Every QA tester knows: time is money. When something breaks down on your website or web application, it can cause major issues for users within minutes. Because you’re constantly working to prevent fires from spreading (or happening at all), it’s important to have numerous strategies at the ready to help you manage your time wisely. One of these QA testing timesavers is called smoke testing. But exactly what is smoke testing?
Think of smoke testing as the TSA pre-check of the testing world. That is, you skip the details (taking off your shoes, bagging liquids, pulling out your electronics) and go straight for the big stuff (walking through the metal detector). In other words, smoke testing makes sure that the core functions are working properly before wasting time on a deep-dive into lesser functionalities.
In today’s article, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of smoke testing and when it’s done during testing. Plus, we’ll offer you some helpful smoke testing tools for automating the process.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- What is smoke testing?
- When should you run a smoke test?
- What are the different types of smoke testing?
- Why is it called “smoke testing”?
- How often should you perform smoke testing?
- How to automate smoke testing with Ghost Inspector
- Conclusion
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What is smoke testing?
Smoke testing, also known as build verification testing and confidence testing, is a type of software testing where testers use broad test cases to confirm that the key functionalities of a software are working as expected. This testing type helps testers to quickly identify whether a software is stable and ready to be moved into the next testing phase or whether there are major problems that require retooling from the developers before moving forward. Think of it as the build gatekeeper of the testing phases – there to make sure that the software has functionality on a foundational level.
Smoke testing both:
- Verifies that critical parts of the software are fully functional
- Confirms that these parts are stable enough to withstand further testing
It’s a valuable testing phase because, without first checking basic functionalities, testers waste time on more in-depth tests, only to later discover that these more detailed tests will need to be redone as the core of the build is flawed. By running broad test cases to check the essentials first, QA testers save precious time for themselves and the developers.
When should you run a smoke test?
Generally, it’s wise to run a smoke test after each build and before and after every deployment to verify that the application is stable and functional. This will help catch any bugs early in the development cycle while preventing new issues from going undetected until they can cause problems in the future. You might also run smoke testing when working in a continuous integration environment or when working with third-party applications, to help confirm that your application works as expected even in different environments.
To give an example, a QA tester might run a series of predesigned smoke tests on a web application to ensure that:
- Users can log in to the application
- The application’s main page loads without errors or delays
- The menu and tabs are fully functional
- The application’s search bar works as expected
- The application works as expected across different browsers and devices
If all five test cases pass, then the QA testers can confidently move on to the next testing phase.
What are the different types of smoke testing?
Although there are numerous different types of smoke testing, we’re just going to focus on the three primary types:
- Manual Smoke Testing – Human testers check core functionalities by running predetermined tests without using automated tools.
- Automated Smoke Testing – Automation testing tools are used to automate the smoke testing process.
- Hybrid Smoke Testing – This is a combination of manual and automated smoke testing, utilizing both human and machine input. The testers build the test cases and the smoke tests then get automated.
All three types are typically utilized by developers and QA testing teams as part of a comprehensive testing process.
Why is it called “smoke testing”?
There are two supposed origins for the term “smoke testing”. The first claims that it originates from electronic hardware testing, where circuit boards were tested by switching them on quickly. If they immediately began smoking, you’d know that they were out of commission, no additional testing required.
The second origin claims that smoke testing gets its name from the plumbing industry, where plumbers run their own “smoke test” to see if a pipe has any cracks in it. The plumber blows artificial smoke into the pipe and then checks to make sure none of it leaks out where it shouldn’t.
Although we can’t be certain which is the true originator of the term, we can agree that both offer strong examples of how software smoke testing serves the testing process.
How often should you perform smoke testing?
Smoke testing should be performed early and often – before, during, and after deployment. This type of continuous monitoring helps maintain a software’s fundamental operations, ensuring that problems can’t reach the point where they can affect the user experience.
Although it’s wise to run smoke tests regularly, it’s important not to depend too heavily on smoke testing for catching every issue. This testing type focuses on a build’s core functionalities, so if you’re looking for bugs that require a deep dive, you may need to follow up with more comprehensive testing methods like integration or system testing to uncover and address more complex issues.
Who performs a smoke test?
The answer to this question depends on where you are in the development process as developers, QA testers, and DevOps teams may all perform smoke tests. Essentially, whenever new features get added to a build or when a software is released to the QA environment, then a smoke test will be performed. You can also use a test automation tool to run automated smoke tests, easing the load for your testing team and speeding up the QA process. Automation testing can be expensive, but fortunately, there are web testing tools like Ghost Inspector that provide affordable automated testing for developers and QA teams.
How to automate smoke testing with Ghost Inspector
If you’re a developer or a QA tester looking for a way to expedite the testing process for your entire testing team (even those without coding ability), Ghost Inspector makes it easy to build, edit, and schedule test cases with user-friendly tools that democratize test-building for everyone. Run through complex user flows in-browser and save as a test that can be edited as needed. Use the drag-and-drop codeless editor to make changes to current test cases that can be reused and run continuously. Easily store copies of your tests in version control with your code for easy updating. And you can run tests in multiple browser versions, screen sizes, and geolocations, for comprehensive coverage of all your testing requirements.
Whenever a test fails, you’ll quickly be notified, with results that include screenshots and video that detail bugs and visual regressions. Ghost Inspector’s many integrations simplify the process of connecting to your current testing workflow, so you can keep your entire team in sync. Other advanced features include:
- Support for synchronous and asynchronous JavaScript steps
- Built-in smart logic for complex scenarios
- Comprehensive email testing
- Unlimited parallel testing
And more!
If you’re looking for a comprehensive, end-to-end automated testing software, Ghost Inspector is a top choice for its usability, flexibility, and affordability.
Conclusion
Smoke testing helps QA testers and dev teams save time by locating problems with the skeleton of a build quickly. This testing type catches issues early on, preventing them from affecting software in later test phases. Without smoke testing, testers and developers waste time and money on detailed test cases when more general testing might have confirmed a fundamental problem with the build.
Smoke testing can be automated or performed manually, and in most cases, testing teams do both. For developers and QA testers looking to automate the smoke testing process, Ghost Inspector is a leading web testing software that allows testers to build and edit web tests without any coding ability. And for those with more experience, Ghost Inspector provides advanced end-to-end testing capabilities, including coding custom logic with Javascript and CI integration. You can also easily schedule testing by specific intervals, days, or times, including unlimited parallel testing options!
If you’d like to check out Ghost Inspector’s powerful automated testing features for yourself, you can start a 14-day free trial, no credit card required. And if you’d like to get the full rundown on how Ghost Inspector can help you build and run smoke tests (and much more), schedule a free demo with us here!
Build automated smoke tests in minutes
with Ghost Inspector
Our 14 day free trial gives you and your team full access. Create tests in minutes. No credit card required.
