Everything you want to know about Test Automation
An INFJ personality wielding brevity in speech and writing.
Your team developed a mobile application, and now it’s time to release it to the public. As a result, you know your product excels in all areas, including design, functionality, security, and performance. Do we even need to conduct tests? You must conduct thorough software testing for your product’s quality and safety.
Expanding access to digital media is a key factor fueling economic expansion.
Quality assurance in agile development approaches like scrum requires short test iteration times. The new features as well as bug fixes introduced with each sprint churn the code that was stable in the previous sprint, raising the chance of regression, which is one of the main issues faced by QA engineers. Without test automation, it may be difficult to offer timely feedback and ensure enough test coverage.
The importance of automated testing has grown in recent years as DevOps has expanded its testing efforts. Understanding Test Automation is crucial for increasing efficiency.
Automation testing is the practice of applying an automation testing tool for the design and execution of scripts to confirm test requirements.
It helps contrast actual results with forecasts. As a result, automated testing has become an integral aspect of quality control.
Is automated testing the magical solution?
Quality assurance professionals avoid the term “Test automation” Instead of “automation tests,” they prefer the term “automation checks” since they believe testing cannot be computerized whereas checking can. As a species, we have abilities that machines simply don’t have, such as the capacity for complex thought, observation, and analysis. While testing, it is often the tester’s humanity that leads to the discovery of errors. Neither feeling nor expressing emotion is possible on a computer.
One may reasonably wonder whether or not test automation is preferable to human testers, given that it can execute the same test rapidly, accurately, and consistently.
No! Because executing a test rapidly with much more accuracy and consistency doesn’t quite yield better software however it would undoubtedly minimize the time it takes to finish testing. The ability to automate tests is a powerful tool for testers to have. It is accounted for separately in stock. If the user is not holding the weapon, it is of no utility. Automated tests need scripts to be created and managed; this in turn implies a HUMAN.
The purpose of test automation tools is to aid testers, not to substitute them.
Despite popular belief, test automation is not a “Silver Bullet”
Getting started with test automation
1. Avoiding common test automation pitfalls
Every software development endeavor is unique, necessitating a customized automation strategy.
Let’s focus on a few of the most typical problems that can arise during the automation of tests to improve our chances of success.
- Scope of Automation
The percentage of your testing that can be automated and how much can stay manual will determine the answer to this question. Forget about trying to automate all of your tests (if that’s even possible) Because doing so is a bad idea.
There are wonderful testing tasks that can only be performed by automation, or certainly not as rapidly or repeatedly as by hand. Of course, the inverse is also correct. Manual testing has advantages that cannot be replicated by software tools. For each scenario, what exactly are these factors? The human element is the primary reason why manual testing is superior to computerized. There is an advantage to having a real person do it.
Automation is incapable of replacing human testers for in-depth exploratory testing. Manual testers can promptly assess bug breadth and severity after finding them. That is, identifying OSs, workflows, intra-service connections, and dependencies where it occurs and where it does not .Software engineers require this information to diagnose and solve bugs, but automated test scripts can’t do it.
- Automated Software Testing (AST) Worldwide
All tests cannot be automated.
Manual testing is improved by automated testing. It’s unrealistic to automate all project tests. When introducing an automated GUI test tool, it’s helpful to run compatibility tests just on AUT to determine if it can detect all elements and third-party controls.
Automated tests are limited.
Automation improves manual testing. Automating all project testing is unrealistic. For instance, once an automated GUI test tool is first introduced, compatibility testing on the AUT might determine whether the tool can recognize all components and third-party controls.
GUI test tools have trouble detecting some custom controls features, thus compatibility testing is crucial.
When choosing between automated and manual test needs, the testing team should carefully analyse the program. The test engineer must eliminate redundant tests throughout this examination. Automated testing should exercise several objects without duplicating tests.
The three hallmarks of a properly defined goal are that it is feasible, quantifiable, and attainable.
Goals like “test on different operating systems,” “decrease time to market,” and “raise the confidence of each build” are good examples of what might be considered well-defined aims. Having clearly stated and attainable goals increase the likelihood of attaining them.
