Are you trying to use web browser online to streamline the remote testing and debugging processes? This blog will massively help you understand all the methodologies related with this process, the tools, and the best practices for proper implementation.
Presently, it is very important for the testers to ensure that the web apps function properly irrespective of the end user’s operating system, browser, or device. So, using remote testing and debugging, the developers can access multiple advanced technologies that can help them to easily achieve this goal.
Moreover, the proper utilization of online web browsers will also integrate various unique features that will be crucial in the modern app test scenarios.
Importance of Cross-Browser Testing
At a very basic level, cross-browser testing is the process of ensuring that web apps work consistently across different web browsers. This is very important as each web browser has its own rendering engine, which can interpret the code in a different format. This change in interpretation can lead to discrepancies in appearance and functionality.
Testing the web apps on various browsers is very important to provide a consistent end-user experience to all your customers. However, while implementing cross-browser testing, the app developers and testers will face certain significant challenges. To shed more light over this segment, we have mentioned some of the most important additions to this list:
- Modern apps work on diverse browsers versions and operating systems. This diversification creates a huge matrix of environments for executing the test instances.
- Due to the variations in how CSS, HTML, and JavaScript render on multiple web browsers, the developers can face various unique bugs that may be specific to certain browsers. Therefore, it will be a challenging process for the developers to implement proper debugging processes to handle these bugs.
- It is also important for the testers to ensure performance consistency across multiple browsers. However, this process can become massively challenging due to the differences in the handling of resources depending on the browsers.
Remote Testing And Debugging With Online Web Browsers
All the challenges that we mentioned in the previous segment of this article can be easily addressed by implementing remote testing and debugging through online platforms. Using this approach, testers can provide access to a wide range of browser environments without the need for physical devices or extensive local setup processes.
To further improve our knowledge about the scope of online web browsers, let us analyze some of the major advantages of integrating this process:
- While using remote testing, the app developers can eliminate the need for purchasing multiple devices and also maintaining various browser versions. So, by implementing this process, the app developing companies can ensure that the overall development focus is massively cost-effective.
- Remote testing is an easily scalable process as the developers can add or remove devices or software combinations as per the requirements of the application development project. So, it is one of the most important additions for executing the test instances on numerous environments at the same time.
- Using remote testing, the application testers will have access to a huge range of browsers and operating systems. Moreover, the testers can access the testing environment from anywhere in the world without any form of limitations as long as they have a stable network connection.
- Finally, remote testing helps the developers to massively speed up the testing process. It integrates this addition by using the cloud resources and also the advanced configurations of multiple remote servers.
Major Tools For Remote Testing
To properly utilize the capabilities of a modern remote testing scenario, the application developers will require the inclusion of certain tools. To shed more light over this segment, we have mentioned some of the most important tools in this list:
- LambdaTest is a cloud-based platform that allows the developers to execute the test cases on more than 3000 different operating systems, browser versions, and real devices through remote servers. The testers can also use the AI-orchestrated platform of LambdaTest to further improve their test data management and test execution.
- Selenium Grid is an open-source tool which allows the testers to run the parallel test cases across multiple machines and browsers. It uses the principle of a hub that is connected to several nodes to perform this process.
- Using JUnit, the application developers can introduce automated test data management while executing the test cases on remote servers. Using this process, the testers can keep track of all the test cases, possible failures, and the implemented fixes.
Setting Up Remote Testing With Online Browsers
To set up a remote testing scenario with online web browsers, the application developers have to follow all the steps that we have given below:
- The first step is to choose the correct remote testing tool, depending on the requirements. Some of the most important things that we must consider include supported browsers, devices, capabilities for integration with an existing system, and the current budget.
- Next, the testers have to integrate remote testing tools with continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines. This integration will ensure automated testing within the development life cycle. For this purpose, the testers can use tools like CircleCI, Jenkins, and GitLab CI.
