Browser Compatibility Testing
Overview
Browser compatibility testing is non-functional testing to ensure all the functionalities are consistently working parallelly across all browsers- Edge, Chrome, Safari, etc. All browsers have different configurations and code interpretations. Browser compatibility ensures uniformity across all browsers.
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What is Browser Compatibility?
Browser compatibility signifies that all the features of a website have been tested to work smoothly across all browser versions. Forward compatibility in the browser means that the website will function well in upcoming browser releases, and backward compatibility means that the older browser versions to be smoothly working. Now for all the tests, automation is used to manually test hundreds of functionalities and ensure no bug is left, which manually is not feasible.
What is Cross-Browser Testing?
Cross-browser testing is a non-functional testing where the website's functionality is tested across all browsers -Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer. It also ensures the site is working across all the versions of the browser as well. The following reasons explain why cross-browser testing is mandatory:
- Some HTML tags are not compatible with all the browsers
- Some CSS classes are unacceptable in the browsers
- Some technologies are not supported in older technologies like SVG
- Some image formats are not uniform across all the browsers
Which Browsers to choose for Cross-Browser Compatibility Testing?
As of October 2021 following user statistics browsers hold:
| Browser | Statistics |
|---|---|
| Chrome | 67.17% |
| Safari | 9.63% |
| Edge | 9.33% |
| Firefox | 7.87% |
Because testing is done in a limited time constraint and based on the above percentage of users, Chrome is mandatory to test on. The next browser should be chosen based on the percentage of users choosing the browser in a particular country.
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Workflows for Cross-Browser Testing
Planning -> Development -> Testing -> Maintenance
- Test planning phase includes the features that need to be tested for cross-browser functionality—listing the features that must be automated vs. manually tested. And which browsers are for a particular functionality. It uses tools like Saucelabs and BrowserStack for the same.
- Test case development involves writing test cases and generating reports. The repeated tasks are automated using selenium script, cypressUI, etc.
- Test cases are executed, the bugs are fixed, and the code is merged into the main pipeline. If the first two phases are designed well, running test cases is the easiest step. Nowadays, there are online tools for hardware requirements like Browserstack, etc.
- Code maintenance is extremely crucial. A framework needs to be efficiently designed. Best practices for automation are used here.
Are Browsers like Edge, Safari, and IE still Relevant for Cross-Browser Compatibility?
Yes, the browser should be chosen on the percentage share based on geographic location. Another important consideration is the market share of the windows systems. Windows systems have IE browsers. So if their market share of Microsoft Windows is more on the potential market, then IE is a good choice.
Apple systems have Safari browsers. If the product focuses on high-end customer engagement, the Safari browser becomes the default.
Cross-Browser Testing Tools
1. SauceLabs: SauceLabs is a cloud-based platform that provides hardware requirements as a subscription model. It is used for cross-browser testing.
2. BrowserStack: Browser analytics is used for cross-browser testing. Testers can execute the scripts in their environment. The platform can also generate detailed reports and be integrated with other cloud platforms.
3. Selenium: Selenium tool is used for automating browsers so that testers can write scripts that would automate the user experience of scrolling, clicking, and providing input. The tool is supported by multiple languages like Java, Python, Javascript, etc. Selenium supports multiple browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
4. Cypress: Cypress is a javascript-based automation tool that automates browsers. It is free and open source. The beauty of Cypress lies in the fact that developers who are writing the code in javascript can write scripts in the same language and test the code.
5. Browserling: Browserling is an online cross-browser testing platform. It supports Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Opera web browsers.
Conclusion
- Browser compatibility testing is a non-functional testing type that ensures the functionalities work correctly in all browsers.
- Browser selection is made of the percentage share of the market using the browser. Chrome is leading the space in the majority of countries. Rest can be selected based on the target audience.
- The main reason, browser compatibility is necessary is that HTML tags are not supported in all browsers. CSS also responds differently in many browsers.
- SauceLabs, Selenium, and Cypress are among the most used browser automation tools.
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