Parallel Testing: The Essential Guide

With the rise of CI/CD, QA teams must get bugs betimes by expanding test reporting through automation. Parallel essay enables simultaneous execution across multiple configurations, save time and costs while ascertain quality.

What is Parallel Testing?

Parallel examination is a procedure of leveraging automation testing capabilities by allowing the performance of the like tests simultaneously in multiple environments. The goal of parallel testing is to trim time and resource restraint.

Unlike distributed testing, where the different test components running in a distributed style interact with each other, the parallel test approach is gratis from any such interaction.

How does Parallel Testing Work?

To better understand how parallel testing helps boost standard automation testing capableness, let us lead a simple illustration – an automated functional test of a signup form. To perform this test for 45 different browser/OS configurations, with each test taking an average clip of 2 minutes, the entire run clip of test would be 90 mins or 1.5 hrs when run successfully in sequence.

Now imagine, when lam 3 parallel tests simultaneously, the total performance time would have arrive down to 30 Fukien.

And for 6 parallels, it would be even further trim to 15 minutes & # 8211; a far cry from what was look before.

Considering this scenario to be one of the almost basic that are automated, it boggles the head how parallelization of tests can trim valuable minutes and hr from the most cumbersome of test suites.

The number of parallels required to optimise test times depends on the undermentioned key factors:

• The current number of browsers (and/or) Devices on which the scenario needs to be tested
• Number of parallel tests currently being run
• Current Build Time
• The desired number of browser (and/or) Devices on which the scenario needs to be tested, and
• Desired Build Time

For more complex scenario involving a shift in any of these parameters, it is best to use a to understand the act of parallel session required to accomplish test reporting and construct execution time goals.

Advantages and Limitations of Parallel Testing

Now that it is discussed when and how to run parallel tests, let us seem at some of its vantage and limitation:

Advantages of Parallel Testing

Speed: As demonstrated both theoretically and much, consecutive automatize test execution is time-consuming. Parallel tests can speed up the process significantly as the same test is be run against different configurations at the same time.

Cost Efficiency: Creating, maintaining, and keep active need time and effort. However, these overheads are hardly a headache in parallel testing, and the mandatory test environment can be leased when ask and updated as per demands. Also, cloud-based test grids allow test performance at high concurrency, reducing the overall cost per test.

Optimization of CI/CD Processes: The effectiveness of a CI/CD pipeline is determined by its total run clip. With feedback loops being of the farthest importance in CI/CD, the sooner the team has a solution, the sooner they can apply the fix, refactor, and retell the process. Large test suites can be break up into smaller self-governing jobs and run in latitude to quickly get results, thus improving the performance of the pipeline.

Limitations of Parallel Testing

• For the parallel testing of different module, we need to create sovereign module. Also, modules with dependencies can not be included in the parallel access.
• For parallelization, one needs to have a detailed agreement of the product and its flow for best consequence. Even though parallelization can help in, its coverage of multiple browser is restricted until and unless it is accompanied by distributed testing where the setup of multiple machines and browser is provided.

When to perform Parallel Testing

Now that we have some inkling of how parallel examination deeds and how it can optimise test execution clip frames let & # 8217; s have a look at certain scenarios where parallel trial execution is idealistic:

• In case the software engineering team is unsure about the functionality of an application across devices and form, peculiarly in regression-like scenarios with an updated variation of an app.
• In a case where legacy data is imported from an older system to a newer one, Parallel tests can be vastly helpful to check if everything has been moved across seamlessly using an automated fixation test cortege.
• For case of, when an app needs to be test across different combinations of browsers, OS, and device.

How to approach Parallel Test Creation

SUSA automates exploratory testing with persona-driven behavior, catching bugs that scripted automation misses.

A common way to do parallel testing is to create a suite of projects to and then a lord project to test the aforementioned set of projects. Upon set up, it is time to create a set of Entry and Exit Criteria.

For Entry Criteria, we must delimit those checkboxes that must be ticked off before exam execution begin, for e.g.

