MVQT: The Testing and Tests with a MVP's Perspectives

I was leading multiple teams and its delivery in a testing service company.  Then, I came up with this thought -- Like MVP, I also have the MVT (Minimum Viable Tests) for a MVP.

Further, I expanded this thought in my day-to-day practice on tailoring to different contexts. I'm observing that it is applying well to the different contexts when I tailor it to the contexts.  After experimenting it for 10 years, I'm sharing this as a blog post.

What is a MVP?

I take this from Eric Ries.  It looks simple and precise to me.

The Minimum Viable Product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.

I see this technique [and a concept] can be applied to anything when I'm developing.  As a test engineer, I develop the tests and test code in major as part of my testing.  On applying the idea of MVP to my testing and deliveries, I see the value and result.

Reading this blog post of me to know who is a developer.

Testing, Tests, MVP and MVQT

In software test engineering, I see the MVP as Minimum Viable Questioning Tests.

The Minimum Viable 'Q' Tests (MVQT) for a focused area of a feature [or to a feature]

• Helps me to identify the priority tests that should be executed for first
• Allows me to learn information on priority which matters critically to product and stakeholders
• So that a informed decision can be made.

The Q in MVQT stands for "questioning".  I read it as Minimum Viable Questioning Tests.  I see the "Q" as a placeholder for the Quality Criteria.  That is, MVFT means Minimum Viable Questioning Functional Tests to a feature or a workflow.

The MVQT are key to know:

• Have I identified and designed the priority tests?  How do I know that I have got them?
• Did stakeholders get the information which they wanted to know on priority?
• Did MVQT help me to
• Explore and know what I wanted to know about a feature or a workflow?
• How fast I was here to know and learn this?
• How did I develop my tests incrementally?  Did I?  If not, then, is it a MVQT?
• Did MVQT help me to know
• Am I aligned and in sync with expectations of my stakeholders and customers who are using the software product I'm testing and automating?
• Did the MVQT help me 
• In collecting the critical information in a given context for the scope of testing and automation?
• Do the learning and outcome from this MVQT help to reinforce the validated learning of customer?
• Do MVQT result support the outcome of Unit Testing result?

The tests in MVQT has to be consistently revised and evaluated to keep it as a MVQT.  Note this, not all tests are MVQT.  If the number of MVQT is growing to a part of feature or to a feature, it is time to think about what is MVQT for you.

The "minimum" tests are highly effective and it helps me learn and test better technically and socially.

MVQT and Testing

• Sanity or Smoke Tests
• The set of MVQT which helps me learn can the build be taken further testing
• MVFT - Minimum Viable Questioning Functional Tests
• Apply this to a feature or a workflow or to that part which can be evaluated with minimum tests for its functionality
• To update is this aligning to the validated learning of customer [stakeholders]
• MVPT - Minimum Viable Questioning Performance Tests
• MVUT - Minimum Viable Questioning Usability Tests
• MVAT - Minimum Viable Questioning Accessibility Tests
• MVTxT - Minimum Viable Questioning Tester's Experience Tests
• MVST - Minimum Viable Questioning Security Tests
• MVAF - Minimum Viable Questioning Automation to a Feature
• MVLT - Minimum Viable Questioning Localization Tests
• MVUIT - Minimum Viable Questioning UI Tests

You add more of this to your list and context.

In a way, MVQT should ask and look for the testability, automatability and observability.  If this is not happening, then there is no possibility of saying I have got my MVQT.

More importantly, in the CI-CD ecosystem, MVQT pays a major role.  If I should have my tests in the  CI-CD pipeline, then, the MVQT is the way and it focuses on a targeted area to evaluate it.  Else, it is hard, impractical and not possible to test in CI-CD eco system by delivering continuously.

Ask and Review for MVQT

Ask for MVQT, when you review these:

• test strategy, test framing, test design, test ideas, test cases, test plan, test architecture, test engineering, testing center of excellence, and test code

For example,

• What is the minimum viable questioning performance tests that you have got to test this feature?
• What is the minimum viable questioning performance tests that you have got to test this workflow?
• What is the minimum viable questioning security tests that you have got to test this feature?
• What is the minimum viable questioning GUI tests that you have got to test this feature?
• What is the minimum viable questioning contract tests that you have got to test this end point?

Likewise, What is the minimum viable questioning automation tests that you have got to test this feature?

Ask how these tests qualify as MVQT in this context of testing and automation?

