Regression Testing for Web and Mobile Apps

Even a minute change can cause wreak havoc in the bigger picture while developing an app.  Sometimes a small tweak in the system can completely change the app behavior and cause some serious consequences. Hence, it is important to test the entire app in the event of any changes, to check if the change is causing any unexpected results. The process of testing the entire app in the event of a new addition or any modifications is called regression testing. It ensures that there are no bugs after code changes or software updates are made.

Going by the textbook definition, “Regression testing is re-running functional and non-functional tests to ensure that the already tested app still performs as expected after any change made across the system.” Performing frequent regressions are important to keep the quality of the app in check and make sure no changes will affect the final outcome.

Regression testing is an important parameter while testing the app. Let us understand regression testing better by highlighting the need for automating regression testing, how it differs from other functional testing aspects, what plan to consider while performing regression, etc.

Automating app regression testing

Regression testing is a complex process that involves a complete re-run of all functional and non-functional tests of the application. Its complexity and mundane nature make testing regressions manually extremely tedious and time-consuming while being prone to errors. To resolve the issues arising from manual regression testing and ensuring to get accurate results in lesser timeframe, automating them becomes extremely important. Automating regressing testing increases efficiency while reducing time, cost, and effort.

Automated regression testing perfectly aligns with the rising agile trend and improves the team’s productivity and product quality. Here are some of the major advantages of automating regression tests:

24/7 Testing: Automated regression testing can be performed any time. One can schedule the testing time and be assured the tests run at the scheduled time and generate reports for the testers to analyze and understand how the changes have impacted the whole app behavior.

Improved quality: Regression testing repeatedly performs the same test to identify any bugs and enhance the application continuously. This process improves the overall quality of the app and ensures an enjoyable experience to the users.

Lower maintenance: Automated regression tests are much more easier to manage and maintain than its manual counterpart. The codeless test automation has made the process even easier without the need to write codes and helps maintain the regression cycles efficiently.

Saves time: Re-running the entire functional and non-functional tests is a highly tedious and time-consuming task. Businesses have to turn to processes that reduce the timeframe, because delayed processes can cause huge failures. Automated regressions can reduce time considerably, generating faster reports, allowing teams to proceed to the next step quickly, yet maintain high efficiency. This approach reduces the time-to-market and increases the app’s success rate.

How regression testing differs from retesting, integration testing, and unit testing

Regression is a complete re-run of the entire testing process; hence, it is technically the segments of all the other types of testing. It is often confused for integration, unit, and retesting, however, there are some differences. Let us understand how regression testing differs from other tests.

Retesting and regression testing: Retesting refers to the process of checking a particular test case(s) that was found with bugs or issues. Conversely, regression testing is testing the entire functional and non-functional parameters all over again, in case of any addition or change made across the system. It involves testing the whole process all over again, and not just a single test case.

Integration testing and regression testing: Integration testing is the process of testing different modules and components that are integrated as individual components but tested as a group. The main purpose is to understand if the overall component is working as expected and doesn’t cause any issue being part of the whole system. In regression testing, the whole process is tested all over again, which means, it also involves testing of integration as a part of the complete process. Hence, integration testing is a fragment of regression testing.

Unit testing and regression testing: Unit testing is testing of each unit in the system, the smallest individual components of the applications, and ensuring if it works as expected. On the other hand, regression involves re-running tests all over again for the entire process; this also includes testing all the units again.

Things to consider for app regression testing plan

Regression testing is an essential part of app testing process without which we may miss out on some of the bugs being added in the later part of the development process, causing quality issues upon release. Here are some of the key points to consider while performing regression testing for web and mobile apps:

• Conduct regression testing on Cloud, as you get access to all devices, browsers, and platforms over Cloud. This reduces the time and cost considerably.
• Risk mitigation plan can help reduce the impact of identified risks
• Evaluate the functionality of the upgrades
• Find and evaluate regression risks before starting the regression testing

Conclusion

After an elaborate discussion on regression testing, we can conclude that it is an inevitable part of the app development process that ensures that everything is working perfectly after any changes. Though, performing regression testing may look simple, it has serious challenges associated as it involves re-running the entire test all over again. Hence, companies should identify and evaluate the risks and prepare an elaborate strategy to reduce/ eliminate the risks and yield maximum benefits from regression testing.

Tenjin Online for web and mobile app regression testing 

Choosing the right tool for regression is important to achieve the desired results. Tenjin Online is a test automation platform designed to test the rapidly changing app development process. It supports automated regression cycles by performing frequently changing functional parameters and ensuring that the latest version of the app is working without any glitches. Regressions can be scheduled at the desired time and the testers can focus on the other activities, while Tenjin Online efficiently performs regressions and testing for any bugs. It’s a simple and efficient way to perform regression testing for both web and mobile apps. Tenjin Online is a SaaS-based, codeless test automation platform for web, Android, and iOS apps.