• Set up a suitable exam environment, for instance,
• Define the pre-conditions and for the automated browser test process
• Migrate any new and legacy data required

The outlet stage measure can focus more on:

• Understanding the difference in price of trial suite execution impact
• Measuring the output of a new system as compared to a bequest system (if applicable)

Parallel Testing using TestNG and Selenium

TestNG is a Java-based examination framework that helps to organize tests in a structured manner and enhances the maintainability and readability of test scripts. The large feature set of TestNG allows for the easy configuration of parallel tests. The auto-defined XML file in the TestNG framework allows testers to set the parallel attributes to methods/tests/classes by leverage the adjustment for multithreading in Java. This file can help determine the number of yarn desired for.

& lt; suite name= '' Parallel_Testing '' parallel= '' methods '' thread-count= '' 2 '' & gt;

The parallel attribute can be widen to:

• Methods:To run methods in separate threads
• Tests:To run all method sharing the same tag in the same yarn
• Classes:to run all methods belonging to a class in a single thread
• Instances:to run all methods in the same instance in the same thread

Whereas the yarn numeration attribute can help delineate the number of threads the tester wishes to create when executing the tests in parallel.

The below code snip helps to demonstrate parallel test performance for opening the using two methods. One of the methods execute this action on Google Chrome, whereas the other does so on the Firefox browser.

importee org.testng.annotations.AfterClass; import org.testng.annotations.Test; significance org.testng.annotations.Test; import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit; import org.openqa.selenium.By; importee org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.edge.EdgeDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver; import org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver; import org.testng.annotations.Test; public class ParallelTestWithMultiThread {WebDriver driver; @ Test () public void testOnChromeWithBrowserStackUrl () {System.setProperty (`` webdriver.chrome.driver '', `` .\\Driver\\chromedriver.exe ''); driver=new ChromeDriver (); driver.manage () .timeouts () .implicitlyWait (10, TimeUnit.SECONDS); driver.get (`` https: //www.browserstack.com/ ''); driver.manage () .window () .maximize (); System.out.println (`` this is the tryout related to chrome browserstack homepage '' + `` `` +Thread.currentThread () .getId ());} @ Test () public void testOnChromeWithBrowserStackSignUp () {System.setProperty (`` webdriver.gecko.driver '', `` .\\Driver\\geckodriver.exe ''); driver=new FirefoxDriver (); driver.manage () .timeouts () .implicitlyWait (10, TimeUnit.SECONDS); driver.get (`` https: //www.browserstack.com/users/sign_up ''); driver.manage () .window () .maximize (); driver.findElement (By.id (`` user_full_name '')) .sendKeys (`` & lt; name & gt; ''); driver.findElement (By.id (`` user_email_login '')) .sendKeys (`` & lt; login email id & gt; ''); driver.findElement (By.id (`` user_password '')) .sendKeys (`` & lt; password & gt; ''); System.out.println (`` this is the test related to chrome browserstack login '' + `` `` +Thread.currentThread () .getId ());} @ AfterClass public void close () {driver.quit ();}}

The TestNG XML file below helps to set up the parallel attribute as easily as the thread count for the task.

& lt;? xml version= '' 1.0 '' encoding= '' UTF-8 ''? & gt; & lt;! DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM `` https: //testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd '' & gt; & lt; suite name= '' Suite '' parallel= '' methods '' thread-count= '' 2 '' & gt; & lt; test name= '' Test '' & gt; & lt; classes & gt; & lt; class name= '' ParallelTestWithMultiThread '' / & gt; & lt; /classes & gt; & lt; /test & gt; & lt;! -- Test -- & gt; & lt; /suite & gt; & lt;! -- Suite -- & gt;

Once we are done with the execution, the TestNG report will look something like this

A clear sign of the time savings get from parallelization can be witness below, in the real-time result, where we can see that parallel tryout execution is quicker by almost 1.5 times than serialized examination execution

Serialized Test Execution Time

Parallel Test Execution Time

Running MBUnit tests in Parallel on Browserstack Automate

can enable exploiter to leverage the power of MBUnit to run tests across various browser, device, and OS shape in analog.