This should help you to see how effective is the test strategy in a given context.

Importantly, the MVQT and its effectiveness is a testability to test your tests.

The Credit is to Me

I'm not sure if the idea what I'm saying here in this blog post is practiced by other test engineers.  I have not seen this being discussed about it in public forum.  I have not come across it in my awareness and to the exposure I have put myself.

Hence, I will take this credit to me.  Giving the credit honestly is not a common sight and practice.  I have not got my due credits for using the ideas, thoughts and work that I have come up with.

So, I make it as a open letter and call out that credit for this idea, thought, concept, and practice will be to me when you listen, use and practice it.

Who is a Developer?

 

Who is a Developer? 

I understand the developer is the one who builds.

• A product owner builds the product by bridging the gap between market, business and consumer.
• A programmers builds the product by programming.
• A tester builds the product by testing it with her/his tests and programming the test code.
• A devops engineer builds the product by building and managing the pipelines and environment.
• A DBA builds the product by writing and managing the database environments.\
• A support engineer or executive builds the product by troubleshooting and listening to the problems being reported.

Who else do you see in developing the software system and its product as a solution?

If you see,

• With the skills and expertise we have and build consistently,
• Each of us will work with our expertise in a particular space of the problem solving as a team and business.

Each of us develop some kind of artefact that are combined to build and ship a usable software.  To me we all are developers with a specific roles.  As a developer we upskill consistently and catchup with current and upcoming changes.

Note: The above said are not the only tasks of these roles.  Each do beyond this in developing & continuous delivery of a usable software.

The Agile & Testing: We're Pulled & Hidden from "Shift Right"

Do I Understand the Agile?

If I work in a project which follows the Waterfall approach, I still can apply the Agile Manifesto and the 12 principles behind it.

But, am I adaptable to the change and uncertainty for better ways of developing software and helps others do it?  This shows the mindset of me and others involved.  Have you heard this line, "every project that claims Agile, it has [a small] waterfall in it?".

Agile Software Development is not wrong!  It has values in what it says and for what it stands.  I have no doubts in it!  It describes how I perform a activity and respond to a situation in the software development.

Frameworks and Methodology

We have picked the frameworks which are under the Agile's umbrella. We pick the methodology that suits our work and have customized it to our contexts.

This is what Agile also say, the team will always need to adapt its use of a framework to fit properly in its context.  

Dr. Alistair Cockburn, says, the Agile methodologies are the conventions that a team choses to follow in a way that follows Agile values and principles.

The Agile is Not a Problem!

We do not collaborate well in solving the problem and say Agile is not working and creating more problems.

In reality, how we respond to the uncertainties and what got prioritized, it will derail us.  We derail from what we should be achieving as team [and as an individual] in a given time frame and context.

The Agile as I Understand

In a nutshell, the Agile is about

• Balancing effectively with collaboration in the context we are.
• Identifying, learning and solving the problem as a team no matter where we are in the project's timeline.
• Being ready to face the uncertainty and responding to the changes.
• See the progress and value in what we do as a team and bring the "continuous" in practice.
• Having the consistency in the excellence of our work and the value we deliver with it.

Read the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles.  It is the day-to-day life of a team who works to build a software in a continuous delivery having the values to a stakeholder.

Testing and the Agile

Testing is a collaborative activity.

The Agile also talks about collaboration as an essence and necessity in the continuous delivery of the software we develop.  

The Agile talks about short interval consistent deliveries.

• How should I fit myself as a Test Engineer here?
• How should I upskill myself to deliver in short intervals as part of continuous delivery?  

I ask and say to my test teams,

• Think of delivering value consistently in the shorter intervals.
• Rather saying -- releases in short intervals, call it out as a value to a stakeholder in regular short intervals as a continuous delivery
• It sounds positive, affirmative and profound.
• Upskill and help your peers to build the skills. List the skills, let us discuss and start our practice on it.
• This mindset changes the perception in how you approach the testing.
• In these short intervals,
• Let us prevent bugs in the ways we can think of.
• Finding bugs also need resources.
• Let's start investing in building and improvising the resources to prevent bugs.
• How can we prevent and where to begin?
• For what should we test and automate other than functionality in these short intervals?
• What is the priority?
• If I do not test and automate for evaluating any particular quality criteria, does it impact the value to a customer in what we deliver?
• If I do not test and automate on a particular seam and system's boundary interface, does it impact the value to a customer in what we deliver?
• How am I collaborating with stakeholders?
• Who are my stakeholders?

