Testing web code is an essential part of web development, but it can also be time-consuming and tedious. How can you make sure that your code works as expected, meets the requirements, and is free of bugs and errors? In this article, you will learn some tips and best practices to help you test your web code efficiently and effectively.
The first step to test your web code is to choose the right tools for your project. Depending on the type and complexity of your web code, you may need different tools for different purposes, such as code editors, browsers, debuggers, testing frameworks, automation tools, and code quality tools. You should select the tools that suit your needs, preferences, and budget, and that are compatible with your web code and environment. You should also familiarize yourself with the features and functionalities of your tools, and update them regularly to ensure optimal performance.
To test web code effectively, we should use tools like Selenium or Cypress for automatic testing.for example, For PHP, try PHPUnit, and for JavaScript, consider Jest. Combine different parts of your code to make sure they work well together. Test to catch any new bugs when you make changes. Create fake versions of things (mocks) to test small parts separately. Make pretend environments with mock data to test safely. Check how fast your code runs using tools like JMeter for PHP and built-in browser tools for JavaScript. Think about making your website usable for everyone by using tools like axe for JavaScript. Make sure your code works on different browsers and use Git to work together with others.
From a general perspective, having tests either integration or unit tests is required for every application. Besides that choosing the right tools for testing is an important decision that a team must take because they have to consider the learning curve, simplicity, and maintanability of the tools that they want to use. Luckily every programming language or framework has a built-in testing framework. for instance Jest for javascript, PHPUnit for PHP, Junit for Java applications, Selenium and Cypress for web tests.
Selecting the right tools for web code testing is crucial. Your choice depends on project type and complexity. Consider code editors, browsers, debuggers, testing frameworks, automation tools, and code quality tools. Ensure compatibility with your code and environment, align with your preferences and budget, and stay updated for optimal performance. Familiarity with your tools' features is key.
The right combination of tools makes all of the difference. Using the Mocha framework together with the Chai assertion library in JavaScript for unit testing is an example. This can then be used together with Jest for snapshot testing and results in a robust toolset of technologies to effectively test JavaScript code with.
The process of selecting suitable testing tools holds immense significance in the realm of web development. These tools play a pivotal role in identifying and rectifying bugs, thus ensuring a flawless user experience. Jest and Mocha are popular for unit testing due to their simplicity and flexibility. Selenium and Cypress excel in end-to-end testing, offering compatibility and ease of use. JMeter and Gatling are go-to options for performance testing, while axe and pa11y help ensure accessibility. OWASP Zap and Burp Suite are essential for security testing. Prioritize tools based on project needs and team proficiency to optimize your testing process.
The second step to test your web code is to write testable code. Testable code is code that is easy to read, understand, modify, and verify. To write testable code, you should follow some general principles, such as using consistent and meaningful naming conventions, avoiding hard-coded values, separating concerns, applying modular design, following coding standards, and documenting your code. Writing testable code will not only make your testing process easier and faster, but also improve your code quality and maintainability.
Ensure that your tests are readable. Regard the unit tests as a guide for your application or the documentation in its entirety. They ought to be effortlessly readable, coherent, and graspable even with minimal external documentation or developer clarification. The most effective approach to uphold this is by embracing simplicity. Organize your tests into coherent segments, and within each of these segments, concentrate the tests on a single feature or behavior.
To test code it needs to be predictable. For code to be testable it needs to have predictable outputs given its inputs. There are a few things that can mess that up for example if your code relies on some form of input that changes, but is not directly sent in this could change the output, code with this problem has what's called a "side-effect". Getting rid of side-effects often means you need to send in all of your inputs that can change. There are certain things that by nature do not really need to be tested, but that have side-effects. For example anything that involves random outputs. With that said, almost everything should be tested, so try to keep your code predictable and test only that code which is predictable.
