Desktop applications are essential for business-critical tasks and processes. The more complex your IT landscape is, the more processes and technologies that you will need to test.
How can you efficiently and quickly perform automated test so that your platform or application does not become obsolete with rolling desktop releases?
This article will provide some tips for automating testing of desktop applications. We also discuss why no-code automation may not be the best way to test desktop apps.
Create a test automation strategy
A plan is a way to approach desktop testing. It helps you identify the requirements that you require when prioritizing which tests you automate.
This will allow you to define the capabilities of your desktop automation tool. A tool that can test applications and technologies end-to-end, or run parallel tests in desktop programs.
This knowledge will help you plan your resources more efficiently, allocate tasks to the QA team, and use your IT budget wisely .
After the plan has been approved, you can now identify an automated testing tool to test your desktop applications.
Find a testing tool
There is no one-size fits all solution for automated testing in desktop apps. However, there are tools that can make your testing more efficient and faster to support agile development.
Visual and Intuitive
The tool must be stable, simple to use and allow for faster troubleshooting. Specific languages are required to test cases. This adds complexity and can lead to costly developer resources.
A tool that allows your team to build test cases without needing to code is more efficient and less time-consuming.
Cross-application functionality
Let’s suppose that a customer of large bank transfers money via the bank’s website-based interface. This needs to be reflected in the internal system. This change will often be reflected on the internal desktop application.
The internal IT team must verify that changes made to the customer-facing web application are reflected in the desktop application. This will ensure that everything runs smoothly.
A developer can create a test case to demonstrate the web interaction if this is an automated process. To verify that changes have been reflected, the developer will go to the internal desktop application.
In this instance, relies on programming to transfer between applications in the same flow. This is very draining on your resources and requires a tester who has a deep understanding of the languages and systems of the applications.
This makes it difficult to scale your testing by creating an automation framework that uses code-based tools for desktop and web applications.
It’s easier to build test cases using a tool that works remotely and locally, with cross-application functionality. This is true regardless of whether the tool supports underlying technologies such WPF or business-critical applications such SAP or web-based technologies like Java .
Maintain maintenance to a minimum
Large organizations often create their own test automation frameworks. If your team spends more time maintaining the framework that they would if they were manually testing, automation may not be providing any business value.
Let’s suppose you run 500 automated tests and 10% fail. There are 50 tests to troubleshoot. Developers must understand the reasons and whereabouts of each test failure.
If you don’t have quick insight into why a test failed you’re wasting time on tasks that could be more valuable.
If the test fails because the test itself needs to be updated, then that will take even more time. If the test case is scripted and requires developers to write.
You can remove the scripting burden associated with maintaining test cases and allow more people to take part in the testing process. This includes domain experts from the business to technical testers.
Your desktop automation can be quickly built without any coding and allows you to deliver high quality results at a faster pace.
Why companies use no code automation for desktop testing
Anyone on your testing team can create and maintain desktop applications test cases using Richmonddioceseirp
One platform to test any application:Richmonddioceseirp’s reliable automation allows testers to seamlessly automate desktop or web applications regardless of technology. You can automate desktop UI on any device, whether you are using closed networks, on-premises, or in cloud.
A visual language: With the shortest learning curve, both technical and non-technical professionals can create UI automation flows using simple to use building blocks.
Easy maintenance: Any part of a desktop automation workflow can be reused and shared with others. You won’t have to create the same sequence twice. Troubleshooting testers can quickly identify and fix problems wherever they may be using video logs.
DevOps Integration built-in: Collaborate within your team using a single platform. Richmonddioceseirp’s no-code automation platform integrates seamlessly with your CI/CD pipelines.
This webinar will provide more information about desktop application testing. We’ll show you how to fix common issues in desktop automation and also demonstrate how Richmonddioceseirp’s no-code platform is used in desktop automation.