Yearly Archives: Knowledge CenterAugust 2020

Improve Salesforce Application Performance Leveraging Platform Cache using Lightning Web Component

Improve Salesforce Application Performance Leveraging Platform Cache using Lightning Web Component

Lightning Web Components (LWC) comply closely with modern web development practices and standards. LWC is more efficient for developers to build with and for browsers to render. The LWC bundle comes with a simple structure and its development feels like modern JavaScript frameworks. It helps in enhancing the efficiency of the development process and increasing the performance of Salesforce applications.

When you use Platform Cache, it helps further enhance the performance of Salesforce applications as they store reusable data. It acts as a memory layer that stores Salesforce session and org data for later access. On top of that, leveraging LWC will also help you increase the performance of applications in comparison to Aura components.

Experts at QA InfoTech discuss how to increase the performance of your Salesforce Applications Leveraging Platform Cache using Lightning Web Component.

The webinar was held on 27 August 2020 and will help you understand the accurate usage of Lightning Web Components over Aura and the concepts of Lightning Platform Cache. It will serve as your go to guide to ensure faster and more performance oriented Salesforce application releases.

Speakers:

  • Kunal Chauhan (Chief Technology Officer)
  • Vineet Goel (Lead, Salesforce Developer)
Understanding the Benefits of Using Lightning Web Components for your Business

Understanding the Benefits of Using Lightning Web Components for your Business

Benefits of using Lightning Web Components

Lightning Web Components (LWC) have emerged as a powerful programming model for developing web components. Significantly bolstering web standards, it is compatible with the Aura programming model, coexisting with the same. However, the performance of LWC remains unparalleled, which delivers a competitive advantage to its users.

Web Components have the ability to leverage elements, shadow DOM, modules, templates and various language constructs in ECMAScript 7 and more. Implementing LWC in your business, you can enhance your Salesforce lightning platform, propelling it to use web standards for developing UI.

Benefits of using Lightning Web Components

The prime benefit of implementing LWC is its speed, security and lightweight nature. Using LWC, business owners benefit from a dedicated layer of Salesforce services on the core stack. This includes Lightning Data Service, base lightning components and User Interface API. Although one cannot compose Lightning web components from Aura components, the reverse mechanism is possible.

Have a look at the advantages of implementing Lightning web components.

  • LWC, being fast, offers greater speed
  • For older browsers, LWC provides polyfill automatically, which in the normal case would not be supporting the basic web standards (web components, shadow dom, etc.)
  • It is light in weight
  • It offers better compatibility with browsers and enhanced security

How can LWC strengthen your business?

Let’s explore how you can leverage your business using LWC.

Better performance

LWC delivers unparalleled performance, which happens to be its prime advantage.

  • One can dodge the server call while implementing lightning web components. When you work with the LWC JS controller through Javascript, the data coming to the JS controller can be manipulated. Therefore, you can display the same simply as per your needs. There is no need to make a server call.
  • Besides, you have an enhanced DOM render engine. As compared to Aura component, you would enjoy a higher speed in component rendering.

Compatibility across browsers

  • Apps deliver an enjoyable experience to users, deploying SLDS (responsive design). Lightning Component supports the most advanced browser technologies like CSS3, HTML5 and touch events.
  • Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS) enables business owners to style the respective components the way they want. Therefore, you can customize the components as required. In a nutshell, business owners need not be concerned about responsive behaviour.

Faster development

LWC enables teams to carry out their tasks faster with sophisticated components, working seamlessly with mobile and desktop devices. The entire developmental efficiency gets a boost, along with parallel designing with components.

Evidently, LWC enables users to come up with generic components for a seamless performance. The Admin, implementing the Lightning App Builder simply needs to drag and drop them on the necessary page while using the generic component.

Other advantages of deploying LWC is that you can avoid ViewState Error altogether and experience a two-way binding process. This justifies why forward-thinking businesses have been deploying Lightning Web Components lately into their respective frameworks.

In our recent webinar on ‘How to increase your salesforce application performance by leveraging the platform ‘Cache’ using LWC’, we discuss how businesses can reap more benefits out of their salesforce apps using LWC as the framework model that is required to make contact with the database. The webinar recording is available under the webinars section of our website.

How React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh is Enabling Efficiencies for Developers?

How React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh is Enabling Efficiencies for Developers?

Latest React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh Update

React Native has become synonymous to cross-platform application development. The pre-cross-platform era made developers struggle with the codes of Native technology to develop separate apps for different platforms. For instance, developers had to write separate codes for iOS and Android mobile app development.

React Native has eliminated this time-taking and tedious process. It has brought in WORA (Write Once, Run Anywhere) functionality to simplify the app development process. React Native has now become one of the top cross-platform frameworks.

However, React Native has its fair share of challenges and bugs. No matter how minor, they obstruct the mobile app development.

Persistent Issues

1. Time Consuming Update – The procedure to update to other versions was tedious and took a lot of time.

2. Locating Exception Purpose – React Native app development service comes with a stack hint inside the chrome debugger console. It leads to time consuming component DidCatch and debugging without much assistance.

3. Crash – App crash is common and the platform doesn’t provide rich analytics for the reason behind crash.

4. Warm Reload Issue: Reloading React local code requires the app to be reloaded.

5. RAM Package – React Native app development company can benefit if the RAM package can support structures like codepush.

What is in Store in the Latest React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh Update?

With the introduction of React Native 0.61 version, developers are now able to easily optimize the features of React Native 0.60. The update has resolved all the bugs that were present in the 0.60 version and is now loaded with enhanced features to improve the performance.

Also Read: How To Select The Best Tools For Cross-platform Mobile App Development

Here are some of the worth noting latest features of React Native 0.61.

