Do you have manual tests that are not currently automated, not because they should be manual, but because you don’t have a reliable way to automate them?
I know I do.
Some of the tests I’ve struggled with automating are workflows that require email or SMS validation.
I first learned about Mailosaur from Andy Dobbels at the 2018 Testing Guild.
Originally published in 2018, this article contains what I learned from Andy’s session and live Q&A, plus some newer developments I thought you should know about.
Before we delve further into email testing with Mailosaur, let’s look into why some end-to-end (e2e) tests can benefit your overall test automation strategy.
What is End-to-End Testing?
End-to-end testing is the closest you'll get to mimicking a real human being using your website. But if you've ever tried creating your own end-to-end test suite, you might've encountered a few hurdles along the way.
How does E2E Testing Differ from Other Types of Testing?
Unlike unit tests, the goal of an end-to-end test is to prove that the whole product works as intended, from start to finish. As you automate more and more tests, it's easy to forget that you’re trying to emulate a real person in the real world, and sometimes things don't quite go as you expect.
So, what counts as an end-to-end process?
What’s an Example of an End-to-End Test?
One example is a typical user flow when interacting with Amazon. It could be as simple as a password reset, or as complicated as a whole ordering process, where a user has to find the product, order it, add it to their cart, and purchase it.
Why Automate End-to-End Tests?
So, why should end-to-end tests be part of your overall suite?
First, they complement your existing unit and acceptance tests by giving a more real-world overview of your components interacting with one another. Also, because they simulate real user behavior, end-to-end tests are great for regression testing during deployment or ongoing monitoring. They are particularly useful in production systems, as well-designed, end-to-end tests can usually be pointed at any running system copy.
Why is it difficult to write e2e tests?
Hurdles for E2E Tests
Most products involve multiple systems like email, payment processing gateways, financial and billing systems, and order fulfillment. And many of these systems are hard to automate with tools like Selenium. Also, as businesses become more and more security conscious, stronger authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication via apps, or SMS, are being introduced, which are challenging to automate.
But if you’re a good automation engineer, you probably ask, “Wouldn’t these things be better handled at the unit level?”
Wouldn’t a Unit Test be Better?
One of the questions folks frequently ask is, “How much end-to-end testing do we need to do compared to unit testing?”
The answer is that unit tests should generally form the backbone of your coverage. This is due mainly to the fact that they are laser-focused by design, and can help developers and QA quickly identify low-level problems with specific portions of their code base.
End-to-end tests, on the other hand, are much higher-level and provide wider oversight of real-world scenarios. This is particularly important for business-critical processes such as accepting new subscriptions or taking payments. Smaller automated acceptance tests fall between these two pillars.
End-to-End Tests for Email
This gets us to Mailosaur, which includes everything you need to test customer communication. Boost your software quality with Mailosaur! From exploratory testing to building a comprehensive automated end-to-end test suite, Mailosaur is your go-to solution for impeccable results.
Here is one way it can help.
Sometimes, folks automate pieces of their E2E tests at the UI level, which renders them slower and harder to maintain. You should avoid these types of tests whenever possible.
However, many folks fail to leverage APIs when creating their workflow tests. That’s why I was excited to discover Mailosaur.
If you’re doing email testing, Mailosaur provides an API that can easily be consumed by your Selenium tests to give you the coverage you need.
Having a reliable API helps you create fast, reliable E2E tests without the overhead of an extra GUI interaction.
How does Mailosaur Work?
Mailosaur provides an API that can be programmatically accessed in most programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, C#, Python etc.
So if you have a Selenium test written in any of these languages and need to verify email, you can easily add the API to your tests to get this functionality. You also benefit from not having to set up your own email and SMTP servers for testing.
Is this Better than In-House Email and SMTP Servers?
Sometimes, when folks want to test in their development environments, they must set up a local email server.
When you have an online application, however, you might have a development environment, a testing environment a production environment.
When you get to that production environment, you can't use your company’s email server anymore; neither can you use a local SMTP server, because you need real email addresses you can send to via the Internet.
Mailosaur has real SMTP servers and an infinite number of email addresses you can use without the need and trouble of setting them up yourself.
You can also use it to
- Simulate real customer interactions
- Email and SMS testing API
- Deliverability and Email Analysis Tools
Unlimited Email Addresses are Cool!
If you use your company’s internal email address, you are limited to that email address.
You'll invariably get stuck if you want to test your products by requiring people to create an account and enter their email addresses.
For example, a typical user signs up by clicking on Sign Up, after which they get a link sent to their email. They then click on the link to verify their email address and, finally, into your product.
For example, you want to test what would happen if a hundred users signed up concurrently to your product. You'll be stuck with that one company email address you've been using thus far, or maybe the 20 that somebody set up for you. With unlimited emails, you can create more realistic scenarios.
Sounds pretty cool to me.
TestGuild Special Discount
As you've seen, mailosaur is the leading customer communication testing platform for any app, product, or campaign. What does that mean? Well, they’ll help ensure every email and SMS your product sends looks and works as you expect.
As I always say, seeing is believing.
So get 20% off your first 12 months when you sign up and use code ZFLKwHq6.
