How To Batch Test Software

Speed has always been the name of the game when it comes to modern software development, and keeping up isn’t easy.

This applies to software testing, too — if you can’t keep up with your developers, you’re going to fall behind. To keep up, your QA teams need advanced methods and tools. This is precisely why software batch testing was developed, and with the power of AI and intelligent automation, it’s never been easier.

Buckle in and we’ll show you how to batch test software — and how you can get the most out of it with modern tools like Launchable.

What Is Software Batch Testing?

Batch Testing software is a way to run groups of test cases (”batches”) to speed up the testing process as a whole. Testing is a time-consuming yet critically essential part of software development, so finding ways to cut down on this step is crucial. With batch testing, your QA teams can dramatically improve overall testing speed without sacrificing quality.

How to Batch Test Software in 8 Steps

While there isn’t any concrete way to begin batch testing, we think it’s best to add it as you would with any new testing cycle. We have eight steps to show you how to batch test software efficiently while maintaining a proper testing cycle.

1. Determine Your Scope and Criteria

Before you start writing your tests, you need a solid plan. You’ll need to establish what tools, environments, and integrations you may need to set up. Additionally, you’ll need to understand what parts of the software you’re testing, including your overall scope and specifications for what you consider a passing result. This is also a perfect time to plot any automation workflows and test management software so that you can get the most bang for your buck.

2. Prepare Your Test Environments

Once you have your plans in place, it’s time to create your test environments. You’ll need to create a dedicated test environment replicating the real-world environment as if it were in production. This environment should have all the software, hardware, and data to run tests without interruption, just like a live product.

3. Define Your Test Cases

Now that we have a plan and a place, it’s time to write your tests. QA teams should follow the guidelines already established within your original plans. Testers should outline individual test requirements while also including load and performance testing. These are your bread-and-butter tests, so take your time to ensure you have adequate coverage.

4. Bring In Automation

If you took the time to plot out automation workflows in the first step, this is where you’ll want to put them into action. Automation is a dev’s best friend, so setting it up now can save your team a ton of time in the long run. You should look to use a testing platform that can automate your test suite while integrating with your existing tools.

5. Begin Batch Testing

Now that we have everything in place, it’s time to start testing! Put your automated test suites to work, firing off batch testing as needed. Once they’re running, your QA teams can monitor them while correcting issues that may arise in the testing process.

6. Analyze Your Test Results

Once tests are complete, it’s time to review and analyze the results. Ideally, your automated testing tool should be able to help you analyze and process your results (if they don’t, it may be time to reconsider your toolkit). You should be looking for flaky tests that need to be reviewed, as well as the overall results of how your tests performed.

7. Fix Defects

With the data processed and the results in, your teams can go in and clean up. Take this time to identify and fix any issues resulting from your testing. Naturally, this is also when teams should be fixing problems with the actual software to ensure a quality product. Your teams will most likely repeat steps 5-7 a few times until your tests and product run flawlessly.

8. Optimize and Repeat

Once your software and tests are running smoothly, it’s time to optimize it for maximum performance. This may require more rounds of batch testing while you iron out minor kinks, but it will lead to an overall better quality product. You should also be looking to include other testing methods too, such as regression testing, to ensure you have a stable application.

How to Batch Test Software with Launchable

Batch testing helps your teams cut down on testing time, but it isn’t the only solution. By itself, batch testing can’t solve issues like bloated test cycles, flaky tests, or long test times. This is exactly why you should be using a testing platform that not only helps you run your tests — but helps you launch fearlessly.

And that’s precisely how Launchable helps engineering and QA teams. 

Launchable’s Predictive Test Selection accelerates test execution by intelligently selecting and running only the necessary tests for a given batch, skipping unaffected tests. Significantly reduce your overall test execution time and get faster feedback on code changes. 

Launchable improves test coverage by analyzing the test suite and recommending tests to include in subsequent batches, ensuring critical areas of the software are thoroughly tested. It prioritizes tests based on their impact and relevance to recent code changes, allowing efficient allocation of testing resources.

Launchable's continuous analysis of the test suite adapts the test selection to changes in the codebase, eliminating manual maintenance efforts. It provides detailed reports and analytics, offering data-driven insights into test coverage, historical trends, and recommendations. Batch testing with Launchable enables faster and more efficient testing, leading to higher-quality software and improved development processes.