Why Shift Left (QA)
At Bricklane, we have been experimenting with the latest best practices guided by the principle of shifting left.
As part of our quality assurance strategy, the process of shifting left involves testing as early as possible in the development lifecycle, i.e. moving to the left on a project timeline.
Although many tech test meet-ups embrace shift-left testing, in practice, it can often be hard to see its presence in many organisations. This could result from a lack of awareness of the benefits, organisational culture, tools and pipelines. However, we see significant advantages in changing our processes and practices to enable shifting left.
Here are some of the key benefits we have identified so far.
1. Speed enables us to keep up with changing requirements
Faced with constantly changing requirements, we must have a framework to know if they are being met or not as early as possible in development. Shifting left allows us to react to changes faster and earlier, preventing testing from being delayed.
2. Fixing bugs earlier saves time and money
No development process can avoid producing bugs, most of which cost time and money to fix. In many cases, the more time a bug spends in the system and the development process, the more it costs to resolve.
Based on research by James Martin, the chart below shows that over 80% of all bugs emerge during the design and requirements phases, so it doesn’t make sense to wait to test until we deploy code.
By testing earlier in the cycle (shifting left), we can detect bugs sooner, saving time and money.
The following chart shows the relative cost of fixing bugs based on detection time, with those identified later in the process costing significantly more to fix.
3. Earlier feedback provides more time to improve
To build high-quality features, we must receive feedback as early in the process as possible. With the need to make ever faster changes in the software, the speed of feedback during development is directly proportional to the rate of growth of the software.
By shifting left, developers receive earlier, faster feedback which increases efficiency.
Shifting left works best when combined with other best practices
Shifting testing to left helps implement a fail-fast strategy and can save significant time and money by identifying bugs earlier in the development process, ensuring feedback is delivered earlier and enabling us to adapt more effectively to ever-changing requirements.
However, to obtain the best results, we should use the approach in conjunction with best practices in the following areas:
- Well defined and automated CI/CD pipelines
- Automation (in tests, checks and all other areas where possible)
- Continuous feedback mechanism with monitoring and other tools/practices
- Team culture
- Set and revise quality standards
In upcoming blogs, we will be looking at how to shift left and how we’ve implemented this principle at Bricklane.
ABOUT BRICKLANE
Bricklane harnesses technology to unlock investment in residential property at scale.
Using Compass, our proprietary technology platform, we have industrialised the investment process from end to end, executing granular transactions that fly below the radar of other professional investors to create a sustainable edge for our partners.
Once properties are acquired, we provide a great proposition for our tenants, with long-term contracts as standard and responsive property managers.
We are currently deploying our first major institutional mandate, focusing on carefully selected areas of London, the South East, and Bristol.
Founded in 2016, Bricklane is backed by a range of leading investors, including LocalGlobe, A/O Proptech, Clocktower Technology Ventures, DMG Ventures, and Zoopla.
Find out more at https://bricklane.com.
References
- https://www.browserstack.com/guide/what-is-shift-left-testing
- https://devopedia.org/shift-left
- https://www.xenonstack.com/insights/shift-left-testing
- Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams (Lisa Crispin, Janet Gregory)
- Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations (Gene Kim, Jez Humble, and Nicole Forsgren)
