App Testing: Developer Tips

I recently read a Skillbox newsletter in which Andrey Konovalov, the editor-in-chief, shared the story of a talented programmer. This programmer generates great ideas and solutions, but faces difficulties in implementing them because he does not pay enough attention to testing his developments. This prevents him from achieving professional levels in his field. Validating and testing solutions are important stages in a programmer's work, which can significantly improve the quality of the final product and accelerate the process of career success.

I want to share some tips from personal experience on how a developer can effectively test their applications. Testing is an important part of the development process, allowing you to identify errors and improve the quality of the product. First, start by writing unit tests that check individual components of your application. This will help identify problems early in the development process. Second, automate testing to save time and reduce the likelihood of human error. Use integration and functional testing tools to ensure all parts of your app work together correctly. It's also important to test across devices and browsers to ensure compatibility and a high-quality user experience. Finally, don't forget about the importance of user feedback, which can help identify any flaws you may have missed. These tips will help you improve your testing process and create more reliable apps.

Check Absolutely Everything

A critical bug can hide in any part of your code. If you think that a certain part of your program is too simple to contain a bug, you are mistaken. The most illustrative example is the vulnerability in Notepad for Windows, which allows access to the user's computer. This emphasizes the importance of thoroughly testing and analyzing code for vulnerabilities, regardless of its apparent simplicity.

Despite a high degree of application security, it may contain minor errors or critical bugs. Such flaws can negatively impact the user experience and even lead to a complete loss of functionality of your project. Therefore, it is important to regularly test and fix any issues found to ensure stable app operation and user satisfaction.

Test Each Feature Multiple Times

Let's say you have an avatar upload feature that has successfully passed testing. However, this doesn't mean the problem is solved forever. If the user decides to change the photo, they may encounter an error: the application will not be able to upload the new file because the old file has not been deleted. To avoid such situations, it is necessary to carefully test the function's logic and ensure that old images are correctly deleted before uploading new ones. This will not only improve the user experience but also increase the reliability of your application.

To prevent such situations, it is necessary to test each feature multiple times. It is important to use both diverse and similar data to ensure that all components operate stably and correctly. Regular testing will help identify potential bugs and ensure high software quality.

Test Features Together

Sometimes system features may work flawlessly individually, but problems arise when combined. For example, you've developed a comment system that allows users to format text: bold or italicize it, insert links, and so on. However, attempting to use several of these options simultaneously may conflict, resulting in incorrect display or even system failure. It's important to thoroughly test all possible combinations to ensure stability and usability.

When developing a bold text feature, it's important to thoroughly test its functionality. This rule applies to other similar features as well. However, once the system is complete, it's essential to conduct extensive testing of all features at once. Ignoring this step can lead to unexpected vulnerabilities, such as the ability to access the admin panel by adding a link to italicized text and then applying the bold font. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to both individual features and their interactions within the overall system.

By then it may already be too late.

Conduct full testing even after minor modifications

I have often encountered problems like this:

a feature works perfectly during testing;
you add something and test the update;
after some time you find out that now nothing works except the update itself.

This situation can arise if you first implemented the functionality for adding records to the database, and then added a new field to the table. For example, you developed a function for publishing posts, and later realized that you forgot to include a field for tracking the number of views. This can lead to errors and inconsistencies in data, so it is important to think through the database structure in advance and update it to meet new requirements.

When adding a new post, an error occurs due to the lack of a default value for the new field. Therefore, before finalizing the project, it is necessary to thoroughly test all functions, fix any identified errors, and retest all aspects of the application. This will ensure stable operation and high quality of the final product.

Be a new user

Since implementing the registration and login feature, I constantly use the same account. This habit almost led me to miss a serious bug - a malfunction in the registration system.

During each testing, it is necessary to follow the same steps that a new user would go through. This practice helps to avoid the common excuse "Everything works for me" because it allows you to identify potential problems and improve the user experience.

Consider the architecture

You should start developing code with careful preparation. However, we recognize that many of us, despite this knowledge, begin writing code without prior planning. This approach can lead to errors and inefficient code. It is important to take the time to analyze the problem and develop the architecture to ensure higher quality and maintainable results.

This often leads to a large amount of incompatible or duplicate code. It is especially annoying when duplicate code has minor differences, which complicates its maintenance and improvement.

You can create the UploadProfileImage() method, and then realize the need to add the UploadMessageAttachment() method. In most cases, these methods will differ only in database queries, routes, and acceptable file formats. This approach helps minimize code duplication and improves its readability. Creating universal methods will significantly simplify the process of making changes and expanding functionality in the future.

It is recommended to develop a universal UploadFile() method that will accept as input the path to save the file and the file itself, which has passed all the necessary checks. This method can return a Boolean value, allowing you to determine the result of the upload - successful or unsuccessful. This will simplify the processing logic and subsequent queries to the database depending on the loading result.

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