Writing testable code is essential for effective web development testing. Here are key principles: Clear Naming: Use consistent, meaningful names for variables and functions to enhance code readability. Avoid Hard Coding: Minimize hard-coded values. Use constants or configuration files for flexibility. Separation of Concerns: Divide your code into manageable modules, each with a specific purpose. Modular Design: Build code in small, reusable units to simplify testing and maintenance. Coding Standards: Follow industry coding standards and best practices for consistency. Documentation: Document your code for easier understanding and collaboration. Testable code streamlines the testing process and elevates code quality.
By writing modular code the testing process is significantly improved because the testing takes place modularly. Unit tests can for example be written to test specific modules instead of having to test "crowded" pieces of code where it is difficult to isolate the different aspects that need to be tested. The unit tests and modules also mirror a filing hierarchy that pinpoints any failed tests easily and cleanly for debugging.
Creating code conducive to efficient testing is crucial. Unit tests must serve as comprehensive guides, comprehensible even with minimal context. Arrange them logically, concentrating each on a distinct feature. Code should consistently produce outputs based on inputs, minimizing side-effects for predictability. While testing might skip certain aspects like random outputs, prioritize predictability for most of the code. In the end, code that is testable and predictable enhances software reliability and resilience.
The third step to test your web code is to test early and often. Testing early means that you should start testing your web code as soon as possible, preferably during the development phase, rather than waiting until the end of the project. Testing often means that you should test your web code frequently and regularly, preferably after every change or update, rather than testing only once or sporadically. Testing early and often will help you detect and fix errors and bugs before they accumulate and become more difficult and costly to resolve.
Test Driven Development is indeed an increasingly important paradigm in programming. Frequent and early testing, particularly when implementing new features can make the software development process of a project far more efficient and shorten the duration of the initial development phase.
Testing early and often highlights the fact that you need to keep your test cases updated as you code, even if you are not adopting TDD in the development process. Having the right DevOps pipeline would help you keep this process streamlined of course.
In fact, there is a software development practice called "test driven development". TDD means writing tests for functionalities before you even write the actual code. Many engineers find this system helps them to write better code. In part, because they have to think of all the different scenarios they need to cover as well as various edge cases which might occur regarding their code before they begin writing. TDD also helps guarantee that all new features have tests. Writing code for hours, then debugging for hours and then after all that expecting yourself to write all the tests you know/hope will pass is typically not realistic.
TDD is the best paradigm in programming. We need to run our tests (units/integrations) after every change that we have made in the code. Sometimes we have some changes in parts of the application due to the business requirements, so early and frequent testing is essential to have a stable and reliable application.
Besides planned tests, one useful hack I have found is to think of testing like an adventure. I start clicking and tapping around the website or app like a curious explorer. Try this, and you might find surprises that regular tests don't catch. I also do negative testing. Negative testing is like trying to make a toy do something it's not supposed to. Doing this early helps find and fix problems before they cause big trouble. It's like making sure your backpack won't rip by giving it a really heavy book.
The fourth step to test your web code is to use different types of testing. Different types of testing can help you evaluate different aspects and levels of your web code, such as functionality, usability, performance, security, compatibility, and accessibility. Some of the common types of testing for web code are unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, user interface testing, load testing, stress testing, security testing, cross-browser testing, and accessibility testing. You should use the types of testing that are relevant and appropriate for your web code and objectives, and that can provide you with useful and reliable feedback.
Analyze what type of testing will be required to cover all the functionality being implemented. If it's a microservices context, it's interesting to have contract testing - testing the limits of each independent service. By creating contract tests, there is a guarantee that changes will not cause side effects in the system that is already in production, making the development process with less rework and costs. There is a tool called Pact that tests contracts from different programming languages, and there is a VSCode extension called Themis, which uses Pact to help generate contract tests, helping teams of different maturity types to deliver more reliable systems.
