A Comprehensive Test Automation Guide for IT teams
Testing is an important element of the software development process because it allows developers to verify programme functioning, assess performance, and spot faults that need to be addressed. Traditional manual quality assurance (QA) testing may not be fast or complete enough to achieve testing objectives within acceptable timescales as software projects become more sophisticated and project development cycles speed.
As a result, software developers are increasingly relying on
software test automation training tools and workflows to expedite testing
while assuring greater consistency and completeness in the quality assurance
process.
What is the
significance of automated testing?
Software testing that is automated is both a tool and a
process. The processes and functions required to perform tests on a software
product are provided by automated testing tools. Simple scripts to rich data
sets and complicated behavioural simulations are all possible tests. The goal
of all of the tests is to ensure that the programme performs as expected and
within acceptable parameters. Selenium, Appium, Cucumber, Silk Test, and dozens
of more tools enable the creation of bespoke tests that cater to the software's
specific requirements. We'll go over the most popular and effective test
automation tools later in this test automation tutorial.
Automated testing adds test automation tools and actions to
the usual software development workflow from a process standpoint. For example,
a new build delivered to a repository can be subjected to an automated testing
regimen utilising one or more prescribed tools, with little, if any, developer
participation. The results of automated testing are meticulously recorded,
compared to prior test runs, and sent to developers for evaluation. The
software can either be sent back to the developers for more work or approved as
a candidate for deployment based on the results. These kind of examples are
especially relevant in DevOps environments, which rely on continuous
integration and delivery pipelines.
Automated software
testing course is not a replacement for manual software QA testing,
despite its utility. Success necessitates a high level of upkeep and attention.
Although an automation testing certifications process can be faster than a human one, a
practical and stable test automation plan necessitates a significant time and
effort investment. Developers must comprehend software requirements, build test
cases, prioritise testing, and guarantee that any tests created produce correct
and useful results.
Most software projects will still benefit from the attention
of professional QA testers who can execute tests that are difficult to
reproduce with automated tools or are infrequent enough to justify the cost of
automating them. During the development cycle, automated and manual testing are
frequently used in tandem to varied degrees.
What are some of the benefits of test automation?
Automated software testing can aid a development team in a
variety of ways while also adding value to the company as a whole. The main
advantages are the same as with other automation tools: accuracy, reporting,
scope, efficiency, and reusability.
Automated testing, in theory, eliminates most of the manual
contact that human testers require. Every time, the same tests are carried out
in the same manner. Mistakes and oversights are reduced, resulting in higher
testing accuracy. Simultaneously, automation supports and runs a far greater
number of tests than a human tester could. The script, data, workflow, and
other components of a test can be reused for testing on subsequent versions as
well as other software projects once it has been established. The investment
made in planning, producing, and maintaining the automated testing suite will
determine the accuracy, scope, and reusability of automated testing.
Better logging and reporting capabilities are further
advantages. Manual testers are prone to forgetting to record circumstances,
patterns, and outcomes, resulting in inaccurate or incomplete test
documentation. Logging and reporting are included in automated testing,
ensuring that every result is documented and categorised for developer review.
As a result, every test cycle will have more extensive testing and better problem
detection, especially when findings can be compared to past results to
determine resolution efficacy and efficiency.
What are some of the difficulties with automated testing?
Automated software
testing has a lot of advantages, but it also has a lot of drawbacks.
First and foremost, automation is not a one-way street. It
is not enough to just use an automation tool, service, platform, or
architecture to assure proper software testing. Developers must first decide on
test requirements and criteria, after which they must write specific test
scripts and workflows to carry out the tests. Tests can be reused, but only for
later releases of applications with the same requirements and criteria.
Second, software testing may necessitate interactions and
data collection that an automation tool simply cannot provide. Consider a
dashboard-style application that displays data. It's possible to test the
dashboard elements: is a specific measure calculated correctly? The dashboard's
location and visual appeal, on the other hand, may be discernible only by a
human tester. Similarly, certain functions that are rarely utilised may not be
worth investing in automation, leaving human QA testers to undertake certain
tasks.
Manual QA testing, which has been around for a long time,
continues to play an important part in software testing. Indeed, development
teams are increasingly utilising the flexibility that manual testing provides
in the development process. The addition of technical notes and documentation
created by QA employees is one way manual testing provides value. This type of
documentation can be extremely useful for supplementing test cases, creating
training materials, and creating user manuals. Deep QA experience in software,
for example, can help with support desk operations.
When used in tandem, manual and automated testing are able
to focus on their respective strengths. For example, automated testing is
frequently best suited to smoke and regression testing jobs, whereas manual
testing can help new development work. In a shared responsibility situation
like this, the largest issue is keeping both automatic and manual efforts
structured and successful in the face of continuously changing priorities.
