlining features of software and subsystems.
- Tracking and recording each function along with input and output data.
- Relationships between all user functions are identified.
- Establishing every user function as independent and reusable.
2. Conditions.
Conditions affect the user functions like timing, data conditions, etc.
A particular set of conditions need to be decided for each user function.
Hence, it enables smoother E2E Testing.
3. Test Cases.
In End-to-End Testing, test cases must be prepared by the tester for every aspect of each user function.
It is also important to prepare a separate test case for every condition, ensuring better output.
Key Metrics to Measure the Success of End-to-End Testing.
It isn’t easy to imagine our schools without exams because the exam results directly measure each student’s performance in studies, which also leaves enough scope for improvement in teaching and studying.
In the way schools require a metric to measure their student’s knowledge, similarly to evaluate the success of end-to-end Testing, four key metrics need to be fulfilled to achieve a software product’s success. These 4 Key Metrics are:
1. Test Case Preparation Status:
These are tracked with graphs. Finally, it is evaluated by assessing the number of planned test cases’ progress compared to the number of originally planned test cases.
2. Weekly Test Progress:
Weekly Test Progress is a metric to assess all the test cases performed weekly. The percentage of completed tests is assessed. The passed and failed tests are also evaluated to track the weekly progress.
3. Defects:
Weekly tracking of the percentage of defects opened and closed and their distribution based on priority and severity.
4. Test Environment Availability:
This metric involves calculating the time allotted to perform end-to-end tests in a specific environment over the time utilized to perform the tests in those environments.
These four metrics are ideal for assessing end-to-end tests’ success and increasing the quality of end products.
Benefits of End-to-End Testing.
After knowing the details of end-to-end Testing, it is evident that it has a good number of benefits, which are:
1. Ensures Correctness of the Application.
Multiple layer testing eliminates errors at all levels in an application. The Testing is performed through the,
- Data Layer
- Business Layer
- Integration Layer
- Presentation Layer.
When an application is assessed and evaluated through all these layers, then there is a very minimal scope of application crash or product failure. Hence, it ensures the optimum health of the software product.
2. Reduces Risks in the Future.
The rigorous testing methods ensure the correctness of the application, which is a big factor contributing to lesser or no risk. After going through end-to-end Testing, the application faces very lesser or negligible chances of failure.
3. Reduces Repetition.
Any application coming out of end-to-end Testing does not require repetitive Testing or going back to production. This method itself is a full proof method that ensures the Testing is done from beginning to end.
4. Time-Saving and Cost-Effective.
All the above parameters already have clarified that this method saves a lot of time as it does not require any repetitive efforts and saves a lot of money in the process.
5. Increased Product Quality.
Bugs and errors are the biggest problems in any software product. This method reduces the errors to negligible, making the product superior to any other tested products. Hence, increases the product quality enormously.
6. Increases Productivity.
When the time and quality of a product are increased, it directly leads to an increase in productivity as it can ensure that top products can be tested and delivered in a short period. At the same time, as the efforts of software testers are not wasted, their zeal is increased to reproduce more quality products.
It is a boon for a software tester to have a testing methodology that can perform the most critical work in very less time while maintaining superior quality. Also, the customers are extremely happy after the delivery of E2E-tested products that are error-free and bug-free.
Challenges in End-to-End Testing.
Challenges are an inevitable part of every breakthrough invention; the same is true for the End-to-End Testing process.
E2E Testing majorly poses two challenges, which are:
1. Workflow Creation.
Creating workflows in E2E Testing is a major challenge as it is sequence-specific.
The E2E test cases must have a sequence that is compatible with the path of the end-user when they navigate through the application.
The tester should create multiple tests to find a final match, creating fatigue.
2. Test Environment Access.
Accessing the test environment is equally challenging due to the difference between development and product environments.
E2E Testing is all about providing an amazing end-user experience; hence it is challenging to create user environments.
Testers need to install local agents and log into virtual machines to create such an environment.
Sometimes, after setting up everything, issues like system updates can cause problems with test execution.
Hence, a real user cloud should be used to eliminate this challenge.
Practices that enhance End-to-End Testing.
Of course, End-to-End testing is a miracle solution to check the working of applications, but it requires properly organized practices that can enhance the output.
These practices ensure effective cost management and a smooth testing process.
1. Priority to be given to the end-user.
End-user experience is the main pain point related to applications usage. End-to-End Testing solves this problem; hence it is very important to focus on and prioritize the end-user experience.
A tester should get into the thinking process of the user who is experiencing the application’s working and analyze the problems at their levels. This analysis will help the tester evaluate, design, and execute test cases according to the end-user experience.
2. Focus on Common Testing.
It is ideal to avoid going into exceptional user scenarios and develop test cases. The most commonly used scenarios offer a better perspective and give more success in performing the best test cases.
3. Organize the Testing Process.
The whole process of End-to-End Testing is extremely tedious as it requires Testing from beginning to end. Hence, it is necessary to organize and create a specific order to complete the E2E Testing smoothly without errors.
The approach to resolve primary errors is to conduct integration tests and unit tests.
4. Optimization of Teardown Mechanisms and Setup.
It should take minimal time to set up processes and erase data after the test is completed. Optimization of test environment ensures easy teardown of test data and quick setup of upcoming test processes.
Planning a test is an essential part of any test process, and it must be emphasized to succeed in conducting tests.
Conclusion
End-to-End Testing is a method of Testing that reduces the complexity of any software or application and gives a perfect end-user experience.
With the growing use of apps, many new ones are failing due to a lack of end-user satisfaction, and E2E Testing solves the same dissatisfaction efficiently and entails its contribution to the success of a particular application. E2E Testing surpasses any other testing model in the USP of Cross Browser Compatibility, an effective weapon for software testers.
Finally, it’s comfortable to say that E2E Testing is a sigh of relief for the software testers.
Bqurious Platform, with its support for multiple technologies and packaged apps and API and database testing, helps in both Horizontal and Vertical End-to-End Testing. Bqurious customers have successfully leveraged the Bqurious platform to automate their extremely complex workflows spanning multiple applications across different technologies very efficiently.