Nowadays accessibility testing is a must as it helps our peers navigate the web. Tuning the application for accessibility may seem a daunting at first but there are many ways to treat it proactively like a journey. The most important part of this journey is to make sure that the website is fully accessible to people with any visual, cognitive, physical or auditory disability and this can be done only with effective testing of every newly deployed component
I would also use different types of test for different parts of the system. For instance, UI or View components need to have their behaviour tested. Being strict with the type of testing you use also ensures you'll have better separation by higlighting discrepancies. In the case of UI Components, sometimes domain knowledge is embedded. If the type of testing doesn't cover the component, it might be time to rethink the design.
The fifth step to test your web code is to automate your testing. Automating your testing means that you use tools or scripts to perform certain tasks or actions that would otherwise require manual intervention or repetition. Automating your testing can help you save time and effort, increase efficiency and accuracy, reduce human errors and bias, and ensure consistency and coverage. However, automating your testing does not mean that you can eliminate manual testing altogether. You should use a balanced combination of automated and manual testing, depending on the nature and scope of your web code and testing.
If you apply fail fast to automated testing by using things like git hooks to run tests before committing pushing code, you'll get instant feedback of the stuff that broke instead having delayed response from a pipeline that can disrupt your workflow and waste time from colleagues that look at broken code.
I've found great use in using tools like Selenium, Jest, or Cypress, that allow me to script test cases that run automatically, verifying that new code integrations haven't introduced unforeseen errors. Continuous Integration (CI) platforms further complement this by running these automated tests every time a code change is made, ensuring that issues are detected and addressed immediately. The benefits of automating your testing are multifold: it enhances the speed, repeatability, and consistency of testing, while also freeing up developers to focus on feature development and problem-solving. By embracing test automation, you significantly reduce the risk of deployment errors, ensuring users a robust and reliable web experience.
Automating tests strategy involves employing tools like Selenium, Cypress, or testing frameworks like JUnit and pytest to execute tasks that would otherwise necessitate manual intervention. Automating tests brings forth time efficiency, precision, error reduction, and broader coverage. However, it's crucial to strike a harmonious balance between automated and manual testing. This equilibrium should be determined by factors such as the intricacy and extent of the web code and the testing prerequisites.
The sixth and final step to test your web code is to review and refactor your code. Reviewing your code means that you check your code for any errors, bugs, inconsistencies, or improvements that you may have missed or overlooked during your testing. You can review your code yourself or with the help of others, such as peers, mentors, or users. Refactoring your code means that you modify your code to improve its structure, readability, efficiency, or quality, without changing its functionality or behavior. You can refactor your code by applying techniques such as simplifying, extracting, renaming, or reorganizing your code. Reviewing and refactoring your code will help you ensure that your web code is clean, clear, and correct.
Code review is is important at any level for seniors, middle and junior developers alike. Working on legacy applications often calls for refactoring work and such work must be done without impacting business processes. A solid plan needs to developed in order to Make sure that the newly developed code will replace the existing one and will bring improvements for general experience. In other words a refactoring sprint must be worth the time invested in it. Eliminating coupling, extracting common features, breaking into micro services and improving performance are common refactoring methods.
Another aspect of refactoring is updating frameworks and libraries. Most modern software projects rely on a plethora of dependencies, that is the aforementioned framework and libraries. Over time, these dependencies become outdated, exploitable and potentially dysfunctional or even nonfunctional. What's more, the cost of putting these updates off gets worse over time. As your app grows there will be more code to refactor due to more deprecations and the deprecations will compound. The more frequently you update and refactor, the easier it will be however. There will be both fewer deprecations to fix and you will be better at and more familiar with doing so. Using the latest versions also lets you use the latest, best features!
Refactoring is like cleaning a house. One should do it regularly but no one likes when it takes much time. Having automated tests allows us to refactor quickly and safely. We can run tests instantly after each change and check whether we broke some functionality. Without tests, refactoring may be postponed until absolutely necessary. Why? Because it is risky - "don't touch if it works"! More mess leads to more mess which slows the team even further. The later the refactoring is done and the less it is covered with tests, the more cumbersome manual scenarios will be needed to ensure the correct behaviour of the application.