Creating a quality application unit test environment can save IT time, money – and prevent fatal bugs!
When I manage software development, one of the most messy and inefficient areas is the system testing area set up so programmers can unit test their applications.
In the context of having to meet tight project deadlines, we focused on allocating resources for testing, staging, and producing QA applications. Less priority has been placed on creating a “sandbox” of systems so that developers can unit test their applications as they are writing them.
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As a result, more and more system resources are wasted with no one de-licensing after they are done in unit testing. Apps take longer to pass QA, and they can even fail in production – all because developers in the early stages of app development are forced to test apps Their use is based on outdated data.
To be fair, there are reasons why stores behave the way they do. The thinking of the application development team is that the job of the QA team is to test and catch bugs in the application. All a developer has to do is make sure that the code is compiled and the application runs. In addition, the database and systems team is always inundated with work. It is not difficult for either of these groups to deprive the application sandbox of data refresh permission.
This line of thinking was and still is a common practice in many IT departments, but with today’s resources, it doesn’t have to be.
How to improve your application testing system
Here are three ways websites can improve their unit testing environments for new applications:
Use the sample system allocation script
If an application developer needs to test their application on a specific distribution and release of the Linux operating system, they will be able to access a common script to provision the operating system and simply Make small adjustments. There is no reason to handwrite a script to provide the correct operating system environment for your application.
Continuing with Linux as an example, many of these operating system vendors have now automatically provided new operating systems for the purposes of unit test applications. Operating system delivery automation eliminates the need for developers to hand-write their own scripts to create test operating system environments for their applications. It also eliminates the possibility of human error during handwriting.
Automated resource allocation and transaction allocation
The second sticking point in application unit testing is the allocation of databases and other system libraries that must be loaded to create the right test environment for the application.
Application developers often have to wait in line for databases and systems teams to become available to set up test zones and resources for them.
To get around this, there are a number of vendors that now provide a point-and-click interface for developers that allows them to select the databases and system resources they need for their application unit testing environment. their use. This selection of point-and-click resources allows developers to configure their own unit testing environments without having to ask databases or system teams for help – and it helps everyone save time and effort.
At the end of the development process, once an application is fully unit tested, there is usually no need to maintain system resources and memory that is already reserved for unit testing. Unfortunately, developers often forget that, so memory and resources don’t work.
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This waste can be eliminated if the database and/or system team sets parameters to automatically deauthorize test zones. For example, a message might be sent to the developer that says, “In 90 days, your test area for app xyz will be deauthorised if no usage is detected.” This gives the developer a warning.
Perform regular refresh of test data
Data refresh is usually done sporadically in application test environments. When the data is out of date, there is more risk that the applications tested against this data will fail in QA and even in production.
The database team should have a regular schedule for refreshing test data. This saves everyone time during testing and QA testing, and eliminates the possibility of critical application failures in production.