  1. Enhanced CocoaPods Support

React Native 0.60 had a few updates to enable default integration of CocoaPods. But it used to create bugs and issues in the use_frameworks. 0.61 has fixed these issues and made it more easy and simple to integrate into iOS projects being built on dynamic frameworks.

  1. New useWindowDimensions Hook 

Hook is the new feature that automatically offers and subscribes with dimension updates. You can also use it against Dimensions API in the majority of cases.

  1. Upgraded to 16.9

The new version doesn’t support old names for UNSAFE_lifecycle methods and comes with enhancements to the act.

  1. Fast Refresh

The new Fast Refresh feature is the combination of existing “live reloading” and “hot reloading”.

Here is how it is helping React Native developers.

  • The latest Fast Refresh feature completely supports the latest React along with Hooks and function components
  • It easily recovers from mistakes including typos  and it even goes back to the full reload if required
  • Fast Refresh doesn’t use invasive code transformation. Hence, it is reliable and trustworthy while using on default settings
  • Fast Refresh works accurately for both functional and class components. It also now updates at a faster pace

In a nutshell, Fast Refresh is highly flexible and reliable. It can be said that it is identical to the Hot Reloading feature however, now it performs flawlessly.

How to Upgrade?

To upgrade to React Native 0.61 Fast Refresh, it is advisable to leverage the latest React Native Upgrade Helper. It will help you identify the files that you need to change. It might look an old-school way to upgrade but it is pretty simple.

In Summary

Reach Native app development has become one of the fastest and cost-efficient means to release cross-platform applications. It helps in creating mobile apps that are secure, scalable, user-friendly, and easy to maintain. 

QAIT DevLabs offer robust React Native app development services that can help you create highly-efficient and reliable mobile apps. Talk to our experts now for more details.

Best 7 Performance Testing Tools Trending in 2020

Best 7 Performance Testing Tools Trending in 2020

Top 7 Trending Performance Testing Tools 2020

Performance testing is a non-functional type of testing that is conducted to determine how an application will perform under load. The tests are conducted on metrics including speed, stability, and scalability. The right performance testing services can conduct a wide range of tests. Find out what the different types of performance tests are and the best 7 tools that are currently trending in 2020.

Types of Performance Tests

The different types of performance tests conducted by performance testing services include:

  • Load Testing: This tests the workload that is produced in normal conditions and measures the application’s response time. It also helps in identifying any bottlenecks.
  • Stress Testing: Extreme workload is applied to find out the load point at which the app will crash.
  • Spike Testing: This involves changing the workload rapidly and monitoring the application’s response.
  • Endurance Testing: This involves exposing the application to the expected workload for a prolonged period of time to check how well it can handle it.
  • Scalability Testing: This test involves a gradual increase in workload to find out how efficiently the software can scale up.
  • Volume Testing: Volume testing involves the performance testing services feeding the software’s database with large volumes of data to check its data processing capabilities and efficiency.

Best Performance Testing Tools

The top 7 performance testing tools which are used widely by performance testing services in 2020 and their key features are as follows:

1. WebLOAD

This is an enterprise-scale load testing tool that can generate real-life and reliable load scenarios, even in most complex systems. Its smart analytics provide in-depth performance insights. The tool comes with built-in support for hundreds of technologies. It also integrates with several tools to support simpler monitoring.

The key features of this performance testing tool are as follows:

  • It is available on the Cloud or as an on-premise deployment
  • Readily extensible and supports all the major web technologies
  • Creates a flexible test environment
  • Native JavaScript based on smart scripting with validation engines, parameterization, and powerful correlation
  • Detects bottlenecks automatically

WebLOAD is widely used by performance testing services with complex and heavy user load requirements. You can conduct stress and load testing on any web-based software by creating load from on-premise systems and the Cloud. It supports technologies including enterprise applications to web protocols. It supports integration with tools like Selenium, Jenkins, and many others to allow continuous load testing for DevOps.

2. LoadNinja

LoadNinja allows you to build scriptless load tests. It is preferred by performance testing services because it helps reduce testing times by half. Other advantages include replacing load emulators with real browsers and generating actionable metrics.

This tool allows you to debug in the real-time, record client-side interactions, identify performance issues instantly, and do much more. LoadNinja allows you to boost your testing coverage without compromising on quality. It removes cumbersome, repetitive tasks involved in script translation, dynamic correlation, and script scrubbing. It allows you to spend more time in developing scalable applications and less time on creating load testing scripts.

The key features of LoadNinja are as follows:

  • Real browser load testing at scale
  • Create a scriptless load test and playback feature
  • Real-time management of virtual user activity
  • Real-time test debugging
  • Advanced browser-based metrics with reporting and analytics features
  • Cloud-based hosting eliminates maintenance of the server

LoadNinja supports the following protocols:

  • HTTPS
  • HTTP
  • Java-based protocol
  • SAP GUI Web
  • Google Web Toolkit
  • WebSocket
  • Oracle Forms

3. LoadView

LoadView is also widely popular with performance testing services. This is an on-demand and fully-managed load testing and stress testing tool. It is different from most other load testing tools in that testing is conducted in real browsers. The result is close emulation of real users and highly accurate data. It is fully cloud-based and is readily deployed in minutes. It allows creating multi-step scripts simulating user interaction with your application or website.

Some of the key features of LoadView are as follows:

  • Supports advanced load testing features like global Cloud-based infrastructure, point and click scripting, and real browser testing
  • Allows instant and easy creation of test scripts without the need for coding
  • Supports Rich Internet Applications including Java, Flash, HTML5, Ruby, Silverlight, and PHMP among others
  • Over a dozen global Cloud locations supported by Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services
  • Test compatibility with dozens of desktop and mobile devices and browsers
  • Easy to share performance metrics and reports
  • Identifies bottlenecks and supports scalability

4. StresStimulus

StresStimulus is popular with performance testing services because it is capable of handling scenarios that may be difficult to test using other tools. It works by automatically fixing playback errors using its unique autocorrelation feature. The tool records user actions before replaying them to emulate changing usage patterns. It also keeps track of load impact on the responsiveness of the software and the server infrastructure. It can also detect hidden concurrency errors and provides in-depth performance metrics.