In short, I see the Software Test Engineering practice in the Agile setup as this,

• We [team] exploring technically and analytically;
• Evaluating collaboratively in the software development and engineering, by having the effective staged feedback loops in place to improvise the delivery;
• By responding actively to the changes and uncertainties that comes anytime in the timeline of a delivery and practice;
• Thus, the consistent continuous delivery is delivered with value to the stakeholders.

Note: This is my observations so far having worked with 46+ startups in my software test engineering practice.

We're Pulled and Hidden From - Shift Right

I and you are said to Shift Left and start the testing from the inception of a feature's discussion.  And, further we're said, we have to shift left from right.

Did the Agile manifesto and its 12 principles say explicitly to Shift Left from Right?  Who said that?

What I see, How I see and understand the Right and Left here, matters a lot!  If I see the Right within the delivery loop, I'm setting a trap to myself to be late and lag back.  And, probably this trap gets set in the work, that is, to see the Right in the [continuous] delivery loop.  At certain context in continuous delivery loop, starting from Right is a need and necessity.

I see the Right outside the [continuous] delivery loop, as well.  In this Right, I see:

• What is coming up in the tech stack and technology?
• How this is a need?
• How this [is to be and] will be adapted by tech solutions we deliver?
• How should I upskill myself here so that I fit into the loop of continuous delivery?
• In short, the Right should be observing the trend and its analysis so that I'm aligned being agile.
• I will be skilled to test and automate in this change and uncertainties.

The Agile never said to completely move or step out of the Right.  Or, I have not read it in its manifesto and principles. 

You see and learn, what is your Right and ask am I aligning to it for being agile in the Agile.  After all, the Agile says adapting to the changes and uncertainties, yet delivering the value to the stakeholders consistently in short intervals.

If seen closely, the Agile is also about balancing, isn't it?  If I'm moving towards Left and me standing in the Left, am I balanced?

In short, we are being pulled and hidden from Shift Right.

Shifting Right is important to see what is outside the delivery loop.   Are you seeing your Right?  If yes, what is the trend analysis you see?  Where you need to upskill?

Shift Right can also be to look what you can bring into your Shift Left for better development and delivery.  For example, what you see in the market and business space for your product?  Do I have anything to add now in Left from this learning?  Do you see that?  Are not we missing this when we pulled and hidden from Shift Right?

Left or Right, if I do not respond, adapt and deliver for the changes, I need to ask, -- Am I agile and testing in the Agile?

To conclude, know what is your Shift Right while you are delivering values in your Shift Left.  Strike the balance and ace.

Exploring to know the Web API - 101

 

Here is what I look when I'm exploring to learn an end point of web API for first.  I'm talking of the Web API that uses HTTP protocol.

1. What is the purpose of this end point?
• How it helps and to whom?
2. Who uses this end point?
3. Identify the host of the end point
4. Identify the path of the end point
5. Identify the API's end point
6. Identify the version of the end point
• Know the different version that are available for an end point
• What are active?
• What are inactive?
• Who are the consumers using these different versions of this end point?
• What's the difference between these versions?
7. Identify the HTTP method of the end point
• Know the different HTTP methods this end point supports
8. Identify the resources the end point interact with for CRUD activity
9. Know the HTTP Request headers it needs, uses and good to have
10. Know the HTTP Request payload or data and its format
11. Know the HTTP Response headers and good to have
12. Know the HTTP Response Status Code and what actually it should be returning
13. Know the HTTP Response content and format returned
14. Does this end point enforces any contract with the consumer?
15. Know the intent of your test on this end point
• One test in one request is useful unless the context demands otherwise
16. Is there anything cacheable in the end point's response?
17. How the request payload is?
18. How the response payload is?
19. What is the language in which the end point is written?
20. What is the language in which the resources that end point updates is written?
21. Any framework used to build this end point?

On learning this, I continue to next phase in exploring and knowing the web API.

The Actual Performance Bottleneck is a Test Engineer's Awareness & Practice

 

The bottlenecks are necessity.  We cross bottlenecks everyday; just, we do not observe it.  If you have not read my today's thought on the bottleneck, read it here.  

The seventh question from season two of 100 Days of Skilled Testing is:

What are the common performance bottlenecks, and how do you go about pinpointing and resolving them?

I have a different opinion and thoughts to share on this question.  It may look weird, but, I see this is the reality.

