Advanced Testing Strategies in PEGA

Testing Strategy Framework

A comprehensive testing strategy for PEGA applications encompasses multiple testing levels: unit testing for individual components, integration testing for system interactions, system testing for end-to-end scenarios, and acceptance testing for business requirements validation.

The testing pyramid principle applies to PEGA applications with unit tests forming the foundation (fast, isolated, numerous), integration tests in the middle (moderate speed, component interactions), and end-to-end tests at the top (slower, full system validation, fewer in number).

Automated Testing Framework Implementation

PEGA supports automated testing through various frameworks including PegaUnit for unit testing, web automation tools like Selenium for UI testing, and REST API testing tools for service validation. Implementing automated testing requires setting up test harnesses, data preparation, and result validation.

// Automated Test Framework Example
@TestSuite("CustomerManagementTests")
public class CustomerManagementTestSuite extends PegaUnitTestCase {
    
    @BeforeEach
    public void setupTestData() {
        // Create test customer data
        createTestCustomer("CUST001", "John Doe", "john@example.com");
        createTestCustomer("CUST002", "Jane Smith", "jane@example.com");
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testCreateCustomerCase() {
        // Arrange
        CustomerData customerData = new CustomerData()
            .setName("Test Customer")
            .setEmail("test@example.com")
            .setPhoneNumber("555-0123");
        
        // Act
        CaseResult result = createCustomerCase(customerData);
        
        // Assert
        assertNotNull(result.getCaseId(), "Case ID should be generated");
        assertEquals("Open-New", result.getStatus(), "Case should be in Open-New status");
        assertTrue(result.isValidationPassed(), "All validations should pass");
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testCustomerValidationRules() {
        // Test email validation
        CustomerData invalidCustomer = new CustomerData()
            .setName("Test Customer")
            .setEmail("invalid-email"); // Invalid email format
        
        ValidationResult validation = validateCustomerData(invalidCustomer);
        assertFalse(validation.isValid(), "Validation should fail for invalid email");
        assertTrue(validation.hasError("EMAIL_FORMAT"), "Should have email format error");
    }
    
    @Test
    @DataProvider("customerScenarios")
    public void testMultipleCustomerScenarios(CustomerTestScenario scenario) {
        // Data-driven testing with multiple scenarios
        CaseResult result = processCustomerScenario(scenario.getInputData());
        
        assertEquals(scenario.getExpectedStatus(), result.getStatus());
        assertEquals(scenario.getExpectedOutcome(), result.getOutcome());
    }
    
    @AfterEach
    public void cleanupTestData() {
        // Clean up test data
        deleteTestCustomers();
        resetSystemState();
    }
}

Performance and Load Testing

Performance testing in PEGA involves load testing, stress testing, volume testing, and endurance testing. Tools like Apache JMeter, LoadRunner, and PEGA's built-in Performance Analyzer (PAL) help identify performance bottlenecks and validate system scalability.

    
        Customer Case Load Test
        100
        60
        300
        
        
            Create Customer Case
            https
            pega-app.company.com
            443
            /api/cases/customer
            POST
            
            
                
                    customerName
                    ${customerName}
                
                
                    customerEmail
                    ${customerEmail}
                
            
        
        
        
            Success Response
            Assertion.response_code
            200
        
        
        
            Response Time SLA
            2000 
        
    
    
    
        Performance Results
        load-test-results.jtl
        true
        true
    

Test Data Management

Effective test data management involves creating realistic, consistent, and maintainable test data sets. Strategies include data masking for sensitive information, synthetic data generation, test data versioning, and automated data setup/teardown processes.

