• What is sandbox testing?
  • How does a sandbox work?
  • Why is sandbox testing important?
  • How to create a sandbox
  • Where are sandbox environments hosted?
  • Conclusion

What is sandbox testing?

A sandbox is a virtual environment that mimics an application that needs to be tested. It's created to test a new feature or update in a software application without affecting the production environment. Sandbox testing helps experiment with new functionality, troubleshoot existing issues, and build patches without disrupting the live application.

what-is-what-is-sandbox-testing

How does a sandbox work?

A virtual sandbox mimics the software, configurations, and infrastructure of an application in isolation, providing a safe space for testing. Testing in a sandbox environment resembles testing in the production environment, but without disrupting the live system. This gives testers the freedom to experiment in a controlled setting.

Major differences between manual and automated testing in a sandbox environment:

Workflow

Manual testing

Automated testing

Test planning
Define the scope, objective, and test scenarios. Create a test procedure and develop test cases based on the sandbox process.
Choose an automated testing tool and define the test automation strategy.
Environment setup
Set up a sandbox environment to replicate the production environment.
Set up a sandbox environment to replicate the production environment.
Test execution
Execute the tests manually, validate the results with the expected outcome, and maintain logs.
Monitor execution on QEngine, which automatically captures screenshots and maintains logs.
Documentation
Manually document defects with screenshots, steps, and relevant details.
QEngine captures screenshots, maintains logs, records failures and issues, and generates test reports with actionable insights.
Defect reporting
Report the defects to the necessary stakeholders for resolution.
Share specific role access to stakeholders who can directly view the results.
Scalability
Evaluate the testing process and access the test coverage to understand the effectiveness of manual testing in the sandbox environment.
Optimize the automation testing process and refine the codebase to enhance the testing efficiency for future iterations.

Learn more about test automation

Why is sandbox testing important?

Sandbox environments play a crucial role, for various reasons:

 

Reduced risk

Testing in production may cause bugs that disrupt the normal functioning of the live application.

 

Isolation

A sandbox provides an isolated and secure environment to test in, without affecting the production environment.

 

Compliance and security

Sandbox testing helps organizations assess the security implications of software changes to ensure that data-protection and compliance standards are met.

 

Reliability

Before releasing a new feature or software update to the public, testing it in a controlled environment helps ensure quality and reliability.

 

Process efficacy

Sandbox testing facilitates refining code changes before deployment.

 

Innovation

It provides an environment for developers to test new code builds without disrupting the actual production environment.

 

Precision

Sandbox testing coupled with a test automation tool helps achieve precision by testing in a controlled environment, without impacting the live application, improving the feedback loop and increasing the release velocity.

 

Cost-effectiveness

Threats can be identified and eliminated early, significantly cutting down bug-fixing costs.

How to create a sandbox

The first step is to identify a virtualization platform that helps replicate the testing environment. Based on specific requirements and software dependencies, a virtual machine that mirrors the application configuration needs to be created. The next crucial step is to pick a test automation tool like Zoho QEngine.

After picking the test automation tool, network configurations need to be set up to ensure that the sandbox environment can connect with the other systems. It's integral to secure the sandbox environment with firewalls or encryption to avoid threats. As a best practice, a backup and restore process needs to be established to retrieve data.

Where are sandbox environments hosted?

A sandbox environment can be set up on the cloud, on-prem, or in containers, such as Docker or Kubernetes. There are also tools on the market that employ virtualization technology, to allow testers to create a sandbox on their local machine, or even multiple virtual machines simultaneously, on a single physical server.

Conclusion

A sandbox provides an additional layer of security to check the reliability and accuracy of automated tests. A test automation practice requires a sandbox to ensure seamless development and effective execution of test cases in a controlled environment. Without a sandbox, the validity of a build can't be checked without impacting the live system.

Zoho QEngine helps accelerate the testing lifecycle for organizations and reduces time to market. With a test automation solution like Zoho QEngine, testing can be done in parallel, in sandboxes, to improve the feedback loop. This also facilitates iterative testing, to help testers refine their test cases. It enables skill development for testers by helping them experiment with frameworks, tools, and methodologies.

Click here to learn more about Zoho QEngine.

Frequently asked questions

What are some of the challenges in sandbox testing?

Setting up and maintaining a sandbox may incur costs in terms of software, hardware, and IT resources. But with an end-to-end test automation tool like Zoho QEngine, sandbox testing can be easily optimized at minimal cost.

Can sandbox testing be integrated with CI/ CD pipelines?

Yes. Sandbox testing can be integrated with CI/ CD pipelines to ensure that any changes made to the application are tested in an isolated environment before deployment. By integrating sandbox testing into the CI/ CI process, organisations can improve quality, stability, and reliability of their software applications and achieve higher ROI.