What Is Baseline in Software Testing? Definition, Types & Examples
Software testing is a significant step in the process of building quality and reliable applications across multiple environments. One of the key areas of focus for software testing is called baseline testing, which sets reference metrics to indicate the performance and functional capabilities of software.
The importance of baseline testing cannot be underestimated. It allows developers to assess how the various updates made to software systems impact their ability to function properly, perform adequately, and be functional long-term.
For SaaS development teams that employ a quick release methodology, baseline testing provides a method for determining that the final product meets or exceeds its expected performance level.
This blog will explain what baselines are in software testing, how they are used, the types of baselines, examples, and how they fit within the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) to provide continuity and quality of software delivery.
What Is Baseline in Software Testing?
A baseline in software testing is the creation of a point that will serve as an initial reference for the performance, functional capabilities, and behaviours of a software application at a given time. This will be utilised to evaluate any subsequent improvements or upgrades to the software, as well as any bug fixes.
To create a baseline, the process for establishing the performance, functional capabilities, and behaviours of an application must consist of systematic testing and documentation of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Functional Requirements (FRs) that characterise that application. This involves executing a complete set of tests against a stable software build, capturing the results of each test with as much certainty as possible.
What is the Core Purpose of Baselines?
Baseline testing enables developers and quality analysts to establish a benchmark that measures software performance and quality (SP/Q) throughout the build and release lifecycle.
Establishing a baseline allows for identifying when the software has regressed (or has improved) without having to guess. With a reliable reference point, this enables teams to create Development Decisions based on facts rather than guesswork.
The Baselines are beneficial for long-term improvements, as they maintain a Historical Performance Trend, as well as identifying the technical priority for teams.
Why Do Baselines Matter in Software Testing?
Facilitates Accurate Performance Comparisons
Baselines are measurable reference points throughout the software development lifecycle. With baselines, software development teams are able to quickly identify whether a new release has improved, degraded or is unchanged from previous releases. This allows software development teams to maintain consistent levels of software quality between releases.
Identifying Defects Earlier
When test results fall outside of the baseline range, developers are notified right away that there is a problem. Developers can therefore reduce their time spent reworking, drive down their testing costs and accelerate the release cycle.
Making Software Reliable and Improving Users’ Experience
By understanding what constitutes baseline testing, software developers can develop applications that meet their performance goals.
By regularly testing against baselines, developers will ensure that their systems remain stable, even with the introduction of new features and other software improvements. This leads to increased performance stability and improved user experience for users of the software.
What Is a Baseline Document in Software Testing?
The baseline document is a record of all of the performance and functional metrics that were collected during baseline testing of a product.
The baseline document also contains information regarding the configuration of the baseline tests, the environment in which those tests were performed, and the expected performance levels from those tests, as well as any logs that were generated during the baseline testing process.
The baseline document serves as an official reference document for QA teams, developers, and DevOps engineers.
Example of Baseline Testing
Let’s assume a SaaS (Software as a Service) CRM has a dashboard with an average load time of two and a half seconds, and through the course of multiple feature updates, it now finds a load time of three point one seconds. Through the baseline comparison, we can see that the system’s overall performance has declined, and the system requires immediate optimisation.
Types of Baseline Testing
Performance Baseline Testing
Performance baseline testing allows teams to establish reference metrics for the performance of a system, such as response time, throughput, latency, and resource usage.
Performance baseline testing is typically accomplished by simulating the actual user load and measuring the behaviour of a system while simulating the load under controlled circumstances, such as in a development environment.
Functional Baseline Testing
Functional baseline testing defines how each feature/module/workflow should work correctly. It defines how inputs will be processed, how outputs will appear and how features will interact correctly.
Teams perform comprehensive test suites so that they can document how features will behave correctly, how they will handle edge cases and whether they will meet functional requirements correctly.
Security Baseline Testing
The security baseline test identifies the application’s existing level of security and tracks the information on known vulnerabilities, configurations, and compliance checkpoints for the application.
The security baseline test will contain information about the authentication system, the authorization rules, the use of encryption, and protection against typical attacks such as SQL injection or XSS (cross-site scripting).
Configuration Baseline Testing
Configuration baseline testing establishes a record of all environmental parameters that can impact the operation of the application, such as hardware specifications, operating system version, database configuration, network configuration, and third-party dependencies.
Configuration baseline testing also prevents configuration drift between testing, staging and production. By comparing the current configuration against the baseline, it is easy to identify any misconfigurations or unauthorised changes.
Regression Baseline Testing
Regression baseline testing ensures that the functionality of an application that was previously functioning correctly continues to work correctly after an update, security patch, or code change.
To maintain stability in the application and the environment, the development team should always have a stable set of automated regression tests. The results from the successful release become the baseline for the development team to compare against the ongoing builds.
Key Considerations for Effective Baseline Testing
Consistency of Environment
The environments used for baseline testing must remain stable and repeatable to produce accurate results. Containerization, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and configuration management tools provide the needed consistency in use cases by eliminating the chance for environment drift (which leads to performance changes caused by software) and replacing it with performance changes that reflect true software behaviour.
Acceptable Deviations
Not all deviations from the baseline will indicate a defect in software. For each software use case, teams should create and document a tolerance limit to separate the “normal” variation in software from the “defects”.
These tolerance limits should be based on the characteristics and behaviour of the software and on considering the overall business requirements. By reviewing multiple runs of the baseline tests, teams can determine what they view as a significant variation from the baseline for the specific software being tested.
