7 End-to-End Testing Best Practices in 2024

End-to-end (E2E) testing is critical to development and operations as businesses aim to understand and respond to customers’ demands. The end user ultimately determines the success of the apps, websites, and services that businesses develop. If the end product does not constantly fulfill the changing needs and expectations of the user, no matter how big the developer is, it may fall short.

End-to-end testing helps business and QA teams get a realistic perspective from the user’s eyes. Companies may better understand how quickly, reliably, and entertaining an application is for their users when well-designed end-to-end testing is in place. 

In this article, we provide the top 7 best practices for end-to-end testing so that developers and business leaders can ensure their practices are up-to-date.

What is end-to-end testing?

End-to-end testing is a method of testing a complete application environment in a situation that mimics real-world use, such as: 

• Interacting with a database
• Using network communications
• Interacting with other hardware, applications, or systems if appropriate. 

End-to-end testing identifies system dependencies and maintains data integrity between various system components and systems. It is a method that validates an application’s workflow from start to finish, which can be a slow and costly process (see figure 1), but an essential one nevertheless.

Figure 1: Testing Practices

Source: Microsoft.¹

Why is end-to-end testing important?

End-to-end testing is essential because it helps QA teams identify system dependencies and ensure that the overall flow of the application is working as expected. It tests the application as a whole, simulating real-world scenarios and user interactions. Consequently, it can help to uncover issues that may not be detected during unit tests or integration tests unit tests or integration tests.  

Read our “Ultimate Guide to System Testing vs End-to-End Testing” to better understand the differences between software testing practices. 

This type of testing can also ensure that data integrity is maintained between different system components and systems, which is crucial for the proper functioning of the application. 

End-to-end testing can help to identify performance bottlenecks and scalability issues. It is a valuable tool for ensuring that an application is functioning correctly and is ready for release. It can also help QA teams understand the software and hardware requirements to enhance the user experience.

End-to-end testing best practices

1. Test the entire user journey 

While it may be beneficial to first focus on the most popular workflow of your application, testing the entire components of an application is critical. 

For example, AirBnB’s most popular workflow could be its search engine. However, the users won’t even use the search engine if the overall UI is not seamless. That is why you should ensure that all parts of the application, including the UI, API, and database, are tested together to ensure that everything works as expected. 

2. Use concrete and realistic data

Using real data sets while testing the application is essential to ensure that the application behaves correctly in a production environment. Test cases and test execution is essential; however, they would not serve their purpose without proper test data. That’s why you should avoid using production data frequently and refer to test data management (TDM).  

When people use websites and apps, they observe various components. For example, when a person reads an article, he/she can stop and look at the citation for a source or description of an image. It is unlikely that a user will skim through a website with no attention to detail. Therefore, end-to-end testing should simulate real-world interaction.

3. Test the edge cases

Ensure that the application is tested in all possible scenarios, including error conditions and edge cases. Edge cases in software testing refer to test scenarios that fall outside the most commonly expected inputs or usage of a system or software. 

Examples of edge cases for end-to-end tests might include:

• Testing a system with extremely large or small inputs
• A system with unexpected combinations of inputs
• Testing a system with inputs outside its intended range of use. 

4. Test with different environments

You should test the application in different environments, such as different browsers, operating systems, and devices, to ensure that it works correctly in all of them. 

For example, a website may look good and work well in Google Chrome, but the same website can have issues in Safari, Firefox, or Opera. It is essential to consider different environments since various users utilize different types of services.

5. Automate the tests 

The current software sector is moving quickly. Organizations need to offer high-quality software swiftly and consistently if they want to survive and remain competitive. That is why automating as much of the testing process as possible will save time and reduce the chances of human error; this is also the case for end-to-end testing. 

Software programs are prone to regressions. When you prepare test suites and retest the complete program after every change, no matter how little, you can only be sure that the code you’re releasing is of the highest caliber. That is why automating end-to-end tests will increase the quality of your end product.

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6. Document the test cases

Keep records of all test cases and their results to ensure that all application parts have been tested and to provide a reference for future testing. 

For this practice, test automation tools can help you keep better documentation of test cases. Each test case can help you better understand your product; for the case of end-to-end tests, you will also have the chance to reflect upon the user experience. 

7. Continuously test 

Continuous testing is an important practice for end-to-end testing. End-to-end testing should be an ongoing process, conducted as part of the development process and as part of ongoing maintenance and updates. Implementing continuous testing to prevent data errors provides 55% better and three times faster corrections.

If you want to learn more about QA and test automation, reach out:

External Links

• 1. “E2E Testing” Microsoft Code With Egineering Playbook December 24, 2022