What is Automated Testing? A Quick Guide

Automation testing is transforming how modern software development works. Undoubtedly, this is one of the primary reasons behind the increased number of apps in the past decade.

Before the testing process was automated, the test had to be done manually. The manual process is slow, error-prone, and quite expensive, which resulted in QA teams being seen as the blocker in releasing the software.

So, what exactly is test automation? And how does that work? Get all your answers in this blog;

What is Automated Testing?

Automated testing is an approach that runs the test without human intervention. The traditional testing process is done manually and in a way that a particular set of steps are followed to check whether the software is behaving as expected.

On the other hand, automated tests are created and can be used any time you need them to run. For an extended period, developers have automated their unit testing process, introducing frameworks such as Selenium. This allows the modules to be tested automatically.

The goal of automating the testing process is to reduce the number of test cases that can run manually, in contrast, to eliminating the manual testing process.

Why should I use Automated Testing?

Test automation framework allows the test script to interact with UI, removing a user’s actions. For example, this will enable you to look for a specific button and click on it.

Test automation also helps ensure that tests have been completed successfully. Here are a few reasons for which you should use the test automation;

Improved Scale

Automating the testing process can help you transform how the test team operates. Even the best of quality engineers can work up to 60 hours a week (hypothetically), but test computers can run 24 hours a day and seven days a week!

The output is higher, and you get to run more tests utilizing the same resources. This practice is becoming important because finding test engineers is becoming challenging daily.

Speed of Delivery

Sometimes businesses are under constant pressure to release new and updated features, but a single bug can wipe out all the features. Automated testing speeds up your regression testing significantly. This reduces the time between integrating new features and releasing them.

Streamlined release

In the traditional testing methodology, software development sees all the testing procedures after the product is developed and released. But enterprises can constantly test and re-test the application during development if they deploy test automation. Each time a code is built, you can smoke tests. This makes the whole release process more efficient and streamlined.

Also Read: What is Software Testing? Everything you need to know

Functional Testing vs. Automation Testing: Understanding the Difference

What tests can be automated?

Various ways to select the test cases can be automated to increase the ROI. The most important ones are:

• High risk: Cases that are business critical
• Test cases that are executed repeatedly
• Test cases that are tedious and difficult to perform
• Time-consuming test cases.

Apart from this, the processes that should be automated are:

Repeatable

The test should be one that can be repeated for automation and should not be deprecated.

Determinant

There has to be a clear determinant for the test, which can be done best by the computer.

Business-critical

If the process is critical, you should try and automate it to run regularly.

What types of tests are there?

Five different types of automation testing procedures can be used under other circumstances;

You can analyze these to understand the best procedure or quickly test them.

Here are the main types of automation testing procedures:

Code Analysis

Dynamic and static analysis are two types of tools covered under code analysis. These techniques can be used to tackle independent tests.

Unit tests

Unit testing checks individual components of the software or product for which you would develop an iOS or Android app. This means that every software element is tested before the finished version.

Integration tests

These types of tests are also known as end-to-end tests. Integration tests are distinguished as being more complex than the other tests. The application models are integrated and tested as a group in this procedure.

Automated accepted tests

The Automated accepted tests align with behavior-driven development & automatic acceptance test-driven models. These tests are created before the development of a new feature.

Smoke tests

The smoke tests are used to check whether the product is stable. If the tests aren’t regular, it gets sent back to developers to be marked as an ‘unstable bind.’

How to choose a test automation tool?

It would help to consider several criteria when choosing a perfect automation tool. The following steps would allow you to make an informed choice;

Ease of test creation

Some tools have an exceptionally steep learning curve and require you to start from zero to create your test scripts. Other devices may create problems while running tests and need you to set up and maintain an extensive infrastructure.

Support for multiple platforms

Testing across browsers and different testing platforms is necessary for systems or acceptance testing. You need to check how easy it is to run the tests on other browsers and platforms.

Ease of analysis

Not all tools are created equal when it comes to testing analysis. Some agencies provide you with dashboards that showcase the results of the tests, while others might help you to generate reports to access the information.

Flexibility

The best frameworks and testing tools allow you to perform different tests. They allow you to smoke tests, regression, API, and performance tests in one device.

Choosing the right Automation tool

Indeed, automation can quickly and entirely change the way your business operates. This is the right time to embrace new testing technologies, learn them, and adopt them to make the work more effective and efficient.

Here are a few steps that you should keep in mind while finalizing the right automation tool;

• Selecting the tool
• Establishing the scope of automation
• Planning and strategizing
• Execution
• Test Maintenance

Using automation testing is the way to ensure to business stays on top of debugging, defects, and issues that can quickly complete the production process.

The evolution from manual to automated testing doesn’t have to be a cumbersome task.

Want help with revamping your QA strategy? Netsmartz is the right place for you!