At the OpenELIS Foundation, our goal has always been to provide robust laboratory information systems that support laboratory staff. To provide lab staff with software that supports accurate and efficient testing. Every feature we develop has a direct impact on our users. In order to provide this high quality of software, testing is an integral part of the development process.
From introducing new functionality to preparing for software releases, testing is how we guarantee quality. It’s not just about confirming that new features work as intended—although that’s critical, it's also to ensure that the existing features still work optimally together with the new feature. We perform several types of testing:
- Functional Testing: This happens early, in the development environment, where we verify that a new feature behaves as it should.
- Regression Testing: After functional testing, the code is moved to an environment similar to what our clients use. Here, we check that adding new features doesn’t disrupt existing ones.
By combining these methods, we ensure every update enhances the software rather than introducing errors.
How SmartBear TestComplete Supports Efficient Testing
To make our testing even more effective, we’ve started incorporating the use of an automated testing tool called TestComplete from SmartBear which allows us to automate parts of the testing process. We can record a test scenario once and then reuse it with new parameters, saving hours of manual effort. TestComplete is especially valuable for regression testing, where its ability to replicate tests across environments ensures consistent quality.
Using TestComplete will help us provide releases faster without compromising reliability. Regression testing is necessary and helps us provide software that functions optimally in the lab environment but requires a significant amount of manual labor. By automating repetitive tasks like regression testing, we can focus more on innovation. This also means the time of team members isn't spent on testing, but on learning from customers what would help them. This is a smarter, more efficient way that benefits both our development team and our clients.
The Bigger Picture
For the OpenELIS Foundation, testing helps provide software that is useful, works well and supports lab staff. It’s about delivering software that our clients can trust. Every feature we introduce is tested thoroughly, from start to finish. Using an automated testing tool like TestComplete makes this process faster and more reliable, helping us meet our goal of providing efficient and accurate solutions for laboratories.
As we prepare for our next big release, our testing processes ensure that everything is ready to perform at its best.