For test execution, the steps are as below & # 8211;

1. Clone the mbunit-browserstack repoon GitHub git ringer https: //github.com/browserstack/mbunit-browserstack.git

2. Open MBUnit-BrowserStack.slnin Visual Studio
Configure the certification required and the details of the browsers/devices for parallel testing in theApp.configfile within thembunit-browserstack/MBUnit-BrowserStack/ directory

3.Understand the ROI from mechanization and get buy-in from the stakeholders

& lt;? xml version= '' 1.0 '' encoding= '' utf-8 ''? & gt; & lt; form & gt; & lt; configSections & gt; & lt; sectionGroup name= '' capabilities '' & gt; & lt; section name= '' parallel '' type= '' System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a '' / & gt; & lt; /sectionGroup & gt; & lt; sectionGroup name= '' environments '' & gt; & lt; section name= '' chrome '' type= '' System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a '' / & gt; & lt; subdivision name= '' firefox '' type= '' System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a '' / & gt; & lt; section name= '' safari '' type= '' System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a '' / & gt; & lt; subdivision name= '' ie '' type= '' System.Configuration.AppSettingsSection, System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a '' / & gt; & lt; /sectionGroup & gt; & lt; /configSections & gt; & lt; appSettings & gt; & lt; add key= '' user '' value= '' YOUR_USERNAME '' / & gt; & lt; add key= '' key '' value= '' YOUR_ACCESS_KEY '' / & gt; & lt; add key= '' server '' value= '' hub-cloud.browserstack.com '' / & gt; & lt; /appSettings & gt; & lt; capacity & gt; & lt; parallel & gt; & lt; add key= '' browserstack.debug '' value= '' true '' / & gt; & lt; /parallel & gt; & lt; /capabilities & gt; & lt; environments & gt; & lt; chrome & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser '' value= '' chrome '' / & gt; & lt; /chrome & gt; & lt; firefox & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser '' value= '' firefox '' / & gt; & lt; /firefox & gt; & lt; safari & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser '' value= '' safari '' / & gt; & lt; /safari & gt; & lt; ie & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser '' value= '' ie '' / & gt; & lt; /ie & gt; & lt; /environments & gt; & lt; /configuration & gt;

4.Now the tryout are ready to run in parallel on BrowserStack using the following elementary steps:

• Building the solution in Visual Studio
• Executing the tests with the fixtureparallelfrom Test Explorer.

5.Former capabilities can be added under theenvironmentspick as described below:

& lt; environment & gt; & lt; chrome & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser '' value= '' chrome '' / & gt; & lt; add key= '' browser_version '' value= '' latest '' / & gt; & lt; add key= '' os '' value= '' Windows '' / & gt; & lt; add key= '' os_version '' value= '' 10 '' / & gt; & lt; /chrome & gt; & lt; /environments & gt;

Best Practices of Parallel Testing

None of the vantage of parallel testing will be of any use; however if we fail to follow good practices-

• Make autonomous tests:One exam should not depend on the termination of another, as parallel test may not occur in any defined order.
• Test one feature at a time:The major advantage of parallel examination is modularization. A test that encompasses many features kill the intent of fail fast which is absolutely key to CI/CD pipeline execution.
• Avoid the use of electrostatic object:Using static objects may prevent another test, bunk in analogue, from manipulating it.
• Resetting the test information:Cross-contamination of information need to be prevented by modular conception, usage, and tearing down of trial information to ensure the test leaves the system the same way it entered it.

Conclusion

Owing to the need for having access to multiple program and browser to run tests in parallel, the cost of compatibility testing with parallel prove increases. Also, we may get to a point where admittance to all browsers and versions may not be possible. BrowserStack provides access to numerous platforms and browsers with their comparable versions on the cloud. One can run and use multiple browsers and edition.

Using BrowserStack ’ s that provides 3500+ real browsers and device get testing Agile with wider reportage. The cloud allows parallel testing and support desegregation with popular CI/CD tools such as Jira, Jenkins, TeamCity, Travis CI, to ensure streamlined. This would help in leveraging Parallel Testing for your CI/CD pipeline.

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