Welcome to my website!https://smartbear.com/blog/https://smartbear.com/blog/browserstack-vs-testcomplete/https://smartbear.com/blog/browserstack-vs-testcomplete/Every QA team carries a list of things it hasn’t gotten to yet, and that list tends to grow at about the same rate as the application portfolio. There are more tests to automate than there is time to write them, coverage that stops short of the applications nobody wants to touch, and workflows that Thu, 01 Oct 2026 16:07:58 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ai-code-confidence-paradox/https://smartbear.com/blog/ai-code-confidence-paradox/If you only read the headlines this year, you’d think AI makes shipping good software easier than ever. Yet, this was the year of very public AI-coding incidents. PocketOS’ production database deletion and a Vercel AI agent shipping unverified code are just two examples of AI-authored code shipped with confidence that turned out to be Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:07:35 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-absa-achieving-96-less-test-creation-time-with-smartbear-qmetry-and-smartbear-reflect/https://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-absa-achieving-96-less-test-creation-time-with-smartbear-qmetry-and-smartbear-reflect/At SmartBear, we’re dedicated to empowering teams by delivering application integrity: continuous, measurable assurance that their software works as intended, even as AI accelerates the SDLC. The AI Test Innovators Award: QMetry + Reflect celebrates customers who are using AI to reimagine how they create, maintain, and manage tests – without sacrificing rigor or reliability.  Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:33:02 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-test-management-tools-for-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-test-management-tools-for-jira/Test libraries that once felt instant can become harder to manage as they grow: test cases take longer to open, reports take longer to build, and every sprint adds more data to an already bloated Jira environment. That’s usually the moment when a testing leader starts evaluating whether the test management tool installed years ago Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:05:07 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-qa-oversight/https://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-qa-oversight/AI agents review code, triage incidents, summarize tickets, and draft documentation, and the industry has largely decided the help is worth having. Leadership is often pushing teams for AI productivity gains and many teams accept the mandate. The obstacle is what happens next: the agent works on the wrong thing, the time and money spent Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:58:31 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-test-management-tools-for-enterprises/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-test-management-tools-for-enterprises/Enterprise testing tools often fail at the same point: the testing setup that worked for one team starts straining under ten teams, multiple pipelines, and an audit request tied to the same release. The core question becomes where testing should live as complexity grows.  For some organizations, testing belongs inside Jira, where developers, product, and Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:11:29 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-at-ai-speed-we-built-a-drift-detection-capability-then-used-it-on-ourselves/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-at-ai-speed-we-built-a-drift-detection-capability-then-used-it-on-ourselves/Our development outpaced our ability to test it, as generative AI sped up how quickly we could ship code. Releases were shipping faster than our existing test suite could keep it honest. So, we looked in-house first. That’s how we landed on the drift detection capability inside SmartBear Swagger Contract Testing, and once we saw Tue, 08 Sep 2026 18:52:14 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/coverage-gap-detection-zephyr-agent-rovo/https://smartbear.com/blog/coverage-gap-detection-zephyr-agent-rovo/AI has changed how fast testing teams can move, yet sorting through duplicate test cases still trips teams up. Ask the SmartBear Zephyr Agent for Rovo to generate test cases for a requirement, and coverage that used to take an afternoon comes back in a single conversation. That speed is a genuine win for teams building faster than ever, but as AI generates more test coverage, Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:52:21 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ai-testing-governance-gap/https://smartbear.com/blog/ai-testing-governance-gap/Article Summary: Most teams have adopted AI coding tools, but testing is still manual, so the speed gain rarely survives to release. This post covers why that gap forms, how your team can maintain application integrity, and how QMetry’s AI features, from fast test creation to a Release Readiness Advisor, connect coverage, risk, and release Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:38:31 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/turn-every-spec-change-to-a-green-test-a-step-by-step-guide-to-ai-assisted-api-test-sync/https://smartbear.com/blog/turn-every-spec-change-to-a-green-test-a-step-by-step-guide-to-ai-assisted-api-test-sync/Imagine this scenario: your engineering team just pushed a spec update. A field was removed, an endpoint renamed, a new required parameter appeared on the payments API. Nobody told QA. Three days later, your regression suite lights up red across a dozen tests that have nothing to do with the actual bug. They’re failing simply Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:42:28 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/qmetry-vs-opentext-alm-regulated-qa/https://smartbear.com/blog/qmetry-vs-opentext-alm-regulated-qa/Regulated QA teams carry a pressure most testing platforms weren’t built to solve for at the same time. Every release still needs traceability from requirement to test case to defect that holds up under audit. Approvals and evidence still need to be airtight. At the same time, agile releases, DevOps pipelines, and AI-assisted development keep Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:50:20 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-mcp-server-zephyr/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-mcp-server-zephyr/Your SmartBear Zephyr test data holds the answers you need before you ship: what’s covered, what passed, where the risk sits. That data has always lived one context switch away, behind the Jira UI. The SmartBear MCP Server changes that. It brings your Zephyr test data into any MCP-compatible AI client, so quality keeps pace with how fast your team builds. This Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:16:51 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/qmetry-vs-testrail-which-is-better-for-enterprise-qa-teams/https://smartbear.com/blog/qmetry-vs-testrail-which-is-better-for-enterprise-qa-teams/Choosing an enterprise test management platform is an architecture decision, not just a feature checklist. That choice comes down to how the platform stores data, how deeply testing connects to development, how far reporting and traceability extend, and how much the platform can absorb as testing volume, automation, and compliance requirements grow.  SmartBear QMetry and Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:47:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/reduce-api-governance-fragmentation-with-smartbear-swagger-now-fluent-in-multiple-protocols/https://smartbear.com/blog/reduce-api-governance-fragmentation-with-smartbear-swagger-now-fluent-in-multiple-protocols/Update — September 2026: Since this post published, Swagger Contract Testing’s drift capability expanded to cover AsyncAPI, gRPC, and MCP. The post below described AsyncAPI support in the context of Bi-Directional Contract Testing (BDCT). Drift now extends that same to AsyncAPI operations directly, plus new coverage for gRPC services (protobuf payloads) and MCP servers, closing Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:17:38 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/one-interface-for-api-contracts-test-coverage-and-production-signal-build-ai-quality-workflows-with-the-smartbear-mcp-server-on-amazon-bedrock-agentcore/https://smartbear.com/blog/one-interface-for-api-contracts-test-coverage-and-production-signal-build-ai-quality-workflows-with-the-smartbear-mcp-server-on-amazon-bedrock-agentcore/A collaboration between SmartBear and AWS, by Matt Bonner (SmartBear), Carl Luo (AWS), and Perminder Singh (AWS) For decades, the software development lifecycle (SDLC) gave engineering teams a common framework. Requirements became designs. Designs became code. Teams tested, deployed, monitored, and improved it. Building AI-powered software is different. Modern AI applications combine APIs, models, agents, retrieval systems, and orchestration layers. These Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:22:57 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/practice-what-you-pact-catch-breaking-api-changes-before-production-in-the-smartbear-mcp/https://smartbear.com/blog/practice-what-you-pact-catch-breaking-api-changes-before-production-in-the-smartbear-mcp/There’s something satisfying about contract testing the contract-testing tool. The SmartBear MCP Server is the integration layer between AI coding assistants and the PactFlow API, so when we decided it needed Pact consumer tests of its own, we were subjecting our own code to the same standards that we recommend.  The motivation was straightforward: when Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:20:58 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-mobile-gap-vision-based-testing-catches-what-code-reviews-miss/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-mobile-gap-vision-based-testing-catches-what-code-reviews-miss/The pull request looked perfect. Two approvals, clean diff, all checks green. The team shipped it Thursday afternoon.  By Friday morning, support tickets were coming in. On a popular mid-range Android device, the new checkout button rendered behind a promotional banner: visually present but physically untappable. Every reviewer read that code, yet none of them could have caught it, because the defect Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:25:16 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bearq-wins-2026-crn-tech-innovator-award/https://smartbear.com/blog/bearq-wins-2026-crn-tech-innovator-award/SmartBear BearQ™, an agentic QA system, has won a 2026 CRN® Tech Innovator Award. CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, named BearQ a winner in the Application Development and DevOps category, calling it out among the most innovative technologies shaping the IT channel this year.  AI has changed how fast software gets built, but for Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-testing-for-agent-driven-code-smartbear-readyapi-mcp-for-claude-copilot-cursor-and-compatible-agents/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-testing-for-agent-driven-code-smartbear-readyapi-mcp-for-claude-copilot-cursor-and-compatible-agents/When code moves at agent speed, testing can’t stay manual  Key takeaway: When code moves at AI speed and testing stays manual, the widening gap between a code change and its test coverage becomes your biggest quality risk. SmartBear ReadyAPI MCP reduces that gap by letting you generate, run, and heal API tests in plain Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:20:55 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/choosing-the-best-alternative-to-microsoft-rsat-for-dynamics-365-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/choosing-the-best-alternative-to-microsoft-rsat-for-dynamics-365-testing/Microsoft has set an end-of-support date for the Regression Suite Automation Tool (RSAT). After May 15, 2027, Microsoft will stop shipping bug fixes, security patches, and feature updates for RSAT. For teams looking to advance their testing for Dynamics 365, this change presents an opportunity to incorporate AI and agents into their workflows. With the right tools, teams can create tests faster Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:37:05 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-qa-cuts-test-maintenance-tax/https://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-qa-cuts-test-maintenance-tax/Every QA budget has a line item for building test coverage, but 30–50% of that automation budget ends up spent on maintenance instead of new tests. That disparity stays invisible until a release goes out, the application shifts underneath the tests, and the QA team spends the next three days rewriting broken scripts instead of finding new bugs. This leaves testers facing a wall of failures and brittle scripts that quickly compound into a test maintenance tax: a tax on their Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:11:03 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-the-smartbear-zephyr-agent-for-rovo-ai-testing-in-jira-explained/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-the-smartbear-zephyr-agent-for-rovo-ai-testing-in-jira-explained/AI can now handle the slowest parts of test management, inside Jira. – The Zephyr Agent for Rovo creates test cases and links them to your work items, in the projects where your team already plans and builds. This guide covers how testing is changing in the AI age, what the agent is, where to find it, and how to run your Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:14:08 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-definition-native-ai-testing-support-faster-confident-shipping-with-your-existing-swagger-and-openapi-specification/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-definition-native-ai-testing-support-faster-confident-shipping-with-your-existing-swagger-and-openapi-specification/APIs are the backbone of modern software. They connect microservices, power mobile experiences, and make integrations possible across industries.  For all their importance, API testing remains one of the most fragmented, manual, and maintenance-heavy parts of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). So as development accelerates in an AI-disrupted SDLC, application integrity – continuous, measurable assurance Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:23:21 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-traditional-test-metrics-arent-enough-in-the-ai-era/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-traditional-test-metrics-arent-enough-in-the-ai-era/Most QA teams already track the basic metrics: how many tests ran, how many passed, how much coverage exists, and how many defects turned up. Those numbers still matter, and engineering leaders will keep asking for them. The real challenge is turning those numbers into decisions, and that gets harder as AI-assisted development speeds up Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:14:09 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-smartbears-aws-ai-software-competency-means-for-software-teams/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-smartbears-aws-ai-software-competency-means-for-software-teams/AI is changing how software gets built. That raises the bar for every team responsible for keeping it working. SmartBear has been developing AI capabilities across the entire quality lifecycle that help teams deliver software they trust will work at AI speed and scale.  Today, SmartBear announced it has achieved AWS AI Software Competency status in the Agentic AI category through the AWS Partner program. The designation recognizes Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:35:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/swagger-meeting-you-where-you-work/https://smartbear.com/blog/swagger-meeting-you-where-you-work/Some approaches to API governance interrupt developers mid-flow, forcing them to context-switch into a separate tool and manually verify their API definition before they can ship. That approach has never really worked. Not because developers don’t care about quality, they do, but because the best time to fix an API is the moment you’re already Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:40:40 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/enterprise-test-management-build-vs-buy-ai/https://smartbear.com/blog/enterprise-test-management-build-vs-buy-ai/AI has opened the door for teams to build tools they previously had to buy. With the right prompts and internal workflows, teams can generate test cases, summarize results, analyze defects, and automate parts of the testing process faster than ever. For enterprise QA and engineering leaders, that raises a practical question: “should we build Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:22:11 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-uipath-choosing-the-right-automation-platform-for-your-team/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-uipath-choosing-the-right-automation-platform-for-your-team/Choosing a test automation platform is a decision that compounds over time. The tool your team adopts today shapes what you can test, where you can deploy, how fast you can scale, and what your QA budget looks like in three years. For engineering and QA teams evaluating SmartBear TestComplete against UiPath Agentic Testing, this guide breaks down Mon, 06 Jul 2026 20:18:28 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ai-coding-tools-and-api-governance/https://smartbear.com/blog/ai-coding-tools-and-api-governance/GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Cursor have become genuine superpowers for API development. They draft OpenAPI definitions, generate endpoints, propose schema changes, and write test cases — all from inside the IDE, in real time. Teams using these tools are generating API definitions faster than most thought possible even a few years ago.  That velocity is Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:46:24 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/signs-your-automation-suite-is-costing-you/https://smartbear.com/blog/signs-your-automation-suite-is-costing-you/An automation suite that’s losing ground rarely makes it obvious. Coverage numbers look reasonable. Tests are running. The CI pipeline is green more often than not. Meanwhile, the team is quietly working around what isn’t working – rerunning tests until they pass, deferring maintenance, or accepting a regression window that’s wider than it should be.  Those workarounds can feel normal. They aren’t. They’re symptoms of a strategy that Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:33:36 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/mobile-testing-reimagined-how-reflects-mobile-testing-changes-qa/https://smartbear.com/blog/mobile-testing-reimagined-how-reflects-mobile-testing-changes-qa/Mobile application users expect flawless experiences on every device, every OS version, and every screen size, and they have little patience for anything less. Yet for QA teams, achieving that level of coverage traditionally means wrestling with brittle automation scripts, complex Appium setups, and endless device fragmentation. Even after all this manual effort, your mobile Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:20:55 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-your-automated-ui-tests-keep-breaking/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-your-automated-ui-tests-keep-breaking/Automated test suites tend to follow the same arc. The suite works well until the application changes and a block of tests fails. Someone fixes them. The application changes again. At some point, the work of keeping tests current starts consuming the time that should go toward coverage decisions, risk assessment, and the testing work that requires human judgment.  The instinct is to look for the Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:43:32 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automated-testing-vs-autonomous-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/automated-testing-vs-autonomous-testing/Autonomous testing is one of the most talked about developments in software quality right now. It shows up in analyst reports, vendor pitches, conference talks, and job descriptions – often in the same breath as automated testing. Most of those conversations treat the two as interchangeable, or worse, position autonomous testing as simply a smarter, more advanced version Thu, 25 Jun 2026 19:11:28 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-in-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-in-test-automation/Will AI replace automated testing? Likely no. But it can help! Learn how to leverage AI into your test automation and increase your team’s efficiency. Thu, 25 Jun 2026 18:59:11 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-reflect/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-reflect/Not every test automation problem looks the same. A team maintaining complex desktop applications in a controlled financial services environment has different automation needs than a team shipping web and mobile updates every two weeks. The application, the environment, and the people creating tests all shape what “good automation” has to do.  SmartBear TestComplete and SmartBear Reflect map to different automation realities. TestComplete gives teams secure and local testing across Wed, 24 Jun 2026 16:14:52 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/cocc-transformation-qmetry-reflect/https://smartbear.com/blog/cocc-transformation-qmetry-reflect/Watch the full video interview below to hear directly from COCC’s QA team about their move to QMetry and Reflect. COCC – a leading technology provider for community banks and credit unions – has been a SmartBear customer for years. Their QA organization relied on SmartBear Zephyr Enterprise as its test management foundation, and it served them well. So when they Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:30:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/white-label-api-portal-authentication-with-your-own-idp/https://smartbear.com/blog/white-label-api-portal-authentication-with-your-own-idp/For teams building APIs as products, the developer portal is the front door to your business. It’s where partners discover your endpoints, where customers authenticate and start integrating, and where the quality of the experience directly shapes adoption.   Now that changes. Today we’re announcing Portal IdP, a new capability in SmartBear Swagger Portal that lets you authenticate external consumers through your own identity provider, delivering a Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:29:30 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/first-look-agents-are-coming-to-smartbear-products/https://smartbear.com/blog/first-look-agents-are-coming-to-smartbear-products/AI is accelerating how teams build and ship software, but validating quality is getting harder, not easier. More AI-generated code means more to test, more API drift to catch, and more documentation that falls behind. The work is growing faster than teams can keep up.  Earlier this year, we introduced our vision for application integrity: continuous, measurable assurance that Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:41:49 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/building-confidence-across-apis-and-ai-agents-with-the-swagger-contract-kiro-power/https://smartbear.com/blog/building-confidence-across-apis-and-ai-agents-with-the-swagger-contract-kiro-power/There is a specific kind of confidence that comes with deploying software. Not just “the tests passed” confidence, but the kind that comes from knowing the services your application depends on still behave the way you expect them to. Preserving that integrity becomes harder as systems grow, teams move faster, and AI agents become active Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:50:43 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-testcompletes-vision-ai-supports-complex-ui-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-testcompletes-vision-ai-supports-complex-ui-test-automation/When we talk to testing teams at enterprise organizations, we hear the same frustrations repeatedly: “Our automation breaks every time the UI changes.” “We can’t test this application because it doesn’t expose accessible properties.” “We spend more time maintaining tests than creating new ones.” These scenarios block test automation adoption for the teams that need Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/atlassian-team-26-recap-zephyr-rovo/https://smartbear.com/blog/atlassian-team-26-recap-zephyr-rovo/For everyone in QA inside the Atlassian ecosystem, the last few months have made one shift obvious. AI is changing how software gets built, and the quality function must change with it.  That was the throughline of Atlassian Team ’26 in Anaheim earlier this month. Atlassian is restructuring its platform and ecosystem strategy around AI-enabled workflows powered Tue, 26 May 2026 17:41:43 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-scale-ai-test-automation-without-losing-test-visibility/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-scale-ai-test-automation-without-losing-test-visibility/The challenge: Software integrity at AI speed  According to SmartBear’s Closing the AI Software Quality Gap study, 93% of teams are already using AI to generate code. The same study found that 60% expect AI to produce nearly half of all code within the next year. This shift in development velocity is already impacting software testing and quality. Most teams say application quality is suffering, and 60% have experienced quality issues Wed, 20 May 2026 11:39:09 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/closing-the-api-testing-gap-ai-test-generation/https://smartbear.com/blog/closing-the-api-testing-gap-ai-test-generation/The uncomfortable truth about AI and software quality  While AI accelerates development velocity by a factor of ten, a critical consequence remains: testing hasn’t kept pace.   