Technology has seen some drastic changes over the past decade with constant evolution of products.

The industry has undergone a few major disruptions, giving rise to different types of practices and approaches in the software industry. The experts in the industry are trying to adapt to these changes.

Computers and mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives. Right from ordering your favorite food to shop your favorite item, everything is possible with a click of the button.

This digital transformation has forced organizations to take compatibility testing seriously.

Quality assurance plays an indispensable role in identifying the bugs and defects within a product.

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It is not a wise decision to release any product in the market without assuring bug fixing or quality testing. To stay competitive in the market, the application or software you provide for your customers must be of top quality.

Now that, we know the importance of software testing, let’s focus on our topic for today, compatibility testing.

What is compatibility testing all about?

Compatibility testing contributes to be a form of testing by which it is possible to come up with a perfect software product that will function in a proper manner, regardless of the computing environment.

Compatibility testing is primarily classified into 6 categories which are software, operating system, mobile, browser, network, and hardware.

1. Compatibility testing is vital

It is a prerequisite to conduct compatibility testing for applications that will be used across devices.

Compatibility testing is recognized to be one of the Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs) which is provided along with the software project.

Most organizations fail to realize the importance of compatibility testing. Compatibility testing requirements has to be laid up front even before the project starts.

This helps in the delivery of the software without any hassles.

You will be surprised to know that there are times when a bunch of the projects goes on hold at the final step owing to incompatibility issues.

Hence, it is recommended to plan as well as figure out the requirements of the compatibility testing in addition to the functional requirement. This will result in developing a flawless product.

2. The backward and forward compatibility test

At the time of developing a product, every developer aims to develop an app that does not need replacement or upgradation every now and then.

This is not true in reality. Every person wants their application to go on for several years without making much upgradations. On the contrary, companies want to invent and upgrade their product to stay in the competition.

Let’s say, people are using an app for almost five years, they may encounter a bunch of compatibility issues. Such type of issues is more common in individuals who are using the older version of the phones.

Though an organization wants to be UpToDate in the latest trends, you don’t want to ignore your old and loyal customers.

Hence, it is recommended to draft the support for the application for the next and previous two generations in a computing environment for ensuring smooth and successful functioning.

3. Compatibility tests and agile goes together

People usually come to a conclusion that if your project is agile, then you don’t have to worry about compatibility tests.

This assumption is completely wrong. Compatibility testing has to be done irrespective of the type of project.

Test planning is dependent on many factors like the methodology preferred by the team, experience of the developer etc.

You can make use of scrum for the development of relevant compatibility tests, in accordance with the testing scope, indicating that it is essential to make plans beforehand and set up the required infrastructure.

The scrum scope has a direct impact on the range testing. Scopes of such testing are inclusive of user experience, peripheral software, system, and devices, compatibility with various databases and operating system, carrier compatibility, and hardware compatibility.

It is essential to take the decision regarding the compatibility test into the standalone cycle with an eye to making the usual test effort, which is dependent on the kind of organization, project, cost, time and other similar elements.

4. Prior to testing, it is essential to figure out the prerequisites of the testing level

A wide array of applications is used across the globe on an extensive scale.

The application is known to range from different web applications that are developed for the phone to different highly complex applications which are used for business or other similar purposes.

An app that is used by the employees working in an organization is different for people that make use of the application throughout the world.

Hence, it is essential to opt for a well-drafted plan for the conduction of compatibility testing with an eye to determining the vital issues that are encountered by the app.

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5. You need a fully equipped laboratory environment for compatibility testing

Compatibility testing is considered to be a complicated procedure. It is hard to tell which product will be used for the purpose of testing.

In accordance with the product a person is planning to use, it is necessary to involve setting up of environment that is used for the simulation of different end users’ options like servers, desktops, phones, laptops etc.

Compatibility testing stands out of the ordinary in conferring consistent experience and amazing performance across platforms to almost all users.