When deciding on automated testing percentage, here’s a quick video that will help you in the process:
- Failure to Remember That Finding Flaws Is the Point of Testing
The purpose of AST is to aid in quality improvement; it is not intended to duplicate development work.
When working on an AST project, it’s easy to get caught up in making the most efficient automation framework and automation software possible and forget the ultimate aim of testing, which is, of course, to locate bugs.
Risk-based testing, and equivalence partition, boundary value testing are just a few examples of useful testing methodologies that can be utilized to generate the most relevant test cases.
You may have used cutting-edge automated software development approaches and hired top-tier programmers to build your framework’s automation. It runs quickly, with results from tens of thousands of test cases, and has effective automated analysis, and excellent reporting capabilities. Reviews have been really positive. Even with the most advanced test automation framework, your effort will be deemed unsuccessful if bugs make it into production while being missed by the automated testing scripts.
- Early delivery failures
The time, energy, and expenditures involved with automation necessitate performance management for the automated test endeavor. Therefore, there is always a demand for preliminary data showing ROI. Instead of trying to produce an extensive library of repeatable scripts at the outset of the project, the development work should be divided into smaller deliverables that can provide early ROI. If you can generate accurate results quickly, you’ll increase your team’s morale and gain the backing of upper management.
A practical approach is to release minimal tests before going on to the other modules that make up the entire regression suite. This will allow the team to show their worth early on in the project while also giving your insight into how the development activities are going.
Test automation is a powerful tool for enhancing quality, decreasing testing time, and speeding up product release cycles. Success is more likely if you have defined goals, reasonable expectations, and an automated strategy and plan that details how you will create a framework that can be easily maintained. This highlights the significance of giving the automated solution and process extensive consideration and planning before beginning the project.
In addition, successfully leading the automation project through its many obstacles requires drawing on both your own and other people’s experiences and knowledge.
2. Picking test cases for test automation
Best practices have been established for automated testing, including guidelines for deciding which tests should be automated.
Here is a quick rundown of the many categories of tests that benefit most from being automated.
- Multiple build repetitions of the same test
- Human-Error-Prone Tests
- Analyses that use a plethora of data sets
- Infrequently utilized features that create dangerous situations
- Procedures that can’t be checked by hand
- Multi-environment tests are done on several specific hardware or software configurations
- Extensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive tests during manual testing
| Test cases | Need Automation |
|---|---|
| Unit testing | Yes |
| Integration testing | Yes |
| Functional testing | Yes |
| Regression testing | Yes |
| Performance testing | Yes |
| Data-driven testing | Yes |
Unit Testing
When it comes to automating testing processes, you should focus first and foremost on unit testing because it is the most efficient technique. This is so because fixing any potential bugs is less of a hassle. The tests here are extremely versatile and can be used in various contexts. They’re less expensive to repair, and one may do it in various ways depending on the programming languages used.
Integration Testing
We should also place a premium on integration testing, verifying the functionality of several modules or interfaces. The results of these checks will tell us if everything is functioning as it should. As automation is applied to integration tests, their execution times will improve, allowing us to receive the desired response more rapidly.
Functional Testing
When doing functional tests, one can choose from a wide variety of frameworks and tools that are well-suited to specific development codes. Thus, companies should prioritize it highly from the outset. It will be easier to spot faulty ones if you put them through such tests. More importantly, we can’t have unpredictable evaluations.
Regression tests (smoke test, sanity test, etc.) : constitute the backbone of the testing process for each new release, but they are also the most time- and resource-intensive tests.
Performance tests: When trying to achieve complete coverage, performance testing (load and stress test) can be tedious and time-consuming.
Data-driven tests: If you want to reduce the likelihood of human error when testing data-driven scenarios or the most important aspects of the AUT, automation is the way to go.
3.Managing a test automation suite
Guidelines for establishing and keeping up with an automation suite
- Test Data Management Strategy
For test engineers, one of the most challenging parts of automating tests, especially full-stack tests, is dealing with the data generated by the tests themselves. Sometimes scripts stop working because data is changed too frequently. To prevent script failure, it is essential to run the scripts after making any changes to the program, as well as to refresh the databases and alter the application’s state.