- After this, the tests have to use various automation frameworks like Selenium and Playwright to write the automation test cases. These test cases must be executed across multiple browsers as per your testing requirements. During this process, the testers must ensure that the scripts are robust and have the ability to handle browser behaviors.
- The final step in this process is to execute the test instances depending on your chosen remote testing platform. The testers must remember that most modern platforms create detailed reports, screenshots, and videos. Using all these data, the application testers can elaborately analyze the test results and implement the required debugging steps.
Best Practices for Remote Testing
Let us now go through some of the best practices that will massively improve the potential and capabilities of the testers to utilize their resources while using a remote testing setup:
- It is important to identify the most commonly used browsers and devices within the target audience. Based on this data, the application testers can better prioritize the test cases on all of their target platforms.
- While accessing a remote testing setup, the testers must ensure that they have secured the network connection either by using in-house security measures or by implementing a virtual private network. This implementation will help the testers prevent possibilities of 3rd party malicious attacks or breaches in application architecture.
- It is necessary for the testers to maintain browser specific code for handling differences in rendering or functionality. The testers can also use feature detection in place of browser detection for applying these changes.
- We strongly recommend the application testers to automate the regression test cases for ensuring that new code changes do not introduce bugs in the existing elements of the application.
- It is important for the testers to regularly monitor the trends in browser usage and accordingly update the testing strategy. It is also important to remember that any new browser version or device edition may require adjustments within the testing approach.
- Finally, the testers must frequently update their test setup and ensure that they have access to all the latest versions of their target browsers and devices. However, while updating this software, the testers should ensure access to the older versions as a huge segment of the audience does not update the software or hardware frequently.
Debugging With A Remote Testing Environment
It can be a challenging process to implement efficient debugging steps in a remote testing environment. However, the inclusion of proper modern tools will massively help the developers to simplify this process.
- Chrome DevTools is the built-in developer tools that come with every version of the Chrome web browser. Using this developer tool, the testers can remotely debug issues on remote browsers. It comes with almost all the possible tools that the testers will require to ensure a proper implementation of their software on the target browser.
- On the other hand, Firefox Developer Tools is the native offering of Mozilla Firefox. This tool also comes with a set of tools for implementing remote development while using online device farms or any other remote testing setup.
- Microsoft Edge browser provides the Edge DevTools that developers can use for executing remote testing while using online versions of the Microsoft Edge browser. Although this tool might not be as elaborate compared to Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, it is receiving constant updates to improve the testing experience.
- Cloud platforms like LambdaTest also provide their own native debugging tools to help developers navigate errors and implement fixes. Additionally, they offer automation testing tools that streamline the testing process. These platforms generate detailed test reports, including screenshots and videos, after the test execution process.
To implement the debugging steps in a remote testing environment, the application developers have to follow the mentioned steps in the intended order:
- It is important to use automated tests and user reports for pinpointing the issues. The tester should also cross-reference the results across different browsers for isolating the browser-specific problems at the initial stages.
- Next, the developers have to use remote browsers for reproducing the bugs, which will involve setting specific conditions or environments that match the present user setup.
- After this, the testers have to utilize the browser developer tools for inspecting the elements, debugging JavaScript code, and monitoring the network requests.
- Then, the developers have to focus on implementing fixes and retesting the test cases across multiple browsers for ensuring that the fix has worked.
- Finally, the tests to maintain logs and document the issue. During this process, it is also important to keep track of all the steps that have been implemented for resolving the issues for future reference.
The Bottom Line
Based on all the factors that we analyzed in this article, we can easily conclude that utilizing online browsers for remote testing and debugging will offer a powerful solution for combating the challenges of cross-browser testing. By using all the major tools we discussed here, the developers can ensure that their apps deliver a consistent and high-quality user experience across multiple environments.
Due to the constant evolution in the app testing industry, it is very important for the testers to stay updated with the latest tools and best practices. This approach will help them to maintain an efficient testing workflow to create a positive brand image and continue their audience expansion.
