A web application is a software program stored or hosted on a remote server and accessed over the internet via a browser. Users need an internet connection for such applications to work. Any network-related latencies result in performance hindrances.
A desktop application is a program that users run on a personal computer or laptop. It is a standalone software program that doesn’t necessarily depend on internet connectivity. Very often, all of its or at least certain features can work independently of the web connection. Examples of such applications are MS-Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Spotify, etc.
The testing activities included in the desktop and web app testing services are pretty much the same. We surely need to run functional, UI, performance, acceptance, regression testing, and some other activities, depending on the kind of software we are dealing with. However, in addition to that, desktop application testing services include:
As you can guess, the difference arises because users access web apps via browser, while desktop apps are stored locally.
When testing the installation process, QA engineers check the following:
To test updates, we install an older version of the application first. Then, we check if:
Naturally, users delete applications sometimes. So software testers need to make sure such option is available and working properly. During the uninstallation testing, we check if:
It is impossible to answer this without analyzing a specific situation. It depends a lot on the app’s functionality and the audience using it. A company needs to analyze user behavior and needs, as well as the viability of the idea concerning further scaling, budget, etc.
Nevertheless, if we are discussing the ‘web vs desktop’ without any context, web applications are the ones that come with several advantages.
In terms of testing, it is probably easier to work with web applications, too. We all know how a browser works. All that’s left is to research a user flow and different configurations for a bit. Meanwhile, desktop applications can require some learning and knowledge of additional technologies (though not always).
A QA specialist working with web applications should:
As for desktop applications, the principles of functional, UI, and other required testing types won’t differ drastically. The only important thing to keep in mind is that desktop apps are highly dependent on the operating system.
In general, testing web and desktop applications is pretty similar. Just remember about a couple of desktop-specific types of testing. As for the difficulty, it’s hard to say which one will be more complicated to check. What we know for sure is that the knowledge and skills you gain while working with one type of application are always helpful in other projects.
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