Screenster tests got faster with Minimal Verification

The two founding pillars of software testing, verification and validation are the two terms that each and every tester knows. As far as the former term is concerned, we have great news — and an awesome feature that the Screenster users will love. Specifically, we’ve added a new verification mode for more flexibility in UI regression testing.

How it used to be: verification of everything on a page

As you probably know, one of the cool things about Screenster is that it automatically verifies everything on a web page. To do this, we’ve built an algorithm that combines screenshot comparison, DOM processing, UI/DOM verification, and self-healing element locators.

When automating a UI test, Screenster doesn’t just record and replay UX scenarios or compare screenshots. Unlike most record/playback IDEs, our platform analyzes every on-page element and warns you if any of these elements doesn’t look right. Moreover, Screenster can tell you whether it’s a visual bug or altered content that caused the failed test.

In other words, you’ll know if there is a bug even if your test doesn’t target this part of the UI explicitly. On top of that, you’ll also get a pretty clear picture of what has caused the bug. Pretty neat, huh? So why would we want to change this?

It’s easy to see how comprehensive coverage of all on-page UI elements can useful. On the flip side, it’s also easy to understand that you might not need to verify everything during every test run. This is especially true if you’re in a stage of active feature development and need to run smoke tests very often.

What’s new: minimal verification for quick smoke testing

Neat as it is, our verification algorithm needed a ‘lite’ version — or, at least, we’ve arrived at this conclusion thanks to the Screenster users. That’s where minimal verification comes in handy.

Unlike our regular verification algorithm, minimal verification focuses on those user actions that your test is targeting.

In the minimal verification mode, Screenster essentially does the same thing Selenium tests do. It reruns a series of user interactions with the UI and it checks whether anything interferes with that process. One good thing about this is the increased speed: minimal verification runs just as fast as your usual WebDriver tests. One great thing about this — you still don’t need to write code.

There’s one more cool thing on top of that. In the minimal verification mode, Screenster still does visual verification for the first and the last step of your test. It also uses the same intelligent element search, leveraging the same algorithm that we’re using in full verification mode.

How does this change UI testing automation with Screenster?

Minimal verification ships as an additional functionality that’s available along with regular verification. This new functionality is optimal for quick test runs that accompany feature development. For pre-release test runs, we still recommend using the full verification mode.

You can try our new feature right now by re-running one of your tests in the minimal verification mode. If you’re new to Screenster, you can also try our demo by clicking the button below or signing up on out home page.