One common fallacy is that performance testing the entire software package is a good idea. This is why performance testing is usually done as a last-stage process. What if the app's functionality falls short of expectations? If that's the case, tracking down the cause of the problem increases the amount of time spent debugging, slows development, and raises costs.
It is past time that performance testing is built into projects from the start instead of being added afterward. It's costly to track down and repair performance problems right before launch. No matter how minor, every deliverable should be checked for performance due to the increased frequency of shorter delivery cycles. Every deliverable may be verified for functionality and performance by incorporating performance tests into the continuous testing process.
What is Shift left testing?
The Shift Left testing methodology advocates for early testing involvement across the whole software development lifecycle. Testers collaborate with developers and product managers in this testing approach to examine the product and identify ways to improve its overall effectiveness. Since everyone on the team is working toward the same result, Shift Left encourages teams to move the testing portion of a project to an earlier point in the schedule and conduct tests as often as necessary to identify and address issues at an earlier stage. Through this, costs and dangers are minimized, and time and effort are. In addition, developing CI and CD means waiting to test features or other product parts is only necessary at the end.
What is Shift left performance testing?
Allowing developers and testers to do performance testing in the early phases of development cycles is known as shifting performance testing left. Because it needs expensive hardware in specialized facilities staffed by qualified performance testing engineers, performance testing is typically left until the end of the development cycle. In contrast, a shift-left performance testing technique encourages testers to do smaller, ad hoc performance tests against specific components as they are created.
Why should you enable the Shift left approach?
The Shift Left testing technique aims to incorporate testing as early as feasible in the design and creation of a product. Instead of discovering flaws later in the development lifecycle, this allows testers and development teams with varying skill sets to work together to prioritize quality from the very beginning of the project. However, accomplishing this feat can be a herculean effort and may call for adjustments to the group's dynamic.
The conventional testing position after the development cycle is moved far earlier in the agile testing strategy. This means that testing and development teams work together and share responsibilities. It is essential to ensure Shift Left is appropriately implemented and enabled while it works to repair problems and issues continuously.
What should the organization do to make Shift-Left Performance happen?
One must first ensure widespread support from within the organization. It is crucial to shift performance testing to the left across the company and deal with quality as a process rather than a response. Product managers play a vital role in this process as performance testing and its accompanying development time come at the cost of implementation, which may slow down the development cycle. The benefit comes from fewer hot fixes and performance enhancements, which is why PM teams need to comprehend why this process is happening.
Besides creating SLAs at the application level, defining them at the component level offers earlier-stage feedback and aids developers in understanding the impact of code modifications on specific components. Stakeholders may quickly gain insight into where bottlenecks exist thanks to this fine-grained performance testing.
It is crucial to switch to automated tests, such as API and database checks, from UI-centric testing. In addition to being more scalable and maintainable, these testing techniques may be used immediately to improve performance testing, identify the source of any stumbling blocks, and stand up well to alterations.
As a final step, businesses should incorporate performance testing into the build process, ensuring that at least the most basic smoke tests are immediately performed after code is checked in and that a complete suite of performance tests is conducted nightly. Hardware is an issue that must be considered for this. Teams working on software development should know that automated performance tests need more computational resources than functional tests. Before switching to performance mobile automation testing, determine if your current performance infrastructure is suitable for the shift-left technique or if it has to be adapted (for example, by using cloud agents).
The Roles of Developers and Testers
The efficacy of an app is the developer's responsibility. By employing microservices, REST/SOAP APIs, and modular design architectures, developers may load-test specific components of their apps as they're built.
Testers can utilize the performance testing process by coordinating their test cases with the application's most important operations. Keeping the attention on the application's API levels makes it more flexible and easier to administer. Both groups use reports that reveal portions of the program that have deviated from service level agreements (SLAs) to pinpoint the most recent changes that need to be optimized.
Conclusion
Both Shifts, left and shift right, can be helpful in software development and other sectors. In a nutshell, the expertise of the test team and testing tools matter the most. HeadSpin platform is built keeping in mind that. Built apps and their AI testing insights will help you to improve app performance.