Let me share what happens to a practicing Test Engineer when going through a bottleneck in practicing a subject to upskill.

• The time taken to accomplish tasks and its milestones looks unusually high - the other extreme end.
• Some attempts will not even kick off on entering the bottleneck for several reasons. 
• One of the reason is the fear and what my peers think if I fail to accomplish it.
• I lose the focus.
• It leads to lose of interest, unhealthy confidence and the inconsistency.
• The procrastination kicks in.
• Without no self-motivation, determination and consistency, we give up; clog and remain in the bottleneck.  One will fail to make use of the bottleneck to scale self.
• One do not go back or come out of it.
• We start to blame the bottlenecks.
• But, we fail to understand that the bottlenecks are part of the system.

What makes one to have a hard time with available bottleneck is,

• Ignoring the bottleneck.
• Not being aware of the benefits and impact from the bottleneck's existence.
• Its effects are adverse in a longer run
• Likewise, its benefits are immense in a longer run

If seen, the existence of bottleneck has two extreme ends -- good and not so good.  The bottlenecks cannot be eliminated or eradicated; it can only be managed with awareness and knowing how to adapt and scale through it.

Me, The Actual Performance Bottleneck

This may appear as a critical self evaluation.  But, it is not.    In my experience and practice, I'm learning consistently,

• If there is any difficulty in communicating about the tests and identifying the information from my tests,
• It is do with me for first.
• I will have to communicate it and why it is so.
• If I'm not exposing myself to a subject's area and its practice by putting the subject to test,
• I'm the bottleneck.
• Further, the other bottlenecks that I encounter from all other systems, it easily compounds the problem and its impact.

Did you see the bottleneck is a necessity? It drives me to scale and be operable.  If no bottleneck, may be, I will not expose myself to the awareness to identify and learn the information.

Call out any testing with a name, for first I will be the bottleneck to myself and to my testing, if I'm not aware of it and not practicing in it.

For example, I'm asked and taught to do functional testing at a GUI layer.  Why I'm not asked and taught to do the performance and security tests at a GUI layer?  Or, why I do not think of it?  Should someone say me to think of it, practice it, and, do testing for the same?  If the floor and industry do not push me to do so, I will have to open myself to create that opportunity and awareness.  Did you see that, this is my performance bottleneck?

To test, evaluate and identify [pinpoint] the performance bottleneck in the software system, I will have to practice Performance Engineering & Testing.  Only then, I will be able to identify its existence precisely before pinpointing.  If I do not practice by building and refining the awareness, I cannot explain what I'm pinpointing.

I pinpoint myself [the bottleneck] first, if I identify wisely what is the performance bottleneck.  If I fix my bottlenecks, I will be able to identify bottlenecks in the system that I test.

Let me practice the performance engineering and help my team, and community to practice it.  If not, I will not be in position to name a bottleneck, forget pinpoint it. I will just follow, what others say and think it is right.

Note: I share the above from my personal experience in testing practice and also from reading [& answering] the performance testing questions that are posted in the communities social spaces.  I see fixing this and practicing better here is important for first, than identifying and solving the bottlenecks in software system.

The "Bottleneck" in a Test Engineer's Eyes

 

Preference to Bottle Over Jar! Why?

Have you heard Jar Neck anytime when describing a problem or solution?

• I have heard Bottleneck often and consistently; but, not Jar Neck .  Why? 
• Be it in Software Engineering or day-to-day life problem solving description,
• The Bottleneck is referenced and not a Jar Neck.

Looks like people want Bottle but not the Bottleneck speed and benefits.  Bottle without its neck is a jar?!

Bottleneck exist for better controllability.

• In a bottle, the bottleneck is a solution!  It is not a problem!
• It is to mitigate any risk and problem that arises from the flow of content in the bottle.

Yet we describe, learn and communicate the neck of a bottle as a relativity and analogy to a problem.  

Are you aware of Gateway in the software system?

• The Gateway can be seen as a neck of a bottle which controls the incoming requests and outgoing response.
• Gateway is a necessity.
• We need Gateway to be adaptable in size of its neck based on traffic volume it is handling.  Here, the gateway's neck size should adapt and scale contextually.
• When describing a problem, we are talking about how this bottleneck size which is not adaptable for the context.
• That adaptability has to be built in engineering to scale in any dimensions and magnitude.
• When this is not done, we equate the software system's problem to a bottleneck as a analogy, which is incorrect!  The bottle has got its size and its neck size fixed for a purpose and as a solution.
• The context of a bottle and today's any systems are different.
• It is good to draw similarities from General Systems Thinking and observations.
• But the solution cannot be generic to all systems; it has to be contextual.  The software system has to have its contextual solution.

