Web testing is the process of testing a web application or website for defects and performance issues. Web testers use a variety of methods, including manual testing, automated testing, and penetration testing, to identify and fix problems with a web application or website.
The first web testing tool was created in 1995 by a company called WebTester. The tool was used to test the functionality of websites.
In 1997, a company called Gomez created the first commercial web testing tool. The tool was used to test the performance of websites.
In 2001, a company called Keynote created the first web testing tool that was used to test the accessibility of websites.
In 2006, a company called WebAIM created the first web testing tool that was used to test the accessibility of websites for people with disabilities.
In 2009, a company called BrowserStack created the first web testing tool that was used to test the compatibility of websites with different browsers.
In 2012, a company called Sauce Labs created the first web testing tool that was used to test the compatibility of websites with different operating systems.
Web testing tools
There are a variety of tools used for web testing. Some popular tools include Selenium, WebDriver, and Watir.
Selenium is a web testing tool that enables you to test web applications. It has a number of features, including the following:
- It can be used to test web applications in different browsers.
- It can be used to test web applications on different platforms.
- It can be used to test web applications in different languages.
- It can be used to test web applications in different configurations.
WebDriver has a number of features that make it an attractive choice for automated testing:
- Cross-browser support: WebDriver supports the most popular browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
- Ease of use: WebDriver is easy to use, with a simple API that makes it easy to write scripts that automate browser testing.
- Speed: WebDriver is fast, making it suitable for use in automated testing frameworks that need to run tests quickly.
- Stability: WebDriver is stable and reliable, making it suitable for use in automated testing frameworks.
- Support for advanced features: WebDriver supports a number of advanced features, including drag and drop, page navigation, and keyboard shortcuts.
- Cross-platform support: WebDriver is available on a number of different platforms, including Windows, Mac, and Linux.
- Open source: WebDriver is open source, making it possible for developers to modify and extend its functionality.
- Community support: There is a large and active community of developers who use and support WebDriver.
- Language support: WebDriver supports a number of different programming languages, including Java, C#, Python, and Ruby.
- Cross-browser testing: WebDriver can be used to automate the testing of web applications in multiple browsers.
- Selenium support: WebDriver is based on the Selenium open-source project, making it possible to use Selenium scripts with WebDriver.
- Remote control: WebDriver can be used to remotely control browsers on different machines.
- Test reports: WebDriver can generate test reports in a variety of formats, including HTML, XML, and JSON.
- Cross-platform compatibility: WebDriver is compatible with a variety of different platforms, including Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Watir is an open-source (BSD) library for automating web browsers. It provides a rich set of features for automating web application testing.
Some of the features of Watir include:
- The ability to easily manipulate the state of a web browser, including the ability to click links, fill in forms and submit data.
- The ability to automatically wait for certain page elements to appear on the screen before continuing with the test.
- The ability to easily traverse the DOM tree of a web page to find specific elements.
- The ability to easily extract data from web pages into convenient data structures.
Most popular tests for web testing
There are many types of tests that can be used for web testing. The most popular tests are:
- Functional testing. This type of testing verifies that the web application functions as expected. It checks to make sure that all links and buttons work, that the application responds correctly to user input, and that all the pages display as they should.
- Unit testing. Unit testing is used to verify that individual units of code (such as a function or a class) work as expected. This type of testing is particularly useful for verifying that new code does not break existing code.
- Integration testing. Integration testing is used to verify that different parts of the application work together as expected. This type of testing is particularly useful for verifying that new code does not break existing code.
- Regression testing. Regression testing is used to verify that changes to the code do not introduce new errors. This type of testing is particularly useful for verifying that changes to the code do not break existing functionality.
- Performance testing. Performance testing is used to verify that the web application can handle the expected load. It checks to make sure that the application responds quickly and does not crash under heavy load.
- Security testing. Security testing is used to verify that the web application is secure. It checks for vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting and SQL injection.
Web testing is important because it helps ensure that websites are working correctly and that users have a good experience when visiting them. Web testing can help identify and fix problems with websites, as well as help improve their usability.