Today, software development has become a complex process due to
the need for compatibility of software across devices, operating
environments, browsers, and networks. Add security compliance to the list and
the task becomes even more challenging. To ensure the software runs seamlessly
across digital environments as mentioned above, it should undergo a rigorous
testing exercise. This is important to achieve customer satisfaction – the key
determinant to stay competitive. So, how do you choose a testing methodology
that delivers excellence in all the areas of software including, performance,
security, functionality, and usability, among others? The answer can be found
in following a mix of manual and test automation
practices with the latter forming the mainstay.
Why test automation?
The traditional form of testing software aka manual testing does
not quite match up to the evolving requirements of testing. Since the software
applications of today combine cutting-edge technologies like AI & ML, IoT,
Big Data, Cloud Computing, and others, the testing requirements have grown
manifold. These require checking the performance of the software on multiple
channels involving scores of users. This is where manual testing can be
time-consuming, error-prone, and tedious thereby putting considerable strain on
the human resources. The automation
testing approach, on the other hand, can address the shortcomings of
manual testing and relieve the human resources to focus on other areas.
With enterprises aiming to deliver software faster to the
market, they often take risks with its quality. This involves downplaying or
bypassing the testing requirements. Moreover, testers too suffer from fatigue
when executing repetitive tests involving huge data. This often leads to
situations where enterprises are unable to manage the expenses incurred in
service delays and performance issues. Let us find out how automated software testing has changed
the testing landscape for the better.
Key benefits of software test automation
QA involves executing a series of tests involving data and
comparing the expected outcomes against the actual ones. Here, test automation can guarantee software
quality without much human intervention. The best thing about executing automated testing services is its
increased frequency of implementation with minimal effort. And if such
implementation leads to better results, then achieving customer satisfaction
can only be a matter of time.
High test coverage: Since any software with an
omnichannel interface encompasses plenty of features and functionalities, it
ought to be tested for the latter. A QA
automation testing process helps to validate the quality of all features
and functionalities thereby increasing the scope of testing. An automated suite
can conduct repeat testing with plenty of variables and data thereby enhancing
the quality of the software application. It is important to note that manual
testing is fairly limited in its scope vis-a-vis testing the features of an
application.
Meeting DevOps goals: DevOps has emerged as the latest
methodology to develop and deliver superior quality software. It focuses on
shift-left testing where testing is conducted alongside development in sprints.
Since DevOps is all about achieving continuous integration and testing
throughout the SDLC, the role of software
test automation assumes salience. It ensures each code is tested
thoroughly during the development process before being integrated into a suite.
Also, any updation of software based on market demand and/or customer feedback
is put through regression testing using automated tools.
Quick detection of glitches: As the SDLC follows the
shift-left process, codes are validated using an automated test suite. During
the process, glitches get identified at the development stage and fixed. This
ensures faster delivery of quality software and saves a considerable amount in
time and cost. The latter would have been incurred if the glitches were
identified later, either during testing at a later stage or through customer
feedback.
How the testing landscape changed with automation
The testing landscape encompasses a number of testing viz., unit
testing, functional testing, integration testing, load testing, and regression
testing, among others. Automation has helped the above-mentioned areas of
testing to be accelerated. Let us find out how.
Unit testing: This type of testing ensures how
each piece of code shall behave once it forms a part of the overall software
suite. It is usually created by developers and provides feedback on the
specific performance of the code. It tells developers whether the code is
performing the tasks as expected and can arguably provide the best ROI for
automation.
Integration testing: It involves the testing of multiple
components of a software suite. Here, even though the components may exist
independently, they are interconnected in the larger software suite. By
following a test automation strategy,
the integration of various components of software such as email services,
analytics, third-party components, databases, deployment infrastructure, etc.,
are tested to ensure the seamless performance of the software.
Load testing: Any software should undergo proper
load testing to ensure its components can handle peak load situations. By
measuring both normal and peak load thresholds, the software can be scaled up
when the crunch time comes. Here, automated load testing tools can come in
handy to perform load testing on demand and involves simulating traffic at high
speed. This helps to identify the non-functional issues and ensure the
scalability and performance of the software.
Functional testing: It checks if the software is doing
what it is expected to do instead of how it does. Here, the functionality of
the interface or sundry end-to-end components is verified without getting into
the nitty-gritty of coding that drives it. By automation, functional testing
can be conducted umpteen number of times without any human intervention.
However, the test suites should be maintained properly to prevent any false
positives.
Regression testing: It checks the functioning of the
original features of software when a new one is added. Conducting it manually
in-house can be tedious and ideally requires engaging automated testing services. Automated testing can carry out
comprehensive regression testing involving unit testing, integration testing,
and functional testing. However, conducting UI level testing may not yield the
desired results as the UI can be volatile and cause test failures.
Mobile testing: This type of testing can be
challenging, for it involves compatibility, functional, performance, security,
and UI/UX testing. Mostly the testing is done on real or simulated devices by
automating some of the tasks. However, the results can often be sketchy given
that they are executed on emulators. Also, the results of such testing would
depend on the reliability of the device platform.
Conclusion
Test automation has
brought about a significant improvement in the testing landscape. It has been
able to address some of the lacunae of manual testing thereby enhancing the
quality of software. Enterprises should incorporate automation in their SDLC to
ensure the software ticks all the checkboxes for quality. However, as mentioned
at the beginning, automation in testing is not the be-all and end-all of
everything and should be executed in consonance with manual testing.
Author Bio
Oliver
has been associated with Cigniti
Technologies Ltd as an Associate Manager - Content Marketing, with over 10
years of industry experience as a Content Writer in Software Testing &
Quality Assurance industry. Cigniti is a Global Leader in Independent Quality
Engineering & Software Testing Services with CMMI-SVC v1.3, Maturity Level
5.
This article is originally published on dev.to.
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