How can World Wide Web sites be tested?
Web sites are essentially client/server applications -
with web servers and 'browser' clients.
Consideration should be given to the interactions between
html pages, web services, encrypted communications, Internet
connections, firewalls, applications that run in web pages (such
as javascript, flash, other plug-in applications), the wide variety
of applications that could run on the server side, etc.
Additionally, there are a wide variety of servers and browsers,
various versions of each, small but sometimes significant
differences between them, variations in connection
speeds, rapidly changing technologies, and multiple
standards and protocols. The end result is that
testing for web sites can become a major ongoing effort.
Other considerations might include:
- What are the expected loads on the server (e.g., number of
hits per unit time?), and what kind of performance is
required under such loads (such as web server response time,
database query response times). What kinds of tools will
be needed for performance testing (such as web load testing tools,
other tools already in house that can be adapted, load generation
appliances, etc.)?
- Who is the target audience? What kind and version of browsers will
they be using, and how extensively should testing be for these variations?
What kind of connection speeds will they by using? Are they intra-
organization (thus with likely high connection speeds and similar
browsers) or Internet-wide (thus with a wide variety of connection
speeds and browser types)?
- What kind of performance is expected on the client side (e.g.,
how fast should pages appear, how fast should flash, applets, etc.
load and run)?
- Will down time for server and content maintenance/upgrades be
allowed? how much?
- What kinds of security (firewalls, encryption, passwords, functionality,
etc.) will be required and what is it expected to do? How can it be tested?
- What internationilization/localization/language requirements are there, and
how are they to be verified?
- How reliable are the site's Internet connections required to be?
And how does that affect backup system or redundant connection
requirements and testing?
- What processes will be required to manage updates to the web site's
content, and what are the requirements for maintaining, tracking,
and controlling page content, graphics, links, etc.?
- Which HTML and related specification will be adhered to? How strictly? What
variations will be allowed for targeted browsers?
- Will there be any standards or requirements for page appearance
and/or graphics throughout a site or parts of a site?
- Will there be any development practices/standards utilized for web page
components and identifiers, which can significantly impact test automation.
- How will internal and external links be validated and
updated? how often?
- Can testing be done on the production system, or will a
separate test system be required? How are browser caching,
variations in browser option settings, connection
variabilities, and real-world internet 'traffic congestion'
problems to be accounted for in testing?
- How extensive or customized are the server logging and
reporting requirements; are they considered an integral part of
the system and do they require testing?
- How are flash, applets, javascripts, ActiveX components,
etc. to be maintained, tracked, controlled, and tested?
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