Creating and developing applications to be successful in the digital market need frequent testing until it gets right and provides a bug-free user experience. There are two methods of testing: manual and automation testing.
Humans instead of machines perform manual testing. It involves humans single-handedly testing the application’s functionality as a user would. It requires physical time and effort to ensure that the application code does everything it is supposed to do. This process is extremely time-consuming and repetitive. That is why tests that are repetitive like regression and integration tests are prone to human error and are best left to machines.
Modern applications are equipped with increasingly sophisticated and advanced features. Providing users with robust quality applications, they need to be tested on every device, browser, and operating system. Testing them to find defects or bugs manually is a complicated, expensive, and time-consuming task. To keep up with the market competition organizations demand faster and quality-driven releases of applications, which is not possible if done manually. That is why many organizations are moving to utilize automation testing.
Test automation is the practice of running tests automatically using automation tools which helps to ease the workload of the test team so that they can spend more time on higher-value tasks, such as exploratory tests. It provides extended test coverage, scalability, more clear and accurate results, improved application quality, and reduced time-to-market.
A test automation tool like LambdaTest can be used to run detailed, repetitive, and data-intensive tests automatically and help teams to test faster, test more code, improve test accuracy, and provide high-quality applications in no time. Using this platform you can see every action you make while generating test code or administering tests and adjust accordingly. This lets you ensure that the final application is as good as it can be.
In this article, we are going to discuss all test automation, why it is important, and testing strategies that need to be kept in mind while automation. So that you can fulfill your organization’s goal and provide a bug-free application with better quality that stands out from the competitors. Let’s start with the definition first.
Automated Testing
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Automation is a testing approach that allows running tests without human intervention. It is the process of testing websites or applications using automated testing tools or frameworks to minimize human intervention, maximize quality and ensure that the application meets strict requirements.
Automation improves the testing processes, by controlling the flow of test execution as per the written test scripts. An automated test once created can be run any time later when needed.
It also helps to shorten the development cycles, avoid cumbersome repetitive tasks, save time and resources, and eventually leads to improved application quality.
With Automation Testing, one can perform repetitive tasks and other tasks that are hard to complete with manual testing. It is a test to double-check for bugs, defects, and any other issues, report the finding, and compare the result with earlier test runs.
Why automation testing
Automation testing brings a lot of benefits which is why many organizations across the globe are running to utilize automation technology. Here are some of the biggest benefits of using automation testing for application development. Implementing automation allows us to perform more testing, faster, and more efficiently. Some of the benefits are as follows-
Speedy testing process- Machines and automated technology work faster than humans along with improved accuracy, this is why it is in high demand. Automation helps to fulfill the increasing demand for releasing new features by reducing the time between integrating a new feature and releasing it; this significantly shortens the application development cycles. At the same time faster processing positively impacts user experience and helps to become more competitive by releasing new features quicker than before.
Detailed reporting- Automation testing provides detailed reporting of the entire process that simply wouldn’t be possible when done manually. It collects data on everything it does and provides reports full of useful analytics that help you to analyze and use to identify issues in the testing processes. This will help in checking for common issues like bottlenecks, inadequacies, and slow areas in a shorter amount of time.
Simplified testing- Testing can be time-consuming making it simple and more accessible is the key. Using test automation is extremely beneficial. It allows you to reuse the test scripts and constantly retest the application during development. However testing manually, requires a call for a single code line to be written each time it needs to be run even for the same test case.
Save time and money- Automation saves time and money. Though it may require an initial investment, in the long run, it comes out to be more cost-effective. It helps to remove a lot of wasted time testers spend in resolving issues at the later stages.
It takes away repetitive, monotonous tasks from testers and developers and significantly reduces the time to test an application by running it quickly and efficiently. This allows the team members to divert their time and effort to tackle hard issues and other more important tasks especially the ones which require creative and critical thinking. It greatly increases productivity as a result.
Improved bug detection- One of the main reasons for using automation is that it makes the process of testing an easier one. It helps to identify bugs and other defects and resolve the issue more quickly than humans could. It also can analyze a wider test coverage to reduce errors.
Reduces human dependency- Automated tests can be performed anytime, without needing humans to oversee them. Because machines can run tests 24 hours a day, which is not possible for humans. Since profound test engineers are a relatively limited resource, conducting tests automatically will get you to run more tests with the same resources without needing human interference. Automation performs the tasks every time in the same way as programmed this reduces the risk of human error.
Kinds of tests that should be automated
Automation has significant benefits but 100% automation is not possible. You cannot automate all testing at once. There are factors to consider while deciding which test can be and should be automated first. So, you need to decide which tests to automate first. Here are the kind of tests when automated that can provide benefits and therefore should be automated.
- Repetitive and monotonous tests need automation. Because there is no point in automating a test for a feature that is depreciable.
- A clear right and wrong outcome for a test is the main factor to decide. In other words, for a computer, it is easy to decide whether the test failed or not. So it is best to leave it to a computer by automating it.
- Humans are very poor at repetitive tasks, they get tired and distracted very easily, and this can lead to human errors. So any test that can lead to failure due to human error is better to automate.
