LogiGear Takes on Container Testing Challenge

LogiGear hopes to make it easier to test applications built using Docker containers by embedding the runtime for testing those applications in the same container.

Company CTO Hans Buwalda says TestArchitect for Docker Image simplifies continuous testing of container applications. The core TestArchitect is designed to enable multiple automated tests to run in parallel, while a TestArchitect controller manages the test automation process. Tests are written in plain text using what LogiGear describes as action keywords that replace multiple lines of code. When the application is updated, hundreds of tests can be updated simultaneously by changing the properties of a few actions.

Buwalda says the proliferation of applications based on a microservices architecture enabled by containers requires a different approach to testing. Not only is the level of scale much higher, but the interdependencies between microservices is challenging to test. By including the TestArchitect runtime in the container, he notes, it becomes much easier to test all those microservices—at a time when calls to application programming interfaces (APIs) are now coming from much deeper within the application.

In general, Buwalda says IT organizations maximize the benefits of embracing DevOps when they make the shift to applications based on microservices. Monolithic applications simply to take too long build when being updated, so DevOps processes become a requirement once an organization embraces microservices, he says.

In addition to making TestArchitect available, LogiGear also provides a range of manual and automated testing services for organizations that don’t have an ability to test applications on their own. Testing applications has become more critical in the age of digital business because organizations of all sizes are exposing application code to their customers.

Alas, developers and application testers are still not well-aligned inside most organizations. Far too many organizations don’t engage in any meaningful testing, which results in costly fixes to applications in production environments. The good news is that containerized applications are much easier to update than applications that require patches to update. New functionality is added by replacing one set of containers with another. The downside is the difficulty in determining which set of containers that make up a microservice may be causing an issue.

But developers often don’t get a chance to make a second impression, especially when it comes to mobile applications. Users are not especially tolerant of mobile applications that don’t live up to expectations. Because of that issue, it is paramount that companies test applications that likely will be accessed by customers.

To prevent these issues from arising, Buwalda says developers and testers need to work collaboratively in the same sprint. That makes it possible for developers to address issues immediately as they are discovered. Otherwise, deadline pressures tend to result in issues that are addressed only after the application is deployed in a production environment.

It’s clear that as more organizations embrace containers, many of them will need to rethink their approach to application testing. In fact, it’s not so much a question of if at this point, but rather when.

Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as Editor-in-Chief for CRN and InfoWorld.

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