Using such a rudimentary method, the vital data source only supports a limited set of tools, software, and environments. Alternatively, you can prevent this problem by creating new data each time the scripts are executed. A well-defined strategy for managing test data can aid in the upkeep of the test automation suite, which in turn helps bring about a measurable return on investment.
- API-level/UI-level automation
Most test automation work done by test engineers is still focused on user interface testing. Most agile groups lean toward user interface automation. Teams generally see the benefits of automation for the first few months but then discover the cost of keeping UI-level testing outweighs them. Therefore, it is recommended that test engineers automate their applications at the API level, as this reduces TCO and makes scripts more robust.
- Application enhancement impact analysis
Responsible requirements management involves impact analysis. It clarifies the effects of a proposed modification in an application. This helps teams approve appropriate modifications. The proposed modification is analyzed to identify modules to be built, updated, or rejected and estimate implementation effort. Missing an impact analysis won’t change the task’s size, but it’s best to avoid surprises. The report suggests QA update the affected automated processes during sprints.
- Testing automation suites regularly
If the software tester isn’t aware of any modifications, even small ones, the automation suite could be negatively affected. It is essential to perform regular health checks on the automation suites to ensure that the tests execute without a hitch. Routine testing is the best way to guarantee that automation suites deliver as promised.
4. Planning and Designing the test automation framework
A framework is a collection of rules you should follow to make your code more consistent, easier to reuse, more portable, and requiring less script upkeep.
To what extent do the following characteristics of frameworks meet the needs of engineering teams?
- Executable scripts and input parameters should be managed independently
- All reusable parts should be stored in a single library.
- Presenting Findings
- Compatibility with other programs
- Mechanically activated, needing no human oversight; this trigger is self-executing and self-purifying
- Test Automation Planning Stages
Take a look at our in-house test automation framework
When we’ve decided to implement automation, we write out a detailed plan detailing the specifics of the endeavor: when it’ll begin, what tools and technologies will be used, how much money will be allocated, and so on.
Analysis and planning start here since planning is crucial to our success. We understand the importance of proper planning. Identifying what and how to automate, coordinating resources, training the team on load balance, setting up a budget, and more are critical issues in this phase. The team should assess the plan after it’s finished.
- Tools and Technology
Once the test plan is accepted, the framework design and implementation team should begin identifying the proper tools and techniques for testing projects. It is vital to perform initial POC and later choose one of the main tools that meet most of the project’s criteria or utilize a combination of resources instead of one. Depending on needs and money, automated testing tools can be open-source or licensed.
- Framework Choice
Automation project success depends on the test automation framework. Test automation developments tasks include: Establishing source control and repositories and consistent code standards, defining automated test project structure, standards for scripts, objects, properties, and data collection, and standard/reusable techniques, to develop summary, screenshot, logging, and email reporting tools, to Integrate existing build tools and finally Training and documentation
This phase creates an automated test framework that includes methodology, tools, standards, etc. This baseline simplifies automated test creation and maintenance. Choose a layout design and framework based on the technology/tools.
- Test Scope
Sanity, Smoke, and Regression test cases must be organized in this phase. Implement Sanity test cases first, then Smoke and regression.
- Testbed Setup
Configure the shared testbed with hosts, VMs, tools, and build. Executing test cases in this context ensures appropriate execution.
- Test Case Implementation
With the framework, objects, and suitable method in place, start developing test cases. Use standard methods and implement them if necessary. Organize test cases into packages or modules to make maintenance easier and record and document each script. This helps find errors. Execute the test cases on the testbed to ensure they work.
- Examine Test Cases
Team members should review the test cases after they run on the testbed to ensure they cover all functionality. One Functional Testing Team member and one Automation Team member should participate in this review. Include review comments after the review.
- Maintenance
To accommodate functional and UI changes, all test suites are updated routinely. It adds any new test cases not explored during the Planning Stage. This phase involves adding new features and improving test automation framework components.
Test Automation Framework Design – Framework design considerations:
- Create Wrapper Method: Wrapper methods can enhance library features. Extending this wrapper method improves Selenium error handling and logging.
- Custom Logger: All test script data must be logged into a file. Use this to understand the code. Java’s log4j and Python’s Custom logger are popular.