The key features of this performance testing tool are as follows:

  • Cloud or on-premise testing using multiple load generators
  • End-to-end Test Wizard reduces the learning curve by covering all steps
  • Option of manual scripting is available, but not required. The tool supports upto 3 scripting languages.
  • Allows script export to Visual Studio test format
  • Can be used as a Fiddler add-on or an independent tool

5. Apache JMeter

JMeter is a popular open source performance testing tool that is designed for load and performance testing. It can be used to analyze and measure the performance of a wide range of software, covering services including networks and servers. It is mostly used as a website load testing tool for different types of web service applications.

JMeter is a Java platform application that can be integrated with the test plan. It also allows you to create a function test plan besides a load test plan. Some of the key features are as follows:

  • Supports multiple load injectors that can be managed using a single controller
  • Doesn’t require advanced infrastructure for load testing
  • Requires lesser scripting efforts relative to other API performance testing tools, as it has a user-friendly interface
  • Supports all Java-based applications
  • Easy analysis of key load based stats and resource usage monitors by presenting simple graphs and charts

JMeter supports the following protocols – HTTPS, HTTP, XML, Java-based protocols, SOAP, and FTP among others.

6. SmartMeter.io

SmartMeter.io is the preferred option for performance testing services who want to address the drawbacks of JMeter. The tool supports the creation of a simple scriptless test environment with its Recorder. It provides test reports and has features like automatic test criteria assessment and test runs trend and comparison analysis. The tool offers full support for CI/CD integration. Its key features are as follows:

  • Create a scriptless test environment
  • Advanced response body extractor
  • Real-time results and GUI test runs
  • Comprehensive reporting, automatic assessment, and test execution comparisons
  • Supports CI/CD integration

The SmartMeter.io supports the following protocols – HTTP, FTP, LDAP, JDBC, JMS, and SOAP. There is no need for browser plugin or proxy setup. It has excellent capabilities in CI integration, distributed testing, and provides unmatched performance testing support when it comes to validating apps.

7. Rational Performance Tester

Rational Performance Tester from IBM is designed to create and run performance tests. It is also a powerful analysis tool. The tool allows you to verify the stability and scalability of web-based applications before they are deployed. This is an automated performance testing tool that develops a demo of the transaction process between the web service and the user.

It is capable of gathering all the information and analyses them to help improve efficiency. It makes it easy to detect and rectify any leakage in the application or server. Rational Performance Tester is widely used by performance testing services to develop error-free and effective cloud computing service. Some of the key features of this tool are as follows:

  • Supports event-based and scheduled testing
  • Supports scriptless testing
  • Runs with large tests involving multiple users
  • Supports real-time reporting that allows instant performance issue identification
  • Supports automatic detection and identification of dynamic server response
  • Supports automated test data variation
  • Runs website load tests with HTML version of web pages opened during test recordings

The performance testing tool supports the following protocols – Web HTTP, Citrix, XML, SOA, Weblogic, Websphere, SOA, and Socket Recording.

Conclusion

The above are the best tools that are currently used for performance testing services. When it comes to choosing from these tools, you should consider a number of factors. This includes the protocol support you require and licensing cost. You should also consider the hardware and software requirements of the tool. It is also important to consider the tool vendor support. It will also be required to consider the cost of training your teams. 

It is important to realize that there is no single tool that can meet all your testing requirements. You will be required to use multiple tools to ensure that your products are tested more comprehensively. So, it is recommended to select the top tools from the above that can address all your testing needs.

Why is Security Testing Imperative for Quick Apps Launched During the Corona Times?

Why is Security Testing Imperative for Quick Apps Launched During the Corona Times?

Security Testing for Quick Apps Launched During the Corona Times

Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and social distancing norms have changed the way consumers interact with technology. Consumers find themselves suddenly relying more on apps for a wide range of purposes, needs, and activities. 

There is an unprecedented surge in demand for apps for staying healthy (physically and mentally), shopping, communication, entertainment, and much more. The result is a high release rate of all types of apps. There is suddenly a huge market, which has resulted in the creation of massive competition. All developers are focused on releasing their apps with the quickest turnaround.

The need to reach the market instantly has enhanced an age-old challenge for application developers – security. Security testing is imperative for quick apps launched during the time of this pandemic. This is one aspect you cannot ignore in the race to beat the competition and reach the market at the earliest. This is where you cannot ignore the importance of security testing services.

Covid-19 & The Surge in Popularity of Apps

When you take a look at the growing popularity of apps in different parts of the world, there are some interesting observations. These observations also provide insights into the potential security threats that are faced by apps and the data behind them.

Healthcare Apps

Healthcare apps in South East Asia have emerged as the most popular apps. 6 of the top 15 mobile apps on Google Play store in South Korea were recently found to be about tracking Covid-19 pandemic. Developers of many apps state that source their data from government information have claimed a huge surge in the number of downloads since they launched their products. There has been a growth of 110% in spending on healthcare apps after the outbreak of coronavirus.

Real Estate Apps

Real estate is another sector that has experienced a surge in demand for apps. The most notable impact has been seen in Middle-East Asia. However, Covid-19 restrictions in many parts of the world have caused a slowdown in the popularity of real estate apps.

