Regression testing is a software testing technique that helps to check the code’s usability and functioning. When we use regression testing, we can introduce new codes to improve the functionalities and features of the existing software. It helps to prevent any kind of malfunctioning of the software when new codes are introduced.
For the execution of regression testing, different types of software automation tools are leveraged. Among those, Appium is a dedicated software testing framework for mobile applications, which is also used to run regression testing for faster mobile app optimization. In this article, we will discuss regression testing for mobile applications using Appium, how to install Appium, tools to execute mobile application testing with Appium, and related concepts.
What is Regression Testing for Mobile Applications?
Regression Testing is a form of testing in the software development cycle that is conducted after each modification to ensure that the change does not cause any unintended issues. Such a test finds and resolves any kind of error during the testing process only. It helps to make the software user-friendly and provides them with a seamless experience.
Regression testing performs a detailed checking of all the features and functionalities of an application. It manages all the new updates and modifies the existing code with the addition of new codes to ensure software consistency. Regression testing tackles a prevalent problem encountered by developers, which involves the reoccurrence of past bugs when implementing new changes. You can perform regression testing of software against diverse platforms and operating systems.
Need to Perform Regression Testing for Mobile Applications
In the current market of digitalization, there are a huge number of mobile devices available. Every device has its own resolution, features, types of operating system, etc. Due to this availability of diverse devices and systems, the software company needs to be very conscious about the browser and device compatibility for specific software that they launch. Because the user experience and quality of the interaction the users will get can impact the success of the software application. To ensure these parameters, we need to follow some basic rules that are as follows:
- Choose the device according to the user’s needs and requirements to perform regression testing.
- Involve the use of emulators and virtual machines in the regression testing [process to increase the efficiency of the software.
- Using cloud facilities and resources helps to save money, and you can use them for other purposes of the company.
Types of Regression Testing
Many types of regression testing processes are categorized on the basis of features and updates that you are targeting for your project during the application deployment. Given below are the types of regression testing processes:
- Complete Regression: This type of regression testing should be chosen when you want to check for all the modules in your project at once. It helps to find any kind of issue in your entire project and let you know if there are any changes required or not.
- Partial Regression: This type of regression testing should be chosen when you want to make some partial change in the existing project. It helps to change only a specific part of code and align them to the current working project and check their efficiency.
- Unit Regression: This testing technique is used when you want to execute regression testing for some specific and limited code of the application. In this type of regression testing, the other parts of the software are untouched and unaffected.
- Corrective Regression: This type of regression testing is used when you want to add new code but don’t want to affect the previously existing codes of the software. The testers only check the new codes that are being added to the software.
- Selective Regression: This type of regression testing should be chosen when you want to determine how new and old code will affect the existing codebase. To check the results without modifying the entire process, the program incorporates common components like variables and functions.
Regression Testing with Appium
Appium is a test automation framework that is used to perform regression testing for mobile applications. Writing and running tests across various hardware and operating systems are made simpler by Appium because it offers a single API for both the Android and iOS platforms. There is various programming language that supports the Appium framework, such as Java, Python, Ruby, C#, etc. So, the tester has the option to choose their preferred programming language to execute the regression testing using Appium.
Cross-platform interoperability is a major benefit of adopting Appium for regression testing. Testers no longer need different test scripts for each platform because Appium allows them to create tests once and run them on both Android and iOS devices. Regression testing may now be performed with a great deal less effort and with findings that are consistent across platforms.
Setting the Regression Testing Environment with Appium
To perform the regression testing with the Appium framework, you need to make an environment in your system. Given below are the steps that need to be followed to set up the environment:
- First, you need to install the JDK (Java Development Kit) that helps to set the variables of Java in your system.
- Then you need to install the IDE (Integrated Development Kit). You can install the IDE according to your comfort and choice. Some popular IDEs are Eclipse and VS Code.
- After that, you need to install the Appium framework. You can install it by using the CLI (Command-line Interface), or you can also install the desktop application for Appium.
- Then install the required files, such as drivers, Android SDK, etc., that will help to execute the testing process for both Android and iOS.
- Then do some necessary configuration set-ups for Appium, such as device name, path for the files, platform versions, etc.
Using the above steps, you can install the set-ups for Appium and perform regression testing for mobile applications. Now, let us see how you can create test cases to get the best out of your application during the testing process.
Writing Test Cases to Perform Regression Testing with Appium
Creating test cases is an essential part of the regression testing process. Because the test cases are the parameter that decides the efficiency and capabilities of the software. Also, it helps to reduce the chances of any functionality failure of the application in the future. So, here are some of the best practices that should be followed to create the best test cases for your applications.
- Prioritize Test Scenarios: Always try to prioritize the complex functions and the areas where more users will actively work so that the application does not face any kind of bugs in the future. It will help to cover the test cases that are more prone to bugs, and eventually, it will increase the effectiveness of the testing process.
- Cover Boundary Cases: Perform regression testing to the edge of the functional capacity. It will help to test your application against the worst-case scenarios. Also, doing this helps to find the bugs that may decrease the efficiency of the application in the future.
- Design Test Data: Create a complex data set to perform the regression testing. Using complex data sets by combining various inputs and outputs will help to prevent form any kind of data handling or calculation issue, and you can fix them during the testing phase. It also helps to uncover how the data is interacting on the device using that specific application.
- Reuse the Existing Test Cases: Never forget to use the existing test case with the new test case for your application. It helps to increase the efficiency of the application as it is tested on diverse scenarios.
- Use Appium APIs: There are numerous APIs present in the Appium framework that helps to interact with your mobile application. You can use these APIs to create the best possible test cases for your mobile applications.
Best Practices to Optimize Mobile Applications with Appium Regression Testing
- Parallelization: We perform regression testing for mobile applications to make our application more compatible, less prone to error, and increase its efficiency. Testing the application parallelly on various devices helps to execute the testing process in less time and get the results. The saved time can be used to fix any kind of issue or error in your application.
- Run Test Cases on Real Devices: Always try to run the test cases for your application on various types of real devices. You can use cloud resources like emulators and virtual machines to get the multi-device environment on a single system.
- Use Appium Logs: There are details of every log of every activity that you have performed while doing the regression testing using the Appium server. You can use these logs to rectify your errors and can increase the efficiency of the testing process.
- Using Page Object Model: The Object Page Model is used to make the changes accordingly if the UI of the page is changed. This helps to reduce the malfunctioning of the application for a specific piece of code. Only the code that gets affected by changing the UI gets modified according to the new UI of the page.
You can leverage the true capability of Appium for regression testing by using a AI-powered test orchestration and test execution platform like LambdaTest. It is also a digital experience testing platform that offers a cloud-scalable infrastructure of 3000+ real browsers, devices, and OS combinations for performing regression testing with Appium. It integrates with Appium and allows you to run many parallel tests in one go, and this lead to lower execution time and gain faster feedback on code commits.
Conclusion
Regression testing using the Appium framework ensures the functionality and consistency of the mobile application across different operating systems and devices. Appium has many testing features for mobile applications, such as it supports many programming languages such as C#, Java, Python, etc. It also has its own Appium server that helps the tester to get a log of all the activities during the testing process. Hope after reading this article, you have an understanding of what Appium is and how it is used to perform regression testing for mobile applications.