- Selecting the Correct Design Pattern: The specific design sequence speeds up test case development, prevents minor issues from becoming significant, and enhances code readability. Page Object Model is the most common selenium automation framework design pattern (POM).
- Separate Testing with Automation Framework: Remove the automation framework from test script logic and input data. Readability is improved.
- Arrange Code Folders Properly: Configure the folder structure to read and comprehend the code. Input Data, Test Cases, Utilities, etc.
- Building & Ongoing Integration: Continuous Integration uses a build automation technology to test software following a commit decision.
Considerations of Vital Importance in the Design of a Test Automation Framework
- Separate Scripts and Data – Input data files (e.g., XML, Ms-Excel, or Databases) and code should be kept in their locations, preventing the need to modify automated test scripts every Time data is updated.
- Library — All reusable functions, like database, essential functions, application functions, etc., should be stored in a library, allowing us to call the function instead of having to rewrite the entire program.
- Coding Standards – Coding standards should be consistently applied across any test automation framework. This will promote good coding habits among your team members and aid in preserving code structure.
- Extensibility and Maintenance – A good test automation framework must reliably back up every new program update. e.g., A new library can also be developed to facilitate the more straightforward implementation of feature updates to applications.
- Script/Framework Versioning – You should save the Test Automation Framework/scripts/ scripts in a local folder or some versioning solution, so it is simple to check for changes to the software source.
Test automation metrics
Metrics that make sense for C-suite
It leaves a rich digital imprint in the tool sets utilized throughout the Agile process, from pre-development through development to integration and deployment and beyond into active software administration so that the process can be easily measured.
There are a number of Key metrics that are unique to the automation testing process.
Automated Test Scenarios
This metric estimates how many of a suite’s test cases can be automated as a percentage of the total. This measure can be used to determine which sections should be automated first and which ones require human oversight.
It aids in the development of an effective testing strategy and the establishment of harmony between manual and test automation.
Success of Automation Scripts
This statistic is used for checking whether or not previous results were correct. It is the fraction of a project’s total flaws that were discovered by automated testing as a percentage of all defects reported in the test management system. Knowing what kinds of flaws the scripts can’t find and how variables like context can affect script performance is useful. That’s a low-hanging fruit that might significantly improve the efficiency of certain scripts.
Automated Success Rate
This simpler metric counts the total number of automated tests that succeeded. Determining if there are misleading failures is crucial, as having a low rate of failure indicates that the script’s reasoning is sound and there are fewer flaws to repair. When the latter occurs, it may be an indication that the automation routines are off and require adjustment.
Take a quick look at 4 test automation metrics for your project
Duration of Automated Tasks
Just how long it takes for the automated suite to run from start to finish may be seen here. Given that a script that takes a long time to run may end up delaying production, this is crucial in determining if the automation suite created delivers sufficient ROI.
Compatibility Tests for Automation
In order to keep track of how many times test cases have been run, a black-box technique called “test coverage” has been developed. This measure is useful for understanding how much testing is being done automatically and where improvements might be made within an organisation.
Incorporate Stability
If automated testing is part of your CI/CD pipeline, you can use this statistic to determine how well your tests are functioning by determining the percentage of unstable builds compared to the total number of builds. This reveals how reliable the tests are and if they are adequate to guarantee a stable build gets released to production.
Vanity metrics to be careful of
Vanity metrics are numbers that make you appear great to others but don’t actually tell you anything useful about how you’re doing or what you should do differently in the future. This is true of media figures, corporate executives, and the heads of software testing firms.
Time and experience as a Quality Engineer, Test Lead, and QA Lead have also showed me that some metrics commonly used in the testing and quality assurance industries are, at their core, solely for vanity.
Vanity metrics can be hazardous as well as time-wasting. Humans underestimate their drive to optimize behavior to fulfill targets. Even well-meaning people can be compelled to close the ticket early to feel productive. Finishing is honorable. What would happen if you used “# of tickets closed” as an expectation to be paid incentive?
Vanity metrics have their drawbacks.
The trap of vanity metrics is easy to fall into, which is why many managers do so. They’re easy to get a hold of, don’t cost anything extra, and can give you results in a flash. Speed indeed hurts quality.