Mental Wellness Apps

The pandemic has also increased the demand for mental wellness and meditation apps. Apparently, people are finding these apps beneficial in dealing with sleeplessness and anxiety. According to a report, the top 10 mental wellness apps (English language apps) recorded 2 million more downloads in April 2020 against January 2020.

Educational Apps

Even when most educational institutions are closed, online education apps have gained widespread popularity and downloads. Users are not only relying on apps to facilitate online classes but also to fuel their need for e-learning. With so much time at their behest, tens of millions of users are exploring new online learning opportunities.

Also Read: Security Testing Services To Secure Educational Portals

There are many other types of apps that have gained widespread popularity during the pandemic. As apps are downloaded by more and more people, it means access to a greater number of user data. You cannot take security testing lightly in such a scenario.

Need for Security Testing Services

A security development lifecycle is a must if you want to create a secure app. You should consider and test security across the entire project lifecycle. Security/ Penetration Testing, secure code reviews, and security architecture reviews should be an integral part of the SDLC. This becomes even more important in a situation when the app deals with key information and sensitive data.

Security testing involves an active analysis of the technical flaws, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses of an app. It is important to address the following security concerns when testing your apps, not just during this time of quick releases, but also during ordinary times:

  • Confidentiality: All information must be accessible to only those having authorized access.
  • Authentication: To establish the identity of the user.
  • Integrity: To allow the receiver to determine that they are receiving correct information.
  • Availability: To ensure that all communication and information services are readily available on demand.
  • Non-Repudiation: Preventing later denial about the happening of an action.

It is also important to test the effectiveness of authorization features.

Why Mobile App Security Testing is So Important in this Scenario?

Explore the different reasons why app security testing is imperative during this time when you are releasing new apps continuously:

1. Prevent Potential Attacks

Security testing services help prevent potential attacks by guessing the behavioral patterns of attackers. There is never any certainty of how your app can be attacked. It can include:

  • Hacking into the app
  • Stealing data
  • Attacking backend systems

Security testers can anticipate potential future scenarios and mitigate relevant risks. Such services can guess potential attacker behavior and use the information to uncover flaws in the code. The flaws can thus be fixed before hackers can exploit them.

A penetration test is an example of such a security test. It involves the use of sophisticated tools and in-depth knowledge to guess attacker behavior. It also helps thwart attempts by attackers to access higher permissions and privileged information  without authorization.

This will involve mock attacks by testers no different than a real attack attempting to break into the app to document the vulnerabilities. This can also include remote attack, man-in-the-middle attack  and social engineering attacks.

2. Changes to Architecture of Network & App Components

As app downloads continue to experience a sudden surge, it has become increasingly important for developers to prevent any major security breaches after an app goes live. Security testing services can bring effective changes to the following elements before releasing the app:

  • Architecture
  • Design
  • Code

This requires evaluation of the app for vulnerabilities in the source code, security loopholes, bottlenecks, and potential attack vectors. It is important to fix issues before the release, as it is convenient and cheaper than addressing them later. Taking action during this step can help eliminate or minimize costs in many areas including PR and legal. In an environment when your app will potentially be downloaded by millions, any security breach can become a major legal and PR disaster.

3. Worry-Free App Release

Security testing services help you ensure a worry-free app release. Before an app is deployed in an IT environment, it has to pass technical and user acceptance tests. This helps ensure it aligns with the business and technical requirements. Acceptance tests assure that an app meets end-user requirements.

4. Meet Security Compliance Requirements

Security testing also allows you to meet stringent industry security compliance requirements before releasing your app. It is easy to ignore intensive compliance security testing in situations like the present when there is a massive demand for apps.

Compliance has a continuous role to play in preparing for, responding to and recovering from cyber incidents. Security testing services can help ensure that your app meets at least the following standards:

  • ISO 27001
  • FIPS 140-2
  • HIPAA
  • PCI-DSS
  • GDPR
  • OWASP

At the speed that many businesses are embracing mobile, you cannot take the risk of developing apps that are vulnerable to security threats.

5. Securing Application Code

Another reason you cannot ignore security testing services is that it helps secure not only your proprietary application code but secure code review also gives great visibility into the vulnerabilities that come with the usage of third party commercial and open source code. Releasing apps without proper and comprehensive testing can create loopholes in the app’s source code. Any such loopholes can be targeted by cybercriminals.

Hackers can create malware that takes control of the user device and can access sure data. Security testing can involve evaluation of entire code quality. This can help identify any loopholes in the code that can make your app vulnerable to such attacks. 3 different methods are used for such analysis:

  • Static Analysis (including software composition analysis a.k.a SCA)
  • Dynamic Analysis
  • Forensic Analysis

6. Preventing Data Leaks

Data leak is a major threat, especially at a time when both business and personal data are stored on the same device. Your apps will access personal user data to deliver a personalized experience. If your app is not tested, any vulnerabilities can increase the risk of data leaks in the present or in the future.

Experienced security testing services can eliminate any risks of data leaks. This is achieved by evaluation of hard-coded data including:

  • Application code
  • Data in transit
  • Personal & business data stored on the device

7. Preventing Real-Time Security Threats

Security testing plays a vital role in preventing real-time security threats. Many cyber attackers distribute malware that attacks an app at the time of execution. Such malware try to change the app’s functionality through the submission of malicious input during runtime.

Therefore, it is important to implement strategies to protect your apps from real-time security threats. Security testing services can identify malicious input submitted at the time of runtime. This is enabled through the use of the latest technologies such as runtime application self-protection or RASP. Such measures can prevent malware from making changes to your app’s configuration.

There are many more reasons you should seek security testing services for your quick apps launching during the coronavirus time.

You may also enjoy: Top 6 Upcoming Security Testing Trends in 2020

Need for Demonstrating App Security

As governments and organizations release apps focused around the coronavirus pandemic, they will have access to a wide range of user data. This makes it essential for organizations to demonstrate app security meeting the highest industry standards.