Systematic Updating of the Baseline
As improvements to an application or changes to the architecture are implemented, the baseline must reflect those changes so that software regression testing can be performed effectively.
If baselines are allowed to become out of date, effective detection of regressions becomes difficult. Teams should have a structured process in place for updating the baseline with changes made, verification of the valid results, and documenting the findings.
Automating the Baseline Testing Process
Automating the baseline testing process allows team members to spend less time on executing tests by utilising automated tools to execute test cases, comparing the test results to the baseline, and generating alerts when discrepancies arise.
The utilisation of automated tools greatly improves the accuracy and repeatability of testing and reduces the risk of human errors.
How Baseline Testing Works?
Defining the Scope and Objectives of the Testing
First, the team will determine the features, types of performance metrics, or quality attributes to establish a baseline. This will allow the team to focus their testing efforts on areas of critical importance.
These targets (response time, throughput, and error limits) help the team create realistic test scenarios and define success criteria.
Preparing the Test Environment
The Test Environment Should Be a Close Representation of the Production Environment. The test environment must represent production as closely as possible to provide accurate, repeatable results.
All configurations (e.g., operating system versions, server configurations, database versions, and integrations) need to be documented to reduce the risk of variability in future tests performed.
Executing Baseline Test Cases
The team executes test cases that test both core functionality, edge cases, and stressed conditions on the application. Automated tests ensure that you are testing the same way each time.
The most important metrics, such as load times, rate of errors, and resource consumption are captured for future analysis.
Analyze and Document the Results
Once the team completes execution of all baseline scenarios, members of the team will analyze the results for patterns, averages, and anomalies to help understand how your system is behaving.
The analysis results will be compiled in tabular format or chart format. In this way comparisons will be straightforward and useful.
Store Baseline Data Securely
To maintain issues with baseline data from being changed, it is important to store it securely to prevent accidental changes. Keeping secure copies and backups of the baseline data provides a way to analyse long-term trends and keep records for auditing purposes.
Assessing results against the baseline
The baseline is established to compare test results to determine if there has been an improvement or a regression in performance.
For example, if the initial load time was two seconds, and the test results indicate a new load time of 1.5 seconds, this has shown an improvement over the initial baseline load time; conversely, if the load time has increased to three seconds, this indicates a regression from the baseline that should be addressed.
Baseline Testing in Modern Development Practices
Integration with CI/CD
Baseline tests serve as the quality gate(s) for every CI/CD pipeline and allow immediate feedback (in the form of blocks or deployments when their results fall outside predefined thresholds).
Support for DevOps & Agile
Baselines enable team members to establish a common sense of ownership for the quality of their deliverables and allow them to monitor their performance trends each sprint.
Cloud & Microservices Context
In a distributed environment, baselines should be established at both the service and system levels. When creating or using baselines, you should take into account things that can change in cloud environments, such as auto-scaling and load balancing.
Benefits of Baseline Testing
- Increased accuracy when measuring changes by creating a fixed reference point to compare against.
- Possible Early Detection of Performance Decrease prior to Users being affected;
- Support for Better Decision-Making due to using Measurable Data vs. Assumptions;
- Conformance of all Products (Releases and Upgrades);
- Improved User Experience through Stability and Reliability over Time.
Challenges of Baseline Testing
- Requires stable and consistent environments to create reliable comparisons.
- It takes a significant amount of time and resources to create and maintain baselines.
- Variations in data collected can cause errors in results and misleading interpretations.
- Requires comprehensive documentation to record metrics and configurations.
- Teams have difficulty defining acceptable deviation thresholds.
Conclusion
Baseline testing confirms that each adjustment to software increases system performance rather than degrading performance. It provides defined standards for measurement and review throughout SDLC.
When teams utilize baseline testing appropriately, they can achieve and maintain the stability, dependability and the long-term integrity of the product.
FAQs
- What is a baseline in testing?
In testing, a baseline serves as a reference point to use in comparison to future testing.
It documents the overall performance, functionality and behavior of the system when the baseline was created. This metric is utilized by teams to see if there is any improvement or degradation in overall performance
- What does baseline mean in software?
A baseline in software is a version or snapshot of a system which has been determined to be a stable benchmark. The baseline includes configurations, metrics, and anticipated results.
All subsequent updates are verified against the baseline.
- What is an example of a baseline test?
A baseline test may be performed to measure how long it takes to load the log-in page before an update occurs.
If it takes 1.5 seconds at the time of the baseline test and 2.0 seconds after the update, it demonstrates that the baseline shows degradation of the log-in page. The example of a baseline test illustrates how it allows for the identification of concerns.
- What is the purpose of the baseline test?
The goal of a baseline test is to identify functional or performance differences in the system.
By having the baseline test establish a stable benchmark for system functionality, regression testing and performance improvement will not jeopardize maintaining the system’s functionality.
- What is a baseline document?
A baseline document includes all metrics, logs, and configuration information used to develop a baseline, thus acting as a centralized reference for future comparisons. The QA department uses this document to help ensure accuracy in regression tests.
- What’s the difference between baseline and benchmark?
The baseline gives you a starting point; the benchmark represents your goal or objectives as defined by external sources (e.g., industry standards, samples of your competition). The baseline is something you develop internally, while the benchmark represents what others consider as acceptable performance.
