What is Automation Testing?
Automation testing involves executing test cases using an automation tool, enabling us to put data into the application, compare expected and actual results, and generate test reports. It requires reasonable investments of money and resources.
In consecutive development cycles, the same test suite needs to be executed repeatedly. By utilizing a test automation tool, we can record and replay the test suite whenever necessary, eliminating the need for human involvement. This enhances the ROI of Test Automation. The goal of automation is to reduce the number of test cases that require manual execution, rather than completely eliminating manual testing.
Why Automated Testing?
Automated testing is important because of the following reasons:
- Manual Testing is time-consuming as well as money consuming
- It is difficult to test websites in multiple languages manually
- Automation does not require human intervention. You can run automated test unattended (overnight)
- Test Execution is fast in Automation
- Automation increases the Test Coverage
- Manual Testing can become boring and hence lead to errors
Which Test Cases to Automate?
Automated Testcases are picked using the following criteria to increase the automation
- ROI High Risk – Critical Business test cases
- Test cases that are executed frequently
- Test Cases that are tough to execute manually
- Test Cases that are time-consuming
The following types of test cases are not appropriate for automation:
- Test Cases that are new and not executed manually at least once
- Test Cases for which the requirements are not freezed
- Test cases that are executed on an ad-hoc basis.
Automated Testing Process
Following are steps in an Automation Process
Test tool selection
The automation test tool selection is basically depending on the technology of the Application Under Test. For example, QTP does not support Informatica. So we cannot use QTP for testing Informatica applications.
Define the scope of Automation
The scope of automation is the area of Application that will be automated. The following points can help you define the scope:
- The features that are crucial for the business
- Scenarios with a large amount of data
- Common features across applications
- Technical feasibility
- The extent to which business components are reused
- The complexity of test cases
- Capability to use the same test cases for cross-browser testing
Planning, Design, and Development
In this phase, you create an Automation strategy & plan, which will include the following details-
- Automation tools selected
- Framework design and its features
- In-Scope and Out-of-scope items of automation
- Automation testbed preparation
- Schedule and Timeline of scripting and execution
- Deliverables of Automation Testing
Test Execution
In this phase, we execute the automation scripts. The scripts require input test data before they are set to run. After execution, they provide detailed test reports.
We can execute directly using the automation tool directly or through the Test Management tool which will invoke the automation tool.
Maintenance
As new features are added to the application with consecutive cycles, Automation Scripts need to be updated, reviewed, and maintained for each release cycle. Maintenance is important to enhance the effectiveness of Automation Scripts.
Framework for Automation
A Test automation framework is a set of automation rules which help in
- Maintaining consistency of Testing
- Enhances test structuring
- Minimum usage of code
- Less Maintenance of code
- Improve re-usability
- Non-Technical testers can be involved in code
- The training period of using the tool can be reduced
- Involves Data wherever appropriate
Following are types of frameworks for automation software testing:
- Data-Driven Automation Framework
- Keyword Driven Automation Framework
- Modular Automation Framework
- Hybrid Automation Framework
Automation Tool Best Practices
To get maximum ROI of automation, notice the following
- The area of Automation needs to be examined in depth before the start of the project. This sets expectations from Automation right.
- Select the right tool: A tool that best fit the requirements of the application under test should be selected
- Choose the correct framework
- Scripting Standards- Standards must be followed while writing the Automation scripts. Some of them are-
- Generate uniform scripts, comments, and indentation of the code
- Acceptable Exception handling – How the application is handling system failure or unexpected behavior.
- User-defined messages should be standardized for Error Logging for testers to understand.
- Measure metrics– The effectiveness of automation cannot be calculated by comparing the manual effort with the automation effort but by also capturing the following metrics.
- Percent of bugs found
- The time required for automation testing for each release cycle
- Minimal Time is taken for release
- Customer Satisfaction Index
- Productivity improvement
The above guidelines, helps in making your automation effective.
Benefits of Automation Testing
Below are the benefits of automated testing:
- Faster than manual testing
- Increases test coverage of application features
- Reliable Test results
- Ensure Consistency
- Saves Time and Cost
- Enhances accuracy
- No Human Intervention during execution
- Increases Efficiency
- Better speed in executing tests
- Re-usable test scripts
- Test Frequently and thoroughly
- The Test case execution can be done multiple times
Types of software testing that can be automated
- Smoke Testing
- Unit Testing
- Integration Testing
- Functional Testing
- Keyword Testing
- Regression Testing
- Data Driven Testing
- Black Box Testing
How to Choose an Automation Tool?
Selecting the right automation tool can be a tough task. Following criteria can help you pick the best tool for your requirement-
- Environment Support
- Easy to use
- Testing of Database
- Object identification
- Image Testing
- Error Recovery Testing
- Object Mapping
- Scripting Language Used
- Support for multiple testing frameworks
- Easy to debug the automation software scripts
- Ability to recognize objects in any environment
- Extensive test reports and results
- Minimize training cost of selected tools
Tool selection is one of the biggest challenges for automation. First, understand the requirements, investigate various tools and their capabilities, set the expectation from the tool, and go for a Proof of Concept.
Automation Testing Tools
There are so many automation tools for functional testing and regression testing available in the market. Few of them are as follows:
1.Ranorex Studio
Ranorex Studio is a comprehensive tool designed for automating various types of tests, such as functional UI tests, regression tests, and data-driven tests. With Ranorex Studio, users can effortlessly automate tests for web, desktop, and mobile applications through its user-friendly click-and-go interface. It provides a seamless experience for creating and executing automated tests, making it a powerful solution for test automation needs.
2.Selenium
Selenium is an automation tool for Regression Testing. It is an open-source tool that provides playback and recording facility for Regression Testing. The Selenium IDE only supports Mozilla Firefox web browser
3.QTP (MicroFocus UFT)
QTP is basically for functional and regression testing, it addresses every major software application and environment. To make test creation and maintenance easy, it uses a keyword-driven testing Concept. Using this, Tester can directly build test cases from the application.
Conclusion
Moreover, the effectiveness of automation relies heavily on the careful selection of the automation tool, testing process, and the team involved. It is imperative to choose the right automation tool that aligns precisely with the testing requirements and objectives. Additionally, establishing an efficient testing process and workflow is of utmost importance to facilitate smooth automation implementation.
Furthermore, it is important to note that manual and automation methods complement each other in the testing process. While automation significantly improves efficiency and accuracy, manual testing offers a human perspective and intuition that proves invaluable in uncovering certain types of issues. This synergistic combination of manual and automation methods leads to successful testing outcomes, ensuring comprehensive coverage and the delivery of high-quality software.
Additionally, by integrating manual and automation techniques, organizations can achieve a balance that optimizes testing efforts. Automation streamlines repetitive tasks and allows for faster execution, while manual testing offers flexibility and adaptability to address complex scenarios. By leveraging the strengths of both approaches, testing teams can maximize the benefits and effectiveness of their testing processes.
In conclusion, the careful selection of the automation tool, testing process, and team, coupled with the harmonious integration of manual and automation methods, are essential factors for achieving successful testing outcomes. By striking the right balance, organizations can enhance their testing practices, improve software quality, and ultimately deliver better products to their customers.
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