Covid-19 related healthcare apps have created a new set of security challenges. Phones with such apps can exchange information with each other when placed close together. In many cases, this creates a log of each phone’s owner in the proximity. This tech is used to alert contacts if they have been in the proximity of a Covid-19 person.

Security testing services can help ensure that such apps can meet the highest and most stringent standards in security, privacy and safety. Unfortunately, there is no handbook that addresses such new challenges that arose in these times; that can maybe present itself as a common global standard. Some of the different areas such services can help include the following:

Covering Vulnerability

Interactive analysis services provide the best of dynamic and static testing. They are focused on the most common and risk-prone flaws. They also enable custom rules for personalization of threat coverage for certain enterprises.

Scalability

Interactive testing from security testing services can handle apps of all sizes. This is important considering that dynamic and static tools cannot scale well. These traditional tools not only require expertise in set up and execution, but also for studying the results.

Code Coverage

Static testing may not check frameworks/libraries. This limits vulnerability analysis. On the other hand, dynamic testing is limited to checking the exposed surface of the application. The result is that you can miss out on significant security components in apps. Interactive testing from security testing services can help ensure that the complete app is tested from inside out. This means greater coverage over the complete codebase.

Conclusion

Users are exploring different ways to manage their lives in this time of lockdown. With everyone having a smartphone, apps are providing a world of new entertainment, learning, and other opportunities for the masses. Studies show that users spent 20% more time on apps in Q1 2020 when compared to Q1 2019. It was also the quarter with the largest record spend on app stores, with a figure of more than $23 billion.

Consumers are relying on apps to support them in different ways during the pandemic. With such a massive surge in demand for apps, developers must take all measures to ensure that only the most secure apps make it to the market. If you fail to realize the importance of security testing services, you will be putting your business at risk of repercussions of massive scales.

AI-Backed Big Data Testing for Futuristic Digital Transformation

AI-Backed Big Data Testing for Futuristic Digital Transformation

Big Data Based Testing

The world of digital technology is always evolving. The smartphones, AI-based analytics, and Internet of Things are some of the biggest innovations of recent times. These technologies are driving massive digital transformation at all levels. 

The massive growth in the use of the Internet, social media, and other platforms has seen unprecedented growth in data across the world. Most organizations, including those in the public and private sector, are now relying on Business Intelligence (BI) and data warehouse applications to assist them in making key data-based decisions. 

Various data formats are organized and processed to help identify patterns for making future decisions. AI-based big data testing is already in use and making major strides in different domains. It is here to stay and evolve to enable futuristic digital transformation and ensure digital quality assurance.

Current Transformation

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a major transformation in the way the global economy works. Businesses, employees, and even daily routines of people have been transforming to adapt to the new conditions created by the pandemic. The challenges that have arisen out of this changing environment have created a need for new technologies. Digital transformation is no longer just limited to creating a digital presence, but it is also about providing customized user experience (UX) to the target audience or end-users to meet their needs. Most of these organizations are now ready to consider and embrace new technologies, no matter what their current technological statuses are.

Embracing Big Data & AI

The habits and preferences of consumers or end-users are always changing. The growing volume of analytical data that businesses have to process continues to grow at a staggering rate. It is just too big for normal analytics applications to analyze. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes into the picture to help achieve digital quality assurance. AI and big data testing are considered the key tools that will be driving futuristic digital transformation.

AI & Its Role in Analyzing UX Data

Testing techniques need to keep improving in ways that take into account how users interact with a product. However, this has been a challenge for a long time. The most important reason being that it was difficult to record the ever-evolving market standards and needs. Traditional, human-based testing systems focused on the functionality of products, not the market perception. This is where AI-backed big data testing comes in. AI-based systems can learn and upgrade algorithms based on UX data.

The Connection Between AI & Big Data

AI testing requires a regular inflow of data to become successful. And this is possible only with big data analytics. This creates an element of interdependence between the two systems, contributing to digital quality assurance. The result is the creation of a self-sustaining system that is always evolving.

Why is AI the Right Approach for Big Data Testing?

AI applications have the processing power that makes them capable of processing large volumes of data.

  • The human brain is incapable of matching the power of AI
  • AI is incomprehensibly more accurate and faster
  • AI has a much greater capacity for memory and storage compared to human testers
  • AI can never miss out on critical components when testing products
  • AI is capable of being automated
  • Frequent testing can be carried out in much shorter time frames
  • It helps in reducing overhead costs associated with testing

Organizations can fine-tune products before release. The result is greater quality products can be produced and the industry standards can be improved based on what is most suitable for the market.

Big Data Testing

Big data testing has, in itself, been a major stride in the digital transformation process. Find out how to adopt big data testing, how it can help improve digital quality assurance, and what is involved in it.

Adoption of Big Data Testing

Some of the key aspects of adopting big data testing include:

  • Implementing Live Integration: It is crucial to implement live integration, as data can be received from multiple sources. It enables end-to-end testing.
  • Data Validation: Data validation in the distributed file system. This includes comparing source data and added data.
  • Process Validation: Once the data is compared, process validation involves:
  1. Business logic validation
  2. Data aggregation
  3. Data segregation
  • Output Validation: This step focuses on the following:
  1. Eliminating data corruption
  2. Effective data loading
  3. Maintaining data integrity

The different ways in which a big data testing strategy can ensure digital quality assurance are as follows:

  • Ensuring data accuracy
  • Minimizing losses
  • Increasing revenues
  • Improving business decisions
  • Improving market strategizing and targeting

How Does AI-Based Big Data Testing Help?

AI algorithms and big data testing can come together to help you in so many ways:

  • Creating smart asset creation with data repositories
  • Identifying relationships between application requirements and test assets
  • Predicting incidents and responding in a proactive way

How Can AI Support Transformation in Testing?

