The Power of Console and Network Tabs: How Testers Can Win the Hearts of Developers

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Introduction:

Imagine being a tester who not only identifies bugs but also uncovers their root causes and provides detailed reproducible steps to developers.

How much do you think developers would love you? In the realm of software testing, having the ability to assist developers by offering precise information about issues can foster collaboration and accelerate the bug-fixing process.

One way to achieve this level of expertise is by mastering the Console and Network tabs of the browser’s developer tools.

In this blog post, we’ll explore why understanding these tabs is crucial for testers and how harnessing this knowledge can make developers genuinely appreciate and admire their testers.

Gaining Insight into Application Behaviour:

The Console tab of the browser developer tools provides a wealth of information about the application’s behaviour. By executing JavaScript commands, logging relevant data, and accessing error messages, testers can deeply understand how the application functions and pinpoint potential issues.

Let’s do it:

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open your preferred browser and navigate to the website under test (e.g., https://google.com).
2. Right-click anywhere on the page and select “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” to open the developer tools.
3. In the developer tools panel, navigate to the “Console” tab.
4. Observe the console for any JavaScript errors, warnings, or log messages that can provide insights into the application’s behavior.
5. Experiment with executing JavaScript commands directly in the console to interact with the application and observe the responses.
6. Detecting and Diagnosing Errors: The Console tab acts as a diagnostic tool for testers to identify and investigate errors. By examining error messages, stack traces, and network requests, testers can isolate and understand the root causes of issues.

Detecting and Diagnosing Errors:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Follow the steps mentioned above to open the developer tools and navigate to the Console tab.
• Execute various test scenarios on the website and observe the console for any error messages or stack traces that appear.
• Click on the error messages to view detailed information, including the line numbers and the specific code snippets causing the errors. This allows you to pinpoint the root cause of the issues.

Monitoring Network Activity:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Open the Google Chrome browser and navigate to the website you want to test.
• Right-click anywhere on the webpage and select “Inspect” or press Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) or Command+Option+I (Mac) to open the developer tools.
• In the developer tools panel, click on the “Network” tab.
• Interact with the website and observe the network requests that appear in the Network tab. You can analyze various details such as request/response headers, status codes, response times, and payload sizes.

Analyzing API Calls and Responses:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Follow the steps mentioned above to open the developer tools and navigate to the Network tab.
• Execute test scenarios that involve API calls.
• Analyze the network requests related to the API calls. Inspect the request and response payloads, headers, and parameters to ensure that the correct data is being sent and received.

Emulating Different Network Conditions:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Open the Google Chrome browser and navigate to the website you want to test.
• Right-click anywhere on the webpage and select “Inspect” or press Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) or Command+Option+I (Mac) to open the developer tools.
• In the developer tools panel, click on the “Network” tab.
• Locate the throttling option in the Network tab (usually represented by a dropdown menu or a network icon).
• Choose the desired network condition from the available options (e.g., slow 3G, offline).
• Interact with the website and observe how it behaves under the simulated network conditions.

Monitoring Performance Metrics:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Open the Google Chrome browser and navigate to the website you want to test.
• Right-click anywhere on the webpage and select “Inspect” or press Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) or Command+Option+I (Mac) to open the developer tools.
• In the developer tools panel, click on the “Network” tab.
• Interact with the website and observe the various performance metrics displayed in the Network tab, such as response times, resource loading times, and cache usage. Use these metrics to benchmark performance and track improvements.

Analyzing Third-Party Integrations:

Step-by-step instructions:

• Follow the steps mentioned above to open the developer tools and navigate to the Console and Network tabs.
• Execute test scenarios that involve interactions with third-party components, such as libraries, plugins, or APIs.
• Monitor the Console tab for any logs or warnings related to the third-party integrations.
• Use the Network tab to inspect network requests and responses associated with these integrations. Ensure that there are no conflicts, errors, or unauthorised data transfers occurring.

Mastering the Console and Network tabs of browser developer tools is a game-changer for software testers. By understanding these tools and utilising their capabilities, testers can gain deep insights into application behaviour, detect and diagnose errors efficiently, monitor network activity, analyse API calls and responses, emulate different network conditions, monitor performance metrics, and analyse third-party integrations.

This knowledge empowers testers to uncover critical issues, enhance the overall quality of the product, and contribute significantly to the success of the development process. So, embrace these tabs, explore their features, and unlock the potential they hold for improving your testing efforts.