no-code deserves testing too
Tags: testing, nocode, test, tooling
Published: 2022-02-09 05:37:58

The no-code trend is growing in recent years. Indeed, computer programming is a costly and risky operation and requires advanced technical skills to achieve the realization of an application or a website.

It is therefore natural that solutions that allow doing without this costly design step are currently valued by many creators who now have a faster technique to give life to their ideas.

However, no-code does not mean bug-free. Indeed, computer problems come from multiple sources, and programming problems are not the only source of trouble that can affect the stability of your product.

In the field of computer programming, it is quite common to perform several batteries of tests to ensure the proper functioning of your application. But for no-code applications, it is generally more complex. Indeed, the tools and techniques developed to guarantee the stability of a computer program generally suppose the existence of a code, to be tested automatically before the setting in production, which does not exist in the world of no-code.

The goal of this article will be to explain, first of all, why you might need to test your no-code application, but also to present you with different tools and techniques that will allow you to realize these tests.

## 1. Why do I need to test my no-code application?

It’s a simple question, but an important one, and so is the answer: no-code applications, like classical applications, are subject to bugs.

Of course, bugs in no-code applications are not likely to come from problems with your software development (although some people do use small pieces of code even in a no-code application). But that doesn’t mean you won’t have bugs.

First, just as there are bugs in the design of the code, there are bugs in the design of your application via no-code. For example, you can encode the wrong parameters, change or misconfigure a setting that may affect the proper functioning of your application. This can happen at the level of the logic of your application as well as at the level of its interface. In this case, even if your tool is online, it may not be usable.

But that’s not all. Your provider may also have bugs. As a customer of a no-code solution provider, you are at the mercy of the slightest failure or technical problem on their side: infrastructure problem, a problem during an update,…

Seeing all these possible problems, I hope to have convinced you of the need to test your application.

## 2. How to test your application

At this point, you are probably wondering: ok, but how can I test my no-code application? Even if you understand the necessity of such tests, you have to find a way to perform them.

In the case of a no-code application, there is only one element that you can test: it is the finished product, your software.

To test it, you will not be able to rely on the same techniques as developers, which require access to the code. You will have to rely on so-called “synthetic” testing methods.

The goal of a synthetic test method is to “simulate” the interaction of a user with your application. The simplest version is to check if a page opens without error. The most advanced versions allow to go up to the realization of clicks, keyboard entries, …

By constantly monitoring your application, these so-called “syntactic” tests will allow you to ensure that your application is working properly and to notice any deviation (and therefore, in the long run, to avoid bugs).

## Conclusion

Thanks to this article, we hope to have been able to draw your attention to the importance of testing, especially for applications that require little or no code, and where classical testing methods are not available.

## About Us

This article has been published originally of the blog of Nodown: https://blog.nodown.io

As a provider of synthetic testing software, Nodown allows you to be aware of possible problems on your website, or your application, even if it is made in Nocode.