What is Shift Left Testing?
Shift left testing is a process where testing is done at early phases in the development process.
This tetsing is about finding problems and fixing them at an early stage.
By testing at the early stages in the development process, we can fix bugs before they become bigger problems. This “shifting left” of testing in the development lifecycle places the significance of quality from the initial Level.
And it can save a lot of bugs and trouble at later stages
Need of Shift Left Testing?
- Shorten lengthy test cycles.
- Proactively identify bugs in the early phases of development.
- Increase effectiveness and production costs.
- Decrease bugs in the production environment.
- Enhance application quality.
The Methodology
The traditional software development lifecycle waterfall looks like this:
Requirements > Design > Coding > Testing
In the traditional model, testing takes place at the end of the Development Process — after finishing of much of the work . This leads to last-minute surprises and costly bugs. And it generates the rework for everyone.
When bugs are found in the later stages in the development process, they are more complex and more expensive to fix. But defects detected early, during the requirement and design phase, are 100 times less expensive to fix than those detected after a product release.
When bugs are found in the later stages, teams get less time to fix them. That can lead to delays in the schedule, missed deadlines, and unhappy clients. And will impact the overall business.
But if the testing phase moves up, to “shift left,” bugs can be detected earlier in the development process. This testing reduces the expensive mistakes.
This testing method can prevent bugs before they happen.
Benefits of Shift Left Testing
This type of testing is beneficial for everyone from developers to testers and even clients. Below are some of the advantages of adopting a this testing methodology:
1. Easier Fixes
In shift left testing, bugs are easier to fix as testers find them in the early stages of the development process. This reduces the rework, reduce the time and the money of the bug fixes at the later stages.
2. Time-Savings
Bugs are easy to fix in the shift-left methodology, as testers find out the bugs at the early stages. Early detection of bugs saves the teams hours of redoing work. The time saved keeps the development lifecycle of the projects within scope and hitting deadlines.
3. Better Test Coverage
Shift left testing can enhance test Coverage.Testing starts early in the process. It thoroughly tests each function of the application throughout the lifecycle. And this enhanced test coverage into a better product.
4. Developer/Tester Collaboration
The shift left methodology motivates developers and tester cooperation. Complex bugs can be better avoided with testing in mind from the initial, reducing friction between teams.
5. Automation Capabilities
With “test early and often” approach, shift left process and automated testing often go together. Test automation improves test coverage. It decreases human error. And it removes repetitive, manual tasks.
6. Quicker Time-to-Release
The smaller number of defects. Less rework. Easy to fix bugs. All of these points allow development teams to speed up the software release process. And timely releases results in profitability.
But for teams to hold the shift left process, few points must first take place to accomplish this.
How to Implement Shift Left Testing
The roles of developers and testers are starting to blur. In shifting left Methodology, development and testing become closer than ever.
Below are some of the best practices to initiate the shift left testing approach to your development cycle.
Best Practices for Shift-Left Testing
- Development and Testing should run side by side
- Deployment procedures should be shared.
- Automate test cases and run them early and often.
- Automate the deployment process of new builds.
Follow the above best practices in your application workflow to make the shifting left process smoother.