- Test Coverage %
Do you monitor test coverage in your newest software project, whether unit, integration, or automated UI tests? Coverage is good, and writing tests help. However, striving for an industry norm of 80% or 100% on it all is not useful. 100% coverage may not find bugs.
Unit tests can cover this 100%. It’s not bug-free. It’s obvious that we won’t catch it if we don’t test edge cases.
- Statistics
Wonderful static analysis tools. They discover problems automatically, aid with code style.
That pleasant, happy sensation when scoring your code 10/10? That’s good, but well-written, coding-standards-compliant code doesn’t necessarily perform the right thing. It’s another tool, however, it shouldn’t be used to indicate product quality.
- Test Success Rate
A 100% test pass rate, like a 100% overall number of tests, is not evidence that there are no problems in the system. Even as a dramatic decline in test pass rates below 70% should raise red flags, so too is a 100% pass rate on tests that don’t actually test the important material.
These are some of the commonalities across vanity metrics:
- Aesthetically pleasing yet not indicative of the actual commercial performance.
- Not paired with a comprehensive examination of the entire funnel.
- Make claims of expansion without providing evidence.
Using the SMART technique while setting corporate goals is another way to spot vanity metrics. Setting SMART goals means making them clear, quantifiable, attainable, pertinent, and time-bound.
Some metrics to avoid and the ones you should be monitoring
The data collected from tests should be used to enhance the testing procedure, not merely for pretty reports.
Effective metrics for keeping tabs on
Metrics in Numbers
You can get accurate readings on quantitative measures.
They have value both as raw data and as a basis for further analysis. Some typical instances are provided below.
Metrics for Evaluating Test Performance
Metrics gathered during performance testing provide insight into the most important features of the product. The effectiveness of your app can be evaluated in terms of how quickly, reliably, and conveniently it performs its tasks. Statistics like the number of requests made per second (RPS), the success or failure rate of transactions, and the longest amount of time it took to respond to a request.
Measuring Usability
Usability testing costs extra because it requires a focus group. However, usability testing may have a higher ROI than other software testing metrics. Usability testing helps eliminate bias.
Measures for Regression Testing
To guarantee that substantial code changes do not adversely affect any essential features, regression testing is performed. Defect metrics such as defect rate, test execution status, and defect age
Choosing test automation tools
Make sure the Test automation tools you select is capable, robust, versatile, and meets the needs of your project before committing to it. When we talk about a tool being “competent,” “potent,” and “flexible,” we’re talking about its ability to manage both test cases and testing data efficiently. It should be open to integration with other third-party tools for added capability, customization, and simplified testing.
Here’s a comparison table of list of automated testing tools with its pros and cons.
| Automation tools | Platform | Languages supported | Tested apps | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selenium | Windows/mac/Linux | Java/Python/c#/JavaScript/PHP | Mobile web | Selenium lets you test many browsers on several machines Test mobile web, hybrid, and native apps using Selenium WebDriver and Appium. | Tech-savvy engineers write Selenium WebDriver scripts. Checking image display and loading is impossible. |
| UFT(Unified Functional Testing) | Windows | VBScript | Web/Desktop/Mobile | UFT lets developers record and automates manual tests. Sprinter can automate execution reports. Your team can save artifacts, functions, and spreadsheets in UFT. | For scripting purposes, UFT employs VBScript. This is a really expensive tool. |
| TestComplete | Windows | VBScript, JavaScript, PHP,C#, Delphi | Web/Desktop/Mobile | A built-in editor lets non-programmers add, delete, alter, and order tests. You can create or modify the script manually if the visible interface isn’t enough. High maintenance, support, and updates. | Prohibits Mac app testing. Test iOS applications on a Mac with virtualization tools. |
| Watir | Windows | Java,.Net | Web | Watir is one of several Ruby scripting tools. Ruby is excellent for testing since it’s easy to learn and fast to code. | There aren’t many bad reviews of the program available online, but there also isn’t much content.Those who use Watir claim that it works just well without any further effort on its part. |
| Ranorex | Windows | C#, VB.Net, Iron Python | Web/Desktop/Mobile | Ranorex creates Selenium WebDriver for the leading automated testing framework. For CI development, Ranorex can be connected with Jira, Bamboo, Jenkins, or TeamCity. Ranorex automates it by using detection and recognition and user scenarios. | The framework does not support Mac OS and cannot be used to test Mac applications. |
| Katalon Studio | Windows/Mac | Java | Web/Mobile | Katalon hides its complexity behind the interface but let’s skilled programmers access scripting mode. Installing Appium With XCode/Node.js for mobile testing is easy. Katalon offers well-organized tutorials with photos and videos. Katalon automatically graphs testing data to show execution. | Katalon only supports Java and Groovy scripts. Despite its large knowledge base, Selenium has more users. You’ll have difficulty finding updated reviews and articles. |
Despite its extensive knowledge base, Selenium has more users. You’ll need help finding updated reviews and articles.