What types of
automated testing are there?
Integrations, interfaces, performance, the operation of
specific modules, and security can all be checked using automated software
testing. Multiple test types can be applied (layered) at the same time or done
in fast succession to evaluate a variety of concerns, and testing is not
limited to a single test type.
The following types of tests can be performed using
automated testing:
Regression tests are used to identify patterns in data.
Regression testing is the process of ensuring that new code does not break
existing code. Regression testing ensures that other code or modules continue
to function as expected when new code is added or old code is updated. After
each build, regression testing is usually done. It usually provides exceptional
value when it comes to test automation.
Unit tests are a type of test that is used to see A unit
test examines a small portion of an application's code, such as a subroutine or
module. In order to confirm coding standards, such as the way modules and
functions are constructed, a unit test could create a module, call methods or
functions, and then analyse any returned data. A successful unit test indicates
that the code built and ran as expected. Unit tests are frequently used as part
of a test-driven development method, with success indicating the presence of an
anticipated function or feature as specified in the software requirements
specification.
Smoke tests are conducted. Smoke tests are simple yes/no
tests used to confirm that an application continues to function properly after
a fresh build has been performed. The tests are frequently used to determine
whether the application's most critical features or functionalities work as
expected and whether it is appropriate for additional, more extensive testing.
A smoke test, for example, may determine whether a programme launches, an
interface opens, buttons operate, dialogues open, and so on. If a smoke test
fails, it's possible that the application is too broken to warrant further
testing. The application is then returned to the developers for retooling.
Build-verification tests and build-acceptance tests are terms used to describe
smoke testing.
API and integration tests are performed. Modern software
relies heavily on communication and integration. API testing is used to ensure
that requests and answers for an application's APIs work properly. Databases,
mainframes, user interfaces, enterprise service buses, web services, and
enterprise resource planning applications are examples of endpoints. API
testing examines not just reasonable requests and answers, but also unusual or
edge cases, as well as potential latency, security, and gracious error handling
issues.
Integration testing frequently includes API testing. This
allows for more thorough testing of the application's modules and components,
ensuring that everything works as it should. An integration test might, for
example, mimic a whole order entry process that takes a test order from entry
through processing to payment to shipment and beyond, involving every aspect of
the application from beginning to end.
Tests on the user interface and input/output. The front end
of any application is the user interface (UI), which allows the user to
interact with the app. A command line interface or a well-designed graphical
user interface can be used as the user interface (GUI). The number of different
button-press sequences or command-line variations might be dizzying, therefore
UI testing can be a time-consuming and thorough process.
Input/output (I/O) testing is the process of converting data
from one form to another. An application that does computations and generates
an output, for example, might utilise a sample data set and examine the output
to ensure that the underlying processing is working properly. Because the data
set is usually accessed through the UI, and results may be graphed or otherwise
displayed in the UI, I/O testing is frequently linked to UI testing.
Tests for security and vulnerabilities. Security testing
ensures that the application — and the data it contains — remain safe in the
event of application failures or purposeful attempts at unauthorised access.
Authorization behaviours, as well as popular attack vectors like SQL injection
and cross-site scripting, may all be checked with security tests.
Before a build is run, vulnerability testing is frequently
performed on the code base. This scans the code for known weaknesses such as a
subroutine with no exception handling or an unsafe configuration parameter.
Vulnerability testing, often known as penetration testing or pen testing, is a
method of determining if an application or data centre environment is secure.
Tests of performance. Even if an application passes all of
its functional tests, it may nevertheless fail when put under stress.
Performance tests are used to assess the important performance indicators of an
application, such as computational load, traffic volumes, and scalability.
Performance tests, on the other hand, are designed to mimic real-world
conditions by pushing the programme beyond its limits until it breaks. This
type of assessment serves as a starting point for continued development as well
as a benchmark for setting limitations or cautions to avoid unanticipated
difficulties.
Acceptance tests are a type of test that is used to determine
if A software requirements specification is used to create software (SRS). The
SRS includes acceptance criteria that define the application's intended
features and capabilities. Acceptance tests are commonly used to ensure that
the criteria follow the SRS or other customer specifications. Acceptance tests,
in other words, decide when a project is complete. Acceptance tests are
typically saved for the end of a project's development cycle because they are
difficult to automate.
How to Automate Your
Testing
Any automation aims to reduce the cost and time required to
create a product or perform a task while maintaining or improving the product's
quality. As organisations use automated software testing, this concept should
serve as a guide.
However, there are many other sorts of tests, each with its
own set of obstacles and demands for developers and quality assurance
specialists. Organizations should employ automation sparingly, as it is easiest
to justify when the return on investment is highest. This is most common in
testing activities with a high volume but limited scope.
