Skip to content

LogistiX - Testing Strategy - Draft

Version: 0.1 Date: April 30, 2025

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose 1.2 Scope 1.3 Definitions and Acronyms 1.4 References
  2. Testing Objectives
  3. Testing Levels 3.1 Unit Testing 3.2 Integration Testing 3.3 End-to-End (E2E) Testing 3.4 API Testing 3.5 User Interface (UI) Testing 3.6 Performance and Load Testing 3.7 Security Testing 3.8 Usability Testing 3.9 Regression Testing
  4. Test Environments
  5. Test Tools
  6. Test Data Management
  7. Test Execution and Reporting
  8. Roles and Responsibilities

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

This document outlines the strategy and approach for testing the LogistiX platform to ensure it meets the specified functional and non-functional requirements, delivering a high-quality, reliable, and secure service.

1.2 Scope

This strategy covers testing activities for the LogistiX backend services, Merchant API, Merchant Dashboard, Courier Mobile App, and Admin Dashboard during the development lifecycle of the MVP.

1.3 Definitions and Acronyms

  • E2E: End-to-End
  • UI: User Interface
  • API: Application Programming Interface
  • CI: Continuous Integration
  • CD: Continuous Deployment
  • MVP: Minimum Viable Product

1.4 References

  • LogistiX Software Requirements Specification (SRS) (/home/ubuntu/logistix_project/docs/srs_draft.md)
  • LogistiX Software Design Document (SDD) (/home/ubuntu/logistix_project/docs/sdd_draft.md)
  • LogistiX API Specification (/home/ubuntu/logistix_project/docs/api_spec_draft.yaml)

2. Testing Objectives

  • Verify that all functional requirements specified in the SRS are implemented correctly.
  • Ensure that non-functional requirements (performance, security, usability, reliability) are met.
  • Identify and report defects early in the development cycle.
  • Build confidence in the quality and stability of the platform before release.
  • Ensure compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., Kenya DPA).
  • Validate the integration between different system components and third-party services.

3. Testing Levels

3.1 Unit Testing

  • Scope: Individual functions, methods, or classes within the backend (Node.js), frontend (React), and mobile app (Flutter) codebases.
  • Objective: Verify the correctness of isolated code units.
  • Tools:
    • Backend (Node.js): Jest, Mocha/Chai
    • Frontend (React): Jest, React Testing Library
    • Mobile App (Flutter): flutter_test (unit and widget tests)
  • Responsibility: Developers
  • Execution: Run automatically as part of the CI pipeline on every commit/push.
  • Coverage Goal: Aim for >80% code coverage for critical business logic.

3.2 Integration Testing

  • Scope: Interactions between different modules/services within the backend, or between the application and external services (Database, Cache, mocked third-party APIs).
  • Objective: Verify that integrated components work together as expected.
  • Tools: Jest (with Supertest for API integration), potentially Testcontainers for DB/Cache setup.
  • Responsibility: Developers
  • Execution: Run automatically as part of the CI pipeline.

3.3 End-to-End (E2E) Testing

  • Scope: Complete user workflows across the entire system, simulating real user interactions.
  • Objective: Validate business processes from start to finish (e.g., Merchant creates order -> Courier accepts -> Courier delivers -> Merchant sees update).
  • Tools:
    • Web (Dashboards): Cypress, Playwright
    • Mobile (Courier App): Appium, Flutter Integration Tests (integration_test package)
  • Responsibility: QA Engineers / Developers
  • Execution: Run periodically (e.g., nightly builds) or before major releases, potentially in a staging environment.

3.4 API Testing

  • Scope: Testing the Merchant API, Courier App API, and Admin API endpoints directly.
  • Objective: Verify API functionality, contract adherence (request/response formats based on OpenAPI spec), error handling, authentication, and authorization.
  • Tools: Postman (manual exploration), Newman (automated runs in CI), Jest/Supertest (integration tests).
  • Responsibility: Developers / QA Engineers
  • Execution: Automated tests run in CI pipeline; manual exploration during development.

3.5 User Interface (UI) Testing

  • Scope: Testing the visual elements, layout, and responsiveness of the Merchant Dashboard, Admin Dashboard, and Courier Mobile App.
  • Objective: Ensure UI components render correctly, are usable across different devices/screen sizes, and match design specifications.
  • Tools: React Testing Library (component tests), Cypress/Playwright (E2E UI tests), Flutter Widget Tests.
  • Responsibility: Developers / QA Engineers / Designers
  • Execution: Automated component/widget tests in CI; E2E UI tests run periodically; manual checks.

