How to Incorporate Continuous Testing Into Your DevOps Workflow

As digital products become more complex and the number of releases increases, continuous testing has become critical to ensuring quality. But what is continuous testing? And how can it help you secure the quality of your digital products?

This post will answer those questions and explain the different types of continuous testing and how you can incorporate continuous testing into your DevOps workflow. We will begin by explaining the concept of continuous testing.

Let's get started!

What is Continuous Testing?

Continuous testing (CT) is the practice in which applications are tested continuously throughout the entire software development life cycle (SDLC). It is a continuous process that takes place during the development of an application, allowing you to identify and fix defects as they occur.

Continuous testing encompasses a variety of types of tests, including functional tests, integration tests, security tests, performance and load tests, etc. Continuous testing aims to test each change as it is made and ensure it meets the desired quality criteria. Continuous testing helps reduce defects and improve the quality of the product by constantly testing changes.

Benefits of Continuous Testing

Continuous testing offers many benefits to developers and testers alike. Here are some of the main advantages:

• Provides Feedback: Continuous testing helps with continuous integration (CI) by giving feedback on how the codebase is progressing. By running tests at each stage of the development process, developers can quickly identify any issues and make corrections as needed. This helps to prevent bugs from slipping into production releases.
• Reduces Risk During Deployment: Continuous testing helps to reduce the risk of deploying a faulty code base. Developers can quickly identify and correct issues by running tests on each commit. This helps to minimize the risk of releasing buggy code and ensures that only quality code is deployed.
• Helps with Compliance:  Continuous testing can also help with compliance, as tests can be run to ensure that code meets the necessary standards. This is especially important for regulated industries such as healthcare and finance, where code must meet stringent standards.

Types of Continuous Testing

Several types of continuous testing can be used to ensure the quality of your products. These include unit tests, integration tests, performance tests, security tests, UI/UX tests, and accessibility tests. Each type of test has its specific purpose and should be incorporated into your DevOps workflow for maximum effectiveness.

• Unit Tests: Unit tests are responsible for ensuring that individual pieces of code work correctly. They help identify any bugs or errors in coding logic before they become larger problems.
• Integration Tests: Integration tests check how different components of the codebase interact with each other. This helps to ensure that the entire system works as intended and can help identify issues with interfaces or APIs.
• Performance Tests: Performance tests are used to measure the performance of a codebase under load. This helps developers measure latency and resource utilization to identify potential bottlenecks or scalability issues.
• Security Tests: Security tests are used to check for vulnerabilities in the codebase. These can include common security flaws such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and insecure authentication protocols. Identifying these vulnerabilities early on is critical for ensuring the security of your digital product.
• UI/UX Tests: UI/UX tests check for usability and user experience issues. This type of continuous testing helps developers identify potential problems users may have with the product, such as confusing navigation or hard-to-understand features.
• Accessibility Tests: Accessibility tests make sure that your digital product is accessible to all users. These tests help to ensure that those with disabilities can still use the product effectively, regardless of their ability or disability.

Incorporating DevOps Continuous Testing

Steps to get started with continuous testing include:

1. Identify the types of tests to run.

To start with continuous testing, you first need to identify the types of tests that need to be run.  This should include unit tests, integration tests, performance tests, security tests, UI/UX tests, or accessibility tests.

2. Set up a continuous integration (CI) pipeline.

Set up a continuous integration (CI) pipeline to run continuous tests. This is a system that automates the testing process and helps to ensure that all code commits are automatically tested. Many different CI tools are available so that you can choose the best fit for your needs.

3. Configure your testing tools.

Once you have set up your CI pipeline, you can configure your testing tools. This includes setting up the test scripts, test data, and other required resources. Ensure everything is in place so the tests can run automatically each time a code is committed.

4. Run continuous tests regularly.

Make sure to run continuous tests regularly to catch any potential issues before they become bigger problems. Consider running the tests on a continuous integration (CI) server or in a staging environment so that you can see how they perform under real-world conditions.

For more details about DevOps continuous testing, check out this video:

Begin DevOps Continuous Testing Today

Continuous testing is essential to any DevOps workflow and can help ensure that your digital product meets the necessary standards. When incorporated correctly, continuous testing can help reduce risks during deployment, provide feedback on how code is progressing, and help with compliance for regulated industries. By following the steps above, you can get started with continuous testing for your DevOps workflow and ensure that only quality code is deployed.