Here’s a nugget-sized video on Why Python is a great companion to Selenium test automation
Scaling test automation
After successfully automating your test suites, ensure your automated testing method is scalable and can adapt to changing needs.
- Simple test cases: Test automation helps, but it defeats the point if it requires manual intervention/checking. Test automation should create and update test case scripts to scale.
- Testing simplicity: Simple, rapid, and fast feedback are needed for test execution. It emphasizes speedy analysis and problem-solving, making the approach scalable for significant changes or upgrades.
- Easy-to-maintain tests: Changes are unpleasant, especially if they require extra labour to update test cases. Test automation alleviates this. Test script update ability determines scalability.
- Dependable test cases: Why invest in an automation testing suite if it crashes occasionally? Test results are reliable if test scenarios can be repeated. We are successfully automating tests at scale.
By adhering to some guidelines, such as those provided in the following sections, it is possible to implement test automation at a scalable level.
- Get the proper checks automated
- Regression suites should not be updated until the tests have stabilized.
- Demonstrations of self-repair
- Key performance indicators that can be used in reports
- Enhanced teamwork
Test automation best practices
For a variety of reasons, test automation software is becoming increasingly popular. Test automation best practices in software testing helps businesses save time and money by streamlining routine, repetitive operations.
1.Select tests to automate
Not all tests can be automated since some require human judgment. Therefore, each test automation plan should start by selecting which tests can benefit from automation. Tests with these qualities should be automated:
- Data-intensive repetitive tests
- Tests with human error
- Tests that require many data sets
- Tests across builds
- Tests that require specific hardware, OS, or platform combinations
- Function-specific test
2. Eliminate Uncertainty
Automation ensures consistent, precise test results. Testers must determine what went wrong when a test fails. False – positive and inconsistencies increase the time needed to analyze errors. To avoid this, remove unstable regression pack tests. Automated tests can also miss essential verifications due to their age. Be aware of whether each test is current. Check automated tests’ sanity and validity throughout test cycles.
3. Choose a testing framework or tool:
Automation testing is tool-dependent. Choosing the right tool for you.
Software nature: Web or mobile? Use Selenium to automate testing the former. For mobile automation, Appium is the finest.
Programming: Testers should use familiar frameworks, languages, and tools. JavaScript, C#, Ruby, etc., are common automation testing languages.
Open source or not: One may use open-source automation technologies like Selenium or Appium, depending on funding. Understand that almost all open-source applications are equal to their commercial counterparts. Automated testers worldwide choose open-source Selenium Webdriver.
4. Records Improve Debugging
To discover test failure causes, testers should retain test failure records and textual and audiovisual recordings of the failed scenario. Choose one testing tool that automatically saves browser snapshots at each step. This helps identify the error step. Every QA team must keep track of and report bugs for reference.
5. Data-Driven Tests
A manual test can only assess a few data points. Humans could not perform fast, error-free tests due to the volume of data and variables. Data-driven automated tests simplify the process using a single test and data set to work through several data parameters.
6. Frequent Testing
Automation testing works best earlier in the sprints project cycle. Test frequently. Thus, testers can spot and fix errors promptly. This saves time and money on bug fixes later in development or production.
7. Test Reporting Priority
Automation should save QA teams time validating test findings. Install the proper tools to generate detailed, high-quality test results. Group tests by kind, tags, functionality, results, etc. Each cycle necessitates an excellent test summary report.
