Testing plays a significant role in analyzing the quality and reliability of developed code. A minor issue with code quality can lead to severe project failure and lead to your project teetering. Because of its importance, many DevOps teams have started testing earlier in the cycle – not just at the end of development or after QA has had their final go-through before deployment. In this article, we'll cover why it's essential to test your code as early as possible in the DevOps process. We’ll also focus on specific methods and practices of DevOps testing by providing examples of how to incorporate them into your workflow. https://bit.ly/3qKNUhQ

1. Testing in DevOps – The Basic and
Critical Things You Need to Know
by Manav Jain ꞏ Jan. 17, 22 ꞏ DevOps Zone ꞏ Opinion
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Testing plays a signi몭icant role in analyzing the quality and reliability of developed
code. A minor issue with code quality can lead to severe project failure and lead to
your project teetering. Because of its importance, many DevOps teams have started
testing earlier in the cycle – not just at the end of development or after QA has had
their 몭inal go‑through before deployment.
Statista says that DevOps adoption reached a whopping 62% in CI/CD work몭lows
and 60% under development environments. With more industries upgrading to the
latest technologies, we are witnessing a diverse level of adoption among business
enterprises.
In this article, we'll cover why it's essential to test your code as early as possible in
the DevOps process. We’ll also focus on speci몭ic methods and practices of DevOps
testing by providing examples of how to incorporate them into your work몭low.
Let's get started with the basics!
How Does Traditional Testing Work?
Traditional software testing often includes regression testing, in which each feature
gets tested after updates are complete. With continuous delivery, developers deploy
updates as soon as they're ready. It often means new features are getting deployed
frequently.
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2. Developers ensure these new features don't break anything in existing code by
employing a more frequent type of testing called A/B testing. One feature version
will be released for a subset of users, then another version for another group of
users, then back to an older version.
The process continues until all versions get deployed enough to determine which
one works best or until the original version is proven better than any other iteration.
Issues With Traditional Testing Approach
Traditionally developers perform unit tests or functional tests. These tests work with
source code, but they don't include anything related to how a system functions when
it goes live. Those traditional types of testing didn't give much feedback about how
effective each change was when it went into production.
DevOps tries something new: When organizations incorporate testing into their
development and operations processes, both groups begin working together more
closely.
How Does DevOps Testing Work?
DevOps is a process for getting products from developers into your users' hands as
quickly as possible. As part of that process, testing is essential to prevent defects in
production.
However, when companies do DevOps well, they don't put testing on a separate track.
Instead, test engineers work together with their engineering counterparts from day
one. That way, even if something isn't ready for release yet—or doesn't pass QA—it
can be 몭ixed before it goes live.
Even better? Test automation tools enable companies to improve their feedback loop,
decrease cycle time and quality assurance checks (QA) by half! The basic idea is that
organizations can deliver software faster, more reliably, and with fewer resources if
they bring together their dev (development) and ops (operations) teams.
But there's one piece of that equation that gets a lot less press—and it might be an
even more signi몭icant bene몭it than fast time‑to‑market or continuous delivery. We're
talking about testing, which gives you better outcomes regardless of your speed or
deployment method.
The Business Benefits of DevOps Testing

3. The Business Benefits of DevOps Testing
1. Reduce Bug Counts
Bugs always cause problems—they don't just irritate users. They also cost money in
lost productivity, customer dissatisfaction, and high employee turnover rates. An
automated testing process ensures that your development team has con몭idence in
their releases before going live.
It means you'll 몭ind defects early on so that you can 몭ix them before they become a
big problem. Finding these problems earlier in the cycle also means fewer headaches
when it comes time for updates or upgrades later on down the road.
2. Deliver Software Faster
Whether it's a quick release of bug 몭ixes or a major upgrade, an automated testing
process will help you get software out there faster. You won't have to wait for manual
QA processes because your team can do them automatically.
With some development frameworks, it takes just one person with moderate
knowledge of software development to create fully‑functional tests from scratch. The
sooner you can deliver features, the sooner you'll start seeing customer satisfaction
results that will fuel higher revenues.
3. Faster Time­to­Market
Faster time‑to‑market isn't just about how quickly you can get features in front of
customers. If every new release is bug‑ridden, then your entire organization suffers
for it. Speed becomes more critical when protecting your brand and reputation and
gaining more market share from competitors that are slower than you.
4. More Reliable Releases
Reliability is one of your company's most important assets. Even one buggy release
can do irreparable damage to your brand and reputation, not to mention your
customer retention rates. In fact, according to Failory, even just a few bugs in an
application can negatively impact customers' satisfaction by 50%. DevOps ensures
more reliable software releases that are free of bugs and errors.
What Are the Standard DevOps Testing
Practices?
DevOps testing is undoubtedly an integral part of modern software development—

