A web application is an interactive platform for how a business carries its customers. It offers a way to provide additional services online and generate extra revenue. Web applications run in web browsers, and users can manipulate their data to request different outputs.
However, just having a website application is not enough. An organization must ensure that its application is fully functional, user-friendly, and running smoothly & securely for maximum user engagement. Here, web application testing comes into the picture.
Web application testing, also known as web testing, helps check the app functionality and identify potential bugs or issues before it goes live for general users. Testers perform a series of validations to test the compatibility, usability, security, and performance of the web application according to the business requirements.
This post highlights various aspects of testing techniques along with the checklists to test and validate the web applications.
Let us have a look.
Techniques and Checklists for Web Application Testing
1. Functionality Testing
Functionality testing is the most common technique to test the web application against the functional requirements and specifications. It means the tester verifies that each function of the system performs, as mentioned in the requirement document.
Below are the essential activities of functionality testing
UI Workflow and Form Testing
Tester validates end-to-end system workflow or business scenario by writing & running a series of test scenarios. It also helps check whether an appropriate error message is displayed on the screen if the user performs invalid actions.
The checklist for form testing includes:
- Readability and formatting
- Checking of default values
- Drop-down lists show options appropriately
- Connection with database
- Error message displayed for invalid entry
Link Testing
A tester must ensure that the web page does not contain any broken links.
Types of links to be tested are:
- Internal links,
- External (outgoing) links,
- MailTo links,
- Anchor links
Cookie Testing
A cookie is a small piece of information stored on the user’s device by the web browser while the user is browsing.
Cookie testing validates if:
- Sessions are deleted once the user clears the cache or cookies reach their expiry
- The details are asked to users when they revisit the site or application
HTML/CSS Validation
It covers the verification of:
- HTML syntax errors
- Color schemas
- Compliance standards such as W3C, ISO, IEFT, and more
2. Usability Testing
It helps measure the UI/UX experience of the application by aligning it with user expectations. Simply put, when the user navigates through the application, the interface should be easy-to-understand without requiring training to operate it.
- Test the menu, buttons, text boxes, links, and other sections
- Page navigation and instructions are clear and easy to follow
Content Testing Checklist
- Content is easy-to-read, user-oriented, and logical
- No grammar and spelling mistakes present
- All images have an appropriate “alt” text
3. Interface Testing
Interface testing enables the tester to analyze the response of the web interface for the targeted areas, including:
Application
It gives access to users either through SOAP/REST APIs or UI. Testers need to validate that the requests are sent and reach to the database correctly, and relevant response displayed on the client-side. If an error is detected, the admin should get a prompt notification for the same.
Webserver
It handles all the client requests in the backend. Therefore, the tester must verify its response for the UI or the REST API requests without service denial.
Database
Users should get appropriate responses for the queries sent to the database. Any change in the database can violate data integrity. Therefore, role-based access should be in place for database management, and any unauthorized request should get a denial message.
4. Compatibility Testing
Compatibility testing helps check whether the application design is compatible across devices and web browsers.
Device Compatibility Checklist
- Confirm the web app works on various device types such as mobile, notebook, and more
- Check its responsiveness to different screen sizes
Browser Compatibility Checklist
- Ensure the application renders across browsers, including Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and more
- Check the compatibility to different browser configurations and settings
5. Database Testing
Database testing can relate to interface testing, where the tester validates the query response from the database. It is a vital aspect of the web application, so a thorough examination is recommended.
The checklist for database testing includes
- Requests received by the database server and responded appropriately
- No errors occur while executing the queries
- Checking the request-response time and optimize if required
- The response received from the database is displayed correctly on the web application
- The accuracy & consistency of the data is maintained while adding, updating, or deleting the data in the database
6. Performance Testing
Performance testing helps determine the web application’s speed, scalability, and other characteristics under different load conditions.
It comprises
Load Testing
- Verification of system behavior under reasonable and peak number of app users
- Checking the number of concurrent transactions the application can handle
Stress Testing
- Finding the application’s upper limit capacity and determining which component fails first when the load goes beyond the set expectations
Endurance/Soak Testing
- Discovering system performance under a high load for a continuous period
- Monitoring & detecting memory leaks or other performance issues
Spike Testing
- Analyzing the application response and behavior when increasing the number of users by a significant amount suddenly
7. Security Testing
It is performed to ensure that the application data is secured on the web from unauthorized access and use. The QA team performs test cases on various parameters such as file security, SSL certification, data exposure, and more.
Essential activities of security testing are
- Prevent unauthorized access to the application pages
- Restricted data/files cannot be downloaded without the required authentication
- The sessions should be killed automatically after a certain period of user inactivity
- Using spoofing method to analyze and prevent attacks against network hosts, data theft or bypassing access controls
- When an SSL certificate is in place, the user should be re-directed to encrypted SSL pages
8. Crowd Testing
Crowd testing, also known as crowdsourced testing, is an exciting concept in the software testing field. Usually, an in-house or outsourced QA and testing team performs application testing.
While in the crowd testing approach, many users from the community execute the tests on web applications or software to help validate app quality quickly and efficiently. This emerging trend is becoming popular among the QAs across the world as it helps determine many hidden defects at the early stages.
So, these were the top testing techniques and the checklists to test a web application adequately.
How a business can get the desired output from application testing services
A business owner or stakeholders can ensure if the testing team is following a well-defined process that includes:
- Detailed analysis of the testing project requirement & comprehensive documentation covering vital points
- Implementing a data-driven QA strategy
- Using the right testing tools & technology
- Executing the test cases in a well-managed testing environment
- Monitoring results and application quality overview
It will help them to get the requisite application quality within a stipulated timeframe and budget.
Wrapping Up
Web application testing eliminates the chances of bugs in the system that can ruin the customer experience and break the business. An experienced software testing and QA services provider can help you detect anomalies and maintain the quality of the web app.
Hopefully, the above guide would help you understand the nuances of web app testing and how you can better validate your application performance before making it live.
DepositPhotos – computer testing
