How Does Automated Testing Allow Doing Cross-Browser Testing, and What Are the Benefits?
Whether creating a website, app, or game, your goal is a premium user experience. That ensures the software runs smoothly regardless of the environment. Visitors could use different operating systems and configurations, as well as web browsers. Cross-browser testing is important for all browser-based apps. Manual testing requires human participation in the process and can cause bugs and issues, while test automation provides fast and reliable results without requiring human intervention. In this guide, you’ll discover the basics of cross-browser testing. Then, we’ll discuss the importance of automating these tests and what benefits that will bring!
What Is Cross Browser Testing?
A cross-browser test is a compatibility test that verifies your software runs smoothly on desired web browsers. Most companies aim to cover popular user programs, such as Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. The test should also ensure your software of website work flawlessly across all platforms and devices using those browsers. The main benefit of running a cross-browser test is confirming proper software function across different browsers. It’s also an imperative requirement. With so many apps and websites out there, it’s impossible to be competitive if you don’t ensure cross-browser support.
Can You Run Cross Browser Testing Manually and Automatically?
Manual testing is the first approach that appeared in the market. It involves a human tester checking the app looking for bugs, and ensuring everything works as expected. For example, a manual cross-browser test would involve checking how the software works on each browser. You’ll need to cover at least ten popular solutions, preferably on different operating systems. That’s a tedious task that takes much time.
It’s clear why the industry was eagerly awaiting the automation of cross-browser testing. Software testing automation eliminates human involvement, although an engineer needs to create them, enter the expected results, and run the test to compare how the software works. Once you create test scripts, you run them, and the computer does the rest. Whether you’ll do the test manually or automatically is up to your requirements. Automated tests deliver many benefits, so automation should be a top priority. On the other hand, you should only resort to manual tests if you recognize limitations in automated tests.
What Are the Benefits of Automated Cross-Browser Testing?
All manual tests take time, but you won’t find any more time-consuming than cross-browser tests. An engineer must check all features across different browsers, which can be a hassle. Therefore, it’s imperative to turn to automated cross-browser tests.
It depends on the test, but the estimation is human involvement has been reduced by about 70% with test automation. Engineers still need to create test scripts and optimize parameters in the automation tool. However, once they set everything, automated tests are run by the computer. There’s no need for anyone to “babysit” the device. Once it is finished, you receive test reports for analysis. Now, here are the top benefits of automating cross-browser tests!
Saving Time and Money
Developers aim to create stunning software solutions, but finances are the top priority from a business perspective. Automated testing requires an upfront investment in the required tools and engineer training. But experts agree it delivers a huge return on that investment in the long run.
For starters, it saves the time required for cross-browser testing. Computers can process data faster than humans, providing 100% reliable results since they aren’t error-prone. The fast feedback cycle notifies you about potential issues early, giving you more time to fix the problems. Automated tests run by computers mean that engineers can handle other tasks. That leads to improved productivity, making automation a wise investment from a business perspective. It also gives you better odds of meeting the set release date and releasing software of optimal quality, which boosts the company’s reputation.
Test Reusability
The best thing about automated tests is that they are reusable. Let’s say you conduct a cross-browser test and identify several bugs. Once you fix them, you’d like to run the test again to confirm they are removed. Automation tools allow running the same test multiple times. If necessary, you can make small changes to the parameters before reusing them. But either way, it’ll be much faster than conducting repeatable manual tests.
Maximizing Test Accuracy and Feedback Reliability
Checking the same feature across various browsers is tedious and repetitive. It could lead to an attention drop in a manual tester, which increases the risk of mistakes. That can’t happen with automated tests. The only condition is to program everything properly, and the computer will provide 100% reliable results. Thanks to feedback reliability, you’ll know which bugs to deal with to optimize the software.
Final Thoughts
Cross-browser testing is among the most demanding tests when done manually. Automating it can save time and money while optimizing resource allocation. It all helps maximize software functioning while ensuring you release it on time. Automated testing makes things easier for developers and engineers while providing assets to take the company forward!
