End to End testing: What, When, and How

End to End testing: The complexity of modern web applications makes it impossible to imagine the development process without the involvement of automation testing. Different forms of test cases help to test different components that make up an application. 

 

All these testing processes help to ensure that you are providing the best end-user experience to your customer. This process is also essential for creating a positive brand image for your company. Some of the popular test cases include unit testing, visual testing, regression testing, exploratory testing, and end to end testing. Unit testing forms the base of the testing pyramid. Using unit testing, the developers can verify the proper functioning of each component present in an application. 

 

In this article, we’ll understand how end-to-end test cases helps companies to elevate the quality of their application. We will also discuss everything that you need to know about how to improve the efficiency of end-to-end test cases.

 

The basics of End-to-End Testing

End-to-end test cases depend on the workflow of an application. Using these test cases, the developers can include as many forms of user interactions as many possible while maintaining the highest level of technological and functional parts of an application. In simple terms, we can say that in this testing process the computer will try to behave like a customer and access the application as a real user. These types of test cases help to understand how the application behaves under continuous load and user stress. Using this test case, the developers can also ensure a workload balance and quality of the application. Front-end test cases ensure that all the features and applications are functional. While the end-to-end test cases ensure that these features are accessible irrespective of the scenario. There are various frameworks like Cypress that help developers to implement end-to-end test cases. 

With the proper knowledge, the developers can massively improve the quality of the application with the help of end-to-end test cases. 

 

Advantages of End-to-End Testing

Some of the major benefits of using end to end test cases are as follows: 

• End-to-end test cases help the developers to test the functioning of the application from a user’s point of view. This is highly essential to ensure that the application is functional in a real-world use case scenario.
• Using end-to-end test cases, the developers can validate the business logic involved in an application. This process ensures that the company can generate a return on investment using the software.
• End-to-end test cases help the developers to massively expand the coverage of the test cases. This means that the developers can ensure that all the components of the application not only work perfectly individually but also work smoothly when combined.
• Using end-to-end test cases, companies can massively reduce the total number of errors that can be found during the production process of the application. This is a very important process to quickly deliver a high-quality application to your end users. 

Downsides of Executing End-to-End Testing

Let us discuss some of the major disadvantages that the developers have to face while executing end to end test cases:

• The execution of end-to-end test cases is slower compared to all the other testing processes involved in the application development lifecycle. Therefore, many experts consider end-to-end test cases to be the greatest obstacle in the path of continuous integration and continuous development. In certain cases, end-to-end testing can also frustrate the developer as they have to wait long periods for the test cases to complete execution. 
• It is not only hard to maintain the end-to-end test cases but also very expensive to execute them. All these problems arise because it is a very complicated process to perform debugging on end-to-end test cases.
• Flaky test cases are considered to be one of the biggest nightmares in the life of a tester. Flaky tests can be defined as a form of test case that executes similarly but outputs a different result. These errors arise when the developers fail to measure the application that is undergoing the testing process. 

 

When to Implement End-to-End Testing

Let us take a quick look at some of the perfect areas where the developers can implement end to end test cases:

 

• End-to-end test cases can be implemented to verify the proper function of all the back-end processes related to an application. This helps the developers to analyze that all the databases are working properly, and that the application stands up to the expectations of the company. Moreover, the core function of the application is completely dependent on the proper data access that is provided by the back-end processes.
• Multi-tier systems can benefit a lot from end-to-end test cases. This is because multi-tier systems are made up of a complex architecture that helps the workflow from different levels. So, end to end test cases helps the developers to verify the proper interaction between all the tiers present in this system. 
• End-to-end test cases can verify the proper functioning of a distributed environment present in a web application. End-to-end test cases are necessary for applications that are based on cloud environments or service-oriented architecture. It also helps to verify the proper functioning of all the components that are critical for the proper behavior of an application.
• Using end to end test cases, the developers can verify the proper behavior of the user interface in an application. Using these test cases, the developers can also ensure that all the UI elements behave normally across multiple devices and software configurations. Cross-browser compatibility test cases are also an important part of the end-to-end testing process.

 

How to Perform End-to-End Testing

By following some simple steps, the developers can easily execute end-to-end test cases on their applications. Now, let us discuss the primary steps for performing end-to-end testing:

 

• The first step in this process is to analyze the requirements of the application development project. This idea will help the developers to analyze all the expectations that are related to it in terms of audience reach and business perspective.
• After this, the developers have to set up a test environment that can verify the functioning of the application according to its expectations. The developers need to create a proper testing plan before writing the test cases.
• The next step in this process is to analyze the software and hardware requirements for the application. This process is highly critical as it will help you to create a controlled environment for the testing process. Using this step, the developers can also understand the compatibility range for the application.

• Now the developers have to list how every component of the system needs to respond for the proper functioning of the application. This would help the developers to create a reference chart and compare it after the execution of the testing process.
• Now the developers have to list down the testing methods required to list and understand the responses. The developers also have to list all the programming languages and tools that will be used during the application testing process. It is very important to avoid any unwanted confusion during the application testing process.  
• The next step in this process is to create the test cases according to all the requirements that you have created in the previous steps. It is also very important for the developers to study the preferences of the target audience to improve the market reach for the application.
• The final step is to run the test cases that you have developed and study the final results. It is also important for the developers to properly store the results for future referencing and debugging processes. These results will also be useful when the company rolls out a simultaneous update to the application. It is very important to remember that End-to-End test cases are a bit complicated to store. So, prior training is required for this process. 

 

The Role of Tools and Platforms in End-To-End Testing

Executing end to end testing can be a bit complex for developers who are new to the world of application development and testing. However, multiple platforms help developers not only simplify the testing process but also improve its efficiency. For instance, certain platforms help the developers to execute the test cases on a cloud grid. 

 

Using the cloud infrastructure developers can access hundreds of real devices that are present on these servers. Developers can access all these devices for testing. This process is highly beneficial as it eliminates the hassle and expense of maintaining a physical device testing bench. Cloud platforms also allow developers to execute test cases from anywhere in the world. Let us improve our knowledge of cloud integrated platforms with the help of LambdaTest as a reference:

 

To begin the discussion, LambdaTest is a cloud-based testing platform that helps developers to ensure that their web applications stand up to the standards of modern cross-browser compatibility. Cross-browser compatibility is essential to ensure that the web application does not show a drop in performance when there are changes in operating systems, device versions, or browser versions. LambdaTest enables the execution of different test cases from multiple automation testing tools like Selenium Cypress, Playwright and more. 

 

LambdaTest can improve the efficiency of the test cases by up to 10X with the help of parallel testing. Parallel test cases help the automation testers to execute multiple different testing configurations at the same time. LambdaTest allows the execution of test cases on emulators, simulators, and even real devices. This is the reason why LambdaTest can generate highly accurate test results. 

 

The Conclusion

In this article, we tried to create a tutorial for end-to-end testing. We also discussed some of the major factors that can help developers to integrate automation testing with end-to-end test cases. We also discussed how some of the modern tools and platforms can help developers to improve the efficiency of their end-to-end test cases. So, application development companies need to spread proper awareness regarding the implementation of this testing process. Developers should also consider the knowledge of end-to-end testing critical for improving the software testing capabilities in the coming years. This is because many experts believe that the integration of end-to-end testing and automation testing will continue to gain popularity in the future. Companies should consider the growth of their business a prime indication for making this transition. It will massively help to boost their audience base in the coming years.