Shift Left is a buzzword in Software Testing. It is not new, in fact it has always been around. Shift left is all about creating a culture where testers can be involved early in the software development life cycle to start testing activities early. Idea is to reduce the risks.
Perhaps inspired by the maxim, “a stitch in time saves nine”, Shift Left is a practical attempt to actually ensure a timely stitch; to check for errors in the software testing process earlier than the conventional time to do so. Shift Left testing means testing earlier in the software development cycle, so that risks and unknowns can be reduced which enables smooth deliveries to the clients.
Few Examples of Shift Left:
- Pair with the developers – More Collaboration and brainstorming on the requirements / test scenarios with the Team (including Devs and PO) so that unknowns and risks can be discovered earlier in the phase. Both Devs and QEs will have the same understanding on the requirements.
- Rework (Issue fixing & retesting) will be less.
- Scope creep will be less.
- Test different layers – In SOA applications, APIs are developed first. Team should plan the API testing so that issues can be identified early in the cycle (rather than just testing from the UI).
- Plan Non-functional Testing early in the cycle (Performance Testing, Security Testing etc) – Identifies issues early and reduces the risks.
- Automate the “Automation Test Case Execution” – Integrate the automation scripts with Jenkins/any Build automation tools that automation scripts should run in CI region before the new code deployment. It will help in ensuring that new code change is safe or not.
- Automate Unit Tests, Integration tests, API Tests – These tests runs faster and help in identifying the defects early in the cycle.