How do you overcome common testing challenges in web applications?

Testing should always start with developing the "Test Plan". Within the test plan the following structured approach should contain the following events: - Development of a structured team based on A person's background and experi.ence. - Test, not only what the function is supposed to do, but also have plans to test the function for what it is not supposed to do. - Test for what the function is not supposed to do.

One helpful insight is to prioritize the specific requirements and objectives of your web application testing. Consider the types of tests you need to run, such as functional testing, performance testing, security testing, or usability testing. Identify the key features and capabilities that are essential for your testing process. Next, carefully evaluate the compatibility and integration of the testing tools with your web application and development environment. Check if the tools support the technologies and frameworks used in your application. Consider how easy it is to set up and integrate the tools into your development workflow. Cost is another important factor to consider.

In my humble opinion, the leading tools for frontend web application testing currently are: - Vitest, for unit testing and code coverage - Testing Library, for component and integration tests - Playwright, for end-to-end tests

Automation plays a very important role. I will summarize it as: "It saves your time and tell you about issues timely which saves you from disaster." I had a change to work on Regression Suite of Big Data Application, designed for data engineers, which allows them to create data pipelines. According to my experience, I believe Tests should be executed on daily basis, automatically. How to do that, it depends upon technologies used. You can use CI/CD to schedule daily execution, report generation, and automatically email that report to concerned stake holders. In this way, with the latest code, your tests will get executed daily and you will be able to prevent disasters and escalations. Cron scheduled shell scripts can also be an option.

In my experience, it is very important to consider testing for mobile devices in particular. While the initial tests are written to cover cross browser testing, mobile devices are often ignored, leading to poor user experience. Specific components on the webpage, such as charts, tables and images can behave differently on a mobile device, and these scenarios need to be considered to cater to more use cases. Furthermore, there are different tools to test web applications for both iOS and Android devices.

The optimal approach to simulate user scenarios involves a clear understanding of user stories, which are collaboratively established by the Product Manager, Engineering Manager, Software Engineers, and the Design and UX team. These stories can be extrapolated to use cases, and with end-to-end testing tools such as Cypress or Playwright, it's possible to fully simulate a user's action flow. The capabilities offered by these tools, including capturing application screenshots and video recordings, further enhance the simulation process.

Testing for accessibility is crucial for web applications. Scope should be defined for testing across different device form factors and standard screen readers like JAWS or Voiceover. There are good inbuilt or add-on toolbars to test common accessibility features like headers, labels, contrast and structure.

As Sr. Technal Manager on two multi-million dollar projects, they were the first to complete new methodologies. Sign-off of all deliverables were required from both user and technical participating managers. On one project the company had a technical writing department, who played an important role in the testing phase. A few of their deliverables were all written plans used in the project including, project design, user instructions, testing results and all sign-offs.