Imagine having a web application with tons of great features, but it does not provide a seamless experience to the users. Without a doubt, it will ruin the user experience, but there is a possibility that the user might not return to use the app. Though improving the user experience is majorly the task of UI/UX, still there are other actions that can make it better. One such component is the use of cookies in a web application.
Adding cookies is not a major task for a developer. However, the real task begins when it is time to test cookies. This article will elaborate all about cookie testing, why you should always test cookies, its test cases, strategies, and many other factors.
What Is a Cookie?
Before talking about cookie testing, it is essential to know what cookies in a web application are. A cookie is a text file created by the web server in the system of the user. This file contains information about the user and the data used to connect between different web pages. Data like their usernames, session tokens, preferences, and other similar elements are stored in cookies which all make the overall user experience better. Cookies are also used to keep track of where the user navigated on the web application.
Types Of Cookies
There are two types of cookies in web applications; session and persistent cookies. Both serve a unique purpose and exist to provide the desired information.
- Session Cookies: A session cookie is created when the user opens the website on their browser. As soon as the user shuts down the browser, the cookie will be deleted, hence they only exist for the current session.
- Persistent Cookies: Unlike the former, persistent cookies stay on the user’s system for a prolonged period lasting months or sometimes even years.
What Is Cookie Testing?
Cookie testing is the way to ensure that the web application cookies are performing as desired. Not performing this testing can result in a lack of user data, resulting in inefficient updates or poor user experience. The following are some of the reasons why cookie testing is necessary.
- Ensure Data is Received: Sometimes, the cookies are created in the user’s system by the web server, but they are not sent back to the server. If the data is not sent, then creating the cookies is practically useless. With appropriate testing, it can be ensured that the data is sent to the server.
- Better Web App Functioning: One of the key reasons why cookies are used is to collect user data and use that data to make the web application better. Performing cookie testing will make sure that the cookies are working correctly, hence helping in the better functioning of the web application.
- Enhanced Security: Cookies store users’ data including their username, and navigation history, among others. Cookie testing helps in protecting them so that they are not misused by the attacker.
Different Types Of Tests Performed On Cookies
Cookie testing involves different types of tests that collaboratively ensure that cookies are working as anticipated and securely. Though testing cookies is not rocket science, many teams still do not perform the right tests. The following are the top tests that you should include in your cookie testing to eradicate all the issues.
- Corrupting the Cookies: When it comes to enhancing the security of cookies, then this testing method should surely be adopted. One of the key ways attackers use to gain unauthorized access to data stored in cookies is by corrupting them or overwriting the information. Such attacks are common on web apps made for banking, investment, or any other financial web app. You can test cookies by corrupting them yourself and evaluating their behavior. Doing so will allow you to determine the ways how cookies react to such attacks, and identify any bugs within cookies.
- Edit Cookies: Cookies store personal information like login username, and password. A properly functioning cookie will allow the user to log in through the saved data. Another essential test on cookies is by editing them and replacing the original data with any other data; be it valid or invalid. Make sure that you alter the current id to effectively perform this test. Once the modification is done, you need to head back to the web application. If the web app is providing access to your account, your cookies are not working as they should. On the other hand, if you get access denied or any other similar error, then your cookies are working fine.
- Disable Cookies: Disabling cookies is a basic yet effective cookie testing strategy. When cookies are disabled, the web application’s functionalities should remain unaffected. Sometimes, the same action can lead to the web application behaving weirdly or can cause frequent crashes. Furthermore, it can also corrupt the data. Properly functioning cookies should not cause any crashes after disabling them. Also, the web app should provide notice to the user that cookies are disabled and provide help in reactivating them.
- Delete Cookies: Having cookies is not mandatory for a web application to function properly. It is the choice of the user whether they want to allow cookies or not. In this cookie testing, you need to delete all the cookies of your web app and monitor its behavior. Your web application should not crash or miss out on any crucial information. If there is a failure in the web app’s functionality, you can evaluate further to identify the issue with the cookies.
- Cookie Encryption: Another important type of cookie testing regarding security. Data stored in cookies including username, password, or any other information should be encrypted to prevent any unauthorized access. Here, you need to validate the encryption at your end to make sure that the data stored in cookies is highly secure.
