Salesforce development testing refers to the process of verifying that any custom-built functionality meets the requirements and works as expected within the Salesforce environment before it’s released into a live environment.
Salesforce is a cloud-based platform with the ability to serve various business needs including marketing, sales, and customer service. Given that Salesforce is responsible for managing customer data for millions of businesses, maintaining high-quality code is critical. In this article, we’ll explore why Salesforce development testing is important and the best practices to ensure comprehensive testing to minimize the risk of failure.
Why Salesforce Development Testing is Important
Developing software is an iterative process that requires numerous modifications. Every development cycle introduces new lines of code that could potentially impact existing functionalities of the software. The change could range from minor visual changes to a critical system-level functionality effect. Any undetected error could cause a system disruption, leading to lost working hours, reputational damage, lost business, and legal implications.
Comprehensive Salesforce development testing helps identify these issues early on, before they escalate. It assures companies that their Salesforce applications are reliable, stable, and functional consistent with defined requirements. It also allows businesses to detect issues early and mitigate them adequately.
Best Practices for Comprehensive Salesforce Development Testing
Establish Clear Testing Requirements
Develop a checklist with a clear set of requirements that the Salesforce application should meet. The checklist should specify what to test, how to test and define the pass/fail criteria. Well-defined test requirements remove ambiguity and ensure clear direction for all the stakeholders involved in the development process.
Formulate a Comprehensive Testing Plan
Develop a testing plan that will cover all aspects of the Salesforce application, including functional, integration, performance, and security testing, and prepare a list of test cases. The test scenarios should include all possible scenarios such as the effects of changes on other functionalities, time to load, the impact of heavy user loads on the system, security vulnerabilities, etc.
Optimize Test Environments
The testing environment should be reflective of the live environment and should meet all test requirements. The test environment should be refreshed with a recent snapshot of production data on a regular basis to ensure that the testing reflects the current system behavior. Using different environments for each type of testing will help optimize the testing process and ensure comprehensive Salesforce development testing.
Automate Testing
Automating Salesforce development testing could help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the testing process. Automated testing ensures that repetitive testing activities are conducted consistently. Additionally, automated testing allows for faster feedback, enabling developers to fix errors at the earliest.
Task Allocation
Salesforce development testing is a time-consuming process and requires different skill sets. Allocating testing tasks to the development team removes the need for appointing a separate testing team and ensures accountability. Tasking developers with testing their code ensures greater ownership and alignment to the objectives of the testing process.
Salesforce development testing is an iterative, ongoing process that ensures developed applications meet their intended purpose while minimizing the risk of failure. It is essential to test all facets of developed Salesforce applications, including functional and non-functional modules to ascertain that they meet the set criteria.
Developing a comprehensive testing plan that outlines clear testing requirements is vital. Furthermore, optimizing test environments, automating testing, and task allocation can help streamline the testing process, enabling developers to create bug-free, reliable Salesforce applications that can operate as intended.