3.6 Performance and Load Testing

  • Scope: Assessing the responsiveness, stability, and resource utilization of the backend services and APIs under expected and peak load conditions.
  • Objective: Identify performance bottlenecks, determine system capacity, and ensure non-functional performance requirements (e.g., response times) are met.
  • Tools: k6, JMeter, Locust.
  • Responsibility: QA Engineers / DevOps
  • Execution: Conducted before major releases or significant infrastructure changes, typically in a dedicated performance testing environment or a scaled-down staging environment.

3.7 Security Testing

  • Scope: Identifying vulnerabilities related to authentication, authorization, data encryption, input validation, API security, and compliance (DPA).
  • Objective: Ensure the system is protected against common web and mobile application threats.
  • Approach:
    • Static Analysis (SAST): Tools integrated into CI pipeline (e.g., SonarQube, npm audit) to find known vulnerabilities in code and dependencies.
    • Dynamic Analysis (DAST): Use tools like OWASP ZAP to scan running applications for vulnerabilities (optional for MVP).
    • Manual Penetration Testing: Conducted periodically by security experts (post-MVP).
    • Code Reviews: Focus on security aspects during peer reviews.
  • Responsibility: Developers / Security Team / QA Engineers
  • Execution: SAST in CI; DAST/Penetration Testing periodically.

3.8 Usability Testing

  • Scope: Evaluating the ease of use, intuitiveness, and overall user experience of the Merchant Dashboard and Courier Mobile App.
  • Objective: Gather feedback from target users to identify usability issues and areas for improvement.
  • Approach: Conduct sessions with representative merchants and couriers, observing them performing common tasks.
  • Responsibility: UX Designers / Product Managers / QA Engineers
  • Execution: Conducted during development milestones and before major releases.

3.9 Regression Testing

  • Scope: Re-testing previously tested parts of the application after code changes or bug fixes.
  • Objective: Ensure that new changes have not introduced new defects or negatively impacted existing functionality.
  • Approach: Re-run relevant automated tests (Unit, Integration, E2E, API) and perform focused manual testing on affected areas.
  • Responsibility: Developers / QA Engineers
  • Execution: Run continuously via CI pipeline and before releases.

4. Test Environments

  • Local Development: Used for unit testing and initial integration testing.
  • CI Environment: Ephemeral environment used by the CI server to run automated tests.
  • Staging Environment (Future): A stable environment mirroring production for E2E testing, UAT, and performance testing.
  • Production Environment: Live environment; testing limited to smoke tests after deployment and ongoing monitoring.

5. Test Tools

  • Test Runner/Frameworks: Jest, Mocha/Chai, flutter_test, integration_test
  • UI Automation: Cypress, Playwright, Appium
  • API Testing: Postman, Newman, Supertest
  • Performance Testing: k6, JMeter
  • Code Coverage: Jest coverage reports, Flutter coverage reports
  • CI/CD: GitHub Actions
  • Version Control: Git / GitHub
  • Bug Tracking: GitHub Issues (or dedicated tool like Jira)

6. Test Data Management

  • Use realistic but anonymized or synthetic data for testing, especially in environments accessible by multiple people (Staging).
  • Develop scripts or use fixtures to populate test databases with consistent data sets for automated tests.
  • Ensure test data covers various scenarios, including edge cases and invalid inputs.
  • Comply with data privacy regulations (DPA) when handling any potentially sensitive test data.

7. Test Execution and Reporting

  • Automated tests (Unit, Integration, API) are executed automatically via the CI pipeline.
  • E2E, Performance, and Security tests are executed periodically or before releases.
  • Manual testing (Usability, Exploratory) is conducted as needed.
  • Test results are reported via CI build summaries and bug tracking systems.
  • Defects found are logged in the bug tracking system with clear steps to reproduce, severity, and priority.

8. Roles and Responsibilities

  • Developers: Responsible for writing unit and integration tests, fixing bugs, participating in code reviews (including security aspects).
  • QA Engineers (If available, otherwise shared role): Responsible for developing E2E tests, API tests, performance tests, executing manual tests, managing bug reports, and defining overall test strategy.
  • DevOps (If available, otherwise shared role): Responsible for setting up and maintaining test environments and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Product Managers/UX Designers: Responsible for usability testing and providing input on test scenarios.