Testing and Automation Practices for Development and Continuous Delivery
The article outlines the importance of independent, code‑aware testing, describes the test automation pyramid and its focus on API tests, explains how automated testing, continuous integration, and deployment enable continuous delivery, and lists the essential skills and mindset for test developers.
Development and Testing Testing and development are equally important and should work side by side; testing must be independent in analyzing requirements, configuring environments, writing scripts, and building tools. Test engineers need programming skills to read and write code, which enables code review and automation.
Automation Test Pyramid The pyramid consists of UI (not covered), API (the main focus, stable HTTP APIs), and UNIT tests (practiced in iOS, to be extended to backend). Google’s recommended ratio is 70% small (unit), 20% medium (integration), 10% large (system) tests.
Automation Testing Automation is becoming a basic capability like functional testing. For front‑end apps, manual functional testing and tool‑based performance testing are primary; for backend interfaces, full automation is planned, with performance considered via static analysis.
Backend Interface Automation Use PHPUnit to implement HTTP API tests. Test cases are described in class/method comments. Test scripts should be written in PHP, and test suites must cover smoke, sanity, regression, etc. Collaboration between QA and developers on PHPUnit is encouraged.
ROI of Automation In agile iterations, code grows and integration testing pressure increases. Automated regression tests allow rapid verification of each iteration, supporting continuous integration.
Continuous Integration & Deployment When backend API automation is in place, any SVN change can trigger automatic tests and notify developers; passing tests can trigger integration testing with the app, leading to automated deployment and continuous delivery.
Early Testing Philosophy Test early, test often, and test enough. Testing should start from product conception through online operation, with different test contents at each stage.
Basic Requirements for Test Developers 1. Philosophy: understand test development, think reverse, explore. 2. Business knowledge: understand users and clarify requirements. 3. Coding ability: read and write code. 4. Tool usage: develop and use testing tools (PHP, Python). 5. Strategy: combine manual and automated testing for cost‑effectiveness.
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