AI can bring about transformation in testing and facilitate digital quality assurance in a number of ways:

i. Dynamic Analytics

It is well known that decision making is significantly affected by access to the right analytics tools and data. Machine learning (ML), a component of AI, is capable of processing tens of thousands of data points in real-time. ML allows you to develop models and predictive analytics capable of testing and retesting at a much faster rate compared to humans. Thus, the use of AI-based big data testing means the digital optimization process can become much more effective. It is more so the case with the use of automation in big data testing.

ii. Faster Processing

There are 2 areas where ML excels compared to human testers:

  • Analyzing a much greater volume of data at a given time
  • Ensuring a much higher quality of analysis

This means that AI-based big data testing is capable of streaming and expediting multiple digital processes and helping achieve digital quality assurance. ML is also capable of discovering a wide range of new relationships between the datasets. This can further help organizations in identifying new opportunities for revenue generation.

iii. AI Drives Economies at Scale

ML algorithms can learn from data and patterns at a much greater speed than humans or conventional applications. Thus, AI can help scale processes in ways that are simply not possible with traditional systems and teams. A model that can take months for data analysts can be processed by AI-based platforms within minutes or even seconds.

AI is capable of driving processes at scale and helps in making informed decisions. All these make it a crucial tool in the process of digital transformation. It is, however, important to ensure that the business use-case and the goal are clear. If business use cases are not clear, the situation can paralyze your organization despite technological expertise. Once this clarity has been ensured, AI and digital transformation can bring groundbreaking benefits.

How AI Enables Better Insights?

Combining big data with AI has created new needs around data preparation, infrastructure, and administration. In many scenarios, AI and ML technologies have become an integral part of how enterprises address different operational challenges.

There are different ways in which AI allows you to get better insights and ensure digital quality assurance:

i. New Data Analysis Techniques

Traditionally, deriving insights from big data was a major challenge. AI has created new techniques for big data analysis to help provide deeper insights. AI is the next higher step in the process of using query or SQL.

ii. Less Labor-Intensive Data Analytics

AI has made big data analysis and management much less labor-intensive and time-consuming.  Human testers are still important for data management and analytics, but these processes should no longer take days or weeks to complete. AI is improving the world of data analytics with completely new capabilities by taking automated decisions based on training data. This is especially seen in the areas of specific use cases. It is revolutionizing how rules, predictions, and decisions are made without the need for sophisticated human know-how. In simple terms, AI-based big data testing allows insights and decisions to be made faster.

iii. Alleviating Common Data Issues

AI is digital quality assurance by addressing poor or low-quality issues in data. ML is capable of cleansing data. The algorithms can detect missing or outlier values, and duplicate records. If the big data is not clean, the insights derived from it cannot be relied on. This is where AI-based big data testing is helping organizations. When it comes to ML projects, most of the time is spent on the cleansing and preparation of data. This is a critical role that AI is playing and it is making a huge difference in enabling better business decisions.

Conclusion

Big data has been one of the biggest technological trends in recent years, revolutionizing not just organizations, but also societies. It is important for organizations to understand the importance of digital transformation in ways other than the technology itself. It is required to identify the right transformation goals while keeping in mind the ever-changing market and growth objectives. 

It is important to ensure that the projects are not singular efforts but make contributions to a far-reaching strategy. Big data testing alone cannot help serve the purpose. It is the intelligent, AI-based big data testing models that can bring about true digital transformation through digital quality assurance.

 

How to Overcome the Divergent Challenges of Performance Testing?

How to Overcome the Divergent Challenges of Performance Testing?

Challenges of Performance Testing

Performance testing is an important step in the development process. Despite its importance, it is a commonly overlooked step in the development cycle. Most developers will not show much interest in conducting rigorous testing on their codes to check how they perform when placed under heavy load. Interestingly, sometimes decision-makers and stakeholders also don’t realize how important performance testing is.

Performance testing can be significantly challenging. This means that it can be an arduous task for most of the teams. Many will not make performance testing an integral part of the continuous integration workflow. Instead, they will do performance assessment at the end of the development process, which results in creating a new set of issues and change in code base to fix performance bottlenecks near to the production release.

Challenges of Performance Testing

So what are these divergent challenges of performance testing that discourage most developers from integrating these tests into the process? Here you can find these challenges and also ways to overcome them.

1. Selecting the Wrong Tools

Many times the team will not select the right tool for performance testing services. The selection of the wrong tool often causes loss of testing days. The tool may also not be able to recognize the application’s controls. The process of selecting the right tool depends on many factors, including:

  • Application technology stack
  • Application communication protocol
  • Performance tester’s skill level
  • Tool’s licensing cost

The QA manager and team must thoroughly assess the application under test. They should also evaluate the tool’s licensing cost and select the best tool for successful testing.

Apache JMeter is among the most popular Java-based open source testing tools in the industry (or Software community) for performance testing. It has been designed to perform load testing and measure the performance of applications. It can be used for performance assessment and a wide range of services. Some of its key benefits include:

  • Configure simultaneous/concurrent samplings of a wide range of functions
  • Writing own tests
  • Assess database server performance
  • Supports web/mobile APIs testing

Some of the other popular and able load testing tools include Locust, Gatling, and Blazemeter.

2. Lack of Knowledge

Another major challenge for performance testing services is the lack of knowledge of its need. Most decision-makers and stakeholders have limited knowledge or don’t recognize the importance of performance testing during the development process. This can create a wide range of performance issues after the application is released, often causing it to crash in important events or peak load.

Performance testing should be planned as part of the end-to-end testing strategy. This strategy should involve everyone including the product owners, stakeholders and test architects.

