Key Advantages and Challenges in Blockchain Testing

With blockchain technology’s growing popularity, we must prepare ourselves to adapt current quality assurance methodologies to it.

Blockchain testing aids in creating smart records and preventing fraud. It also guarantees that all system components are functioning correctly and that all programs communicate with it securely.
In this blog, we’ll go through the advantages and challenges of blockchain testing.

Types of Blockchain QA Testing

1. Functional testing – It is the fundamental examination of components, systems, and their functioning, such as the insertion of a block to the blockchain, chain size, block size, and so on. Once the transaction’s legitimacy has been verified, insert each new block into the chain.
2. Integration Testing – Testing the integration or the interactions among components and different areas of the system are known as integration testing. Since the application has several components, it is important to perform integration testing thoroughly and frequently to ensure the proper connection of all components.
3. Security Testing – Because blockchain is utilized in highly sensitive financial, government, or regulatory contexts, security testing is critical for blockchain application debugging.
4. Performance testing – Speed is one of the most significant requirements for blockchain applications. Performance testing examines transactions and it depends on network size.
5. Node Testing – Consensus throughout all nodes in the order wherein transactions published to the network maintains the strength of a blockchain. To verify transactions are in the correct order, it’s crucial to check the consensus protocol.
6. Smart Contracts Testing – Smart contracts comprise blockchain software modules that conduct transactions autonomously. Smart contracts testing entails ensuring that all parties participating in a transaction follow the rules.
7. API Testing – Blockchain can activate events or external programs depending on the application. API testing is crucial in this case since it must examine the interaction of apps into or out of the network.

Key Benefits

Following are some of the benefits of performing quality assurance for blockchain-based apps:

1. It ensures that a decentralized ledger is free of flaws.
2. This also aids in authenticating all of the many entities in which the system engages.
3. This will guarantee that the blockchain ecosystem has matured and is performing as planned.
4. It enables businesses to design and deploy blockchain technology and linked infrastructure in a safe manner.
5. It will assist to lessen the risk of introducing new apps while assisting in smooth revalidation of the implementation.

Blockchain QA Challenges

1. Understanding the Technology – Since blockchain is a novel technology, it is critical to have a thorough understanding of the technology as well as domain expertise while testing blockchain applications. 
2. The dearth of Blockchain Testing Tools – Testing blockchain-based apps is all about tools, and there aren’t enough of them. One of the most crucial considerations is to choose the correct tool for the job.
3. Designing Test Strategy – Creating a testing approach for blockchain applications is similar to establishing a test strategy for any other application. It is one of the most difficult tasks since test strategy necessitates a thorough grasp of the platform and application.
4. Block and Chain Size Testing – In addition to normal testing, tools, and best practices, testing for block and chain size is critical. Without sufficient validation of block and chain sizes, blockchain applications may fail.
5. Integration Testing – Because the blockchain application has several components, integration testing must be performed thoroughly and often to ensure proper integration of all components and that no problems occur.
6. Performance and Load testing – Failure to verify both performances as well as load testing provides almost no insight into how a blockchain application performs in production and under various workloads and network circumstances.
7. Security – The most critical aspect of the blockchain application should be data security. Any sort of malicious assault can have an influence on the blockchain application, which can affect a variety of industries such as health, banking, and others.

Testing Tools Types

The following are some essential blockchain QA tools:

1. Ethereum Tester – This is a free and open-source testing package on GitHub. It’s simple to set up and use, with reasonable API support for a variety of testing needs.
2. Ganache – Previously known as Testrpc, Ganache is a widely used library for locally testing Ethereum contracts. It works by creating a dummy blockchain that grants you access to data that you may utilize for QA purposes.
3. Hyperledger Composer – It is an open-source platform for creating blockchain applications. We may execute three sorts of testing using this tool: interactive test, automated unit testing, and system testing.

Conclusion

Blockchain technology is proving beneficial for a variety of industries, but there are also some challenges.
So, to effectively conduct blockchain testing, you need to partner with a professional software testing company like QASource.

Visit QASource now to implement high-quality software testing services for your software products.