In the ever-evolving realm of application development, the need for an efficient and reliable testing process is rapidly increasing. This has become more critical than ever to keep up with the rapid pace of application delivery manual testing is not sufficient.
Performing manual testing is sometimes a wasteful practice as testers have to repeat the same task repeatedly, some development cycles will also require the execution of the same test suite. Therefore testers utilize automation testing to execute tests faster and more effectively.
In this article, we will explore automating the manual. While doing so we first discuss what automation and testing is, what are its benefits, why testers prefer automation over manual. We will also compare between automation, and also what to choose when. So let’s get started.
What is Automation Testing?
The main purpose of doing testing is to catch and fix bugs, errors and feature issues before the application goes live. While testing, the tester validates the key features of an application using specialized automated tools. As a result, these tools help in reducing human error.
Automated testing is the process of utilizing automated testing tools, platforms, and machines to create and execute tests, instead of humans doing it manually. Automating the test helps save time and human effort to perform multiple tasks that are very difficult and time-consuming to perform manually.
Automation testing is also useful for continuous integration and continuous delivery where the software is developed, tested, and deployed multiple times in a single day, rather than in stages and it also facilitates continuous testing to support agile development. The automated testing process also ensures that they meet all predefined quality standards for code style, functionality, and user experience, it consumes less time to perform tests and more time to maintain test scripts.
What is manual testing?
The manual testing process is run by a human hand, by sitting in front of the computer or application and clicking around executing tests one by one individually. These have to be run frequently, which means testers or developers can not start the next test until the first one is done
As manual testing consumes too much time, making the time to market slower, which may risk testers meeting their deadlines and business goals. Sometimes it may become the bottleneck for the larger development cycle for the organization.
Certain test types, similar to the ‘logging in’ function have to be run repeatedly and continuously, thus, for testers there is a possibility of getting bored and making mistakes. The repetitive tasks cause human error and it boils down to human nature. These mistakes are not possible to find flaws, which would affect the caliber of the application.
Benefits of Automation Testing
Automated testing provides several benefits for your business organization. Some of them are discussed below
Time-Saving
Automation testing can save a significant amount of time and it can be run more rapidly than manual tests because minimal human involvement is required, thus there is less human error, meaning you need to spend less time fixing broken tests.
With automated testing, testers can quickly and easily execute large numbers of tests in parallel, freeing up time and resources to focus on other important tasks.
Low Investment
The cost of manual testing is a bit expensive but Once an automated test is created, it can be run multiple times with minimal human intervention which means less labor is needed and can save you money in the long term.
Enhanced accuracy and improved consistency
Automation detects and eliminates the possibility of human error, every test is executed exactly as intended every time. Testers can detect bugs while the development is in process, reducing the risk of application defects going unnoticed to cause problems later.
Greater efficiency
The Automation testing process will help save a lot of time and resources, and this also allows you to focus on more strategic tasks, such as exploratory testing and testing of complex scenarios.
Increased test coverage
Automation testing application enables a broader scope of test coverage. Organizations can leverage a test automation platform and use it to design test scripts to cover various scenarios and test cases and also ensure thorough validation of application functionality. With automated tests, organizations can achieve higher levels of test coverage, which improves the application reliability.
Reusability and consistency
Automation allows reusability of test scripts across multiple test cycles and different application versions. Automation testing gives the assurance of consistent test execution by removing the element of human error, using test automation saves your time but also promotes consistency in testing different application versions, enabling accurate comparison of results over time.
Detection of defects
Automation testing detects all of the issues in different stages by running automated tests like during regression or integration testing, potential bugs can be identified and addressed promptly. Defect detection also helps in reducing costs.
How does automation testing work?
The automation testing process includes multiple steps that are designed to ensure that it is efficient and effective.
It starts by using the appropriate test automation tools for creating scripts that simulate user actions and interactions with the application under test, identifying the accurate test cases to automate, and designing and developing the automation framework.
Now, these scripts will be executed by automation tools, and the actual and expected results are compared, analyzed, and recorded to get it to identify any discrepancies or failures later on. This automation process also involves maintaining and updating the test cases and the automation framework when needed.
Some of the misconceptions and doubts about automated testing
- Automation testing is challenging to implement- Technical expertise is required, and numerous resources and tools to make automation accessible to
- teams of various skill levels.
- Manual testing will be removed completely- Automation will not remove the manual testing process but rather complements it. Both approaches play a different role in the overall testing process.