According to SmartBear research, 70% of software professionals report that their application quality has already degraded due to AI-accelerated development. Even more concerning, 60% have experienced quality issues in the past year as development velocity outstrips testing capacity. This isn’t a future problem we need to prepare for – it’s a present gap that’s accumulating technical and business debt with Mon, 18 May 2026 08:05:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-tata-is-advancing-ai-driven-api-innovation-with-smartbear-swagger/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-tata-is-advancing-ai-driven-api-innovation-with-smartbear-swagger/At SmartBear, we’re seeing a shift in how teams design, build, and evolve APIs – faster, more intelligent, and increasingly powered by AI. Today, we’re proud to recognize A. Singh, senior developer from Tata Consultancy Services, as a winner of the AI Builders Award for Swagger. His work shows how teams can move beyond experimentation Wed, 13 May 2026 12:45:25 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-rovo-zephyr-ai-quality-intelligence-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-rovo-zephyr-ai-quality-intelligence-jira/Tackling the release readiness question  Most teams working inside the Atlassian ecosystem know the routine: check test coverage in Zephyr, cross-reference requirements in Jira, pull execution reports from a separate layer, and try to build a coherent picture of where things stand before a release.   Evaluating release readiness, when your data is siloed, can feel Tue, 05 May 2026 16:33:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/reflect-vs-playwright-choosing-the-right-test-automation-approach/https://smartbear.com/blog/reflect-vs-playwright-choosing-the-right-test-automation-approach/Organizations with AI mandates face a fundamental choice in test automation: adopt AI-native testing tools like SmartBear Reflect or use AI coding tools to accelerate adoption of code-based frameworks like Playwright.  Reflect is a cloud-based, no-code test automation platform built around accessibility and speed. Playwright is Microsoft’s open-source, code-based testing framework built for flexibility and engineering control. While both Mon, 04 May 2026 12:57:30 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/git-review-for-testcomplete-projects/https://smartbear.com/blog/git-review-for-testcomplete-projects/Teams using TestComplete face a common problem: one small test change can produce a wide set of modified files, and not all of them deserve the same level of scrutiny. The fix is not to review everything equally – it is to classify TestComplete artifacts by risk, then standardize how your team reviews, stages, and Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:52:25 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-bearq-faqs/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-bearq-faqs/Testing software at scale has always been a race against change. Then, AI-coding turned what was once a challenge into a crisis: rapid development cycles accelerated by AI have made it impossible to maintain comprehensive test coverage and catch issues before they impact users. In SmartBear’s Closing the AI Software Quality Gap Study, 60% of software experts told us they experienced quality issues as development outpaces testing. This number will only increase as Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:46:30 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-software-testing-tool-comparison/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-software-testing-tool-comparison/AI-accelerated development has fundamentally changed how software is built, and across the industry, its impact on quality is already measurable. In SmartBear’s Closing the AI software quality gap study, we found nearly 70% of software professionals report application quality is declining as AI speeds up code generation, with development velocity increasingly outpacing teams’ ability to test effectively.  This is not Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:19:38 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/modern-api-testing-challenges/https://smartbear.com/blog/modern-api-testing-challenges/Modern API testing challenges  The testing disconnect undermining API quality  In 2026, APIs have moved far beyond simple integration points. They’re now strategic business assets powering AI transformation, microservices architectures, and multi-cloud ecosystems. But a critical challenge threatens to undermine digital initiatives: the fragmentation of API testing. As organizations rush to deliver faster, they’re discovering that their testing infrastructure – cobbled together from disparate tools and disconnected processes – has become the bottleneck.  Challenges throughout the API testing lifecycle  API Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:52:48 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testers-guide-to-digital-transformation-why-robust-object-recognition-matters/https://smartbear.com/blog/testers-guide-to-digital-transformation-why-robust-object-recognition-matters/Digital transformation rarely happens in a clean, technical environment. Most organizations aren’t starting from a blank slate – you’re operating across a mix of legacy desktop applications, internal web systems, custom-built interfaces, and business-critical workflows that must remain stable while modernization continues around them.  The central challenge is whether that automation can remain reliable as underlying technologies evolve. Framework updates, UI refactoring, component replacement, and platform Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:08:34 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-quiet-crisis-in-software-quality-and-what-autonomous-testing-changes/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-quiet-crisis-in-software-quality-and-what-autonomous-testing-changes/There’s a tension building inside most engineering organizations right now, and not many people are talking about it openly. AI has given development teams an extraordinary gift: the ability to build faster than ever before. Features that once took days can be prototyped in hours. Applications that required large teams can now be scaffolded by Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:27:18 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-test-creation-with-reflect/https://smartbear.com/blog/agentic-test-creation-with-reflect/If you’ve used Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Amazon Kiro, or any coding agent, you already know the feeling. You describe what you want in plain language, the agent figures out the steps, and you watch it work. When something goes wrong, it backs up and tries a different approach. SmartBear Reflect now brings that same Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:26:43 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/advanced-object-recognition-for-enterprises/https://smartbear.com/blog/advanced-object-recognition-for-enterprises/What is object recognition in test automation?  Object recognition is the capability of test automation tools to identify, locate, and interact with user interface elements within an application under test. It serves as the bridge between automated test scripts and the visual elements that end users see, enabling tests to accurately simulate user actions and validate application behavior.  How object recognition works in test automation  Modern object recognition Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:17:51 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/application-integrity-the-new-standard-for-ai-era-software-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/application-integrity-the-new-standard-for-ai-era-software-quality/Over the past few years, we’ve watched coding velocity accelerate at an extraordinary pace. AI has completely disrupted how developers build software. Agentic tools can now generate clean code faster than ever before. While AI has turbocharged code generation, code review, and code-level testing, it’s created a massive strain on the rest of the software Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:31:30 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-ai-test-automation-tools/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-ai-test-automation-tools/Key takeaways:   Why traditional test automation is holding your team back  The promise of test automation was simple: automate repetitive testing tasks, catch bugs faster, and ship quality software at scale. Yet for most development teams, that promise remains unfulfilled. Traditional test automation frameworks demand specialized coding skills, require constant maintenance when applications change, and create bottlenecks Thu, 12 Mar 2026 09:43:53 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/reflect-vs-accelq-ai-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/reflect-vs-accelq-ai-test-automation/If you’re shipping multiple releases weekly and your team is drowning in test maintenance, you’ve likely discovered the painful truth about traditional automation: code-heavy frameworks break faster than your developers can ship features. Every CSS class rename triggers test failures. Every component refactoring creates maintenance sprints. Your team spends 60% of QA capacity fixing broken selectors instead of catching real bugs, and Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:43:57 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-zephyr-and-xray/https://smartbear.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-zephyr-and-xray/A guide to Jira-native test management tools  When choosing the best test management solution for your team, there are a lot of options and decisions to make. What are your current testing needs, and what will you need in the future? Do you want a standalone solution, or something native to Jira?  When you’re comparing capabilities, it can be Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:04:17 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/adopting-ai-in-regulated-industries/https://smartbear.com/blog/adopting-ai-in-regulated-industries/Key Takeaway: Organizations in regulated industries can adopt AI without compromising compliance. Automated testing enables continuous validation of AI-enabled systems while maintaining the predictability, documentation, and audit-readiness that regulators require.  In compliance-first industries, such as banking, healthcare, or telecommunications, AI adoption is rarely a simple technology decision. You are often caught between two competing pressures. On one side, there’s growing urgency to adopt AI to improve Wed, 25 Feb 2026 15:12:05 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/readyapi-vs-postman-enterprise-api-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/readyapi-vs-postman-enterprise-api-testing/Enterprise API teams rarely struggle with a lack of tools. They struggle with fragmented toolchains that promise agility but deliver chaos. According to IBM Systems Sciences Institute research, late-stage defects can cost up to ten times more to fix than early detection, while industry analysts report that tool sprawl can waste up to 30% of software expenses through redundant licensing and operational overhead. Manual processes create release Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:59:32 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-api-testing-tools-enterprise-teams/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-api-testing-tools-enterprise-teams/Enterprise development teams face mounting pressure to deliver secure, performant APIs while managing complex distributed architectures, strict compliance requirements, and accelerating release cycles. The API testing platform an organization chooses directly affects product quality, team velocity, and regulatory risk. Functional validation, security testing, performance testing, and CI/CD integration must all scale across global teams without Fri, 20 Feb 2026 10:40:06 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/celebrating-datalex-setting-the-standard-for-developer-visibility-in-api-first-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/celebrating-datalex-setting-the-standard-for-developer-visibility-in-api-first-development/At SmartBear, we recognize organizations that improve software quality by increasing clarity, alignment, and confidence across the development lifecycle with the Developer Visibility Award. For 2025, the award goes to Datalex, a leading airline e-commerce solutions provider. Datalex equips airlines with API-driven platforms that provide tools for driving revenue and profit as digital retailers. This award recognizes Datalex’s demonstration of how enhanced developer visibility enables scalable modernization and Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-next-evolution-in-qa-how-ai-is-changing-software-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-next-evolution-in-qa-how-ai-is-changing-software-testing/The balancing act: Speed vs. quality Shipping high-quality software quickly is challenging. QA professionals are facing pressure to test more, faster in a world where GenAI is pushing delivery – all while trying to cut costs.   For years, manual testing and traditional automation tools like Selenium have been the standard. But both come with challenges. Manual testing Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:46:01 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-automated-testing-tools-enterprise-scalability/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-automated-testing-tools-enterprise-scalability/Scaling test automation from hundreds to thousands of tests introduces challenges underestimate. Maintenance overhead compounds as UI changes ripple through test suites. Parallel execution becomes essential but complex to orchestrate. Enterprise applications like SAP, Salesforce, and Oracle demand specialized testing approaches. Meanwhile, governance requirements, CI/CD integration needs, and the sheer diversity of platforms under test Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:41:20 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-tricentis-tosca-vs-ranorex-ai-powered-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-vs-tricentis-tosca-vs-ranorex-ai-powered-test-automation/AI is reshaping test automation fundamentals. Features that once required hours of manual scripting can now adapt automatically to UI changes, generate realistic test data on demand, and help teams predict which tests matter most. For QA engineers evaluating automation platforms, understanding how AI capabilities differ has become essential.  This comparison examines SmartBear TestComplete, Tricentis Tosca, and Ranorex Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:25:47 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-top-10-challenges-with-mobile-testing-and-how-to-solve-them/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-top-10-challenges-with-mobile-testing-and-how-to-solve-them/From shopping and food delivery to banking and fitness, mobile users everywhere expect smooth, fast, and bug-free experiences. Behind every efficient mobile app is a team of testers working hard to make that happen – and if you’re one of them, you know it’s no easy task.  Mobile testing isn’t just about checking whether a Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:41:50 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-regulatory-organizations-can-modernize-api-testing-without-compromising-compliance/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-regulatory-organizations-can-modernize-api-testing-without-compromising-compliance/Picture this scenario: Your organization is three days away from a critical compliance audit. The auditors have requested comprehensive documentation of your API testing processes, including security testing results, change management logs, and validation records. As you and your QA team scramble to compile reports from multiple tools and spreadsheets, a sinking realization sets in. Tue, 13 Jan 2026 04:18:52 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/swagger-in-2025-accelerating-the-journey-to-ai-ready-api-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/swagger-in-2025-accelerating-the-journey-to-ai-ready-api-quality/2025 underscored a simple reality: APIs are now expected to serve both human developers and intelligent systems, and the tools supporting those APIs must evolve just as quickly. Major cloud providers (OpenAI, Google Cloud, Azure, AWS, Hugging Face, Cohere, etc.) now earn significant revenue by exposing their capabilities via APIs, which are then chained by other AI systems Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:14:27 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/2025-for-readyapi-a-look-back-to-the-year-of-scale-and-innovation/https://smartbear.com/blog/2025-for-readyapi-a-look-back-to-the-year-of-scale-and-innovation/As we close the books on 2025, for many organizations, APIs became more than technical plumbing, they evolved into strategic assets that determine competitive advantage, customer experience, and operational resilience. ReadyAPI’s evolution in 2025 wasn’t just about adding features – it was about fundamentally transforming how enterprise teams approach API quality, speed, and scale.   The Year We Made API Testing Faster, Smarter, and Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:24:41 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-quality-signals-connecting-jira-zephyr-and-bugsnag-for-risk-based-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-quality-signals-connecting-jira-zephyr-and-bugsnag-for-risk-based-testing/Engineering teams want to understand the real health of their applications – not just what was planned or what was tested, but what is actually happening in production. The challenge is that these signals live in different systems, each optimized for a specific part of the delivery lifecycle. Test execution data, issue tracking, and production monitoring each describe a Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:02:09 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-the-api-sdlc-with-smartbear-mcp-server-and-swagger-mcp-tools/https://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-the-api-sdlc-with-smartbear-mcp-server-and-swagger-mcp-tools/A practical, end-to-end walkthrough of using SmartBear MCP Server and Swagger MCP Tools to create, manage, and publish APIs efficiently. Wed, 17 Dec 2025 08:30:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automating-pdf-testing-from-manual-checks-to-comprehensive-validation/https://smartbear.com/blog/automating-pdf-testing-from-manual-checks-to-comprehensive-validation/PDF documents play a critical role in various industries, serving as the final output for customer-facing documents such as invoices, contracts, and compliance reports. However, testing these documents poses significant challenges due to their complex nature, which includes mixed content, dynamic data, and strict formatting requirements. Manual testing of PDFs is not only time-consuming but Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:00:06 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/engineering-the-path-to-autonomous-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/engineering-the-path-to-autonomous-quality/AI that acts, adapts, and delivers in ensuring reliable software  AI has rewritten the rules of software development. Developers can now generate, fix, and ship code in seconds. This is transformative, but as shared by SmartBear CEO Dan Faulkner, “The tools that help us build software are advancing much faster than the tools that ensure we Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:43:06 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-smartbear-ai-labs-imagining-the-future-of-software-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-smartbear-ai-labs-imagining-the-future-of-software-quality/The SmartBear community is made up of curious, collaborative builders. They’re developers, testers, creators, and innovators who every day are experimenting with new technologies, customizing workflows, and solving complex problems.    That spirit of curiosity and collaboration is what inspired SmartBear AI Labs, our AI innovation program where customers and partners can work directly with SmartBear to explore new AI-driven technologies, gain early access to emerging tools, and help shape the future of software Tue, 18 Nov 2025 12:10:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/cloud-first-ai-powered-test-automation-in-sap-cloud-alm/https://smartbear.com/blog/cloud-first-ai-powered-test-automation-in-sap-cloud-alm/SmartBear participated in and won first prize at the ALMathon, the annual hackathon for SAP Partners. The challenge: Create innovative use cases to extend SAP Cloud ALM. So, we integrated SmartBear Reflect, our AI-powered test automation product, into SAP Cloud ALM to enable users to automate their manual testing process.   The urgent need for test Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:13:07 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-non-code-based-testing-must-become-more-autonomous/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-non-code-based-testing-must-become-more-autonomous/As coding has become more autonomous, so has code-based testing. AI agents can now write functions, generate code-based tests, and validate logic in the same workflow. But the other half of the testing equation, the system-level validation of non-code-based testing, hasn’t kept up.   That disconnect is becoming one of the most critical constraints in modern Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:56:08 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/building-ecosystems-for-humans-and-agents-the-new-consumer-of-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/building-ecosystems-for-humans-and-agents-the-new-consumer-of-apis/For years, APIs have been designed with one primary audience in mind: developers. The focus has been on making APIs discoverable, consistent, and easy for humans to consume. But in the AI era, a new audience has arrived: AI agents. As detailed in SmartBear’s newly published AI-Enabled API Lifecycle Report, this shift demands that organizations Thu, 06 Nov 2025 08:38:11 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/driving-innovation-with-the-smartbear-mcp-hackathon/https://smartbear.com/blog/driving-innovation-with-the-smartbear-mcp-hackathon/At SmartBear, innovation is not a side project. It is a mindset. In October, we hosted our first Model Context Protocol (MCP) Hackathon. An internal initiative designed to ignite creativity and hands-on experimentation across our global engineering teams.  We released our SmartBear MCP Server earlier this year, giving teams a practical foundation for experimenting with Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:10:32 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-telus-a-pioneer-in-ai-driven-quality-engineering/https://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-telus-a-pioneer-in-ai-driven-quality-engineering/At SmartBear, we’re dedicated to empowering teams to deliver exceptional software quality through innovation and technology. The AI Innovation Award celebrates customers who are boldly innovating in AI implementation across the SDLC, while still maintaining quality in the software and experiences they deliver to their customers.   TELUS, a Canadian technology and communications company, stands out Thu, 30 Oct 2025 12:15:17 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-ai-is-levelling-the-api-governance-playing-field/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-ai-is-levelling-the-api-governance-playing-field/‘API governance’ can sound like an intimidating concept. When I started as a solutions engineer at SmartBear in 2018, it took me a while to wrap my head around what exactly API governance entails and even longer to be able to explain it clearly and simply to our customers.  The good news is that it’s not as complicated as it Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:02:46 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-testing-how-bfsi-companies-can-have-more-control-on-roi/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-testing-how-bfsi-companies-can-have-more-control-on-roi/How is the API-first Banking Impetus Evolving?  The financial services industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation. API-led banking is taking a more definite shape with more than 50% banks actively deploying APIs to support open banking frameworks and fintech collaboration. From centuries-old institutions to cutting-edge fintech challengers, financial organizations are embracing API-first architectures to deliver Fri, 24 Oct 2025 05:12:19 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/levels-of-autonomy-in-software-development-closing-the-gap-between-creation-and-confidence/https://smartbear.com/blog/levels-of-autonomy-in-software-development-closing-the-gap-between-creation-and-confidence/When the automotive industry introduced the concept of Levels of Autonomy, it gave us a shared language for something profound. It wasn’t just about self-driving cars, it was about how humans and intelligent systems work together as execution gradually shifts from one participant to the other.  Level 0 is full human control. Level 5 means Tue, 21 Oct 2025 14:45:47 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-recognized-as-a-visionary-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-api-management/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-recognized-as-a-visionary-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-api-management/We’re proud to share that Gartner has recognized SmartBear as a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for API Management. We believe this recognition reflects our dedication to API development teams and to delivering practical solutions that drive excellence.   APIs are essential, allowing businesses to move faster, integrate easily, and deliver the best experiences Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:14:46 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bridging-the-gap-between-reliable-apis-and-unpredictable-ai/https://smartbear.com/blog/bridging-the-gap-between-reliable-apis-and-unpredictable-ai/APIs and AI are on a collision course. For decades, APIs have been the foundation of digital reliability: deterministic systems where you send a request, get a predictable response, and trust that what’s defined is what will happen. AI doesn’t play by those rules. Large language models and AI agents operate in probabilities. They don’t Thu, 16 Oct 2025 10:51:05 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-bdd-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-bdd-testing/The term “Behavior Driven Development”, or BDD, is an umbrella term for a wide variety of techniques. The general principles of BDD include reframing tests as descriptions of system behavior – “when I do one thing, I should see this result”. Historically, those descriptions were the output of a computer program. Over time, the uses Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:32:27 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-named-a-challenger-in-the-first-ever-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-ai-augmented-software-testing-tools/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-named-a-challenger-in-the-first-ever-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-ai-augmented-software-testing-tools/For decades, testing was about ensuring predictable outcomes in mostly static environments. Today, AI-driven applications are dynamic, adaptive, and sometimes unpredictable. That raises the stakes for quality engineering.  