Denault, Cassidy 2023 intern photo

Cassidy was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai’i and graduated from Waiakea High School.  She is currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Data Science from Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, toward the goal of working in the fields of web development, human computer interaction, and data science.  Cassidy also works as a grader for the Seattle University Computer Science department and as a social-media manager for multiple campus organizations.  Outside of school, Cassidy enjoys hiking, photography, drawing, and learning new sports.

Home Island: Big Island, Hawaii

High School: Waiakea High School

Institution when accepted: Seattle University

Automating Regression Testing for Pacific Disaster Center Mobile Applications

Project Site: Pacific Disaster Center, Kihei, HI

Mentors: Brian Leeper & Cassie Stelow

Project Abstract:

Pacific Disaster Center’s (PDC) mobile application, Disaster Alert, is a free public platform notifying and informing users of current natural disasters and other potential safety threats.  Like most apps, Disaster Alert follows the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), a structured process designed to increase quality and improve functionality of applications and software.  Before each release, rigorous regression testing is essential to ensure that changes to the software code do not adversely impact existing functionalities.  Much of the process of manually testing each new app version on an array of individual physical devices can be automated using software that virtually simulates a range of mobile devices and OS versions.  This regression testing can be automated by test scripts that interact with the app, mimicking human interactions.  These emulators automatically test incremental changes to the code against a wide range of user platforms.  Software development and test automation framework tools were used to develop a functional automation test suite for Disaster Alert.  Research was done to select these tools and ensure reliability and scalability of the test suite.  Android Studio along with Xcode were utilized to create emulators and simulators on which the tests were run.  Popular test automation libraries Robot Framework and Appium Library were used to write the desired test cases.  Documentation detailing test environment requirements and setup, test structure, maintenance, and possible future enhancements was also produced.  The developed test suite interacts with primary functions and provides a straightforward path to adding more exhaustive cases.  The automated regression test suite also consistently produced repeatable results, enabling efficient identification of defects.  Automating repetitive tasks facilitates quicker feedback on code changes, enables faster iterations and provides a strong foundation for ongoing software maintenance and updates.  As Disaster Alert continues to evolve, the test suite can be updated to accommodate new features and functionalities.