4. and it's one of those areas where more advanced tools can make all the difference. If
you're looking for ways to improve your DevOps processes and improve quality,
consider these three things: automation, test‑driven development (TDD), and open‑
source software.
Test‑Driven Development ‑ As with any part of DevOps, testing should be a
continuous activity throughout application design. Test‑driven development keeps
teams moving quickly by building tests in tandem with code rather than after written
code.
Automation ‑ Automated testing helps deliver quality products at a lower cost. By
leveraging open source tools like Jenkins, you can add more value by integrating
automation into your existing DevOps processes rather than creating an entirely new
process around it. Most importantly, automating your tests will help keep
development moving forward even when your QA staff gets overwhelmed.
Open‑Source Software ‑ There's no shortage of automated testing software out
there, but many organizations still rely on proprietary solutions—even though free
alternatives like Selenium WebDriver exist that offer features with greater 몭lexibility
and better value for money.
Top 5 DevOps Testing Tools Used Worldwide
1. Selenium: Selenium is a framework of different software tests written in Java,
Python, and other languages. It is applicable for writing test Web‑based applications
by automating interaction with the user interface (UI). Selenium supports different
browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. It is possible to write tests in
various programming languages like Java, C# and Python, etc.
2. Appium: It is an advanced‑level, open‑source test automation framework used to
write automated tests, especially for native and hybrid mobile apps. Appium lets you
create your tests using client‑side languages like Java, Python, etc. The framework
supports multiple app platforms, including iOS and Android. The advantage of using
Appium is that you don't need a rooted phone to run automated tests on it. However,
Appium only works with real mobile devices; it doesn't support emulators.
3. SoapUI: SoapUI is a free and open‑source web application testing tool that
provides functional, regression, and load/performance testing. You can use it to
create automated tests to check RESTful web services. It comes with built‑in libraries
for creating SOAP and HTTP tests and data‑driven testing capabilities. The user

5. interface is easy to access and has a rich feature set. It supports multiple languages
like Java, C#, Perl, Python, etc., with custom libraries.
4. Jenkins: Jenkins is among the most popular continuous integration and delivery
tools. It also serves as a great tool to start with if you're new to con몭iguration
management, as it has a more straightforward user interface than some of its peers.
Jenkins was built on Java, which means that it supports all major operating systems
—Windows, Linux, and macOS—and runs well on any cloud platform with robust
network support.
5. JMeter: JMeter is a high‑performance Java desktop application designed to test
functional behavior and measure performance. Initially designed to test Web
applications, it has expanded to other test functions. The software is freely available
under a BSD license and is open‑source. JMeter is compatible with all OS that
supports Java SE (Operating System Speci몭ic Packages). All 몭iles that makeup JMeter
are portable, and you can run them in any environment without installing a client or
server component.
Final Thoughts
There are two basic approaches to test automation in DevOps. The 몭irst is test‑driven
development (TDD), in which you write your tests 몭irst, then write code based on
them. The second is behavior‑driven development (BDD), where you develop tests
that describe how your software should behave instead of just ensuring that it works
correctly.
BDD seems most appropriate for DevOps testing because the point of DevOps is to
align software developers with operations teams so they can deploy faster together.
BDD allows team members from both groups and testers to work on a single set of
tests that describe how their changes affect overall system behavior.
As a result, if you are already practicing DevOps, there's no reason not to be
practicing BDD too.
Topics: DEVOPS, DEVOPS APPROACH, DEVOPS AS A SERVICE, TESTING
Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.
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