When Gartner rolls out a brand-new Magic Quadrant, it’s a big deal to those of us in the software industry. We believe it signifies a new, innovative Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:05:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/unifying-api-and-ui-testing-with-readyapi-and-testcomplete-to-maximize-product-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/unifying-api-and-ui-testing-with-readyapi-and-testcomplete-to-maximize-product-quality/The world is filled with products and services that power our everyday lives. As consumers, we all appreciate the benefits of a great product. But think back to the last time you used an app or website that was slow to load or failed to open. Experiences like that can leave a lasting negative impression Thu, 25 Sep 2025 03:37:37 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-orchestrate-testing-with-the-smartbear-mcp-server/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-orchestrate-testing-with-the-smartbear-mcp-server/Managing a large suite of automated tests, especially across multiple tools, can be overwhelming. The SmartBear MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server centralizes orchestration, monitoring, and prioritization so you can keep pipelines fast, reliable, and easy to manage.  The demo video below shows MCP in action, and the sections that follow explain how each capability can Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:05:55 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/your-apis-biggest-customer-isnt-human-preparing-for-the-agent-economy/https://smartbear.com/blog/your-apis-biggest-customer-isnt-human-preparing-for-the-agent-economy/The shift is already happening. Over the past few years, you’ve invested resources in optimizing your APIs for human developers. Meanwhile, a new class of customers has quietly emerged – one that never takes coffee breaks, never sleeps, and processes information at superhuman speeds. AI agents are rapidly becoming the primary consumers of APIs, and Fri, 12 Sep 2025 12:29:11 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ui-automation-why-try-try-again-is-your-mantra/https://smartbear.com/blog/ui-automation-why-try-try-again-is-your-mantra/Over the weekend, I was looking to book flights for holidays. All excited, I was able to find a decent price for my family to head for some sunshine later this summer. I reached the payment stage, and that’s where the excitement and smile stopped. I was waiting for confirmation that my payment was finalizing, Fri, 12 Sep 2025 12:28:35 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/end-to-end-automation-with-smartbear-reflect-and-aws-codepipeline/https://smartbear.com/blog/end-to-end-automation-with-smartbear-reflect-and-aws-codepipeline/Software teams know the drill: deliver faster without sacrificing quality. You’ve heard it before because you live it every day. Testing is often where that pressure hits a breaking point, but it doesn’t have to.  At SmartBear, we help developers and testers like you seamlessly integrate automated testing into existing workflows and CI/CD pipelines. That’s Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:30:58 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-modern-test-management-how-to-evolve-your-qa-strategy/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-modern-test-management-how-to-evolve-your-qa-strategy/If you’ve ever tracked bugs across half a dozen tools, juggled spreadsheets, or tried to make sense of test results buried in an email thread, you’ve felt the pain of outdated test management.  As software development speeds up with agile and CI/CD, the role of test management has changed. What used to be a support Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:11:24 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/from-weeks-to-days-how-automation-transforms-oracle-cloud-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/from-weeks-to-days-how-automation-transforms-oracle-cloud-testing/Oracle Cloud’s relentless quarterly update cycle waits for no one. Every three months, new functionality, UI changes, and bug fixes are rolled out – and every organization must test before going live. In regulated industries like pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and manufacturing, these aren’t optional updates; they are compliance-critical moments.  The Compliance Catch-22  Organizations in regulated Thu, 28 Aug 2025 13:36:32 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-toyota-and-unbound-for-purpose-driven-innovation/https://smartbear.com/blog/honoring-toyota-and-unbound-for-purpose-driven-innovation/It’s easy to get caught up in the latest features and innovations, but software can have a profound impact beyond the technical. This year, we’re proud to recognize Toyota Motor North America and Unbound for embodying purpose-driven innovation with SmartBear’s Software for Good award. These teams aren’t just solving technical challenges; they’re addressing human needs Mon, 25 Aug 2025 23:45:11 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/make-your-debugging-workflow-smarter-faster-with-bugsnag-and-smartbear-mcp/https://smartbear.com/blog/make-your-debugging-workflow-smarter-faster-with-bugsnag-and-smartbear-mcp/Tired of wasting hours triaging errors and digging through logs?   With SmartBear BugSnag and GitHub Copilot, you can now debug faster. AI surfaces the root cause, explains the issue, and helps you fix it – all from your IDE.  Powered by SmartBear’s integration with the Model Context Protocol (MCP), and bringing runtime context into your Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:20:53 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/if-an-ai-agent-cant-find-you-you-dont-exist/https://smartbear.com/blog/if-an-ai-agent-cant-find-you-you-dont-exist/The new reality of digital discovery  In 2025, the most important customer for your API isn’t a developer scrolling through documentation at 2 AM. It’s an AI agent making split-second decisions about which services to integrate, recommend, or build upon. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: if an AI agent can’t find you, you don’t exist.  Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:10:55 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/from-endpoints-to-intent-rethinking-agent-api-workflows-with-arazzo/https://smartbear.com/blog/from-endpoints-to-intent-rethinking-agent-api-workflows-with-arazzo/Once, the rallying cry of the mobile revolution was ‘There’s an app for that.’ Today, the new reality is that AI-powered agents are substantially changing how we interact with software, coining a new catchphrase: ‘There’s an agent for that!’ From automating tasks to executing complex workflows and acting autonomously on our behalf, AI agents are Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-model-context-protocol-mcp-journey-with-smartbear-api-hub/https://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-model-context-protocol-mcp-journey-with-smartbear-api-hub/In the evolving landscape of AI applications, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) emerges as a pivotal standard, facilitating seamless integration between large language models (LLMs) and external tools, data sources, and services. By standardizing these interactions, MCP enables AI systems to perform complex tasks with enhanced context and precision. To harness the full potential of Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:57:33 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/amplify-and-automate-your-api-testing-with-readyapi-and-testengine/https://smartbear.com/blog/amplify-and-automate-your-api-testing-with-readyapi-and-testengine/In today’s fast-paced world of software development, the pressure to deliver high-quality releases quickly is stronger than ever. Teams are pushing code changes to production multiple times a day, and expectations around stability, security, and performance haven’t gone down—in fact, they’ve gone up. Manual testing simply can’t keep up with the speed and complexity of Wed, 23 Jul 2025 22:13:40 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/long-live-the-human-tester-qa-in-a-post-ai-world/https://smartbear.com/blog/long-live-the-human-tester-qa-in-a-post-ai-world/QA’s job has always been simple: find the bugs before your customers do. There was a time when that meant checking every corner of an application by hand, clicking through countless possible user scenarios. Today, with software moving faster and expectations higher, a tiny slip can cost your business. Testing that’s quick, precise, and thorough Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:19:44 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-api-first-matters-in-an-ai-driven-world/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-api-first-matters-in-an-ai-driven-world/APIs have long been the backbone of modern software systems, architectures, and businesses. They now dominate the web, accounting for 71% of all internet traffic. Generative AI is accelerating this trend especially as we pivot our interaction with common web-based capabilities, like “search” in favour of AI-enriched variants. More AI leads to more APIs, and Wed, 09 Jul 2025 03:38:57 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/modern-apps-broke-observability-heres-how-we-fix-it/https://smartbear.com/blog/modern-apps-broke-observability-heres-how-we-fix-it/For years, APM tools were everyone’s go-to solution for understanding how software behaved in production. And for a time, they worked, because architecture was simpler. Developers owned the backend, the frontend, and the data layer. Everything lived inside a monolith. If something went wrong, they could trace it through their codebase and fix it. The Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:18:58 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/from-hours-to-seconds-how-qmetry-uses-ai-to-redefine-test-case-creation/https://smartbear.com/blog/from-hours-to-seconds-how-qmetry-uses-ai-to-redefine-test-case-creation/Testing has evolved far beyond scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Yet even with modern platforms in place, teams still run into bottlenecks, especially when fundamental tasks like test case creation are handled manually. It involves combing through acceptance criteria, writing out each step, and reviewing everything for gaps. Repeating that across multiple user stories quickly Wed, 02 Jul 2025 04:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-6/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-6/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #6 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight Learn how eBay leverage Pact Contract Testing for their vast microservices architecture to improve resilience and reduce breaking dependencies. Thu, 26 Jun 2025 06:30:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-we-built-a-unified-error-monitoring-solution-for-kotlin-multiplatform/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-we-built-a-unified-error-monitoring-solution-for-kotlin-multiplatform/The new bugsnag-kmp SDK is a unified error monitoring solution for Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) projects, enabling developers to track and monitor errors across Android, iOS, and web platforms from a single codebase.  The new SDK works seamlessly on Android, iOS, and web browsers Native Integration, each one linking directly with our existing platform SDKs:  Multiplatform, Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:13:48 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/breaking-down-silos-aligning-qa-dev-and-devops-to-build-better-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/breaking-down-silos-aligning-qa-dev-and-devops-to-build-better-apis/Software release cycles are accelerating. In fact, 85% of organizations now release at least once per month, with a 51% increase in automated testing spend last year alone. Yet API quality still breaks down. Why? APIs sit at the center of this acceleration, but as velocity increases, many organizations face a persistent challenge: How do Tue, 17 Jun 2025 15:22:52 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/pro-tips-from-the-smartbear-community-scaling-salesforce-testing-with-testcomplete/https://smartbear.com/blog/pro-tips-from-the-smartbear-community-scaling-salesforce-testing-with-testcomplete/Foreword   The following article was written by one of our SmartBear Community Members, Hassan Ballan – Senior Test Automation and QA Specialist and Consultant. In it, he gives expert, real-world guidance for testing Salesforce lightening applications using SmartBear TestComplete – without relying on AI or OCR.  His methodical approach gives developers and testers a reliable Tue, 17 Jun 2025 08:23:52 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/compliance-is-everyones-job-how-to-automate-your-headaches-away/https://smartbear.com/blog/compliance-is-everyones-job-how-to-automate-your-headaches-away/Another day, another API. Fueled by AI-assisted coding and agile workflows, the speed of innovation has never been higher. But for the compliance team? It’s panic mode.  Every new API must follow a minefield of internal rules: security protocols, naming conventions, reuse policies, documentation standards. And while the dev team is flying forward, compliance is Mon, 16 Jun 2025 12:15:23 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/celebrating-test-automation-innovators-zephyr-automation-all-star-award-winner-finalists/https://smartbear.com/blog/celebrating-test-automation-innovators-zephyr-automation-all-star-award-winner-finalists/At SmartBear, we celebrate innovators in software testing who make a real impact on their teams. The Automation All-Star Award celebrates the pioneers using SmartBear Zephyr’s no-code automation to achieve transformative results. We’re thrilled to share the stories of this year’s winner, RAC Motoring Services, and our fantastic finalists: Capgemini, Infor PSSC, Pepper Money, and Mon, 09 Jun 2025 08:28:19 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ai-wont-replace-developers-but-it-will-leave-some-behind/https://smartbear.com/blog/ai-wont-replace-developers-but-it-will-leave-some-behind/The headlines are seductive: AI will replace developers. Coding is dead. Ship 10x faster with half the team. It’s the kind of hype that grabs attention and fuels confusion. I understand the appeal. As a former chief product officer and now CEO, I’ve seen firsthand how AI can dramatically boost productivity. But let’s be clear: Fri, 06 Jun 2025 15:24:37 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-test-data-isnt-helping-qa-teams-like-it-should-and-how-to-change-that/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-test-data-isnt-helping-qa-teams-like-it-should-and-how-to-change-that/By 2025, many QA teams have doubled down on automation. They’re running more tests than ever, collecting more results, and generating more data. And yet… they’re still facing the same challenges. Bugs are still found late in the cycle, release decisions are still delayed, which leads to production costs inflating. Even with all the dashboards Thu, 22 May 2025 06:54:46 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/phyllo-wins-smartbears-developer-visibility-award-a-celebration-of-innovation-and-impact/https://smartbear.com/blog/phyllo-wins-smartbears-developer-visibility-award-a-celebration-of-innovation-and-impact/At SmartBear, we believe that great software doesn’t just happen – it’s built, refined, and unleashed by developers who are passionate about innovation. That’s why we’re thrilled to recognize Phyllo as the latest recipient of the SmartBear Developer Visibility Award, celebrating their outstanding contributions to developer communities worldwide.  For developers, visibility is more than just Wed, 09 Apr 2025 11:01:02 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-software-testing-in-financial-services-is-more-critical-and-complex-than-ever/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-software-testing-in-financial-services-is-more-critical-and-complex-than-ever/The Stakes are Higher in Banking QA  For QA professionals in financial services, the pressure is unlike any other industry. Whether you’re supporting a multinational bank or a regional credit union, one thing remains the same: even the smallest software error can have massive consequences. A glitch in an online payment system could affect thousands Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:44:31 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-5/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-5/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #5 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight Take a deep-dive into Arazzo, with Frank Kilcommins. Be sure to bookmark this page, as it is a great Fri, 28 Mar 2025 16:48:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-in-regulated-industries-your-shield-against-compliance-risks/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-in-regulated-industries-your-shield-against-compliance-risks/Regulated industries – from healthcare to finance – face a dual challenge: delivering high-quality software at speed while maintaining strict compliance with industry regulations. The stakes are high, with non-compliance leading to massive fines, reputational damage, loss of customer trust and operational disruptions. The good news? Compliance doesn’t have to be a bottleneck. With the Mon, 24 Mar 2025 09:34:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-trick-to-scaling-your-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-trick-to-scaling-your-test-automation/Unlock the Potential of Automated Testing Shipping high quality apps requires thorough testing, and testing thoroughly requires teams to automate more of their process. Quality isn’t just about testing more – it’s about testing smarter. By optimizing your workflow, you create space to validate every critical part of your application efficiently and reliably. Full-scale quality Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:00:23 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/protect-your-revenue-with-end-to-end-developer-observability/https://smartbear.com/blog/protect-your-revenue-with-end-to-end-developer-observability/Top tech companies thrive on scaling operations, driving rapid growth, and carving out opportunities for expansion. But what happens when your tech can’t keep up?  Every app needs a way to provide developers with the visibility they need to find, fix, and prevent errors and performance issues. An end-to-end observability solution equips business leaders with Mon, 10 Mar 2025 10:19:19 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/rapid-incident-response-how-to-minimize-downtime-in-production/https://smartbear.com/blog/rapid-incident-response-how-to-minimize-downtime-in-production/Imagine you received an urgent Slack notification that bypassed your notification snooze. Your stomach drops as you realize there is a critical problem with your application. The next few hours are not going to be fun.  Uptime and high performance are key elements of a successful application. If users can’t effectively get what they need from Tue, 04 Mar 2025 16:11:19 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-rise-of-agentic-workflows-in-software-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-rise-of-agentic-workflows-in-software-development/Imagine workflows so intelligent they can adapt to changing conditions, solve problems autonomously, and collaborate seamlessly across teams – all while freeing up your time for the tasks that truly matter. This isn’t science fiction; it’s the promise of agentic workflows. As the software development world races to keep up with evolving demands, agentic workflows Tue, 04 Mar 2025 16:09:39 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/get-real-time-visibility-into-your-apps-with-performance-notifications-alerts/https://smartbear.com/blog/get-real-time-visibility-into-your-apps-with-performance-notifications-alerts/Understanding the overall performance and speed of your app is just as important as avoiding crashes and bugs. BugSnag from SmartBear now includes performance targets to set and track specific benchmarks for your application’s performance metrics. This update allows you to define what “good performance” means for your app, whether it’s fast screen loads, efficient Mon, 03 Mar 2025 14:42:49 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-distributed-tracing/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-distributed-tracing/As a modern software engineer, you’ve likely witnessed the transformative power of microservices. These nimble, independent components have accelerated development but have also introduced a new set of challenges, particularly in diagnosing issues and maintaining visibility across a complex system. In the past, during the era of monolithic applications, software development was a slow, methodical Mon, 03 Mar 2025 08:23:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-cost-of-a-bad-experience/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-cost-of-a-bad-experience/Why Observability is Key to User Retention It’s lunchtime, and you’re trying to complete a purchase, send money from your bank, or order a car to pick you up and bring you back to the office from your phone. But just as you hit confirm – the app freezes, glitches, or shuts down entirely.  What Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:41:20 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/4-reasons-shorter-development-times-increase-revenue/https://smartbear.com/blog/4-reasons-shorter-development-times-increase-revenue/The Role of Observability in Revenue Growth We need these features ASAP…Our competition rolled out this functionality last year…We can’t afford to push it to the next release…Ugh! If you manage an engineering team those sentiments may hit too close to home; we get it. The pressure to accelerate development cycles is real. It’s not Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:11:27 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-observability-tools-empower-developers-to-succeed/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-observability-tools-empower-developers-to-succeed/Note: A version of this article was originally published on CIO Influence.  Burnout is widespread in the world of software engineering. According to a 2023 report, 73% of developers have experienced burnout at least once in their careers, and work-life balance has been cited as a key driver of developer satisfaction.  Luckily, there are tools Thu, 20 Feb 2025 14:10:01 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/measure-rendering-metrics-and-maintain-seamless-visuals/https://smartbear.com/blog/measure-rendering-metrics-and-maintain-seamless-visuals/Visual glitches frustrate users and put the reputation of your business at risk. When people interact with an app, they expect a seamless experience. But when frame rates drop, scrolling becomes jittery, or screens freeze, frustration sets in – causing users to abandon your app and take their business elsewhere.  BugSnag from SmartBear empowers developers Mon, 10 Feb 2025 09:40:50 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/crashes-compliance-chaos-modern-challenges-for-finance-orgs/https://smartbear.com/blog/crashes-compliance-chaos-modern-challenges-for-finance-orgs/The financial services (FinServ) industry is constantly evolving and scaling, with global investment hitting $210 billion in 2022. Digital transformation has brought millions of customers online, and their demand for a smooth, secure, and responsive experience from financial institutions is growing fast.  As the industry grows, challenges are inevitable  – it seems like every week there’s Fri, 07 Feb 2025 14:04:31 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-evolution-of-enterprise-ai-navigating-the-risks-and-rewards-of-an-emerging-landscape/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-evolution-of-enterprise-ai-navigating-the-risks-and-rewards-of-an-emerging-landscape/AI is moving at breakneck speed – can your enterprise keep up without breaking down? As businesses race to adopt AI, the push for innovation is relentless. But while AI promises to accelerate development and unlock new opportunities, it also opens the door to unforeseen risks. Malicious models, supply chain vulnerabilities, and unpredictable behavior can Mon, 27 Jan 2025 11:01:39 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-4/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-4/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #4 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight DORA Compliance: Are Your APIs Your Weakest Link? The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is raising the bar for Fri, 24 Jan 2025 09:14:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/achieving-observability-goals-a-conversation-with-testguild/https://smartbear.com/blog/achieving-observability-goals-a-conversation-with-testguild/Last month, TestGuild’s Joe Colantonio sat down with two of SmartBear’s product wizards to discuss the world of developer observability and upcoming trends. Eran Grabiner is co-founder of distributed tracing tool Aspecto, which was acquired by SmartBear earlier this year. Right now, he works as Director of Product Management for Aspecto spearheading observability projects. Justin Thu, 09 Jan 2025 20:42:22 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/boost-your-revenue-with-rum/https://smartbear.com/blog/boost-your-revenue-with-rum/Investing in a monitoring solution can help boost revenue & customer satisfaction. Find out how Insight Hub can help. Thu, 09 Jan 2025 20:22:43 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-3/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-3/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #3 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight As AI applications continue to expand, an API-first approach ensures robust, scalable, and user-friendly systems. Frank presents his case Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:29:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/no-code-no-problem-ai-powered-automation-for-manual-testers/https://smartbear.com/blog/no-code-no-problem-ai-powered-automation-for-manual-testers/“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” – Steve Jobs In the world of software testing, this quote couldn’t be more relevant. If you’re a manual tester, you know the pressure to deliver high-quality results, often within tight deadlines and limited resources. Yet, with today’s fast-paced software Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:06:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/women-in-tech-spotlight-jamie-mcnulty/https://smartbear.com/blog/women-in-tech-spotlight-jamie-mcnulty/At SmartBear, we believe successful software products are driven by committed teams and visionary leaders.  