So, next time when someone in your team or network talk about bottleneck, do share them bottleneck is for better controllability.  Having a contextually resizable and adaptable bottleneck is the need for Software Engineering; not the elimination of bottleneck.

In fact, a software system should have and will have a bottleneck in a point.  And, this bottleneck will be adaptable to the context for having what it should let through and process.

Is the runway of an airport a bottleneck when it is compared to a sky?  Is that a solution or a problem?  Likewise, the ship will have a defined route path and it does not sail without a route path.  Is this a bottleneck to ship and its business?  A elevator can accommodate the defined number of people or kilograms allowed, and not beyond that to move.  Is that a bottleneck?  The esophagus in human body has a size which medical science observes as normal and acceptable; any deviation from that size measurement, the medical science test investigates it as a risk and problem. Why?  Is the circumference size and length of esophagus a bottleneck to human anatomy and physiology system?

The engineering solution will and should have a bottleneck at a point.  Having a adaptable bottleneck to the context is one what tries to accomplish in a software system's scalability and operability.

Please, do not equate solving a "bottleneck" situation with Agile practice.  Does it look like a joke?  I will not be surprised if someone says bottleneck problem is solved if practiced Agile.

The Internal Metrics of High Performance Mobile App

 

Do you have a question -- What are KPIs and Metrics and the differences between them?  Then read this blog post.  It will help in knowing the differences and how each help the other mutually and remain exclusive.

The sixth question from season two of 100 Days of Skilled Testing is:

How do you determine the essential performance metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) when assessing the performance of a mobile native app?

Why I Focus on Metrics Here?

Here, in this blog post, I will focus on Metrics and not KPIs.  If you have read the above referenced blog post on KPIs and Metrics, you will learn,

• The KPIs are defined objectives by the business.
• Knowing this is important.
• But, to accomplish the KPIs objective, one has to extract the contextually suitable metric from the system and have to evaluate it.

As a test engineer, I evaluate from technical perspective with an orientation of business thoughts.

• So, the identifying and defining the metrics makes more sense to my role.
• Hence, I pick the Metrics.

A KPI example for a mobile app,

• The set percentage [what percentage?] of five start rating in store with positive emotions in a review.

What may be the KPIs, I will have to correlate it with [a] metrics so that we work towards accomplishing the KPIs set.

What is Performance to Mobile Native App?

The Native App

A native mobile app is an app developed for a particular mobile device or platform like Android and iOS.  The native apps developed for one platform cannot be run on another platform.  That is, Android app cannot run on iPhone, and vice versa.

The Android apps are written in Kotlin, today.  The iOS apps are written in Swift.  The native apps can be developed in a way that it can run both in offline and online mode based on its business objectives.

An example of the native app which we can easily understand is,

• WhatsApp for Android and iOS devices

Performance and Native App

For first, my mobile device is not my customers device.  The Android device fragmentation makes it much more challenge with computing power offered for devices by OEMs.

Though, iOS have its fragmentation on OS version and device's computing power, it is not huge when compared with fragmentation of Android devices.  This is a challenge for Android mobile app in all aspects and especially in performance.

The performance will indicate different advantage, risks and problems to a native app on a platform and its devices.  The performance can be classified into different areas for native mobile apps.

It can range from, being deep technical areas to the experience a user expresses in using the app in a given context.  Everything is performance here!

Hence it is not easy when talking about performance in the mobile's app space.  While it is so ambiguous and hard subject, how one can pull the metrics for the performance here?

From a technical perspective, the word "performance" is not specific; it is vague.  If one says, the mobile app is performing well, what does it mean?

• Is it fast?
• Is it consuming low battery power?
• Is it consuming less memory?
• Is it not consuming much network?
• Is it smooth to interact, responsive, and no jank experience?
• Is it intuitive and secure?
• Is it number of crashes?
• Is it having a consistent update and bug fixes?

What you say?

All these leads to a question - What is a high performance app?  You ask this question to yourself and to your tech team, business team and consumers.  Figure out what is a high performance app to them.  This helps!

The Common Metrics - Android and iOS

Below are some of the common metrics for which a Test Engineer extracts data and evaluate it via testing and automation.

