What Is Regression Testing? Definition, Tools, Method, And Example

What is regression testing???

Regression testing is a kind of testing that ensures that the slightest change in the code of software won’t affect the product’s current functionality.

This is done to make the product compatible with any added features, problem repairs, or modifications to current features. Test cases that had already been run are rerun to ensure the change has had the desired effect.

Regression testing is a type of software testing where test cases are repeated to see if the application’s former functionality is still operational and that the latest changes have not resulted in any new flaws.

Whenever there’s a significant modification in the original functionality, despite only one bug fix, regression testing can be done on the latest version.

Regression is the process of testing the application’s unaltered components repeatedly. Organizations can always opt for Regression Testing Services that are offered by the best Penetration providers.

Overview of Regression Testing

Regression test is similar to a verification technique. The majority of test cases are automated since they need to be run repeatedly and performing every one of them manually would be laborious and time-consuming.

Consider, for instance, a product named X whose functionality includes the ability to send emails when clicking the Confirm, Accept, and Dispatch buttons.

There may be problems with the confirmation mail, and some programming changes are performed to address them. To make sure that the modification in the code to set right the confirmation has not affected the whole of functionalities, it is necessary in this case to test not only the Acceptance and Dispatched emails but also the Confirmation emails.

No coding language including Java, C++, C#, etc. is required for regression testing. This technique of testing is used to check if the product has undergone any changes or upgrades. It confirms that a product’s existing features are unaffected by any product modifications.

Diving a little further into regression testing

Check to see if the bug has been fixed and whether the recently introduced features interfered with the software’s prior stable version.

Functional testing is done by testers whenever a fresh build is ready for inspection. This test’s objective is to validate both the newly added functionality and the changes performed to the existing functionalities.

Once the test is complete, the tester must ensure that the functionality that was operating before the change is still functioning as intended and that no defects have been introduced by the new modifications. This process can take place seamlessly by a Regression Testing Company.

If one is skeptical about “What Is Service Regression Testing?” or “When to perform them” then Regression tests must be taken into account while estimating tests and should be included in the release cycle.

When can one perform this test?

Regression software testing is typically carried out after changes or new features have been verified. This, however, is not applicable for all time. Regression tests must be included in the daily test cycle for the releases which take several months to complete. Regression tests can be run for weekly releases once Functional Testing for the modifications is complete.

A version of retesting (which is merely repeating a test) is regression testing. Any explanation could be the reason to carry out retesting. Let’s say you had been testing a certain feature, but it was becoming late. You would have to cease testing without determining if the test had passed or failed.

You take the test again the next day after you return, which indicates that you are repeating an earlier test. A retest is simply conducting the same test again.

At its essence, a regression test is essentially a retest. This applies to exclusive occasions like when there is any change in the application/code. The overall structure of the system may be dictated by code, design, or anything else.

The Regression Test is a Retest that is carried out in this circumstance to ensure that the mentioned modification has not affected anything that was previously functioning before.

The most frequent reasons for doing this are bug fixes or the creation of revised versions of the code (due to an expansion in scope or requirement).

Can we perform Regression Testing manually?

Test execution is the straightforward process of employing your test cases, carrying out the steps on the AUT, providing the test data, and comparing the outcome with the intended outcome specified in your test cases.

We determine whether a test case is passed or failed based on the comparison result. Simple as that no specialized tools are required for the execution of tests.

Automated Tools for Regression Testing

The majority of testing activities can be automated in the domain of automated regression testing services. On a fresh build, we can re-run every test case that had previously been run.

This indicates that we have a set of test cases at our disposal, and performing those tests manually takes time. Because we are aware of the anticipated outcomes, automating such test cases can save time and it’s an effective regression test technique. The total test case scenarios that will remain relevant throughout time will determine how much automation is used.

If test cases change periodically, the application scope expands, and automating the regression process becomes ineffective.

Most of the Regression testing tools are of record and playback types. You can record the test cases by navigating through the AUT (application under test) and verifying whether the expected results are coming or not.

Tools Recommended:

1. Avo Asssure

Avo Assure is a pure code-less and diverse solution for automated testing that enhances the speed and ease of regression testing.

The cross-platform compatibility of the tool facilitates anyone to test over the web, mobile, desktop, Mainframe, ERPs, associated emulators, and more. Employing Avo Assure, one can seamlessly execute the complete cycle of regression testing without any code and further ensure quick delivery of top-notch quality.

How can Avo Assure help you:

• One can attain more than 90% range in the automation tests by repeatedly running the regressions tests.
• Easy visualization of the complete hierarchy of testing just at the button’s click. Seamlessly define the plans followed by designing test case scenarios through various features.
• Utilize over 1500 keywords, including over 100 SAP-specific keywords, to hasten the delivery of applications.
• Utilize the features of Smart Scheduling along with Execution to run several scenarios simultaneously.
• Connect to numerous SDLC and Continuous Integration programs, including Jira, Sauce Labs, ALM, TFS, Jenkins, and QTest.
• Utilize clear videos and screenshots of test case execution to analyze reports with ease.
• Your applications can be tested for accessibility.

2. Bug Bug

The most simple method for automating regression testing is undoubtedly BugBug. The only thing you need is to “record & replay” the tests using the user-friendly interface.

The functionalities

• One needs to begin by creating a test case
• Followed by which initiate the process of recording
• Perform actions like clicks on the website – BugBug shall record all the clicked interactions as test steps.
• Run the test – BugBug then starts repeating all the test steps that were recorded.

A Solution that can replace Selenium

• It’s way easier to apply and learn
• The regression tests which need to be production ready are created at a faster pace
• It doesn’t need any coding

Cost-effective

• It comes absolutely for FREE if you execute automated regression tests on the local browser.
• And it is priced at $49 monthly so that you can employ BugBug cloud to run all hourly regression tests.