Performance testing must be conducted involving databases, web servers, app servers, Load Balancer, network, IIS server and third-party apps. This can help ensure more effective performance testing/assessment and deliver a good user experience to our customers.

3. Inability to Create a Comprehensive Test Strategy & Coverage

A comprehensive testing strategy ensures that project risks are identified and prioritized. It also helps guide the actions required to address the risks. Creating such a testing strategy can be a big challenge in itself. Such a testing process will involve:

  • Identification of application performance characteristics
  • Planning of tests to exercise the performance characteristics
  • Simulation of real user interactions
  • Testing Web/Mobile APIs
  • Testing services to comply with the test strategy
  • Analyze the user pattern and production usage

Performance test results often fail to be effective because there is improper brainstorming when the test strategy and coverage are created.

It is important for the performance testing team to spend the time and effort in the understanding and analysis of application architecture. The team should also analyze other performance traits such as load distribution, availability requirements, usage model, technology stack, resilience requirements, geography of usage and reliability requirements

It is important to create a comprehensive, clear, and proper testing strategy for ensuring that all these performance characteristics are validated to generate effective performance test results.

It requires vast amounts of talent and knowledge to ensure coverage of critical business and performance functionalities. The scenarios should cover a wide range of parameters. The core functionalities can be simulated by gathering data on different scenarios. It is important to predict user data properly because most users will be using the application from their own context.

4. Time & Budget Limitations

Performance testing requires time and some budget to deliver effective results. The reason time and budget are not properly allocated is due to the absence of proper planning during the development process. This results in relying on low-skill resources that don’t have a full understanding of performance testing activities and best practices.

Most development teams are so much used to rapid development and deployment cycles that they think there is not enough time for additional steps. The fact is that this thought process has been developed because of the need for faster workflow. The truth is that there is never a shortage of time when it comes to testing the quality of a product.

Lack of budget allocation can increase the chances of using open source tools. This challenge can be overcome by planning proper performance testing from the very beginning. This must be done while keeping the resources, timeframe, and budget allocations in mind. If time is still a big concern for your team, you should either add more testing engineers to the team or limit the scope of the testing as per project priorities or goal. It is better to add skilled and experienced performance testing engineers who can clearly define the testing parameters.

5. Testing in Production Environment

Load testing in the production environment is difficult and a significant challenge in itself. During this type of testing, we need to ensure that there will be no impact on real-time users using the product. Any changes to the production environment can have an impact on the user experience. The solutions to this challenge are as follows:

  • Production environment trends must be closely monitored to identify the irregularities
  • Load testing activities must be planned in a separate performance tuning environment, a replica of production and not in an actual production environment. In case, there will be any budget constraints or other challenges to set up a production-like environment then we should have proper planning to avoid any impact on the end users.
  • The need for demand execution in actual production can be met by running such activities during off business hours and taking back-up of production database or setup/link separate database for performance testing on the production environment.

In the past, performance testing was conducted to simulate basic user actions at a protocol level. The availability of advanced performance tools in the market now allows testers to balance between exploratory and automation testing.

6. Proper Analysis of Performance Test Results

It is also a challenge to properly analyze performance test results. This is a major challenge and is faced by many testers. This is because in-depth knowledge of both system and application is required for deep analysis of performance test results.

Experienced performance testers should follow the testing process. They can understand the scenarios and can keep refining the tests on a regular basis. Such engineers can continuously review/monitor the application performance and add performance impacting scenarios for improving user experience.

It is also important to choose performance testing services with experience across the following areas:

  • Operating system concepts
  • OSI model
  • SystemWeb architecture
  • Networking concepts
  • Client-side performance concepts
  • Data structures
  • Server-side performance concepts
  • Load balancer and Firewall

DevOps Optimization

It has been observed that DevOps teams that integrate with load testing teams have been significantly more effective. This is a clear sign that automation and integration of performance testing services is an essential step in the development process. It has become easier to test in a cloud environment. The choice of the right testing tools can make it easier to debug new lines of code. Some tools also make it easier to test new iterations before deployment. This helps reduce the risks of causing major failures during the production environment.

CI/CD Unit testing further allows managing the complete software development cycle from a single interface. This helps the DevOps team to get a comprehensive view of the entire process. DevOps best practices recommend incorporating testing in the development pipeline and not at the end. So when it comes to performance testing, all the elements of DevOps cycle are ready. The results of the load test will also become more effective, as you will be able to get deeper insights from the process.

Performance Testing Best Practices

Performance testing can become even more effective when you follow all its best practices:

  • Get developers, performance testing engineers, and IT involved when creating the performance testing environment
  • Set up a test environment that accounts maximum-possible user activity
  • Keep in mind that the application will be used by real users. You must understand that the results will affect users and not just the test environment servers.
  • Best performance environment is a replica of production or as close to the production systems as possible (downscaled version of production in the right proportion)
  • Baseline measurements give you a starting point to determine success or failure
  • The performance test environment must be isolated from the quality assurance testing environment
  • Maintain test environment consistency
  • A performance testing tool will not do everything that is required. There may be restrictions due to limited resources. Testing tools must be researched for the right fit.
  • Keep the audiences in mind when preparing performance testing reports. Software and system changes should also be included in reports.
  • Actionable metrics can be determined by calculating averages. You can also find value by tracking outliers.

So, it is recommended to follow all these best practices to get the best out of performance testing services. Even if you have a highly time-sensitive continuous integration workflow, integration of performance testing is an important investment. Even when you lose some amount of time during the testing process, the benefits it offers in return are worth it. Besides, it is too valuable in helping to mitigate the risks. You cannot simply ignore the importance of performance testing in the development process.