1. App Install Time
2. App Launch Time
1. Cold Start
2. Warm Start
3. Hot Start
3. Private Memory Size of App on available Heap
4. Number of Views
5. Garbage Collection - Frequency
6. Data Residual Size and Sharing
7. Network Payload Size
8. Energy Consumption in Workflows
9. Wakelocks and its Impact
10. Frames Skipped
11. Open Threads and Processes
12. Storage & Data Size
13. App Size

And, more.  Each of these are own deep area for analysis and tuning the performance.

I have been practicing this for last 11 years in my testing.  It is one of my research areas in Software Testing & Engineering

These days, instrumentation also offers different metrics for the mobile apps which can correlate with the KPIs set for the native mobile apps.

To conclude, start understanding the internals of Android and iOS.  It opens up you to the performance and practice of high performance apps.

I'm happy to share if you are interested in practicing these subjects and testing.  Let us connect and converse!

What are KPIs and Metrics?

 

I use to have this question - Are KPIs and Metrics the same?  Especially when I started to learn and practice the Performance Testing, this question bounced back to me often.

Do you have this question?

The Use of KPIs and Metrics

When business and stakeholders talk about it so much, there should be a value out of it.  What is that value?  Why it is important to identify and capture the KPIs and Metrics?

The KPIs and Metrics are derived from data we collect.  These data are processed to extract and normalize, so that, it is in a state as expected by the consumer for making a decision.

The stakeholders will make decisions and take actions referring to KPIs and Metrics. For example,

• The number of Daily Active User (DAU) is a KPI and also a metric.
• But, a metric cannot be a KPI
• How many of this DAU, closed the transaction within five seconds using a wallet?
• It is a metric; not a KPI.

Another example,

• KPI
• How many users installed the latest version of the mobile app and have signed in?
• If there no active users on latest version that indicates a kind of risk and problems to the business.
• Reopened Tickets in Customer Care
• This indicates there is something going wrong
• Metric
• What is the average time taken to see a streaming screen for users in 4G data network?
• If this is not captured, there is no data for business to establish a relationship with KPI set.
• Average Reopened Tickets in a customer service
• The distribution and time towards lower number
• The distribution and time towards higher number

KPIs and Metrics are not the same while both have quantitative measurement. Both are different.  Identifying and knowing the difference between them in your context is important.

They go hand-in-hand when setting a direction and action.  So that, the business and stakeholders realign to the goals and objectives defined.

KPIs vs Metrics

To conclude this post, investigate your metrics and question why the chosen KPIs.  It will help you to design your Test Models and identify the tests in given context.

Software Engineering - The Unquestioned Understanding of Client in Testing

Client - The Unquestioned Understanding

When asked or said "client" or "client-side", most of us assume or take it as:

• Web page displayed in the browser
• Mobile apps - Android and iOS apps
• Desktop applications

I see this is one of the unquestioned understanding and assumption in the Software Engineering.  While it is not wrong, the client does not always mean -- a web page displayed on browser, mobile apps, desktop applications, a terminal, etc.

The client is one of the subjects which we have not attempted enough to understand in Software Testing & Engineering.

A client is one who consumes the service in form of a response, and then does what it has to do.

Client - The Contextual Entity

The entity which takes the a client place [role] is entirely based on the context.  That web page displayed on a browser is a client per some model.  So is the mobile apps.  A service looking for data from Redis is a client too.

The client can be within the backend system which requests another entity to process its request and awaits for the response.  This client is not always a mobile app, web page on a browser, or a terminal where I'm working with commands.  Do you see that?

Next time when you hear the word client, ask for the context and know who is the client that is being discussed.

Client's Awareness in Performance Tests

By now, you should be breaking your assumption and the myths around the word "client".

In testing for Performance, it is critical to be aware who is client, when and how?  Evaluating this client will not be like evaluating a web page on a browser or the mobile apps.

The fifth question from season two of 100 Days of Skilled Testing, is:

How does client-side performance testing contrast with server-side performance testing, particularly in their objectives and area of emphasis?

Hope now you will question when said client-side performance,

• What client are we talking here?
• Where do this client sit in the system's architecture.

Based on this information,

• How the tests for performance is approached and executed for a client, differs.
• What is collected and observed to evaluate the performance of a client, differs.

This blog post is not to illustrate the different clients and how evaluate it for performance.  When the question talks about a particular client and in a context, I will share the approach, and how to evaluate the same.

To end, have we explored the clientless interface?  How to test this interface?