// Test Data Management Framework
@Component("TestDataManager")
public class TestDataManager {
    
    private final DataMaskingService dataMasking;
    private final SyntheticDataGenerator dataGenerator;
    
    public TestDataSet createCustomerTestData(TestScenario scenario) {
        TestDataSet dataSet = new TestDataSet(scenario.getName());
        
        // Generate synthetic customer data
        List customers = dataGenerator.generateCustomers(
            scenario.getCustomerCount(),
            scenario.getCustomerProfile()
        );
        
        // Apply data masking for sensitive fields
        customers = customers.stream()
            .map(this::maskSensitiveData)
            .collect(Collectors.toList());
        
        dataSet.addCustomers(customers);
        
        // Generate related test data
        generateRelatedCases(dataSet, customers, scenario);
        generateTransactionHistory(dataSet, customers, scenario);
        
        // Version and store test data
        versionTestData(dataSet);
        storeTestData(dataSet);
        
        return dataSet;
    }
    
    private Customer maskSensitiveData(Customer customer) {
        return customer.toBuilder()
            .socialSecurityNumber(dataMasking.maskSSN(customer.getSocialSecurityNumber()))
            .creditCardNumber(dataMasking.maskCreditCard(customer.getCreditCardNumber()))
            .bankAccountNumber(dataMasking.maskBankAccount(customer.getBankAccountNumber()))
            .build();
    }
    
    public void setupTestEnvironment(String environmentId, TestDataSet dataSet) {
        try {
            // Clean existing test data
            cleanupTestData(environmentId);
            
            // Load test data
            loadCustomers(environmentId, dataSet.getCustomers());
            loadCases(environmentId, dataSet.getCases());
            loadTransactions(environmentId, dataSet.getTransactions());
            
            // Verify data integrity
            verifyDataIntegrity(environmentId, dataSet);
            
            log.info("Test environment {} setup completed with {} customers", 
                    environmentId, dataSet.getCustomers().size());
                    
        } catch (Exception e) {
            log.error("Failed to setup test environment: {}", e.getMessage());
            throw new TestDataException("Environment setup failed", e);
        }
    }
    
    public void cleanupTestData(String environmentId) {
        // Remove test data in reverse dependency order
        deleteTransactions(environmentId);
        deleteCases(environmentId);
        deleteCustomers(environmentId);
        
        // Reset system state
        resetCounters(environmentId);
        clearCaches(environmentId);
    }
}

Security Testing and Vulnerability Assessment

Security testing for PEGA applications includes authentication testing, authorization testing, input validation testing, session management testing, and vulnerability scanning. Automated security testing tools can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines for continuous security validation.

// Security Testing Framework
@TestSuite("SecurityTests")
public class SecurityTestSuite extends PegaSecurityTestCase {
    
    @Test
    public void testAuthenticationSecurity() {
        // Test weak password policy
        AuthenticationResult weakPassword = attemptLogin("user", "123");
        assertFalse(weakPassword.isSuccessful(), "Weak passwords should be rejected");
        
        // Test account lockout after failed attempts
        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
            attemptLogin("user", "wrongpassword");
        }
        
        AuthenticationResult lockedAccount = attemptLogin("user", "correctpassword");
        assertFalse(lockedAccount.isSuccessful(), "Account should be locked");
        assertTrue(lockedAccount.isAccountLocked(), "Account lockout should be triggered");
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testAuthorizationControls() {
        // Create user with limited permissions
        TestUser limitedUser = createTestUser("limited", Arrays.asList("READ_ONLY"));
        
        // Attempt unauthorized operation
        SecurityContext context = authenticateUser(limitedUser);
        AccessResult result = attemptCreateCase(context, "CustomerCase");
        
        assertFalse(result.isAllowed(), "Limited user should not create cases");
        assertEquals("INSUFFICIENT_PRIVILEGES", result.getErrorCode());
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testInputValidationSecurity() {
        // SQL injection testing
        String maliciousInput = "'; DROP TABLE Customers; --";
        ValidationResult result = validateCustomerName(maliciousInput);
        assertFalse(result.isValid(), "Malicious input should be rejected");
        
