Software Testing Methodology Question:
Explain Clicent/Server Development and Test automation?
Answer:
The original intent for client/server applications was to separete presentation logic from business logic. In an ideal system design, the client was reponsible for presenting the user interface, command elements (drop-down menus, buttons, controls), displayed results information in a set of windows, charts, and dials. The client connected to a server to process functions and the server responded with data.
In a client/server environment the protocols are cleanly defined so that all the clients use the same protocols to communicate with the server.
The client-side frameworks to provide the same functionality of desktop application frameworks plus most of the needed communication code to issue commands to the server and the code needed to automatically update a client with new functions received from the server.The server-side frameworks provide code needed to received and handle requests from multiple clients, and code to connect to database for data persistence and remote information providers. Additionally, these framworks need to handle stateful transations and intermittent network connections. Stateful transactions require multiple steps to accomplish a task.
Client/server applications are normally transactional in nature and usually several interactions with the user are needed to finish a single request. For example, in a stock trading application the user begins a transaction by identifying themselves to the server, looking up an order code, and then submitting a request to the server, and receives and presents the results to the user. The client-side application normally knows something about the transaction - for example, the client-side application will normally store the user identification and a session code such as cookie value across the user's interaction with the server-based application. Users like it better when the client-side application knows about the transaction because each step in a request can be optimized in the client application. For example. in the stock trading example the client application could calculate a stock trade commission locally without having to communication with server.
Client/server application test automation provides the functionality of desktop application test automation plus these:
* Client/server applications operate in a network environment. The tests need to not only check for the function of an application, they need to test how the application handles slow or intermittent network performance.
* Automated test are ideal to determine the number of client applications a server is able to efficiently handle at any given time.
* The server is usually a middle tier between the client application and several data sources. Automated tests need to check the server for correct functionality while it communicates with the data source.
In a client/server environment the protocols are cleanly defined so that all the clients use the same protocols to communicate with the server.
The client-side frameworks to provide the same functionality of desktop application frameworks plus most of the needed communication code to issue commands to the server and the code needed to automatically update a client with new functions received from the server.The server-side frameworks provide code needed to received and handle requests from multiple clients, and code to connect to database for data persistence and remote information providers. Additionally, these framworks need to handle stateful transations and intermittent network connections. Stateful transactions require multiple steps to accomplish a task.
Client/server applications are normally transactional in nature and usually several interactions with the user are needed to finish a single request. For example, in a stock trading application the user begins a transaction by identifying themselves to the server, looking up an order code, and then submitting a request to the server, and receives and presents the results to the user. The client-side application normally knows something about the transaction - for example, the client-side application will normally store the user identification and a session code such as cookie value across the user's interaction with the server-based application. Users like it better when the client-side application knows about the transaction because each step in a request can be optimized in the client application. For example. in the stock trading example the client application could calculate a stock trade commission locally without having to communication with server.
Client/server application test automation provides the functionality of desktop application test automation plus these:
* Client/server applications operate in a network environment. The tests need to not only check for the function of an application, they need to test how the application handles slow or intermittent network performance.
* Automated test are ideal to determine the number of client applications a server is able to efficiently handle at any given time.
* The server is usually a middle tier between the client application and several data sources. Automated tests need to check the server for correct functionality while it communicates with the data source.
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