- Cross-Browser Testing: Several browsers like Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox exist currently. With numerous options to choose from, users may pick as per their preference. As all your users may not use the same browser, performing cookie testing on a single browser may not provide good test coverage. Make sure that you test your cookies across different browsers to validate that cookies are written correctly on all different browsers.
- Overuse Testing: Sometimes, a web app may prompt cookies too frequently. Doing so can lower the website traffic and may also ruin the overall experience of the user which may force them to switch to your alternative. Overusing cookies can damage your web app’s traffic significantly. Make sure that cookies are not overused in your web application to control the traffic and keep it stable.
Cookies Testing Test Cases
Test cases are crucial for effective testing. These are scenarios created for cookies to ensure that they perform as required in every situation. Elaborating on every test case may not be possible here which is why below are the most common yet effective test cases for cookie testing.
- Accept/Reject Cookies: The number of cookies they accept depends on the users. If the web app is asking permission for eight cookies, you can accept four and reject four cookies at random and evaluate the outcome. This test case is most effective as several people do not accept all cookies. With this test case, you can determine the pages that may crash due to the unacceptance of cookies.
- User Specific Cookies: One feature of cookies is to keep the user logged in without entering login credentials. In this test case, you need to try to log in to a different account and monitor the web application’s behavior. Rightly functioning cookies will either ignore or remove cookies from the previous user and create new cookies for the current user.
- Sensitive Data Storage: Cookies store sensitive data which often makes them a target for attacks. You already know that such data should be encrypted before storing it to add an additional layer of protection. However, some cookies may even store the credit or debit card numbers of the users after they make a payment. In this test case, you need to identify whether your web application’s cookies do not store this data in any way.
Cookie Vs. Cache
Often people confuse cookies and cache. Undeniably, they both are similar in a few ways, but there are several dissimilarities between them. The reason why you need to know about these differences is to eradicate the confusion between the two, allowing you to avoid using cache testing techniques while performing cookie testing.
| Feature | Cookies | Cache |
| Core Usage | Cookies are created to store the preferences of the user while using the web app. | The cache is created to store the web app content for faster loading. |
| Storage | Cookies are stored in the browser as well as on the server. | The cache is stored only on the user’s browser. |
| Space Consumption | Cookies are just text files and take up very less space. | A cache stores web app’s content on the browser, and consumes a lot of space on the system. |
| Benefit for the user | As cookies remember user preferences, it makes actions like login, and navigation easier on the web app. | A cache stores website data on the system due to which the web application takes lesser time to load, giving faster access to the user. |
| Expiry | Cookies come with an expiration date after which they automatically expire. | There is no expiry date to a cache. It must be removed manually by the user. |
Cookie Testing Service By FractionalQA
Cookie testing is a highly crucial task for the web application, without which the entire cookie usage can be hindered. FractionalQA provides cookie testing services for the web application, allowing you to have professional assistance without having an in-house testing team. Our team will perform all the different types of cookie tests on your web application to ensure that it functions perfectly without any crashes or downtime.
In our experience of over a decade, our testing teams have helped legions of clients to identify and fix issues in their programs in as minimal time as possible. In this service, our professionals will:
- Evaluate all the necessary components of your program.
- Create test cases for cookie testing.
- Perform all types of cookie tests.
- Diagnose and fix issues found in cookies.
- Use the right plugins and toolset for effective testing.
- Ensure that the web app does not face any downtime.
- 24X7 support for any issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is cookie testing mandatory?
The simple answer is no, cookie testing is not mandatory. However, as cookies contain important information and data, it is necessary to check whether the data is sent back to the server or not and cookie testing helps in identifying this information. Experts always recommend performing cookie testing, but it is not mandatory. - Will the web application work if cookies are rejected by the user?
If cookies are working correctly, and a user rejects cookies, certain features or the entire web application may stop functioning. The reason is that many web apps require specific data from the users to provide the right experience. When the data is not received, they may not provide such features either. However, if cookies are not functioning correctly, the web application may crash or fail. Performing cookie testing will help you in identifying this issue and fix it before it happens to the user. - Do cookies expire on their own?
Session cookies are valid only for the current session. These expire as soon as the user closes the app or the browser. On the other hand, persistent cookies stay for some time in the user’s system. Each cookie comes with an expiry time that can vary between a few days to a few months. In simpler terms, every cookie has a self-delete mechanism where they expire after the stipulated time.