It’s this dedication that inspires us to innovate, support our customers, and continuously contribute to the software industry. We are proud to celebrate a shining example of this commitment – Jamie McNulty, Product Owner of API Platforms at Lumen Technologies, who was Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:31:59 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-2/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-2/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #2 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight We are excited to share the updated PactFlow user interface, designed to be beautiful, intuitive, and fast. This new application-centric view Tue, 24 Sep 2024 07:27:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/three-reasons-choose-opentelemetry-native-vendor/https://smartbear.com/blog/three-reasons-choose-opentelemetry-native-vendor/In the competitive landscape of observability solutions, the race to provide comprehensive, flexible, and efficient tools is intense. Among the many options, vendors that are “OpenTelemetry (OTel) native” stand out as leaders, offering a unique value proposition that aligns with the evolving needs of modern enterprises. But what exactly does it mean to be an Fri, 06 Sep 2024 10:44:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/understanding-server-side-performance/https://smartbear.com/blog/understanding-server-side-performance/In software development, server-side performance is crucial for delivering fast and responsive applications. Let’s explore what server-side performance is, why it matters, and how to improve it. Plus, we’ll explore BugSnag’s server-side support for error monitoring and performance monitoring. What is Server-Side Performance? Server-side performance monitoring ensures  your applications can handle requests quickly and efficiently Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:56:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/app-center-alternative/https://smartbear.com/blog/app-center-alternative/As tech evolves, it’s no surprise when services boom and bust over time, leading to numerous retirements and sunsets. Recently, Microsoft announced the retirement of Visual Studio App Center, effective March 31, 2025. App Center is a reliable and straightforward tool for many developers, offering a suite of services related to CI/CD and distribution for Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:10:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/telesat-commitment-sustainability-technology/https://smartbear.com/blog/telesat-commitment-sustainability-technology/At SmartBear, we believe technology has the power to create a positive impact on society. This belief is woven into our fabric, guiding our commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles and our relentless drive to support our customers. Today, we are thrilled to celebrate Telesat as the recipient of our Q2 Software for Good Award, an Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:52:55 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-1/https://smartbear.com/blog/devrel-newsletter-1/“From developers to testers and beyond, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and knowledge to succeed.“ Welcome to edition #1 of the SmartBear DevRel Newsletter – No Fluff, Just Real Stuff ™. Edition Spotlight A few weeks back, the OpenAPI Initiative reached a major milestone by releasing a new specification called “Arazzo” (Italian Thu, 25 Jul 2024 10:54:38 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-101-traceability/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-101-traceability/Testing is more than a checkpoint; it’s a cornerstone of quality and efficiency. Thorough testing ensures your application functions correctly and lowers costs by preventing errors and reducing downtime. Effective testing also boosts user satisfaction, directly contributing to a stronger bottom line. In small applications, pinpointing issues and tracking requirements is manageable with spreadsheets. As Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:42:25 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automated-and-manual-testing-zephyr-enterprise/https://smartbear.com/blog/automated-and-manual-testing-zephyr-enterprise/Imagine a world where every piece of software works perfectly every time—hard to picture, right? As experts, you know it’s impossible to catch all flaws, yet essential to catch all costly flaws. As the landscape of testing evolves, gone are the days when manual testing could cover all bases. Now, modern software’s complexity demands automation, Wed, 05 Jun 2024 09:39:18 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/jquery-is-not-defined-cause-solution/https://smartbear.com/blog/jquery-is-not-defined-cause-solution/One of the most common JavaScript errors we see affecting our customers is jQuery is not defined. This can be a pretty serious problem if your web app relies on jQuery (76% of all sites!), since if jQuery fails to load, it can make your JavaScript code unusable What are the common causes of jQuery Wed, 05 Jun 2024 08:18:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/software-testing-risks/https://smartbear.com/blog/software-testing-risks/Testers must be able to identify and manage risks for project success. Mon, 03 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/choose-the-right-test-management-tool/https://smartbear.com/blog/choose-the-right-test-management-tool/Building quality software requires efficient and effective software testing processes. To achieve this, it’s important to make sure your test management tool has the capabilities to support your team’s current, and future, testing needs. By following this three-step approach, you can narrow down your choices and find your perfect fit. Break out your notepad and Tue, 28 May 2024 09:32:18 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-launches-customer-awards-program/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-launches-customer-awards-program/At SmartBear, we strive to keep our customers at the center of everything we do. As a way of recognizing the great impact our customers have on technological advancement, we have launched our Customer Awards Program. This program is aimed at celebrating the exceptional contributions that our customers make each day. SmartBear’s Quality Champion Award Wed, 08 May 2024 09:12:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/observability-meets-ai/https://smartbear.com/blog/observability-meets-ai/As software systems become increasingly complex, observability — the ability to understand a system’s internal state based on its external outputs — has become a critical practice for developers and operations teams. Traditional observability approaches struggle to keep up with the scale and complexity of modern applications. As the amount of telemetry data grows, it Tue, 07 May 2024 09:03:42 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/elevating-api-development-with-stoplight/https://smartbear.com/blog/elevating-api-development-with-stoplight/With SmartBear’s acquisition of Stoplight, we can simplify complex API development tasks and address the common challenges encountered in API development. Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/defending-your-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/defending-your-apis/In our recent webinar at SmartBear, “Defend Your APIs: Secure by Design,” API experts Frank Kilcommins and Yousaf Nabi unpacked some critical strategies for keeping your APIs safe. Wed, 03 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/regression-testing-with-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/regression-testing-with-apis/Regression testing is a critical quality assurance practice in the software development lifecycle. Learn why it’s important and how ReadyAPI can help. Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/scale-your-test-management-in-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/scale-your-test-management-in-jira/In today’s dynamic software development landscape, efficient and scalable test management is crucial for ensuring the quality and reliability of software products. Jira, a popular project management tool, offers a robust solution for test management through its integration with Zephyr Scale. Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-optimize-api-lifecycle/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-optimize-api-lifecycle/Prioritize 5 key areas in your API development process to help your team craft APIs that are a joy to use, maintain, and integrate with. Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/staying-in-sync-with-async-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/staying-in-sync-with-async-apis/A rise in microservices means increased APIs supporting events and messaging in addition to web. Learn how better tools can help solve your EDA needs. Sat, 20 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/tmux-and-vim/https://smartbear.com/blog/tmux-and-vim/There are numerous benefits of using tmux. The benefits I discussed there are independent of one’s choice of text editor. But if you’re a vim user, the benefits of tmux reach even further. One of the best aspects of tmux is that it unlocks the potential for a more powerful vim-based development environment, allowing vim Tue, 19 Dec 2023 08:44:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-year-in-review/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-year-in-review/As 2023 comes to an end, we at SmartBear are thrilled to share some exciting news and milestones that we have achieved in 2023 across the API lifecycle. Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-governance-path-to-success/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-governance-path-to-success/APIs have transcended their role as technological connectors, transforming into strategic assets that drive the modern digital economy. Explore the world of API governance. Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/elevate-your-testing-experience/https://smartbear.com/blog/elevate-your-testing-experience/We are thrilled to announce the launch of the new and improved Zephyr Squad, a test management solution providing core test planning and execution tools within Jira.  Whether you are a seasoned QA professional, a developer, or a project manager, this update will make your testing process faster, more efficient, and more user-friendly than ever Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-make-sense-of-android-crash-logs/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-make-sense-of-android-crash-logs/Crashes on Android can be immensely frustrating for users, so much so that after experiencing one or two crashes, the typical user will uninstall your app. Fortunately, the Android Framework provides some great tools for debugging crashes. They also provide several useful crash logs that developers can read to determine what caused that critical issue. Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:03:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/magic-quadrant-visionary/https://smartbear.com/blog/magic-quadrant-visionary/We are excited to announce SmartBear has been named a Visionary in the 2023 Magic Quadrant by Gartner for Full Life Cycle API Management. Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/supercharge-api-performance-testing-with-readyapi/https://smartbear.com/blog/supercharge-api-performance-testing-with-readyapi/As the holiday season approaches, businesses worldwide are gearing up for the busiest and most lucrative time of the year. In today’s digitally driven marketplace, the flawless performance of your APIs is crucial for maintaining and boosting business revenue during this time. As consumers increasingly rely on online shopping and mobile apps for their holiday Mon, 09 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/mastering-android-performance-monitoring-metrics-tools-strategies/https://smartbear.com/blog/mastering-android-performance-monitoring-metrics-tools-strategies/Android is the most popular operating system in the world, with over 2.5 billion active users across over 190 countries. As a result, the Android ecosystem consists of more than 3.5 million apps – more than double the 1.6 million apps available on iOS. This means fast and seamless app performance has become critical for Mon, 25 Sep 2023 12:59:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/mastering-automation-through-the-power-of-document/https://smartbear.com/blog/mastering-automation-through-the-power-of-document/Incorporate Portal APIs into your workflow today to provide developers with the tools they need to succeed. Learn how SmartBear is using SwaggerHub Portal. Fri, 22 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-graphql-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-graphql-apis/GraphQL is more than just a query language. Find out how to test GraphQL APIs and how they’re different from testing RESTful APIs with SmartBear. Wed, 13 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-run-visual-tests-using-playwright/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-run-visual-tests-using-playwright/By now, those working in software development know what functional tests and end-to-end tests are. They also know test automation is the key to speeding up their development process without compromising software quality.   However, visual testing, a set of tests designed to make sure that your app “looks” as intended, is an often-forgotten facet Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/transaction-history-now-available-in-readyapi/https://smartbear.com/blog/transaction-history-now-available-in-readyapi/With the integration of transaction history, developers can now observe how transactions evolve. Learn how ReadyAPI Virtualization is revolutionizing testing. Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-automate-your-test-management-in-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-automate-your-test-management-in-jira/Learn to automate test management in Jira using Zephyr Squad and Zephyr Scale. Boost efficiency, enhance accuracy & traceability, and streamline your software testing process. Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/slow-app-performance-heres-how-to-fix-it/https://smartbear.com/blog/slow-app-performance-heres-how-to-fix-it/Don’t let slow app performance impact your business – learn how to ensure great app performance for your users. Tue, 29 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbears-api-development-hub-with-stoplight/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbears-api-development-hub-with-stoplight/SmartBear has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Stoplight, a leader in API design and documentation, along with its collaborative and innovative open source tools, Spectral, Prism, and Elements.   Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/cloud-side-vs-client-side-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/cloud-side-vs-client-side-testing/Learn the pros and cons of client-side vs. cloud-side tests and how to choose the right option for your project. Fri, 04 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/swaggerhub-portal-release/https://smartbear.com/blog/swaggerhub-portal-release/SmartBear is excited to announce the release of SwaggerHub Portal, a feature that allows you to customize consumer-facing API documentation. Learn more! Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-exploration-documentation-integration/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-exploration-documentation-integration/Embrace the power of API documentation and exploration in one unified platform. Learn more about SwaggerHub’s new integration with SwaggerHub Explore! Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/documenting-apis-on-amazon-api-gateway-code-first/https://smartbear.com/blog/documenting-apis-on-amazon-api-gateway-code-first/One of the hardest debates is deciding between a code-first API approach or design-first. In an ideal world, we would deliver our APIs at maximum velocity, with minimum maintenance. To maintain the appropriate API consumption, the world has looked at Amazon’s API Gateway as the orchestration of resources to create, deploy, and manage APIs at Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/soap-vs-rest-whats-the-difference/https://smartbear.com/blog/soap-vs-rest-whats-the-difference/Whether you should use SOAP vs REST depends on the programming language you use, the environment in which it is used, and the requirements of your application. Wed, 19 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-vs-out-of-the-box-test-automation-tools-w/https://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-vs-out-of-the-box-test-automation-tools-w/Discover the differences between Selenium and off-the-shelf test automation solutions and how to decide on the best option for your organization. Wed, 19 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/enhance-clarity-with-bugsnag/https://smartbear.com/blog/enhance-clarity-with-bugsnag/SmartBear is excited to announce that BugSnag real user monitoring is now available for all users. BugSnag’s production visibility platform now delivers real-time user data to improve app performance and help you balance roadmap agility with application stability. With this new capability, you can now monitor the performance characteristics of your applications from the perspective Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/event-driven-architecture/https://smartbear.com/blog/event-driven-architecture/Event-driven architecture is a design pattern that facilitates the building of scalable, loosely coupled, and responsive applications. Learn how SwaggerHub supports EDA. Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/functional-visual-ui-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/functional-visual-ui-testing/There are many components to a successful web testing strategy, but one of the most often overlooked is the importance of visual UI testing in addition to functional testing. Most teams will focus on one over the other, but to truly catch as many bugs as possible, you’ll need to incorporate both. First, you need Tue, 11 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/you-dont-need-to-be-an-expert-to-automate-your-ui/https://smartbear.com/blog/you-dont-need-to-be-an-expert-to-automate-your-ui/End-to-end tests are notoriously difficult to automate without the right tools. Learn how to get around UI test automation challenges with SmartBear tools. Wed, 28 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/website-layout-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/website-layout-testing/Website layout testing can be difficult with dynamic content. Ensure your web content looks great for customers, no matter what with VisualTest from SmartBear. Tue, 27 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/mfa-support-now-in-alertsite/https://smartbear.com/blog/mfa-support-now-in-alertsite/By adding MFA code support, users can seamlessly monitor transactions involving SMS authentication codes. Learn how AlertSite can empower your team. Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/pride-month-qa/https://smartbear.com/blog/pride-month-qa/A brief Q&A from members of the SmartBear LGBTQIA+ Community Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-you-need-visual-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-you-need-visual-testing/Learn why visual tests are critical to an effective test suite and how they can complement your functional UI tests to provide your team with more confidence. Fri, 02 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/a-comprehensive-approach-to-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/a-comprehensive-approach-to-quality/Learn the difference between test automation and management and how combining the two can unlock a more comprehensive approach to quality. Tue, 30 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-visual-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-visual-testing/Visual testing compares visual changes to ensure only intentional changes to the UI are being pushed to production. Learn more about VisualTest by SmartBear. Wed, 17 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-smartphone-biometrics/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-smartphone-biometrics/Learn why biometric tests matter, the challenges with testing biometrics, and how BitBar makes biometric testing easier. Wed, 17 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-chatgpt-in-your-automated-tests/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-chatgpt-in-your-automated-tests/Discover how ChatGPT works under the hood, how developers are leveraging this breakthrough technology, and how it can help automate tedious testing workflows. Fri, 12 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-lazy-loading/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-lazy-loading/“Lazy loading” is a technique used to load page elements only once they are needed on a website. Learn about its’ benefits and challenges from SmartBear. Tue, 09 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-sdet-how-to-use-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-sdet-how-to-use-automation/Learn about the evolution of the SDET role and how automation can help improve efficiency. Thu, 04 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-overcome-flaky-ui-tests/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-overcome-flaky-ui-tests/Typical functional tests do a poor job at capturing all visual changes and leave you with lengthy and flaky code. Learn how VisualTest can help. Wed, 26 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-your-asyncapis-with-readyapi/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-your-asyncapis-with-readyapi/Testing asynchronous APIs (AsyncAPIs) is becoming increasingly important as more and more APIs adopt asynchronous communication patterns. ReadyAPI now supports testing of AsyncAPIs, making it an even better tool for API testing. In this blog post, we’ll provide step by step guidelines on how to import your AsyncAPIs from SwaggerHub into ReadyAPI and how to Fri, 21 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/scale-adapt-and-respond-better-with-event-driven/https://smartbear.com/blog/scale-adapt-and-respond-better-with-event-driven/Event-Driven Architecture is used to improve communication between microservices. Learn how SmartBear products can help you implement EDA using Kafka. Wed, 19 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/should-you-automate-it-knowing-when-to-build-test/https://smartbear.com/blog/should-you-automate-it-knowing-when-to-build-test/This simple guide will help you determine the most effective testing approach for your project’s test cases. Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/fintech-challenges-how-to-overcome-them/https://smartbear.com/blog/fintech-challenges-how-to-overcome-them/Discover some of the most common challenges when testing fintech apps and how to overcome them with BitBar and VisualTest. Tue, 11 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/unleash-the-power-parallel-testing-with-selenium/https://smartbear.com/blog/unleash-the-power-parallel-testing-with-selenium/Unleash the Power of Parallel Testing with Selenium Grid Automated tests are the cornerstone of high-quality software. Development teams can move faster without worrying about breaking existing functionality when automated tests run with each commit or deployment. At the same time, automated tests can help expand test coverage to provide customers with a higher-quality product. Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-dive-into-api-behavior-and-integrate-faster/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-dive-into-api-behavior-and-integrate-faster/It’s crucial to dive into an API before you use it. It’s also easy. How to dive into APIs and quickly learn how to use them. Explore your APIs: How to quickly see what makes an API tick Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-visual-testing-methodology/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-visual-testing-methodology/Discover the most common methodologies for running visual regression tests and how to choose the best option for your organization. Fri, 17 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/maximize-appium-testing-with-a-real-device-cloud/https://smartbear.com/blog/maximize-appium-testing-with-a-real-device-cloud/Learn how Appium works, best practices to remember, and how to use real devices for the most accurate results. Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-functional-and-visual-test-ensure-satisfaction/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-functional-and-visual-test-ensure-satisfaction/E-commerce businesses lose 35% of their revenue due to poor user experience, according to Amazon Web Services, or about $1.4 trillion annually. Thu, 09 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-enhance-jira-with-native-test-management/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-enhance-jira-with-native-test-management/​​Learn why test management matters and why you may want to consider Jira-native test management.​ Mon, 06 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-create-actionable-test-management-reports/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-create-actionable-test-management-reports/Discover the different types of test management reports and how to make them valuable and actionable. Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-build-e2e-tests-with-cypress-bitbar/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-build-e2e-tests-with-cypress-bitbar/Learn what end-to-end testing involves and how you can use Cypress and BitBar to streamline the process. Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/collaborating-with-git-for-api-test-creation/https://smartbear.com/blog/collaborating-with-git-for-api-test-creation/APIs have become the center of software development, connecting and transferring data across systems and applications. Luckily, testing them can greatly improve the efficiency of your test strategy as a whole, helping you deliver software faster than ever. API testing is an essential part of the software development process, and it’s important to have a Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testkube-for-your-microservices-woes/https://smartbear.com/blog/testkube-for-your-microservices-woes/Testkube for your microservices woes Wed, 18 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-contract-testing-for-a-design-first-world/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-contract-testing-for-a-design-first-world/API-driven microservices applications are a source of speed to innovation and competitive advantage Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-automation-with-gherkin-scenarios/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-automation-with-gherkin-scenarios/Learn about Gherkin Syntax, best practices for writing Gherkin scenarios, and the value of automating Gherkin scenarios using TestComplete. Tue, 08 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-performance-testing-for-success/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-performance-testing-for-success/As the rate of delivery for applications and services continues to rise, performance testing often takes a backseat in the race to delivering apps on-time. This 2022 holiday season is expected to be bigger than ever, with holiday shopping growing 15.5% to $236 billion. During this make-or-break time of year, companies can’t afford for their Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-first-development-and-the-case-for-api-mocking/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-first-development-and-the-case-for-api-mocking/One morning, you realize you have a great idea for an API. You discuss it with your team, then start building out the business case and technical requirements.   Where do you go from there?   You could write out the business requirements for the API and then code it. Or you could describe your API in Thu, 18 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/establish-a-code-ownership-loop-with-collaborator/https://smartbear.com/blog/establish-a-code-ownership-loop-with-collaborator/Close the loop and ensure quality comes first by establishing a culture of code ownership with SmartBear’s Collaborator and Bugsnag. Mon, 25 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/multiprotocol-development-ease-microservices-woes/https://smartbear.com/blog/multiprotocol-development-ease-microservices-woes/Finding efficient ways to process, share, and reuse functionality and data is crucial – it’s an important way to break down monolithic applications into more consumable and maintainable microservices.  In today’s API-focused world, this translates into multiprotocol development (gRPC, GraphQL, EDAs, etc.) and an enhanced development process (governance, standards, design-first). To understand this, we need Tue, 28 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/reflecting-on-values-during-aapi-heritage-month/https://smartbear.com/blog/reflecting-on-values-during-aapi-heritage-month/This month is a wonderful time (though, certainly not the only time) to learn about, reflect on, and admire Asian cultures and important contributions made by Asian Americans over the years. Wed, 25 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/achieving-progressive-delivery-by-shifting-up/https://smartbear.com/blog/achieving-progressive-delivery-by-shifting-up/Make Progressive Delivery Happen – Whether Shift-Left or Shift-Right There’s a transformation happening in software development: Progressive Delivery. It lets you rapidly release updated apps while still maintaining quality and control. Better still, it can have a big impact on the job satisfaction and day-to-day experience of developers. At SmartBear, we’re in a unique position Fri, 22 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/scaling-microservices-with-pactflow/https://smartbear.com/blog/scaling-microservices-with-pactflow/API growth continues to rise within the modern enterprise. Microservices, are a leading growth driver for APIs as development teams continue to break down monolithic systems, seeking to capitalize on the advantages of decoupled capabilities. Benefits such as reduced costs, reduced time-to-market, faster release cycles and decentralized evolvability are possible. However, as APIs become increasingly Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-artifact-review/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-artifact-review/Quality software starts with code review, but quality doesn’t begin and end with code. Documents and artifacts need proper attention to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. To ensure quality software, it’s essential to review the software artifacts left behind from the code review process. If code review is the unglamorous task of eating Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-next-level-of-quality-with-zephy-family/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-next-level-of-quality-with-zephy-family/As 2021 winds down, we wanted to share an overview of the new things the Zephyr team did this year to help you get to the next level of quality – and offer a sneak peek at things to come. Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/plug-in-to-swaggerhub-for-intellij-idea/https://smartbear.com/blog/plug-in-to-swaggerhub-for-intellij-idea/Integrated development environments, or IDEs as most people call them, are the go-to tool for the majority of software developers creating, compiling, and testing code. In fact, IDEs are one of the most commons tools that developers will use when designing their API (Application Programming Interfaces) documentation. According to the 2020 State of the API Tue, 17 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-you-should-go-framework-agnostic/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-you-should-go-framework-agnostic/Let’s talk about how you can future-proof your business and make life easier for your teams with a framework agnostic platform for mobile test automation. Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/level-up-test-automation-with-zephyr-scale/https://smartbear.com/blog/level-up-test-automation-with-zephyr-scale/How you can enhance your test automation in Jira with Zephyr Scale Thu, 06 May 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-apache-kafka-event-driven-architecture/https://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-apache-kafka-event-driven-architecture/Introducing Apache Kafka & Event-Driven Architecture Support in ReadyAPI Wed, 05 May 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/which-zephyr-test-management-tool-is-right-for-me/https://smartbear.com/blog/which-zephyr-test-management-tool-is-right-for-me/in-depth reporting or scaling tests with automation/BDD Mon, 22 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-document-review/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-document-review/In the context of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), document review makes it easier for an organization to curate, govern, and manage the lifecycle of digital artifacts beyond source code. Thu, 07 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/tracking-your-teams-testing-in-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/tracking-your-teams-testing-in-jira/Atlassian, Jira, test management, quality assurance, reporting, software testing, software development, testing Mon, 05 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/new-names-one-brand-readyapi/https://smartbear.com/blog/new-names-one-brand-readyapi/Learn why SmartBear is renaming some of it most popular API testing tools under the ReadyAPI brand Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/3-tips-for-better-traceability-in-jira/https://smartbear.com/blog/3-tips-for-better-traceability-in-jira/Traceability is important for keeping everyone in sync throughout the software development lifecycle. It reduces unnecessary requirements, helps control costs and prevents project delays. It also ensures that the scope of the project is not expanded by adding extra code or test cases that are not specified in the requirements. But how can you ensure that traceability Wed, 02 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bug-triaging-best-practices/https://smartbear.com/blog/bug-triaging-best-practices/We’ve collected some triaging best practices to help you ensure that your teams can quickly identify errors needing an immediate fix and ensure that lower priority errors are addressed promptly if they become more impactful in the future. While engineering teams differ greatly in their structure and internal processes, any team that is monitoring software Wed, 12 Aug 2020 12:18:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-load-testing-solutions/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-load-testing-solutions/Download our free checklist to find the right load testing software solutions for your organization. Mon, 22 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-test-automation-tools/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-test-automation-tools/Download our free checklist to discover the best tools to help your team automate tests. Mon, 25 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-common-sla-metrics/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-common-sla-metrics/Learn all about SLAs, when you need one, how to set the right expectations and how load testing plays a role. Tue, 19 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-ecommerce-optimization-techniques/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-ecommerce-optimization-techniques/Download our free checklist to learn more about optimizing your ecommerce website to maximize conversions. Mon, 18 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/try-these-hacks-to-speed-up-your-manual-ui-tests/https://smartbear.com/blog/try-these-hacks-to-speed-up-your-manual-ui-tests/User interface testing, or UI testing, is an integral part of the software development process. While unit and integration tests ensure that things work on a code level, UI tests are the only way to ensure an optimal experience from the user standpoint. The only downside is that these tests can be time-consuming to create Tue, 05 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-site-search-technologies/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-site-search-technologies/Download our free checklist to learn about different site search options available for your website. Mon, 04 May 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/embracing-an-api-design-first-approach/https://smartbear.com/blog/embracing-an-api-design-first-approach/API design that both humans and computers can understand Thu, 30 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-rules-guardrails-for-good-governance-and-best/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-rules-guardrails-for-good-governance-and-best/As your development organization matures and moves toward an API design-first process, you want to ensure that not only do APIs behave as they should, but are also designed for long-term use and adoption over the course of their lives. For this reason, you may decide to create an API style guide – similar to a brand style guide – that dictates how APIs should be designed across an organization. An API Style Guide will ensure consistency across all APIs and deliver multiple benefits – accelerating a digital transformation, onboarding Tue, 07 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/manual-cross-browser-testing-for-beginners-part-1/https://smartbear.com/blog/manual-cross-browser-testing-for-beginners-part-1/You have probably noticed that automated testing receives a lot of love and hype right now. That’s because they can accelerate test execution times and make room for other, more pressing tasks. However, manual testing is still very much relevant as we cannot automate everything (not yet at least). For this reason, we want to Thu, 26 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/sample-deployment-checklist/https://smartbear.com/blog/sample-deployment-checklist/Imagine it’s midnight and you’re packaging up your web application. Upload it via FTP, run server updates, and manually execute SQL scripts to update the database schema. If something goes wrong, you might have to undo everything — step by step — and hope that you can revert the application to its prior state before Wed, 25 Mar 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-how-and-why-of-interrupt-tests-for-mobile-apps/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-how-and-why-of-interrupt-tests-for-mobile-apps/Do you run interrupt tests for your mobile apps? Read this article to understand why and how to use this type of test to improve the quality of your app. Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-practices-for-parallel-testing-across-desktop/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-practices-for-parallel-testing-across-desktop/UI tests have a reputation for being brittle and time consuming — especially when testing across different platforms. While there’s no getting around the need for a browser, device or emulator, there are some strategies that you can use to create more robust tests and speed up the process. It’s possible to incorporate UI tests Thu, 13 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/5-test-automation-problems-qa-teams-face/https://smartbear.com/blog/5-test-automation-problems-qa-teams-face/Even professional QA teams have been struggling to achieve agile QA processes due to many problems when implementing and working with test automation. Tue, 31 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/robotic-process-automation-is-it-same-as-test-auto/https://smartbear.com/blog/robotic-process-automation-is-it-same-as-test-auto/What are the differences between robotic process automation and test automation? Let’s see what’s what and how the Robot Framework can help to utilize both. Thu, 19 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/parallel-testing-and-why-you-should-adopt-it/https://smartbear.com/blog/parallel-testing-and-why-you-should-adopt-it/While sequential testing means a longer time-to-market, parallel testing is the favored approach for quicker turnaround in software deliveries. Wed, 11 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-flutter-apps-on-real-android-devices/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-flutter-apps-on-real-android-devices/Like apps built with any other development toolkit, automated testing of Flutter apps is the only way to ensure app quality in the shortest time possible. Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-load-testing-metrics/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-load-testing-metrics/Most people know they need to set goals to improve some part of their life. It helps you avoid wasting energy and make measurable progress. While this is common knowledge, most of us still don’t take the time to set goals or measure their progress toward them over time. The result is missed opportunities. Same Tue, 03 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/model-based-testing-advanced-level-test-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/model-based-testing-advanced-level-test-automation/Enter model-based testing (MBT), a strategy that helps leverage test automation more thoroughly, especially when it comes to requirements adjustment. Tue, 19 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-automation-bdd-how-they-fit-together/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-automation-bdd-how-they-fit-together/Many development problems arise from miscommunication. For example, a developer may start working on a specification that they don’t fully understand or a stakeholder may request a feature without understanding the implications. The result is rework that increases costs, creates delays and, in many cases, leads to failed software projects that go well over budget. Wed, 13 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/7-benefits-of-implementing-automated-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/7-benefits-of-implementing-automated-testing/The adoption of automated testing has become critical and brought benefits for companies that decide to implement Agile and DevOps methodologies. Tue, 12 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-perform-manual-mobile-testing-effectively/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-perform-manual-mobile-testing-effectively/Manual mobile testing still has its advantages in many use cases. Let’s see when and how to perform manual mobile app testing in an effective way. Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-vs-xcuitest-for-automated-ios-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-vs-xcuitest-for-automated-ios-testing/Let’s find out which automated testing framework you should pick for iOS app testing and who will be the winner – Appium or XCUITest. Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-test-automation-fits-with-agile-devops/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-test-automation-fits-with-agile-devops/A look at the difference between test automation and continuous testing, as well as how these concepts fit with Agile and DevOps processes. Mon, 04 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-appium-image-locator/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-appium-image-locator/Appium image recognition is one of the most popular approaches for enabling automated testing of graphics-heavy apps, games or even any OS-level popups. Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-is-mobile-app-testing-different-from-web-app/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-is-mobile-app-testing-different-from-web-app/Though they may share some general testing methods, the approaches to mobile app testing vs. web app testing still differ vastly. Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-automate-testing-of-android-tv-apps/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-automate-testing-of-android-tv-apps/Testing Android TV apps is not as straightforward as testing Android mobile apps. Let’s see how to use Appium to automate testing of apps for Android TVs. Thu, 17 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-vs-espresso-which-framework-to-use/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-vs-espresso-which-framework-to-use/Appium and Espresso are two most popular frameworks for automated Android testing. But which one is best to your testing needs? Let’s find it out. Tue, 15 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-best-practices-for-writing-assertions/https://smartbear.com/blog/checklist-of-best-practices-for-writing-assertions/Studies show us that a quarter of visitors abandon websites that take more than 4 seconds to load. They also show that nearly half of users don’t revisit poorly performing websites. At the same time, Walmart found that every 1-second improvement in page load time improved conversion rates by 2%. In other words, load tests Fri, 11 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-reduce-the-cost-of-your-testing-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-reduce-the-cost-of-your-testing-automation/Most development teams appreciate the value of testing and test automation, but there’s always a push-and-pull when it comes to the time and costs associated with it. It’s important to understand the costs and benefits of testing and test automation in order to decide what level of coverage is appropriate for a given project. At Wed, 09 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-tests-headless/https://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-tests-headless/Headless testing is greatly underutilized – here are three quick ways it can increase performance Selenium has grown to be one of the most popular automation tools available today. It automates many tasks needed for online testing, including checking titles, navigating pages, clicking links, and much more. Many developers already use the full set of Tue, 08 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-a-real-device-cloud-and-why-use-one/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-a-real-device-cloud-and-why-use-one/Learn how to use a real device cloud to become more agile and publish more robust, high-quality mobile apps to your users more often. Wed, 25 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-testing-in-production-is-critical/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-testing-in-production-is-critical/Testing in production allows you to perform an in-depth product review in a live production environment and ensure that the system works as intended. Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/tdd-vs-bdd-vs-atdd-whats-the-right-choice-for-you/https://smartbear.com/blog/tdd-vs-bdd-vs-atdd-whats-the-right-choice-for-you/Find out why we shouldn’t discuss TDD vs BDD vs ATDD and how to get the most out of these methods for your products and agile teams. Thu, 19 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/ios-13-impact-for-app-developers/https://smartbear.com/blog/ios-13-impact-for-app-developers/iOS 13 includes exciting new features, like Dark Mode. However, there are under-the-hood changes that could make or break your mobile app, developers ready? Mon, 16 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/4-steps-to-improve-your-test-coverage/https://smartbear.com/blog/4-steps-to-improve-your-test-coverage/Here are four tips to improve your app test coverage on real devices and browsers which help you offer your users reliable mobile products! Wed, 11 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-are-shift-left-and-shift-right-testing-agile/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-are-shift-left-and-shift-right-testing-agile/Learn about the benefits of shift-left and shift-right testing and how to increase the gained effects through continuous testing. Wed, 04 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/8-use-cases-of-manual-testing-on-real-devices/https://smartbear.com/blog/8-use-cases-of-manual-testing-on-real-devices/Manual device testing is critical to any solid mobile app testing strategy and ensures the smooth operation of apps on the real devices your customers use. Tue, 13 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/real-devices-vs-emulators-for-reliable-mobile-app/https://smartbear.com/blog/real-devices-vs-emulators-for-reliable-mobile-app/What to choose for reliable mobile app testing? This breakdown of testing on real devices vs. emulators will help you make the right decision. Mon, 22 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-and-why-do-we-need-selenium-framework/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-and-why-do-we-need-selenium-framework/Selenium is a popular test framework suite for automating web browser testing. We are opening a new blog series to talk about the Selenium Framework. Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/5-recent-graduates-share-their-biggest-takeaways-i/https://smartbear.com/blog/5-recent-graduates-share-their-biggest-takeaways-i/As a recent college graduate, I have been reflecting on what I have learned in my first post-grad job. From my experience, SmartBear is a great place to start your career with many opportunities to learn, grow, and develop a professional skillset. I talked to four other recent grads here at Smartbear and compiled a Mon, 10 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-jira-strategies/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-management-jira-strategies/Strategies for Success Wed, 17 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/zephyr-for-jira-integrations/https://smartbear.com/blog/zephyr-for-jira-integrations/Software is being developed, tested, and deployed at speeds that we’ve never seen before. While the teams creating these applications depend on test automation to keep quality up to par during frequent releases, test management is equally crucial to ensure collaboration and traceability throughout the lifecycle. SmartBear has recognized the need for tools that enable Wed, 10 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-navigate-readyapi-licensing/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-navigate-readyapi-licensing/ReadyAPI handles the entire quality lifecycle of one of the most technical aspects of modern software: APIs. With that being said, one of the most popular questions we get about ReadyAPI is about its licensing model. While ReadyAPI is a subscription-based model, it has two different editions: Fixed vs Floating. Both editions have specific use Mon, 01 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/getting-the-most-out-of-testcomplete/https://smartbear.com/blog/getting-the-most-out-of-testcomplete/Melissa Leiter discusses how QASource uses TestComplete to provide test automation for clients. Thu, 21 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/adopting-agile-organization/https://smartbear.com/blog/adopting-agile-organization/Adopting Agile in your Organization Mon, 11 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-soapui-open-source-5-5/https://smartbear.com/blog/introducing-soapui-open-source-5-5/SoapUI Open Source was a transformative tool for the API community when it was introduced over 12 years ago – and today we are happy to announce the latest transformation. SoapUI Open Source 5.5 will be available today, which introduces a quicker way to visualize and debug your RESTful and SOAP web services. We’ve also Tue, 12 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/gaps-ui-test-automation-strategy/https://smartbear.com/blog/gaps-ui-test-automation-strategy/What are the most gaps in teams’ UI test automation strategies? We outline five common ones and explain their importance. Tue, 29 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/using-readyapi-and-postman-alongside-each-other/https://smartbear.com/blog/using-readyapi-and-postman-alongside-each-other/Have you outgrown merely exploratory testing your API? Wed, 23 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/comparing-load-tests-performance-testing-basics/https://smartbear.com/blog/comparing-load-tests-performance-testing-basics/Performance testing is all about understanding how your application behaves under conditions of duress. But as you load test regularly and make efforts to work on various issues uncovered during these tests, it’s also important to understand just how your application’s performance has evolved over time. This is especially useful if your team is constantly Tue, 18 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/setting-up-xcuitest-for-ios-continuous-integration/https://smartbear.com/blog/setting-up-xcuitest-for-ios-continuous-integration/Learn how to use XCUITest command line for test execution and set up the a proper server for continuous integration. Wed, 21 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-technical-documents-should-you-review/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-technical-documents-should-you-review/If you’re anything like me in your programming proclivities, there’s a kind of singular impatience that leaps into your mind around the subject of documentation. On the consuming side, whether it’s an API or a product, you might think to yourself, “I don’t want to read about it, I just want to start hacking away Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/cut-your-performance-testing-time-in-half-with-loa/https://smartbear.com/blog/cut-your-performance-testing-time-in-half-with-loa/Performance testing has become an almost ubiquitous need for websites and web applications that want to scale their usage and growth. The impact of a poor performance testing strategy goes beyond just user retention, as research shows how fixing bugs in productions costs 50% more to fix. Clearly, having poor application performance costs money and affects Sun, 28 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-is-internet-explorer-so-bad/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-is-internet-explorer-so-bad/Just the mention of Internet Explorer is sure to bring on a migraine for developers and testers. But why is IE so often the browser we love to hate? As we know, your web page will have slight differences across browsers because of the different ways they render HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Oftentimes, this is Tue, 02 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devops-meet-up-6-steps-to-go-faster-build-better/https://smartbear.com/blog/devops-meet-up-6-steps-to-go-faster-build-better/Almost to the exact date, we hosted our second meet-up as part of the EuroSTAR TeamSTAR 2018 competition in the PorterShed, Galway! Last year, on September 7th we hosted a session on “The Magic Behind Faster API Development, Testing and Delivery with API Virtualization” as part of the 2017 TeamSTAR competition, and earlier this month, Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-digital-thread-that-binds-software-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-digital-thread-that-binds-software-development/When people talk about “the Digital Thread,” they are most likely talking about the digital representation of manufacturing operations. But what about operations that are already digital? The fundamentals behind the Digital Thread should still apply, but creating the Digital Thread for software takes more than models. It takes flexible tools and Agile collaboration. Looking Thu, 06 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/negative-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/negative-testing/When going through an application, it makes sense to perform some of the actions you would think your users would perform. But it may also makes sense to perform some of the actions you wouldn’t expect them to perform. Your users are unpredictable, and the actions that cause complications with your application aren’t always what Wed, 08 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/first-speakers-announced-for-smartbear-connect/https://smartbear.com/blog/first-speakers-announced-for-smartbear-connect/Hot off the press: the first six speakers have been confirmed for SmartBear Connect, our second annual user conference this October 29th & 30th in Boston. We’re so excited to hear our customers and industry experts share their unique stories, insights, and experiences! Check out the first speakers below and keep your ear to the Fri, 22 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/7-steps-to-success-in-overcoming-api-challenges/https://smartbear.com/blog/7-steps-to-success-in-overcoming-api-challenges/A few weeks ago Saoirse Hinksmon, our Digital Content Marketing Manager, and Denis Goodwin, our Director of Product Management spoke with Bill Doerrfeld, Editor in Chief of Nordic APIs and SK Bhachech Director of Service Quality and Security at Everbridge about API Monitoring – what it is, why it’s important, and what are companies doing Wed, 13 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-vs-cypress/https://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-vs-cypress/There’s a new kid on the block for open source test automation tools, and everyone’s talking about how Cypress may be an alternative to Selenium. But while some have posed that Cypress signals the end of an era, we’re not so sure that Selenium is going anywhere anytime soon. To better understand the similarities and Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-software-defect/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-software-defect/What is a Software Defect? Sat, 26 May 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/devops-testing-strategy-best-practices-tools/https://smartbear.com/blog/devops-testing-strategy-best-practices-tools/Take the right steps towards developing or improving your DevOps testing strategy using this complete guide on how to streamline and automate your entire software delivery lifecycle. Mon, 30 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automate-detox-mobile-tests-on-real-devices/https://smartbear.com/blog/automate-detox-mobile-tests-on-real-devices/Detox is a JavaScript mobile testing framework that is built into the app and the test execution starts with app launch. Learn how to automate Detox tests! Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-handle-multiple-tabs-in-selenium-webdriver/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-handle-multiple-tabs-in-selenium-webdriver/As part of our Selenium 101 Series, CrossBrowserTesting explains how to handle multiple tabs in Selenium Webdriver to advance your test automation skills. Mon, 02 Apr 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-bdd-cucumber/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-bdd-cucumber/Everyone likes to get things done their own way, but in software development, it can be helpful to have some guiding principles for the way your organization handles each part of the software development lifecycle. Opening the conversation and keeping different teams on the same page means that software is shipped seamlessly. Additionally, as these Mon, 19 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/guest-blog-testing-unity-games-using-appium/https://smartbear.com/blog/guest-blog-testing-unity-games-using-appium/AltUnityTester will let you find objects in your mobile games and get their coordinates on the screen so you can interact with them from Appium Thu, 15 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-report-generation/https://smartbear.com/blog/selenium-report-generation/Even the most thorough Selenium testing scripts will prove insufficient without helpful reporting to match. Without reporting, all the hard work that you put into writing and executing your test cases will be lost when there’s no way to track the information and communicate it with others on your team. Selenium doesn’t support report generation, but Mon, 12 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-your-open-api-3-0-and-swagger-api-des/https://smartbear.com/blog/accelerating-your-open-api-3-0-and-swagger-api-des/Many teams run into the issue of unavailable APIs during the design and development phase of the API lifecycle. Join us for a webinar tomorrow to learn how service virtualization can help. Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-coverage-software-testing-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-coverage-software-testing-automation/When it comes to software quality, we want to test as much code as humanly (or mechanically) possible, right? Actually, yes and no. For each test cycle, it’s important to consider multiple strategies for measuring test coverage and put a system into place where it can be maximized over the long-term as well. Test coverage Mon, 05 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/sleeps-waits-in-selenium/https://smartbear.com/blog/sleeps-waits-in-selenium/Understanding waits and sleeps is an essential component of forming a comprehensive Selenium testing strategy. Waits can be used in Selenium to make our tests less flaky, help us debug, and to generally slow down our testing experience. Now, you might not want to do that for production code, but we’ll go through some examples Thu, 22 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/eliminating-flaky-selenium-tests-forever/https://smartbear.com/blog/eliminating-flaky-selenium-tests-forever/Selenium has changed the game for many software teams, but it doesn’t come without its many challenges. One of the most common headaches for testers is recurring flaky tests, or tests that fail randomly when there hasn’t been any change to the code. It’s no surprise that this can get annoying since flaky tests affect Thu, 15 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/impact-of-low-code-app-development-on-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/impact-of-low-code-app-development-on-testing/Trying to build applications more quickly, at less expense, and with higher quality is hardly a new goal, but there is a growing trend in application development that shows some potential to help reach that elusive state. Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/personas-based-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/personas-based-testing/As a software tester, your job is to advocate for the end user. However, when there are thousands or even millions of end users, how can we be sure that we’re keeping in mind their differences? While advocating for each and every user may be an impossibility, adopting persona-based testing may be the key to Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/run-test-multiple-browsers-parallel-selenium/https://smartbear.com/blog/run-test-multiple-browsers-parallel-selenium/If you are familiar with automated testing but haven’t yet explored the possibilities of parallel testing, we can tell you right now that you’ve been missing out. Rather than testing sequentially, or running each browser test one after the other, parallel testing allows you to run cross-browser tests simultaneously. This means if you’re running a Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automate-login-with-selenium/https://smartbear.com/blog/automate-login-with-selenium/While learning Selenium can surely be challenging in the shift from manual to automation, starting small and making the effort to be continuously learning will help you become proficient in no time. CrossBrowserTesting wants to help your team get started with automated testing, which is why we’re creating Selenium 101 guides to teach you the basics. Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/cross-platform-website-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/cross-platform-website-development/Once you take the time to learn a little about the history of web browsers and understand how they work, the need to build and test cross-compatible websites is clear. Between Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, and Internet Explorer, you can’t assume that your web page will look good and work correctly on everyone’s machine just Tue, 30 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/5-lessons-agile-teams-can-learn-from-netflix/https://smartbear.com/blog/5-lessons-agile-teams-can-learn-from-netflix/By taking a closer look at the way Netflix operates behind the scenes (or should we say, behind the screens), Agile development teams can learn quite a bit from Netflix. If you’re still not convinced, here are a few ways Netflix echoes Agile development and can teach teams to be more successful when building, testing, and delivering software. Thu, 25 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/history-of-web-browsers/https://smartbear.com/blog/history-of-web-browsers/The history of web browsers including Chrome, IE, Safari, Opera, and Firefox reveals how they work and why they display content differently. Wed, 24 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/choose-which-browsers-test/https://smartbear.com/blog/choose-which-browsers-test/It’s no secret that testing an application solely on the machine it was developed on isn’t the best way to know whether or not it’s cross-compatible. Once you decide between building or buying a device lab, there still comes the issue of deciding which browsers to test. After all, you can’t test everything. That’s exactly why Thu, 21 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/meet-your-customer-success-manager-kirsten-harris/https://smartbear.com/blog/meet-your-customer-success-manager-kirsten-harris/Have you met your Customer Success Manager yet? Meet Kirsten Harris! Tue, 21 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-testing-matters/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-testing-matters/It can be easy to dismiss software testing as an unnecessary investment of time and money. One or two little bugs couldn’t possibly hurt anyone, right? But for many organizations, one little bug spiraled out of control. Thu, 09 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/from-0-to-100-how-to-get-into-automated-testing-as/https://smartbear.com/blog/from-0-to-100-how-to-get-into-automated-testing-as/Test automation is all the rage these days, but breaking into the role of an automation engineer is challenging, and sometimes it might seem like more trouble than it’s worth. When there’s still a clear need for manual testing, what’s the point of you uprooting your current ways just to follow the trend? Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automated-testing-manual-tester/https://smartbear.com/blog/automated-testing-manual-tester/Test automation is all the rage these days, but breaking into the role of an automation engineer is challenging, and sometimes it might seem like more trouble than it’s worth. When there’s still a clear need for manual testing, what’s the point of you uprooting your current ways just to follow the trend? Though going from Mon, 16 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/speed-vs-quality-which-is-preferred/https://smartbear.com/blog/speed-vs-quality-which-is-preferred/Speed and quality — they’re debatably the two most sought-after exploits to participants in the software development lifecycle. Unfortunately, having one often comes at the cost of the other, leaving professionals to make a decision on which is more important.  Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-race-condition-therac-25/https://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-race-condition-therac-25/The Worst Computer Bugs in History is a mini series to commemorate the discovery of the first computer bug seventy years ago. Although these stories are more extreme than most software bugs engineers will encounter during their careers, they are worth studying for the insights they can offer into software development and deployment. These computer Tue, 19 Sep 2017 07:55:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-460m-loss/https://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-460m-loss/The Worst Computer Bugs in History is a mini-series to commemorate the discovery of the first computer bug seventy years ago. Although these stories are more extreme than most software bugs engineers will encounter during their careers, they are worth studying for the insights they can offer into software development and deployment. These computer bugs Thu, 14 Sep 2017 08:04:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-ariane-5-disaster/https://smartbear.com/blog/bug-day-ariane-5-disaster/The Worst Computer Bugs in History is a mini series to commemorate the discovery of the first computer bug seventy years ago. Although these stories are more extreme than most software bugs engineers will encounter during their careers, they are worth studying for the insights they can offer into software development and deployment. These computer Thu, 07 Sep 2017 07:51:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/web-mobile-friendly-app/https://smartbear.com/blog/web-mobile-friendly-app/It’s a no-brainer to optimize your website to be mobile-friendly. As of 2016, 80 percent of Americans own a smartphone of some kind, and 27 percent of people only use a smartphone in an average day (which is 2 times as many as those who only use a computer), while 57 percent use more than Tue, 05 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/speed-up-your-api-development-with-service-virtual/https://smartbear.com/blog/speed-up-your-api-development-with-service-virtual/Mocking and sandboxing limit how many scenarios you can test at one time, which means that you go through the entire development cycle every time you want to change your API. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could catch defects and get feedback from end users, customers and managers before you code at all?  The good news is you can do just that with Service Virtualization. Fri, 25 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/software-bug-cost/https://smartbear.com/blog/software-bug-cost/Test early and test often — that’s what everyone says will help you avoid the high cost of deploying a software bug. But a bug might not seem like a big deal without a dollar sign attributed to it. Why invest in testing if you can just fix your mistake after? What’s the true cost Tue, 08 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-opens-new-apac-headquarters-in-melbourne/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-opens-new-apac-headquarters-in-melbourne/On July 24th we announced our new Asia-Pacific region (APAC) Headquarters in Melbourne, Australia! We’re experiencing tremendous international growth for our software quality tools, and we want to make sure we meet our international customers’ needs. Did you know that 37 percent of the world’s software developers live outside of North America and Europe? At Wed, 02 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-delivery-challenges/https://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-delivery-challenges/The goal of most DevOps continuous delivery projects is to automate as many manual processes. Here is how to solve some challenges with doing so. Mon, 15 May 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-containers-to-build-ios-apps-in-cloud/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-use-containers-to-build-ios-apps-in-cloud/Efficient use of test automation together with containers have enabled a variety of different setups to become alive and boost productivity. Thu, 04 May 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-programming-language-to-learn-first/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-programming-language-to-learn-first/A guide for anyone who wants is new to programming in order to help give a better idea of the best programming language to learn first. Tue, 18 Apr 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agile-vs-waterfall/https://smartbear.com/blog/agile-vs-waterfall/Collaboration and communication will be essential when transitioning to agile. Mon, 20 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agile-api-load-testing-best-practices/https://smartbear.com/blog/agile-api-load-testing-best-practices/One important organizational point of Agile API delivery is the concept of a team producing a usable version – which should result in the improved alignment of development, QA, and technical operations teams. Perhaps an even larger benefit of Agile is that it allows teams to effectively manage change in both external and software functionality, while simultaneously Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/role-unit-tests-automation/https://smartbear.com/blog/role-unit-tests-automation/Unit tests are useful for identifying isolated issues, but not necessarily for big-picture flaws. Mon, 13 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-optimize-regreassion-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-optimize-regreassion-testing/By categorizing your tests, reviewing the code in your active cases and monitoring your testing metrics, you can optimize regression testing. Tue, 21 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/using-xcode-storyboard-for-ui-building-and-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/using-xcode-storyboard-for-ui-building-and-testing/I’ve found the Xcode storyboard feature extremely handy to quickly build UI layouts, sketch things out and mock UI look-and-feels. Fri, 10 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/handle-bug-fixes-agile/https://smartbear.com/blog/handle-bug-fixes-agile/On agile projects, quality comes through collaboration. Wed, 08 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/best-practices-with-api-deprecation/https://smartbear.com/blog/best-practices-with-api-deprecation/API deprecation is a natural progression in the API lifecycle, and is often forgotten about both by API creators as well as API consumers. As APIs, integrations, and use cases grow and increase in number, so do the number of APIs getting deprecated. Famous API retirements include the Netflix public API, the Google Earth API, Thu, 19 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-builds-bikes-for-a-great-cause/https://smartbear.com/blog/smartbear-builds-bikes-for-a-great-cause/As their first philanthropic event of the year, SmartBear joined forces with the Boys & Girls Club of Medford & Somerville to build 18 bikes for children living in the area. On Tuesday night, in a bout of friendly competition, 115 employees broke into teams to see who could build the bikes the fastest. (All Fri, 13 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/comparing-websites-visually-side-side/https://smartbear.com/blog/comparing-websites-visually-side-side/One of the challenging parts of designing a responsive site is truly visualizing what your website will look like across platforms. Most of us develop or design on only one or two machines. If you’re like me, a new machine as a daily driver is a pretty big interruption in life and I try to Wed, 04 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/getting-started-with-kif-for-functional-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/getting-started-with-kif-for-functional-testing/In this blog, we’ll take a look at what KIF – Keep It Functional – has to offer for UI test automation and how to get started with it. Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agile-reporting-tips/https://smartbear.com/blog/agile-reporting-tips/Accurate reporting is a key element in fostering quality communication within an organization, especially large, complex, global enterprises. Tue, 20 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-using-xctest-for-ios-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-using-xctest-for-ios-testing/In addition to the pros and cons of XCTest, we’ll take a look at some basic things about the XCTest framework in this blog. Thu, 15 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-infrastructure-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-is-infrastructure-testing/Precision testing run daily, or by iteration, provides full transparency into the coding readiness for incremental releases. Tue, 29 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/simplify-risk-based-testing-approach-test-manageme/https://smartbear.com/blog/simplify-risk-based-testing-approach-test-manageme/Risk Based Testing (RBT) can sound intimidating, but the underlying concept is quite simple. RBT helps prioritize testing to obtain a higher level of quality. Sure you can create some complex equation to rank your tests, but that leaves room for error. I don’t know about you, but I like to keep things simple. So Mon, 21 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/android-espresso-tutorial-for-mobile-app-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/android-espresso-tutorial-for-mobile-app-testing/Android Espresso aims to improve productivity and make developers work more efficient, it can also provide effective improvements in mobile app quality. Fri, 21 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-integration-continuous-delivery-api-del/https://smartbear.com/blog/continuous-integration-continuous-delivery-api-del/Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, and Continuous Deployment provide a very powerful set of solutions for integration of software changes. While the automation of software integration and delivery to development, staging, or production is the primary purpose or CI/CD, these efforts also empower teams to capture knowledge on how to properly build, package, and test an organization’s Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-robot-framework/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-robot-framework/Learn how to use Robot Framework, a keyword-driven test automation framework for acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) on mobile apps. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-strategy-mistakes/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-strategy-mistakes/APIs have taken the technical industry by storm. APIs are front and center of mobile, cloud, and IoT initiatives. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the “API-first” approach has proven to be extremely adaptable to integrations, and to serving as the core engine for supporting apps on various operating systems, mobile platforms, and wearable devices. Because Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-ios-automated-testing-frameworks/https://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-ios-automated-testing-frameworks/Today we’d like to go through 5 widely used iOS testing frameworks, with simple code samples to give you an understanding how to start with iOS testing. Tue, 05 Jul 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/debugging-an-api-performance-problem-from-the-real/https://smartbear.com/blog/debugging-an-api-performance-problem-from-the-real/I see companies that survive with too few customers, then fall apart precisely when apparent success arrives: paying users start to depend on a product, response times wobble and stumble, and suddenly things become slow, ugly, and out-of-control. True life examples illustrate a few of the principles that will help you get through both organization-wide Mon, 23 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-for-api-performance-and-get-more-from/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-test-for-api-performance-and-get-more-from/APIs have stepped into the spotlight in recent years, thanks to the explosive growth of web and mobile applications that rely on APIs to access information and perform critical functions. SmartBear Software recently published the results of a global API industry survey, which included responses from more than 2,300 software professionals. When asked which metric Mon, 09 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/false-alarms-your-ops-nemesis/https://smartbear.com/blog/false-alarms-your-ops-nemesis/If you work in operations, or manage a monitoring or operations center, you understand the frustration that comes with false alarms. IT analytics firm BigPanda recently conducted a 2016 State of Monitoring survey and found that 79% of IT professionals see reducing alert noise as their top challenge. Poorly managed NOCs and unnecessary alerts cost Tue, 26 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/10-things-to-consider-when-choosing-cloud/https://smartbear.com/blog/10-things-to-consider-when-choosing-cloud/Public cloud for mobile app testing is quite common. But how do you knopw when is time to move your testing practice to a private cloud? Thu, 21 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-parallel-test-runs-on-android-and-ios/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-parallel-test-runs-on-android-and-ios/Emulators and simulators have issues with parallelism and concurrency, so let’s talk about Appium parallel test automation on Android and iOS real devices. Mon, 18 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-in-api-performance/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-in-api-performance/Let’s consider a list of testing services: Functional Testing Automated Testing Security Testing Web Performance Testing API Performance Testing API Functional Testing Mobile Testing These sorts of lists are universal. But rather than just running down a list of tests a team should, or should not be running, why not instead think about the problems Wed, 13 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/better-web-testing-with-selenium/https://smartbear.com/blog/better-web-testing-with-selenium/Ten years after its introduction, Selenium is arguably the most popular open source testing tool, and for good reason. Not only is it free and open, Selenium is also fully feature and browser-neutral. Change a single variable in the code, and the same Selenium code that drives Internet Explorer can drive Chrome or FireFox. Switch Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-setup-and-get-started-with-calabash/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-setup-and-get-started-with-calabash/Calabash is a popular choice of test automation framework and it works fairly well with both Android and iOS. Let’s see how to get started with Calabash. Tue, 05 Apr 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-20-executing-appium-tests-with-gradle/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-20-executing-appium-tests-with-gradle/Our Gradle plugin connects real device on cloud with your Android Studio development environment. Let’s look at how to execute Appium tests with Gradle. Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-react-native-apps-on-android-and-ios/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-react-native-apps-on-android-and-ios/Writing native apps for mobile platforms is very easy and seems to work well across different setups. But how to automate the testing of React Native apps? Fri, 29 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/essential-features-best-test-management-tool/https://smartbear.com/blog/essential-features-best-test-management-tool/Does your current test management tool meet all the marks? Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/difference-between-performance-and-functional-test/https://smartbear.com/blog/difference-between-performance-and-functional-test/I remember when I was introduced to the idea of performance testing, and even the performance tester as a role. Our company had one person whose sole focus was discovering performance and load-related information. My work, on the other hand, was with a team of seven testers. My cube was right across from our manager Mon, 28 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-do-real-time-data-logging-for-mobile-apps/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-do-real-time-data-logging-for-mobile-apps/Logs are an essential part of understanding how apps behave on different OS and device platforms. By default, both Android and iOS are pushing lots of different relevant data (and sometimes just everything) to logs. Developers can also easily add and write custom log messages or just push the data in logs for later inspection. […] Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-3-tricks-for-faster-appium-test-scripts/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-3-tricks-for-faster-appium-test-scripts/Let’s look at some of the best practices, tips and tricks of how to speed up the creation of Appium test scripts for your Android and/or iOS apps. Mon, 14 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-13-use-inspector-or-uiautomatorviewer/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-13-use-inspector-or-uiautomatorviewer/Appium Inspector is a very handy tool to identify visual elements in your app, but it has some limitations. Let’s see what they are and how to tackle them. Tue, 08 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-12-useful-timeout-capabilities-commands/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-12-useful-timeout-capabilities-commands/Let’s see how to use Appium timeout commands to handle test execution, wait for certain events or scale the use of multiple devices simultaneously. Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-design-using-behavior-driven-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-design-using-behavior-driven-development/Test-driven development (TDD) has been around for a while now.  Behavior-driven development (BDD), a comparably recent methodology, emerged from the practice of TDD and could reasonably be called a narrower application of TDD. The TDD process allows a developer to use a failing unit test to express a shortcoming of the system.  The next step Tue, 24 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/alertsite-integrates-with-akana-to-bring-you-end-t/https://smartbear.com/blog/alertsite-integrates-with-akana-to-bring-you-end-t/APIs are powerful. You can be an API provider, a consumer or most likely both. The APIs you consume bring data and services to your applications, drive traffic and accelerate internal projects. The APIs you provide bring you revenue, increase footprint and open a path to innovation. APIs are the foundation of any IoT, mobile Tue, 17 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-9-how-to-automatically-dismiss-dialogs/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-9-how-to-automatically-dismiss-dialogs/Dialogs and alerts are annoying, but they can automatically dismissed and autoaccepted with a well-written Appium test script. Let’s see how to do it. Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-8-how-to-take-screenshots-on-failure/https://smartbear.com/blog/appium-tip-8-how-to-take-screenshots-on-failure/Let’s talk about an Appium tip that can help to take screenshots on failure, which is extremely useful for ‘debugging’ your test script execution. Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-with-python-and-why-it-makes-sense/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-with-python-and-why-it-makes-sense/Figuring out what language to code in as a tester can be particularly challenging. If you ask the programmers on the team, they’ll say to use whatever they code in. Ask the internet, and, again, you are most likely to hear what your friends are most familiar and comfortable with. Worse, you might hear a Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/verification-and-validation-the-difference/https://smartbear.com/blog/verification-and-validation-the-difference/I’ve been asked several times recently about the difference between Verification and Validation in automated testing and for some advice on applying and documenting each kind of testing. Let me first take a minute to define these terms. Verification Vs. Validation Verification is testing that your product meets the specifications / requirements you have written. Fri, 28 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/qa-testing-for-what-your-users-really-want/https://smartbear.com/blog/qa-testing-for-what-your-users-really-want/The software world in general is moving toward increased shared responsibility and individual ownership. From developers to operations to testing, the microservices world has us focusing on projects not products and watching teammates going from firmly defined roles to everyone doing a bit of everything. Agile programming pushes team members to work together, while scrum Thu, 06 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/building-superior-code/https://smartbear.com/blog/building-superior-code/I’ve made stops in a lot of software development shops in my career, both as an employee and as a consultant. This has afforded me the opportunity to learn that some questions and concerns are universal in the industry. One such question, asked by Fortune 500 CTOs and tiny startups alike, is “How do I Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/10-reasons-to-work-at-smartbear/https://smartbear.com/blog/10-reasons-to-work-at-smartbear/Looking for a company with an open, fun and collaborative culture? How about a place that prides itself on developing talent, work/life balance and impromptu nerf gun battles? If so, welcome to SmartBear! It was tough, but we managed to narrow down the top 10 reasons why SmartBear employees say working at SmartBear is so Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/what-you-should-know-about-app-testing-during-dev/https://smartbear.com/blog/what-you-should-know-about-app-testing-during-dev/Bugs are evil for your mobile applications, games and websites. They surely are the ultimate reason why your app doesn’t get 100 million downloads from app markets. That’s why you need to do app testing. To get the most out of your testing efforts, getting involved with app testing as early as possible in the Thu, 16 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/software-performance-and-customer-satisfaction/https://smartbear.com/blog/software-performance-and-customer-satisfaction/This article covers some practical ways you can measure whether or not your customers are satisfied with your software. Tue, 30 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/simplified-api-monitoring-for-devops-teams/https://smartbear.com/blog/simplified-api-monitoring-for-devops-teams/AlertSite integration with Ready! API brings API performance monitoring and quality together for DevOps teams. Learn more about the new integration. Tue, 23 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/4-ways-to-load-test-your-api/https://smartbear.com/blog/4-ways-to-load-test-your-api/These are the 4 ways you can load test your API during and before production, but there is only one of them that is the most risk averse. Tue, 02 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-manual-testing-is-still-important/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-manual-testing-is-still-important/Manual testing is still necessary for when you conduct exploratory testing and and when testing for program usability. Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/performance-issue-considerations-for-microservices/https://smartbear.com/blog/performance-issue-considerations-for-microservices/The purpose of this article is to explore some of the performance issues you can encounter when working with microservices. Thu, 26 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-android-automated-testing-frameworks/https://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-android-automated-testing-frameworks/Learn the basics of Android testing frameworks to meet your testing needs and ultimately improve your efficiency with proper test automation. Thu, 19 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-run-selenium-from-testcomplete-in-6-simple/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-run-selenium-from-testcomplete-in-6-simple/We all love Selenium, but it can only test browser applications. So what happens if you work for a company that requires you to automate different technologies? Tue, 10 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/first-impressions-count-with-mobile-app-quality/https://smartbear.com/blog/first-impressions-count-with-mobile-app-quality/To overcome fickle consumer behavior driven by less tolerance to buggy code, the first crucial step is realizing mobile necessities a different testing strategy than that traditionally used to test desktop and web applications. Thu, 05 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-value-of-testing-in-mobile-game-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-value-of-testing-in-mobile-game-development/We’ve been discussing various aspects of mobile game development and testing, different required architectures and infrastructure to build more robust mobile games. Again, the feedback we’ve got is awesome and we encourage you to get in touch with us as we’re highly dedicated to continuing sharing our insights, best practices, tips & tricks and lots […] Wed, 04 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/architecture-and-infrastructure-of-mobile-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/architecture-and-infrastructure-of-mobile-testing/One important thing is to deep dive into a few important topics in mobile game testing and how to adopt this with test automation for your development process. So, let’s start with the infrastructural and architectural aspects of mobile game testing… One of the most common problems in mobile game testing – similar to app […] Wed, 07 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/3scale-plugin-for-ready-api-completes-the-lifecycl/https://smartbear.com/blog/3scale-plugin-for-ready-api-completes-the-lifecycl/with Guest Post from SmartBear collaboration partner Manfred Bortenschlager of 3scale   From Lorinda Brandon, API Products at SmartBear: When we originally designed Ready! API, our goal was to provide a fluid movement from your API project through a variety of testing, mocking and monitoring activities. We also included a powerful plugin framework because we Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/tips-on-how-to-archive-and-export-ipa-from-script/https://smartbear.com/blog/tips-on-how-to-archive-and-export-ipa-from-script/The way of exporting .ipa file has changed with Xcode 6. Read on and learn how to help you quickly archive and export .ipa from the script. Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-calabash/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-calabash/Besides Appium, Calabash is the other great test automation framework for cross-platform app testing. It provides a great cross-platform test automation framework for Android and iOS native and hybrid apps. Calabash provides an easy-to-understand language syntax – so it is a great fit for non-technical folks as well. Download FREE Calabash 101 to Start Your Calabash iOS Tests. Installation & Prerequisites […] Tue, 21 Oct 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/mobile-game-testing-part-1-importance-difference/https://smartbear.com/blog/mobile-game-testing-part-1-importance-difference/Mobile game testing differs from the regular mobile app testing. Effective mobile game testing derives from a well-structured and systematic approach, use of test automation framework and seamless integration with your agile process. Naturally, the simplistic view of testing is to identify bugs and help developers to remove them. However, to aim for efficient, result-driven Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/on-the-reusability-of-test-scripts/https://smartbear.com/blog/on-the-reusability-of-test-scripts/Automating your testing efforts is paramount to agile and expedient software delivery. However, the implementation details of automating tests diverge very quickly down paths defined by what level of testing you’re performing. Developers have unit tests in IDEs, QA testers have their own tools and scripts, and operations folks have monitoring – all to make Fri, 25 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-containers-instead-of-hypervisors/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-containers-instead-of-hypervisors/Our cloud-based IT world is founded on hypervisors. It doesn’t have to be that way – and, some say, it shouldn’t be. Containers can deliver more services using the same hardware you’re now using for virtual machines, said one speaker at the Linux Collaboration Summit, and that spells more profits for both data centers and Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/goto-still-has-a-place-in-modern-programming-no-re/https://smartbear.com/blog/goto-still-has-a-place-in-modern-programming-no-re/Mea culpa! Sometimes, the experts agree, GOTO can be very useful. When I wrote a few weeks about Apple’s SSL GOTO security fiasco, I put the blame on GOTO. I quoted no less a seer than programming guru Edsger W. Dijkstra who wrote way back in 1968 that the goto statement should be abolished from Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/impostor-syndrome-in-the-workplace-and-a-few-ways/https://smartbear.com/blog/impostor-syndrome-in-the-workplace-and-a-few-ways/Even the most brilliant developers, the most competent managers, have doubts about their abilities—despite evidence that their performance at work is acceptable, or even laudable. Why do we feel this way…and how can we feel better about our work and ourselves? “I worry every time I do a review,” said Alice, a technical writer from Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/load-testing-for-mobile-devices/https://smartbear.com/blog/load-testing-for-mobile-devices/Performance testing on mobile devices, applications, and Web content is by no means a new phenomenon. Even so, the truth is that we still need to know how well our apps and sites perform in production environments before that inevitable slow down or downtime occurs. One key characteristic of mobile device traffic is that it’s often thinner and Fri, 14 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/measuring-success-in-an-open-source-project/https://smartbear.com/blog/measuring-success-in-an-open-source-project/There are many ways to measure whether an open source project is gaining meaningful traction. Here how’s OpenDaylight’s doing it. Is Linux a success? Certainly. The Apache Web server? You betcha. Firefox, sure. But, what about smaller or newer open source projects? How can you tell if they’re on the right path or if they’re Thu, 13 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/soapui-201-beyond-the-basics/https://smartbear.com/blog/soapui-201-beyond-the-basics/In my previous article, Getting Started with SoapUI, I went over the basic functionality of SoapUI and the structure of a SoapUI project. Once you’ve set up test cases for SOAP, REST, JMS, JDBC or AMF APIs, and after you’ve added some assertions to validate your tests, you might be asking yourself: “What else can Thu, 06 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/your-guide-to-data-driven-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/your-guide-to-data-driven-testing/Quite simply, data-driven testing is taking a test, parameterizing it and then running that test with varying data. This allows you to run the same test case with many varying inputs, therefore increasing coverage from a single test. In addition to increasing test coverage, data driven testing allows the ability to build both positive and negative test cases into a Mon, 03 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-developers-still-need-the-basics/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-developers-still-need-the-basics/Perhaps you encountered these in math classes or an elective in your CompSci degree, and think they’re just “theoretically” interesting. (Or not.) But, Tom Henderson argues, these have relevance to the real world of programming too. Building realistic behavior into your applications can be tough. If you took classical computer science or programming in college, you may Thu, 13 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-history-of-computer-language-translation/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-history-of-computer-language-translation/We’re starting to take for granted the number of tools that translate from one human language to another – not least of which are the translations included in Web browsers – even when they do an imperfect job. The technical road to relative success in this realm has been a rocky one, however. Expressing one’s Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-software-blunders-of-2013/https://smartbear.com/blog/top-5-software-blunders-of-2013/Happy New Year! It’s that time of year that we like to take a look back at what’s transpired over the last 12 months and find ways to improve ourselves for the future—which, as history has shown, not enough of us actually do. 2013 was a tumultuous year in the world of software. If you Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/healthy-apis-take-one-api-and-call-me-in-the-morni/https://smartbear.com/blog/healthy-apis-take-one-api-and-call-me-in-the-morni/Healthcare applications – both mobile and Web-based – are going mad with the inception of the Affordable Healthcare Act. But to even think about writing health-related software, you have to get clinical information that is relevant and current. Fortunately, plenty of APIs – some endorsed by the U.S. government – are ready to use. The Wed, 08 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-pre-history-of-software-as-a-service/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-pre-history-of-software-as-a-service/Now everyone uses Software as a Service. But we tried this business model before, over a decade ago, and it failed miserably. What changed in cloud computing to make it work today? Tue, 07 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/get-ready-for-tx-tester-experience/https://smartbear.com/blog/get-ready-for-tx-tester-experience/Ole Lensmar proposes a new concept for the software testing process — the Tester Experience. Wed, 18 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/exploring-programming-languages-science-and-folklo/https://smartbear.com/blog/exploring-programming-languages-science-and-folklo/Functional programming! Declarative! Object-oriented! Strong typing, static, dynamic! The programming community certainly has put a lot of energy into deciding techniques and methodologies by argument. But is there persuasive experimental evidence about what truly helps and what hurts? Ah, that’s a good question. “Does anybody really know what time it is?” the band Chicago asked Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/december-in-history-a-geeks-almanac/https://smartbear.com/blog/december-in-history-a-geeks-almanac/It’s always enlightening and refreshing to look back on the past and see how far we’ve come — the obstacles we’ve overcome, the tragedies we’ve endured, the victories we relish, and the innovations that have changed and shaped our lives for years to come.  In this installment of A Geek’s Almanac, we take a look Mon, 02 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-early-test-often-as-part-of-app-development/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-early-test-often-as-part-of-app-development/Incorporating testing as part of app development is utmost important to find and fix those app testing errors and win the trust of users. Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/increase-efficiency-and-productivity-with-test/https://smartbear.com/blog/increase-efficiency-and-productivity-with-test/Efficiency and productivity is the name of the game in Test Automation nowadays, with a combination of speed combined with robustness. Learn how! Wed, 16 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/10-best-practices-for-mobile-app-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/10-best-practices-for-mobile-app-testing/Mobile app testing can be time-consuming and sometimes expensive. Here a comprehendive list of detailed best practices for improving mobile app testing Wed, 09 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/xen-and-the-art-of-project-management/https://smartbear.com/blog/xen-and-the-art-of-project-management/Your open source project is one of thousands, so how do  you help its community grow? Start with project management, great documentation, and a road map. At LinuxCon North America, held September 16-18 in New Orleans, community manager Lars Kurth presented a case study that showed how the 10-year-old Xen project regained community support with Thu, 26 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/whats-new-for-developers-in-ie11/https://smartbear.com/blog/whats-new-for-developers-in-ie11/The first big update to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser in three years will feature a number of advanced security features – and a whole lot more. With Windows Blue, a.k.a. Windows 8.1, Microsoft will issue the first new version of its standard Web browser in three years. Contrast that with the constant upgrades coming from Tue, 24 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/regulated-industries-and-software-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/regulated-industries-and-software-testing/How often do testers truly consider the repercussions of missing an important defect or not following a strict code of professionalism? Of course, we want to find important defects and help developers solve the problems, but if something gets missed we can (almost) always just fix it in the next patch. In a non-regulated industry Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-getting-xpath-expressions-for-web/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-getting-xpath-expressions-for-web/This post will help you quickly incorporate XPath expressions into our test scripts. I hope it will be useful for both those not familiar with XML and for those want to get XPath expressions faster. Mon, 02 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/exploratory-vs-scripted-testing-one-or-the-other-o/https://smartbear.com/blog/exploratory-vs-scripted-testing-one-or-the-other-o/What is Exploratory Testing? In the increasingly technical world that we all live in, the need for precise measures and a “five nines” mentality toward everything is growing at a rapid pace. The old adage “If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed” takes on new meaning when analytics and dashboards rule the day. Thu, 01 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-and-when-to-use-javas-threadlocal-object/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-and-when-to-use-javas-threadlocal-object/ThreadLocal is one of the lesser known, and seldom used Core Java objects. Its purpose is to bind an object to a thread, which has two distinct and useful consequences: The object is not shared between threads, so it can be used without the need for synchronization; and it is available throughout the life of Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bias-and-the-human-side-of-software-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/bias-and-the-human-side-of-software-testing/Bias is everywhere. That is my unbiased opinion. But most discussions about bias tend to lean toward the negative impact of someone or some process being biased. They should because bias is, by definition a : bent, tendency b : an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment : Thu, 18 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/detecting-and-managing-memory-leaks/https://smartbear.com/blog/detecting-and-managing-memory-leaks/Developing and managing software is a constant battle between functionality and resource management. This is particularly true when discussing memory allocation and leakage. As code grows, so does the propensity for memory leaks. These micro snippets steal from the total memory allocation usually as a result of objects that are stored but are inaccessible by Mon, 15 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/putting-the-rum-in-api-monitoring/https://smartbear.com/blog/putting-the-rum-in-api-monitoring/Last week I was very fortunate to be part of a webinar on API monitoring together with Alan Ho from Apigee. The plan was to have a face-off between our respective monitoring technologies – Synthetic Transaction Monitoring from SmartBear and Real User Monitoring from Apigee. But what was supposed to turn into a heated discussion with Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/top-4-test-automation-challenges/https://smartbear.com/blog/top-4-test-automation-challenges/Implementing test automation into a development workflow is a daunting task, especially during development. It is important to know how to tackle integration before implementation and to be transparent for the whole process. Automated testing tools provide enormous ROI in terms of product liability and piece of mind for development teams. This slideshare goes over Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/developing-a-culture-of-mentorship-with-code-revie/https://smartbear.com/blog/developing-a-culture-of-mentorship-with-code-revie/Donald Trump does it on “The Apprentice.” Senior citizens do it when they volunteer to teach young children to read. University alumni guiding recent graduates do it. Mentorship relationships are all around us. And for good reason. According to this article in Forbes, Sun Microsystems compared the career progress of 1,000 employees over a five-year period. Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/so-i-heard-you-guys-like-software-comics/https://smartbear.com/blog/so-i-heard-you-guys-like-software-comics/We don’t exactly have Scott Adams on staff to draw witty satires about office shinanigans, but we always enjoy putting out a few good software comics at the end of a grueling week. Whether it’s about the downside of a classic buzzword (Agile anyone?) or the never-ending battle between the QA and development team, it’s good Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/test-monkeys-and-a-method-to-madness/https://smartbear.com/blog/test-monkeys-and-a-method-to-madness/Back in my days as a manual tester, I always had fun finding new ways to break software. I could get very creative with testing various limits or simply using random inputs at random time intervals to see how the application reacted. These random exploratory tests drove the developers nuts but proved over time to Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/api-marketing-making-a-splash-with-the-smartsheet/https://smartbear.com/blog/api-marketing-making-a-splash-with-the-smartsheet/One thing I’m really enjoying about all of the recent API buzz is watching the various ways APIs are wiggling their way into product marketing. I wrote a post last week about a company’s pitch that included a little braggadocio about their inclusion in the API Billionaires club, and I’ am often on the lookout for Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/defensive-coding-with-apis/https://smartbear.com/blog/defensive-coding-with-apis/When it comes to integrating with, and depending on, third-party APIs in your business solution, you had better think twice of the implications. As Lorinda Brandon already pointed out in her “Safe Sex with Third-Party APIs” talk, there are a number of aspects related to third-party APIs that you need to consider and handle pro-actively Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/a-taste-of-salt-like-puppet-except-it-doesnt-suck/https://smartbear.com/blog/a-taste-of-salt-like-puppet-except-it-doesnt-suck/Have you gotten frustrated with Puppet? Corey Quinn offers an impassioned argument for his favorite open source alternative. If you’re responsible for the care and feeding of multiple servers, and you haven’t heard about configuration management yet, you have not been paying attention. CFengine was one of the first configuration management systems that was deployed Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/making-it-real-emulate-real-life-conditions-in-you/https://smartbear.com/blog/making-it-real-emulate-real-life-conditions-in-you/Whether it’s an elementary school math quiz, a college history exam, or a software development team’s load test, we always want our tests to emulate real-life conditions. Otherwise, what’s the point of testing? In this blog, part three of my four-part series on load testing, I want to focus on ways you can ensure your Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/how-quality-impacts-your-bottom-line/https://smartbear.com/blog/how-quality-impacts-your-bottom-line/In this guest post, Jamie Turner, CEO of 60SecondMarketer.com, talks about a number of businesses that have focused their attention on quality and provides metrics to show how beneficial this decision was for each company. If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re interested in the concept of quality. In fact, quality control may be one Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/7-editors-for-the-android-for-free-or-cheap/https://smartbear.com/blog/7-editors-for-the-android-for-free-or-cheap/Want to tweak your code on the go from the comfort of your Android handheld? We round up seven affordable Android code editors and viewers – free is affordable, right? – that can help you with HTML or other coding on an Android tablet or other device. Working from an Android tablet or phone doesn’t Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/closer-to-perfection-get-to-know-c11-scoped-and-ba/https://smartbear.com/blog/closer-to-perfection-get-to-know-c11-scoped-and-ba/C++ enum types pack a set of related constants in an intuitive and efficient user-defined type. Can you ask for more? With two new C++11 enhancements, namely scoped enums and based enums, the answer is “yes.” Find out all about the recent facelift that C++11 enums underwent and learn how to refactor your code to benefit from Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/manual-testing-is-obsolete-let-the-machines-take-o/https://smartbear.com/blog/manual-testing-is-obsolete-let-the-machines-take-o/During my early morning scan through email posts I came across a thread in the Software Testing and Quality Insurance LinkedIn group that was called “Manual testing is obsolete, let automation take over.” This provocative title turned out to be a question for the participants of the subgroup, “Automated Functional Testing.” Wait a second – the Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-the-api-backend-of-your-mobile-solution/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-the-api-backend-of-your-mobile-solution/If you’re building mobile applications today, chances are high that they are getting their data or logic from a bunch of backend Web APIs, either crafted by your team or provided by a 3rd party. Not surprisingly, over the last two to three years, APIs have turned out to be an extremely potent catalyst for Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/using-constexpr-to-improve-security-performance-an/https://smartbear.com/blog/using-constexpr-to-improve-security-performance-an/constexpr is a new C++11 keyword that rids you of the need to create macros and hardcoded literals. It also guarantees, under certain conditions, that objects undergo static initialization. Danny Kalev shows how to embed constexpr in C++ applications to define constant expressions that might not be so constant otherwise. The new C++11 keyword constexpr controls Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-air-forces-1-billion-software-flop-part-1/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-air-forces-1-billion-software-flop-part-1/When I read the story the other day about the Air Force scrapping a project to overhaul its legacy software system and replace it with a more modern system, I felt myself spinning uncontrollably in the “Way Back Machine.” It took me back to the early 1980’s, when I worked as a civilian in one of the Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/why-peer-review-is-a-critical-step-in-software-dev/https://smartbear.com/blog/why-peer-review-is-a-critical-step-in-software-dev/The benefits of code review are widely accepted as a quality improvement and control strategy. The development community now understands the impact of code review on overall software quality—the ability to identify and remediate errors and issues before the code is passed over to QA for testing.  Peer review contributes a measure of quality control Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-performance-threshold/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-performance-threshold/High-performance computing is not always intuitive. When you want to extract the absolute most from your code, you must understand how to use platform characteristics to your advantage. Sometimes, doing more work on the programmer’s part results in faster code. All performance isn’t measured by the same criteria. It may mean different metrics in different Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/c11-tutorial-lambda-expressions-the-nuts-and-bolts/https://smartbear.com/blog/c11-tutorial-lambda-expressions-the-nuts-and-bolts/One highlight of C++11 is lambda expressions: function-like blocks of executable statements that you can insert where normally a function call would appear. Lambdas are more compact, efficient, and secure than function objects. Danny Kalev shows you how to read lambda expressions and use them in C++11 applications. Originally, functional programming in C consisted of Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/protect-your-code-from-zombie-apocalypse-werewolf/https://smartbear.com/blog/protect-your-code-from-zombie-apocalypse-werewolf/The spookiest day of the year is upon us! Are you excited? Yeah, us too. But heed our warning: Don’t get so caught up with all the crazy costumes and delicious candy that you forget to protect your most vulnerable asset! You see it’s not just humans who can fall victim to attacks from beasts Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-computer-science-mismatch/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-computer-science-mismatch/While companies struggle to find engineering talent, bright students are turned away from computer science departments that are too budget-stressed to expand. Busy recruiter Nathan Ollestad, director of technology practice at Greythorne, lists his phone number prominently on LinkedIn. When called by a stranger, he answers right away. He has to. No matter how consumed Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/divide-your-automated-testing-efforts/https://smartbear.com/blog/divide-your-automated-testing-efforts/Automating all testing is impossible. Moreover, not all tests should be automated. Some tests are indeed better off being conducted manually. In general though, deciding which tests should be manual and which should be automated will depend on the frequency with which a given test needs to be run and how much data is involved. Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/c11-tutorial-let-your-compiler-detect-the-types-of/https://smartbear.com/blog/c11-tutorial-let-your-compiler-detect-the-types-of/Imagine that your compiler could guess the type of the variables you declare as if by magic. In C++11, it’s possible — well, almost. The new auto and decltype facilities detect the type of an object automatically, thereby paving the way for cleaner and more intuitive function declaration syntax, while ridding you of unnecessary verbiage Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/survey-says-mobile-developers-more-interested-in-c/https://smartbear.com/blog/survey-says-mobile-developers-more-interested-in-c/Anyone who creates software for mobile devices has to weigh the time and resources available to support multiple platforms. Recent research shows that the Apple iOS devices are still garnering more attention – and development time – than Android or other alternatives. But it depends which survey you read. For David Murray, it’s no contest: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/5-steps-to-reach-nirvana-in-the-cloud-by-balancing/https://smartbear.com/blog/5-steps-to-reach-nirvana-in-the-cloud-by-balancing/The Cloud presents many interesting opportunities for changing how business and IT function. An almost endless, instant capacity; no hardware to buy, rack, configure or manage; and a pay only for what you use or at least what you have provisioned model are just a few.  But the Cloud is different than the traditional IT Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/load-testing-101-parameterizing-performance-tests/https://smartbear.com/blog/load-testing-101-parameterizing-performance-tests/The ability to parameterize a load test during load testing has a direct impact on the validity of your test results. The fact that many people do not perform parameterization and that many others are not completely sure of what parameterization means in the context of a performance test, is the reason for my blog post Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/7-reasons-that-rexx-still-matters/https://smartbear.com/blog/7-reasons-that-rexx-still-matters/You might think of the dynamic language Rexx with nostalgia, but without a sense of urgency to program in it. René Vincent Jansen offers several convincing reasons that it ought to be in your programming toolbox. Every time I mention Rexx on Slashdot or another techie site, people roll their eyes. They think that Rexx Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/parameterized-load-testing-using-soapui/https://smartbear.com/blog/parameterized-load-testing-using-soapui/Customer Guest Blog Pradeep Bishnoi, Quality Analyst (API Test Automation), Thomson Reuters, Bangalore     A few days back, in one of my recent blog posts published on learnsoapui.wordpress.com, I shared the simplest way to perform load testing using the soapUI tool. I was happy performing the API load test using soapUI/loadUI until the day Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/running-testcomplete-tests-with-multi-configuratio/https://smartbear.com/blog/running-testcomplete-tests-with-multi-configuratio/Customer Guest Blog Łukasz Morawski, QA Engineer Cognifide Introduction In my previous article, Cross Browser Web Testing – a TestComplete and Jenkins Framework I showed a way how to schedule a multi-browser test in Jenkins. It required us to create a separate job for every browser version we want to test. This solution requires a Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/the-biggest-changes-in-c11-and-why-you-should-care/https://smartbear.com/blog/the-biggest-changes-in-c11-and-why-you-should-care/It’s been 13 years since the first iteration of the C++ language. Danny Kalev, a former member of the C++ standards committee, explains how the programming language has been improved and how it can help you write better code. Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, said recently that C++11 “feels like a new language — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automating-cloud-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/automating-cloud-testing/The variety of platform/browser/versioning combinations that the present day Windows applications must be tested on, along with the favorable cost equation for renting computing resources in the cloud, drives the expansion of the larger test labs into the cloud. This post reviews how SmartBear customers can leverage cloud computing resources to set up and run Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/does-pair-programming-obviate-the-need-for-code-re/https://smartbear.com/blog/does-pair-programming-obviate-the-need-for-code-re/If you’re working together with another person to write software, surely you don’t need someone else to look over the code. That’s part of the process. Or… is it? Almost everyone I meet who practices pair programming says that they don’t need other forms of code review. They have a point: Pair programming is in Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/for-the-new-team-lead-the-first-six-things-you-sho/https://smartbear.com/blog/for-the-new-team-lead-the-first-six-things-you-sho/Congratulations! You’ve been promoted from developer or QA tester to Team Lead. It’s your first management job — which means you need new leadership skills. Before you do anything else, immerse yourself in these hard-won lessons. They are words that bring joy and terror to the any techie’s heart: “We’ve decided you should be the Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/selling-agile-to-the-cfo-a-guide-for-development-t/https://smartbear.com/blog/selling-agile-to-the-cfo-a-guide-for-development-t/Your programming team is on board with Agile and the notion of iterative design and development. But the financial executives prefer to think in terms of “Just tell me when it’ll be ready and how much it’ll cost.” If you can sell the CFO on the methodology your team uses, you’ll have an ally in Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/databases-are-software-too/https://smartbear.com/blog/databases-are-software-too/These four programming techniques can improve your database quality (and incidentally improve relations between software developers and the data management people). Common sense says that databases deserve to be managed just as other components of a computing solution are.  Development and IT staff have strong traditions about how to maintain such “computer stuff” as applications, Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/bucket-sort-vs-quick-sort-which-is-faster-aqtime-b/https://smartbear.com/blog/bucket-sort-vs-quick-sort-which-is-faster-aqtime-b/Sorting is used in almost any modern application and typically has a great impact on the overall application performance. Sorting algorithms differ by work time and some other factors like requirements of additional memory or dependence on the nature on sorted data. So, it may be difficult to decide which algorithm to choose in a Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/20-useful-test-cases-for-testing-user-interfaces/https://smartbear.com/blog/20-useful-test-cases-for-testing-user-interfaces/When testing user interfaces, it is easy to overlook test cases that would be helpful for a more thoroughly tested solution. This newsletter identifies 20 test cases that might be considered when testing user interfaces. 20 Useful Test Cases for testing User Interfaces Required Fields – If the screen requires data entry on a specific Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/agile-scrum-understanding-scrum-rules/https://smartbear.com/blog/agile-scrum-understanding-scrum-rules/Many of us have experienced projects that drag on much longer than expected and cost more than planned. Companies looking to improve their software development processes are now exploring how Agile can help their Enterprise more reliably deliver software quickly, iteratively and with a feature set that hits that mark. While Agile has different “flavors”, Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/internet-explorer-eats-cookies-with-underscores-in/https://smartbear.com/blog/internet-explorer-eats-cookies-with-underscores-in/While working tech support the other day, I tracked down, with the help of a couple of other developers, a curious issue reported by a customer. They had Code Reviewer, the lightweight version of our peer code review tool, installed and working, but could only login to the web UI from the server machine itself Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/git-svn-work-flow-with-code-collaborator/https://smartbear.com/blog/git-svn-work-flow-with-code-collaborator/I’m the default linux geek around here, and since I recently did some pre-publication review of a friend’s git book, I thought it was time to switch my at-work work flow over to git.  This step was taken with some trepidation due to the immaturity of various tools in the git ecosystem. For example our Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/aqtrace-get-error-reports-automatically-and-resolv/https://smartbear.com/blog/aqtrace-get-error-reports-automatically-and-resolv/AutomatedQA is pleased to present you our new automated tool for detecting and reporting errors – AQtrace! AQtrace is an error-reporting and resolution system that provides an easy way for software developers to find the cause of an error that occurs in their applications running on end-user computers. AQtrace monitors the application execution and if Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/understanding-infragistic-controls-tab-control/https://smartbear.com/blog/understanding-infragistic-controls-tab-control/Working with the Tab Control is actually pretty simple. You may need two operations to work with a tab control, one for getting the selected page and another for selecting a page. To retrieve the currently selected page, you can use the get_SelectedTab() method or the SelectedTab property. Both return a tab object whose Text Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-testing-web-pages-in-netscape-nav/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-testing-web-pages-in-netscape-nav/Netscape Navigator ver. 8 can display web pages using Firefox’s or Internet Explorer’s rendering engine. When the Internet Explorer engine is used, TestComplete’s WebTesting plug-in is able to provide a scripting interface to web pages shown in Netscape Navigator. You can select the engine in the following ways: By selecting View | Rendering engine | Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/user-forms-in-testcomplete/https://smartbear.com/blog/user-forms-in-testcomplete/TestComplete 5 includes the User Forms feature that allows testers to create custom forms and display them during their tests. In my previous post, I explained that User Forms can be used to select a test to be run. In this post I’ll illustrate this using an example. Creating a TestComplete Project with a Form Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-using-the-mouse-to-select-rows-in/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tip-using-the-mouse-to-select-rows-in/Sometimes there are events attached to certain functions of a DataGridView.  These events will not be triggered by programmatically selecting the row.   Grid.Rows.Item(Row).Selected = true; So what can you do about this?  The .NET 2.0 framework includes a very useful property off of most controls called ‘AccessibilityObject’, the property object contains the screen location for Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tips-how-to-find-a-web-page-element-w/https://smartbear.com/blog/testcomplete-tips-how-to-find-a-web-page-element-w/When testing web pages, you often need to find web page elements byusing the element text. TestComplete provides access to the methods andproperties of web page elements so you can search all web page elementsand find the desired text in the element properties. To perform the search, you can use the Page object’s Find method. Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/testing-microsoft-access-applications-with-testcom/https://smartbear.com/blog/testing-microsoft-access-applications-with-testcom/A Microsoft Access database or project typically contains tables, queries and forms that are used to view, input and modify data, macros, different reports and other objects. You can test your Microsoft Access databases (projects) in the same way you would test any other Windows application: by simulating mouse clicks and keystrokes. Also, you can Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/working-with-xml-files-in-testcomplete/https://smartbear.com/blog/working-with-xml-files-in-testcomplete/TestComplete works with many formats to retrieve and write stored data. Some common formats are csv files, Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, SQL Server databases and XML files. Any of these formats can be used to work with your test data, the one you choose will depend on your organization and your project. XML files are Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/automatic-validation-of-web-pages-with-testcomplet/https://smartbear.com/blog/automatic-validation-of-web-pages-with-testcomplet/Automatic Validation of Web pages With TestComplete 4 Most modern sites are very dynamic. They contain a lot of content, which is constantly updated. Of course, no one is perfect and Web developers may make mistakes while changing web pages. It is a good practice to validate the web pages’ markup and check the pages Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/tips-for-working-with-an-offshore-team-by-prakash/https://smartbear.com/blog/tips-for-working-with-an-offshore-team-by-prakash/Here’s a new article from Prakash Sodhani on working with offshore teams: A project’s success implicitly depends on the team’s success. In a modern world, not many companies can survive without depending on other companies. Every company has some of its services outsourced for one reason or the other. Offshore development not only allows companies Wed, 12 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMThttps://smartbear.com/blog/unit-testing-vs-ui-testing/https://smartbear.com/blog/unit-testing-vs-ui-testing/If you’ve got a good set of unit tests, do you even need to do functional testing through the UI? Experienced testers are probably doing a spit-take just hearing the question, but, believe it or not,  I’ve heard that question recently from a few different people, and I think the question reflects the excitement they have Sun, 09 Oct 2005 00:00:00 GMT