The pyramid of agile test automation.
Mike Cohn introduced the agile test automation pyramid in
his book Succeeding with Agile.
The concept of test-driven development unit tests, in which
small portions of code are evaluated repeatedly — sometimes multiple times a
day — is illustrated by a typical agile test automation pyramid. Testing that
requires a lot of subjective judgement or criteria and can't be easily defined,
on the other hand, may be difficult to automate. GUI testing is a good
illustration of this, where scripts can test buttons and other physical aspects
of a user interface but can't tell if the UI looks good.
Test code is often indistinguishable from other parts of
code, and it is typically prepared by developers and software QA/testing
professionals. In most cases, test code takes the form of scripts that are
designed to do specific actions in a specific order. Some tests can be created
automatically as well. Record and playback testing tools, which construct tests
based on user actions or behaviours, are a prominent example of this.
In general, record and playback technologies match user
actions to a library of objects that categorise the behaviour before translating
the object into code. This code can be used to create a script or other test
data collection. Once a test has been generated by the tool, it can be reused,
altered, or combined with other tests.
QA teams can employ record and playback testing to create
tests that imitate user activities. These could be user interface (UI) tests,
regression tests, or integration tests that implement and repeat complex action
sequences. These tools can also be used to check for performance issues, such
as making sure a feature or function reacts in a timely manner.
Exploratory testing vs. scripted testing is the topic of
this episode.
Ranorex, Selenium, and Microsoft Visual Studio are just a
few of the automated software testing tools that can record and replay. The
tool chosen will be determined by an organization's current development needs
and structure.When a company decides to use automated software testing, it must
first define what automated software testing is and what sorts of testing it
should automate.
Automated testing success necessitates careful evaluation of
a larger test plan. Not every test requires automation or is worth the
investment in automation technologies, particularly when tests are one-time
occurrences or responses to questions posed by others, such as: Does the
software do X for us? Automating a response to every such question is costly,
time-consuming, and ineffective.
Even if you have a defined test automation strategy in
place, test development will rely on other strategic aspects like best
practises for increasing test coverage while reducing test cases. These tests
should preferably be unique, self-contained, and adaptable. They should be
quick to respond and handle data correctly. Manual testing has a place in broader
test methods, such as complicated integration and end-to-end test scenarios,
even with the best automated test platforms and cases.
A range of well-planned considerations can improve automated
testing. For example, automating the creation of a new test environment for
each test cycle can help to ensure that material is always fresh and up to date
without the need for refreshing, reloading, or debugging. Reduce the number of
times variables or objects are used, and instead focus on writing scripts or
testing data using common objects defined and used just once. This means that
rather than making many modifications throughout the test, changes can be made
simply amending a single entry at the beginning of the file.
Pay attention to versioning and version control as well. New
builds frequently necessitate new tests, and it's vital to keep track of test
versions. Otherwise, subsequent test cycles may fail or give unusable findings
as a result of the tool's implementation of older — and now invalid — data test
scripts. In practise, tests should be managed in the same way as any other
codebase.
Expect to not be able to fully automate testing for every
test need within a software project, even with the greatest tools and
methodologies. People are also an important part of the software QA process.
Automation performs many things effectively and adds measurable value to the
business, but people are also an important element of the software QA process.
When automating testing, choose a technology or platform that can handle the
largest range of capabilities and scenarios. This maximises the tool's utility
while reducing the amount of tools that developers and QA testers must
understand. Look for logging features that allow for a thorough examination of
test outcomes.
Avoid using proprietary languages in test scripts and other
coding to reduce the learning curve. Furthermore, using those languages makes
it difficult, if not impossible, to switch to a different tool
later without having to rewrite all of the scripts and other
test data. Common programming languages, such as Ruby, Python, and Java, should
ideally be supported by test tools.
Without a discussion of test automation maintenance, the
adoption of automated software testing is incomplete. Automated testing, like
most automation, isn't automatic; the tool evolves and grows over time as
updates and patches are applied, and test cases will alter as the software
project evolves and grows. The investment in test automation does not end with
the creation of a script and its execution through a tool. Tests will
eventually begin to return errors as a result of their inspections. These are
false errors, but they highlight the need of including test case development
and version control as a regular and recurrent element of the software QA
process.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to test automation
maintenance, but new technologies aim to democratise test automation knowledge
by making test design easier. Because visual models are used in tools like
Eggplant Functional, testers just require a basic understanding of modelling
and scripting to use them. They're also adaptable when it comes to editing and
reporting. The goal is to make the tool and its tests much easier to comprehend
and create with for newer users, allowing more developers and testers to
participate in software testing. Tooling is frequently supplemented by methods
and policies that allow different team members to participate in the
formulation and implementation of tests.
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