Key Advantages of Automated Testing for Enterprises
1. Expands the Scope of Testing:
Test automation, and notably no-code test automation, allows you to quickly and easily test the functionality of your software without writing a single line of code. Increased coverage and better quality are the results of being able to test additional features in a wider variety of applications and setups. Bugs are less likely to be introduced into production and users will have a better experience as a result of extensive test coverage, which is why it’s so important to run tests on every possible scenario. Testers use “requirement coverage by test” as a main parameter to evaluate application quality and automation solution efficacy. The higher the coverage, the more effective the solution and higher the quality of the applications.
2. Adds to Accuracy
Your application’s thoroughness depends on a manual tester’s experience. When properly done, test automation eliminates these parameters and guarantees outcomes. Test automation ensures that your solution executes tasks correctly and reports them impartially.
3. Facilitates Reusability
It’s easy to get discouraged by the apparent interminability of manual testing, particularly regression testing when you consider how often you’ll need to do it. It’s a nightmare to have to write scripts and keep on running these over and over again. When the codebase changes, no-code test automation eliminates the need to manually update the test cases. Instead, your solution generates the test scripts, which you can then reuse and run whenever necessary. You can save even more time if the automation tool you’re using comes with a library of pre-made keywords.
4. Enhanced scalability
Since test automation technologies can conduct tests around the clock, they allow businesses to expand the scope of their testing operations.
5. Greater Understanding of application
When some of your tests fail, you’ll learn more via automated testing than you would from manual testing. Automated testing of software not only reveals the application’s inner workings, but also displays the program’s data in tables, memory values, folder contents, and other internal states. When something goes wrong during production, this helps creators figure out why.
6. Greatly Reduces on Delivery Time
When manual testing is replaced with test automation, software development cycles can be shortened because automated technologies are more efficient than humans at performing repeated tasks. It will also help developers speed up the process of adding new features and distributing updates.
7. Expense Reductions for Companies
If your company has limited resources available for product testing, automating that environment can help you save money. You shouldn’t be using any kind of manual testing procedures, so the thinking goes. This can have a substantial impact on the final product. It is common knowledge that building up a fully automated testing environment reduces the time and effort required to conduct tests. In addition, it’s likely that you’ll have to shell out some cash to acquire a good test automation solution that will assist you in setting up a reliable test automation ecosystem.
Innovative Methods for Incorporating AI in Test Automation
- Perform UI testing with visual, automated validation
When it comes to quality assurance, “visual testing” is all about making sure the UI looks right to the end user. Visual testing involves checking that everything the user sees is of the correct size, shape, color, and placement. With the help of ML-based visual validation tools, you may see differences that traditional manual testing would overlook.
- Testing Application Programming Interfaces
The lack of a UI to automate is another ML development that impacts how automation is performed. Nowadays, back-end testing is more common than front-end testing.
- Increasing the Number of Valuable Automated Tests
How often have you had to rerun your complete test suite because of an unknown update to your application?
If you’re engaging in simultaneous integration and testing, you’re already producing a large quantity of data. However, who has the time to sift through everything to look for trends over time? That’s why many businesses are turning to artificial intelligence products that accomplish a lot of business. With ML, they can precisely determine how few tests are needed to verify the modified code. These tools can also evaluate your existing test coverage and highlight any gaps or potentially vulnerable spots.
- Spidering AI
The most common AI automated area is ML to spider your application’s testing. Some of the newest AI/ML tools need to be pointed at your web app to start automatically crawling it. As it crawls, the program takes screenshots, downloads page HTML, measures load times, and more to collect feature data. The same steps are repeated. It builds a dataset and trains the classifiers for your application’s expected patterns over time.
- Improving automated test reliability
After learning and monitoring how well the application changes, a tool can automatically choose locators to identify elements at runtime without your intervention. ML scripts automatically react to changing applications.
Final thoughts
The concept of automating tasks is fantastic. The key to making this an efficient investment is to prioritize testing over automation. If the goal of testing is to get an understanding of the quality of software being developed, then automation is merely a means to that aim. While it may not seem like it from the ads, there are really a number of other methods that can help ensure that software is tested thoroughly.
Where to begin? Looking to improve your test automation coverage? Take a look at Zuci’s test automation services and see how you can leverage Zuci for your business needs.
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