3. Virtuoso

By providing self-healing tests, Virtuoso stops dealing with defective tests in the regression packs on every release. Virtuoso spawns bots that explore the DOM of the application and create a thorough model of every element using the selectors, IDs, and attributes that are readily available. Every time a test is run, a machine learning technique is utilized to strategically detect any unanticipated variations, allowing testers to focus on finding flaws rather than repairing tests.

Like writing a manual test code, regression tests are created based on Natural Language Programming in simple English. With unmatched speed and the use of a cordless tool, this scripted technique retains all the strength and adaptability of a coded approach.

Why Regression Testing?

Regression starts whenever a programmer patches a bug or introduces new code to the system to add new features.

The recently introduced and current functionality may both have a lot of dependencies.

To ensure that the original or unaltered code is not impacted, this is more like a quality control measure to see if the new code is compatible with the older code. The testing team is typically tasked with verifying any quick changes across the system.

In this case, testing that just affects the application area is required to finish the testing process on schedule while covering all the key system components.

When the program is constantly changing or being improved, this test is crucial. The tested code already in place shouldn’t be impacted by the additional functionality.

Finding the bugs that appeared as a result of a code update demands regression. Without this testing, the product may experience serious problems in a live setting, which could put the client in danger.

The price of the product is not displayed correctly, i.e., it displays a lower rate than the product’s actual price, and this issue needs to be corrected as quickly as possible, according to the tester of any online website.

Regression testing is also necessary to ensure that the price on the reported page has been corrected but may still be exhibiting a wrong price on the summary page, where the total is displayed along with the other charges, or the email that was sent to the customer still contains the incorrect price after the developer has fixed the issue.

As the website estimates the total cost with the incorrect price and emails the customer the same amount, the consumer will now be responsible for the financial loss if the testing is not performed. Once the consumer agrees that the product will be sold online for less, the customer will lose money.

In summary, testing has a vital role and is essentially required for the mutual benefit of the organization that developed a product and the client base that uses it.

Various types of Regression testing

One can employ any of the below-mentioned types of regression testing for the best results

1. Unit Regression

Unit Regression testing is carried out in the phase of unit testing, and code is tested independently, meaning that all dependencies regarding the unit being tested are disabled to enable independent testing of the unit without any inconsistencies.

2. Partial Regression

To ensure that the code still functions properly after modifications have been made and the new unit merges with older or existing code, partial regression is used.

3. Complete Regression

When several modules are affected by a code change and the influence of any one module’s modification on another is unclear, complete regression is performed. To see if the altered code has caused any modifications, the entire product is reverted.

Any software development firm can opt for any of the mentioned types of regression testing for Functional Testing, Vulnerability Assessment , Automated Testing, Security Testing, or Integration Testing.

Diverse Methods of Regression Testing

Throughout the Software Development Lifecycle one can go and opt for a consultancy that offers Software Testing And Qa Services to develop an application or perform regression testing.

A few famous regression testing methods are:

1. Retest all

As the name implies, all test cases in the chosen test collection are run again to make sure that no issues have appeared as a result of the code change. In comparison with the other procedures, this one is more time- and resource-consuming, making it more expensive.

2. Selection of Regression Tests

This approach involves picking a few test cases from the test set to run again. However, every command in the suite needn’t be repeated. Based on the module’s code update, test cases are chosen.

Reusable regression testing suite and obsolete test cases are the two major categories into which test cases fall. While obsolete test cases cannot be used in expected regression cycles, reusable test scenarios can be used.

3. Test Case Prioritization

High-priority test scenarios run ahead of intermediate and low-priority test cases. The test case’s criticality, and impact on the product, as well as its functionality and frequency of usage, determine its priority.

4. Hybrid

The hybrid approach combines test case prioritization and regression test selection. Choose exactly the test cases that are repeated based on priority rather than choosing the whole test suite.

To understand “What Is Service Regression Testing?”, one can run through the blog for clear understanding.

For Example,

One can examine the situation, with the below-mentioned example of Application Testing:

Release 1 Statistics

Release 2 Statistics

Release 3 Statistics

It needs to be clear that there can be many Challenges In Regression Testing that might come up amidst Integration Testing or Mobile App Testing.

One can identify the mentioned patterns from the given example:

• There is a mutual growth of releases and functionalities.
• It remains evident that the testing time eventually increases with releases unlike the development time
• The above factor is something that receives less affinity from any organization
• One can’t decrease the testing time by expanding testing team members as it is clear that more resources lead to high expenses which gets us to the fact that the training and the quality compromise from the new resources remain inevitable.
• The other solution is to noticeably decrease the regression amount which could be skeptical for the development of a software solution.

Regression testing vs. Retesting

Regression testing is not restricted to fixing bugs as it includes other test cases but ensures that the bug patch has not impacted any other feature of the product. Re-testing is carried out for the test cases that break in the execution and the bug identified for the same has been fixed.

It is always suggested to go for Software Performance Testing Services to choose between regression testing or retesting as required.

Conclusion

Regression testing serves as one of the crucial components because it ensures that any modification, no matter how big or small, within the code won’t have an impact on a feature that has already been implemented. Be it for Mobile App Testing Services or Web Application Testing, go for QA Outsourcing Services and hire the best Software Quality Assurance Testers.

There are numerous automation solutions available for the process of automating regression testing cases nevertheless, the project requirements should be taken into consideration when choosing a tool. The Regression testing set needs an update often, hence a tool should be able to do this. Reach out to the best QA firm Quality assurance consulting services to avail of great regression testing services.

With that, we will conclude this discussion with the hopes that the subject will be much more clearly understood moving forward.