- It is great to automate extensive tests that require multiple data sets and can’t be performed manually.
- Tests need to run on several different hardware and software platforms and would take a lot of time if executed manually. The best choice remains to automate it to save time as well as the accuracy of results.
Tips to consider when automating
Automation technology ensures that testing can be performed more frequently, and with improved overall functionality. Using automation you can perform repeated testing, often the same test over and over again without taking team members away from other work.
To deliver more accurate and reliable results and to ensure that the application is ready for market or to move onto the next stage of development there are some important tips you need to consider while automating. Following the tips will help you with successful automation and give a boost to the team to continue developing. Here they are-
Don’t try to automate each and everything
Test automation means executing fewer tests more frequently. The goal of automation is not to replace manual testers, nor can it. Automation is running few but valuable tests to save time or the one that is difficult to do manually. It is to take the repeated workload away from manual testers so that they can concentrate and put their effort into finding new testing scenarios or bugs.
There are some specific tests like exploratory testing, usability testing, or visual testing that can be best performed manually, automation may not be a good solution for these types of tasks. Many testers try to automate things that could be a better fit for automation or should not be automated. This leads them to waste their time and effort on things that do not require automation.
Scenarios where code is always changing, will also not respond well to automation. So look for repeatable tests or things like performance testing that you can do only with an automated tool.
Create tests that are unaffected by UI changes
When it comes to testing automation, one of the most important things you can do is create tests resistant to UI changes. This is especially important during the early stages of development when the software’s user interface is accountable to change frequently.
The automated testing tool relies on location coordinates to identify an object. if the control caption or its location moves, the automated test will no longer be able to find the object when it runs failing the test. To run the automated test successfully, provide unique names for your controls, so that they remain resistant to these UI changes.
Divide testing effort based on expertise
Testing performed by a team is more effective for finding defects. When creating different test suites and test cases it t is important to categorize the level of expertise and skills of each of the team members and assign the automated testing effort to each based on their technical knowledge
For example, writing automated test scripts demands expert knowledge of scripting languages. Thus assigning this task to the member knowing the script language provided by the automated testing tool will be easier to create the script. Other team members who are not experienced in writing automated test scripts can be better at writing test cases. So this member can contribute in a better way when an automated testing tool does not require an in-depth knowledge of scripting languages to create automated tests.
Keep Records of Detailed and Quality Test Reporting for Better Debugging
Automation serves to reduce the number of time teams have to spend validating test results. So it is necessary to set up a good reporting infrastructure with the right tools that keep records of failures, text, and video logs, of the failed scenario. Automatically saving browser screenshots in each step of the test helps the testers to find out the reasons for test failure and generate detailed and high-quality reports for each test.
This way detecting the step at which the error occurs becomes easier. LambdaTest Automates every test run is video recorded exactly as it is executed on a remote machine. Bug tracking and bug reporting are essential practices that testers must follow for future reference.
Choose the right testing framework or tool
Successful automation testing entirely depends on tools, test automation tools are not created equally. Therefore among a wide array of automation tools available in the market choosing the right automation right one that is well-suited for the task at hand is essential. So here is what to consider while selecting the right automation tool.
- Select the tool depending on the nature of the application whether the application being tested is web-based or mobile-based. This will make the tool selection process and future automation easier.
- Choose the frameworks, and tools that support languages that testers are comfortable with and experienced.
- Depending on budget constraints, check whether the toll is open source or not.
- Make sure that the tool has good technical support.
- Confirm that the tool you choose integrates well with other tools.
Test on real devices with LambdaTest
No emulator or simulator can mimic real user conditions. Testing the application on real devices and browsers is essential. So that they can perform well in real-world events such as a low battery, incoming calls, poor network stability, and so on. Bear in mind that device fragmentation is a major challenge for every developer and tester. Every application must work seamlessly on multiple devices, browsers, and operating system combinations. With a wide range of different devices being used to access the internet globally, it is essential to boost the application for different configurations, viewports, and screen resolutions.
For testing on real devices, if maintaining and managing an in-house lab is difficult, you can opt for a cloud-based testing option that offers real devices. LambdaTest is one such platform that offers more than 3000 real devices, browsers, and operating systems with their respective combination for automation testing. Releasing an application without testing on real devices, users may encounter bugs and errors that could lead to disruptive user experiences which may result in loss of users.
LambdaTest is a secure, reliable, cloud-based cross-browser compatibility testing platform. It allows you to test in parallel and scale up the testing process and achieve consistent and accurate test results. With this platform, you can write automated test scripts in all the major scripting languages and test automation frameworks like Selenium, Cypress, Playwright.
Continuous Integration
If you want to create a zero-bug environment, continuous integration is the best way. Combining test automation into your CI workflow becomes even more powerful. By doing so you will be able to catch bugs early and provide fast feedback to developers about code quality, functional errors, and more.
Continuous integration allows ease of communication among team members and reduces the time it takes to deploy new code. This significantly impacts the team’s efficiency and effectiveness. So if you are looking to improve your application development cycle, consider implementing continuous integration and test automation strategy to reduce the effort required for large merges and last-minute conflicts.