- Automation is not cost-effective- During initial setup, minimal costs may be involved, automation process can significantly minimize long-term testing costs for your organization due to increased efficiency and reduced manual effort.
- Automation Testing will be for large organizations- The automation process will be beneficial even for small projects as well as for large projects also, especially for repetitive tasks and regression testing.
How to choose between manual and automated testing?
Choosing between manual and automated testing depends on the needs or requirements of the application being tested.
Automated tests can be used for features and functions that require the same input every time because they can easily be repeated without human error. But manual testing is better suited to catch bugs that are caused by different inputs, and how many changes are made to the application’s code that testers have to consider.
Manual testing is best used for applications whose code is stable and not likely to be changed frequently because it might become too time-consuming when there are frequent updates. On the other hand, automated tests work best in software with unstable source codes because they can run quickly without requiring any supervision, and they can easily be updated when changes are made.
Manual testing performs well when there is no time limit for the entire testing process, but on the other hand, automated tests can be used when the test time is limited because they can run faster. This makes them an important part of almost all modern application development cycles.
Automated testing has so many testing tools like IUlicious which allow more people to be involved in testing an application On the other hand, manual testing Team managers have to decide how many testers are required to ensure a thorough check of the entire application.
A few tips for successful test automation
Below are a few tips implemented that can help in successful test automation.
Improving process by automation- Let us understand that automation improves a process that you already have, but it does not replace it. Automating a good process can intensify the results for you.
Dedicated team built- Having skilled professionals can assure you the quality you expect and also minimize the burden on the developers.
Automate the right things- Expecting everything from Automation testing is not always recommendable. Test automation works fine in some specific situations, but not everywhere.
Treat automation as another development project- Put specifications on what automation can do and what it can not. You need to plan it accordingly and have to monitor it always to manage automation just like any other project.
Use automation Metrics- It matters a lot in the success of automation testing so you will plan your investment. Inspect your time and the amount of money you can save with automation as compared to manual.
Choosing tools for automation testing
Choosing the right automation testing tools plays a very important role for your organization. These testing applications are designed to verify function and non-functional software requirements. This helps to accelerate release velocity, improve application quality, and strengthen.
It also allows effortlessly to create, run, and maintain tests and support a centralized view of analytics of test results. There are various automated testing tools available in the market, some of the popular ones are discussed below.
LambdaTest
LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform designed for web and mobile applications to run manual and automated tests at scale. It is also compatible with multiple browsers and operating systems for comprehensive cross-browser real-time and automation testing by providing a cloud Selenium Grid of more than 3000 environments, real mobile devices, and browsers.
It heals automatically and overcomes the challenges of flaky tests and unexpected failure and automatically recovers losses without doing anything manually. It has a feature of bypassing network restrictions during the application testing process by bypassing firewalls or proxy servers.
LambdaTest seamlessly integrates with continuous integration and delivery processes for automated testing during development. It also provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and forums for troubleshooting and learning, empowering you to overcome testing challenges.
Selenium
The most popular and widely used tool among the various automation testing software categories is Selenium which was first released in 2004. It is an open-source framework of tools to test different web applications. Selenium can work on large and complex test suites, making it suitable for various testing needs.
Due to its specialized test automation availability in multiple languages like Java, Python, JavaScript, C#, and Ruby, browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, and operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux are widely used by QA all across the world. It consists of three main components, Selenium WebDriver, Selenium Grid, and Selenium IDE.
Appium
Launched by Dan Cueller. Appium is an open-source automation testing tool, which can be run for mobile web, and hybrid applications on Android and iOS platforms.
Appium allows you to use your preferred programming language and frameworks like TestNG and JUnit. Being open source, it promotes continuous improvements and community contributions. Its supported Platform are Windows, macOS, Android/iOS, Linux
Katalon
In 2015, Katalon was launched by Vu Lam to provide solutions for your automation testing needs. It is low code automation testing that supports Mobile, Web, and API testing all in one package. Its specialized features like test recording, test execution, and script generation. Programming languages Groovy, Java, JRuby, and Jython are compatible with Katalon automation testing tools that too can identify problems and analyze results using inbuilt features for testing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, manual testing is quite expensive, especially for big projects or when frequent releases are required. It increases testing costs because it requires a sizable amount of resources, like employees, types of equipment, and time. Therefore as the application and testing needs evolve, developers invest in automation testing.
From going manual to automation, testers get more time for edge cases and meet their deadlines. By implementing the above automation testing tools and tips testers can streamline testing, expedite releases, and deliver a high-quality application to users.
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