 

How Improved Checkout Page UI Can Enhance Your Sales Numbers

How Improved Checkout Page UI Can Enhance Your Sales Numbers

How a Better UI can Increase Sales

In eCommerce, high traffic is not synonymous with high sales. However, high checkout page traffic can translate into high conversion rates. And if it is not happening then something is terribly wrong with the user interface (UI) of your payment page. An inconvenient payment page can frustrate your customers leading to stalled or terminated transactions.

Here are a few efficient design tricks that, when implemented during web development, can encourage your customers to complete the payment transactions easily.

Ask Only Compulsory Information

Avoid asking for information that is not required in placing an order successfully. For instance, to make the checkout flow faster, eliminate the billing address form as in the majority of the cases, users and buyers of a product are the same.

And if you are offering a digital product or service that you don’t need to deliver physically then you can also omit the address form. These are just a few examples to enable you think further based on your product of sale.

Allow Guest Checkout

The majority of customers abandon their shopping cart when they are asked to fill up their personal information to create an account on the app. Hence, never make the sign-up/ sign-in compulsory. The best practice is to give the customer the option to choose. You can encourage the customer to sign up/ sign in by pointing out the benefits.

However, if a customer is in a hurry, she should get the freedom to check out without going through the tedious process of sign-up/ sign-in. 

Also Read: How E-commerce App Testing Services Benefit Online Business

Intuitive UI

Incorporate little elements like clear format indicators, spacing in number groups in the card number field, and input validation to make the whole checkout customer-friendly.

Allow customers to save the payment method for future transactions. Reflect each progress step with a checkmark after it’s completion. A visual cue will allow the buyer to know they’re one step closer to the transaction. You can also signal the checkout progress with highlighted text, icons, darkened backgrounds, and filled-in bubbles.

Allow Customers to Check their Order

Before making the final payment, customers might want to check out the list of things they have added or calculate the total payable. A user-friendly order summary section will allow the customer to check out the list of items and the breakdown of the price summary including delivery cost, subtotal, taxes, and discount applied.

Minimal Distractions

The payment page should have a seamless design matching the design and branding of your eCommerce store. From colors to fonts, it is essential to maintain familiarity. However, avoid using design or branding elements that might distract the customer leading to cart abandonment.

Some elements that could create distractions are the navigation menu of the store, promotional banner, and a search field. Go for a template with a simple and plain background having only input fields and the order summary.

Relevant Product Suggestions

Reflecting products relevant to the items in the shopping cart can help you increase your average order value. You can also offer complimentary samples on an order for a customer delight experience. However, avoid adding too many options to make the customer confused and ruin the customer checkout experience.

Guided Experience

An efficient checkout page is designed to make the payment process effortless. You can guide the customer at every step through small design elements and signs. It would enable the customer to checkout without having to figure out the right button to click or search a contact form to fill.

Offer Help

A customer might need your help regarding the payment process or product details before making the payment. In such scenarios, routing them to a help or FAQ page will hamper the customer experience. Place a helpline number that should be prominently visible or include a chat support widget to enable customers to easily reach out to you.

Reliable and responsive customer support will improve the customer experience.

In Summary

Delivering an immersive and effortless customer-experience has become an important part of any organization’s business strategy. Poor customer experience could lead to depletion in brand value, loss of customers, and declining bottom line. Web development services need to follow the above-mentioned UI tips for an enhanced and intuitive customer experience.

QAIT DevLabs offers leading-edge web development services focused on immersive design, robust security, and reliable performance. Talk to our experts for more details.

Test, Test, Test

Test, Test, Test

Test, Test. Test

Test, test, test. This is a phrase that has caught everyone’s attention this year as we grapple to mitigate COVID-19. The WHO states that testing is the only way out, as we cannot fight the pandemic blindfolded. The objective clarity in outcomes (whether positive or negative) that a testing process brings, when done correctly, is the key everyone chases. Isn’t this relevant in the software engineering space too?

Software testing has had a very interesting trajectory, especially over the last two decades. From developers handling basic software testing, to testers coming in for pure black box testing, to moving into white box testing and shifting left, to a stage of continuous testing as part of the CI/CD cycle, the testing discipline has seen it all. On one hand, software testing is fairly mature with a good blend of automation aiding core functional and non-functional test scenarios. There is a newfound appreciation for software quality with testers and test architects being enablers of quality and everyone in the engineering and business teams stepping in to partake in the journey. This is a welcoming trend. However, business demands around cost and time when engineering a product continue to add to the pressure of much needed components, such as quality, often compromising on its share. Products of all sizes and technologies are being churned out in a matter of a few weeks. In the process, there are still a sizable number of teams where quality is either not being attended to or it is being handled in inefficient ways that the value is not fully reaped.

COVID-19 has necessitated a huge surge in digital consumption across domains, and it has revealed apps that have compromised on quality. Apps unable to handle rising loads, falling prey to cyberattacks, losing out on precious users, and providing poor user experiences are all becoming common. Apps that focus purely on quality from a functional standpoint are realizing the impact of the gaps and catching up on non-functional test areas. Organizations that proactively invest in accessibility engineering and testing are reaping new possibilities, as they are able to accommodate the needs of a large user base, beyond just people with disabilities. Testers around the globe are proving that they can test smartly anytime, anywhere, thanks to the collaboration possibilities and infrastructure advancements with and without Cloud setups. Even apps that had a miserable start with poor quality, when global lockdowns were enforced, have been able to come back and accommodate for quality through adequate implementations and testing. They have shown that through effective testing, quality can be brought back, even if late in the game.

COVID-19 has showcased the importance of testing in everything we do—both literally and with how business landscapes are dynamic and may change overnight. In such situations, quality, supported by adequate testing, will be a saving grace that enables products and apps to be resilient and withstand testing times.

Reposted from the original article QA InfoTech wrote for TechWell.