        // XSS testing
        String xssInput = "";
        ValidationResult xssResult = validateCustomerComment(xssInput);
        assertFalse(xssResult.isValid(), "XSS attempts should be blocked");
        
        // Path traversal testing
        String pathTraversal = "../../../etc/passwd";
        ValidationResult pathResult = validateFileName(pathTraversal);
        assertFalse(pathResult.isValid(), "Path traversal should be prevented");
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testSessionSecurity() {
        // Test session timeout
        UserSession session = createUserSession("testuser");
        Thread.sleep(SESSION_TIMEOUT_MS + 1000);
        
        AccessResult timeoutResult = accessSecureResource(session);
        assertFalse(timeoutResult.isAllowed(), "Expired session should be invalid");
        
        // Test session hijacking protection
        UserSession originalSession = createUserSession("testuser");
        UserSession hijackedSession = cloneSession(originalSession);
        
        AccessResult hijackResult = accessSecureResource(hijackedSession);
        assertFalse(hijackResult.isAllowed(), "Cloned sessions should be rejected");
    }
    
    @Test
    public void testDataEncryptionInTransit() {
        // Test HTTPS enforcement
        HTTPResponse httpResponse = makeHTTPRequest("http://app.company.com/secure");
        assertEquals(301, httpResponse.getStatusCode(), "HTTP should redirect to HTTPS");
        assertTrue(httpResponse.getLocation().startsWith("https://"), "Should redirect to HTTPS");
        
        // Test TLS configuration
        SSLConnectionInfo sslInfo = getSSLInfo("https://app.company.com");
        assertTrue(sslInfo.isSecureProtocol(), "Should use secure TLS version");
        assertFalse(sslInfo.hasWeakCiphers(), "Should not use weak cipher suites");
    }
}

Continuous Testing in CI/CD Pipelines

Integrating testing into CI/CD pipelines ensures continuous quality validation. This includes automated test execution, parallel test running, test result reporting, and quality gates that prevent deployment of failing builds.

# CI/CD Pipeline with Comprehensive Testing
name: PEGA Application CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  unit-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Setup PEGA Environment
        uses: ./setup-pega-action
      - name: Run Unit Tests
        run: |
          pega-test-runner --suite unit --format junit --output test-results/
      - name: Publish Unit Test Results
        uses: dorny/test-reporter@v1
        with:
          name: Unit Test Results
          path: test-results/unit-tests.xml
          reporter: java-junit

  integration-tests:
    needs: unit-tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:13
        env:
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Setup Test Environment
        run: |
          docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d
          ./wait-for-services.sh
      - name: Load Test Data
        run: |
          pega-data-loader --environment test --dataset integration-tests
      - name: Run Integration Tests
        run: |
          pega-test-runner --suite integration --parallel 4
      - name: Cleanup Test Environment
        run: docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml down

  performance-tests:
    needs: integration-tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Setup Performance Environment
        run: |
          ./setup-performance-env.sh
      - name: Run Performance Tests
        run: |
          jmeter -n -t performance-tests/load-test.jmx -l results/performance.jtl
      - name: Generate Performance Report
        run: |
          jmeter -g results/performance.jtl -o reports/performance/
      - name: Check Performance SLA
        run: |
          python check-performance-sla.py --results results/performance.jtl

  security-tests:
    needs: integration-tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run Security Scan
        run: |
          # Static security analysis
          pega-security-scanner --type static --output security-report.json
          
          # Dynamic security testing
          ./run-security-tests.sh
      - name: Upload Security Results
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v2
        with:
          sarif_file: security-report.sarif

  deploy:
    needs: [unit-tests, integration-tests, performance-tests, security-tests]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to Staging
        run: |
          pega-deploy --environment staging --version ${{ github.sha }}
      - name: Run Smoke Tests
        run: |
          pega-test-runner --suite smoke --environment staging
      - name: Deploy to Production
        run: |
          pega-deploy --environment production --version ${{ github.sha }}