Testing and Debugging Strategies

This chapter is a comprehensive guide to help you with the essential techniques to test and debug your application. Throughout this chapter, we will explore the tools available inside Bubble, alongside debugging methodologies and testing strategies.

You will learn how to identify and fix issues before your app deployment to guarantee you are shipping an error-free product into the world.

Understanding these debugging techniques will significantly enhance your capability to pinpoint problem areas and facilitate a smoother development process.

Next, we’ll navigate testing strategies so that you can thoroughly evaluate and troubleshoot your application’s functionality and performance. Proper testing reduces potential bugs, improves user experience, and builds a more reliable application overall.

This essential step not only enhances your app’s performance but also contributes to a professional and credible user experience...

Presenting the issue checker and debugger

Bubble provides a set of features to help you identify errors while building your application. Most of the time, when you see something in red while creating a query or adding dynamic data to a component, you will notice that there is an error in the way you configured it and you will be able to promptly fix it. However, sometimes, this might not be so obvious and you will be collecting errors while building your app and will only notice them at the end.

One of the most used tools available inside Bubble to help you identify errors is the issue checker. This feature is located at the top bar and it will always indicate if there is any error going on with your build.

The issue checker inside Bubble is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 10.1: Issue checker

The issue checker will help you in identifying and fixing issues. Once it identifies a potential error or missing configuration, a list of issues...

Testing your app’s functionality and performance

Building is fun; testing, not so much. However, it is as important as building. After all, you are building something to solve people’s problems, not to bring them more.

Testing involves running through various areas of your application to ensure it functions as intended. The goal is to spot problems and fix them before they get into the hands of your customers. Let’s explore a few strategies and tools for testing your app’s functionality and performance.

Manual testing

The simpler way to run a quick test on your app is by doing it yourself – that is, opening the application in preview mode and acting as a user. You don’t need much to do this – you can do it yourself, and this already allows you to spot errors that need to be fixed. You can also create a new account and act as if you were a person – a specific type of user with a goal in mind trying to use the app. Does...

Troubleshooting and handling errors

Building software is going to require you to handle bugs and errors. You will typically find them after the testing phase. At this point, you have to fix them; this isn’t great, but it’s part of the job. Some never do and call it a technical debt. No matter what you decide to do, errors will exist, and fixing them is important. In this section, we are going to talk about possible ways of troubleshooting and handling errors within your Bubble.io application.

Troubleshooting is an art; it requires patience and a process, and you will develop your own over time. When you find yourself in a situation where there is an error or something is not working, it can cause you to feel different types of emotions. After facing several errors and not being able to fix them, this can lead to anger and frustration. These feelings make everything even more difficult.

If you find yourself on a river of bugs, one very simple but effective tip is...

Extra debugging and testing strategies

In this section, we are going to explore additional techniques and tools to help you find errors and debug your application. As we saw previously, Bubble provides tools and features to help you test and find potential problems while developing your app, but there are other ways to proceed with advanced debugging techniques to help you uncover insights that empower you to take your development process to the next level. We’ll first with some options that are still available inside Bubble. After I will show you some external tools you can use.

Display options and responsive mode

Inside your Bubble editor, you can turn some features on and off so that you can better visualize and understand what’s going on with your layouts. On the top bar, there is an option called View. When you click it, you will see a few options that allow you to customize how your editor canvas will look:

Figure 10.7: View options...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned about testing and debugging, an essential aspect of any app development. You learned tips and tools to effectively test your app’s functionality and performance, ensuring a robust user experience.

We also presented internal and external tools to help you troubleshoot and handle errors that can unexpectedly arise during development.

Additionally, we explored extra debugging and testing strategies, providing you with a comprehensive toolkit for creating resilient and reliable applications. Understanding these concepts is important for building high-quality apps, and the skills acquired will play a crucial role in your continued learning journey. In the next chapter, you will learn how to deploy and launch your app.