Automation Testing: Benefits, Tools, & Best Practices

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There are two types of testing in the software industry – manual and automated. Manual testing is quite beneficial, but doing things repeatedly can be a wasteful practice. So when dealing with repetitive tests, it would be practical to use automation testing.

Today, there are several test automation tools to choose from, depending on your needs. Some are open-source and free. Other tools entail you to make payments but offer a free trial version so you can test them before committing to use them. Among the popular automation testing tools you can try will include Selenium WebDriver, Appium, and Cypress.io.

Read on to learn more about reasons to automate your tests, tips for choosing the right automated testing tool, and some automation testing best practices.

Why Automated Testing

Automation testing frameworks will automatically execute tests, manage the test data, and analyze the test results to boost the quality of the software. It is a quality-control measure that entails the participation of the software development team.

Here are some of the perks of employing automated tests today:

Higher test coverage

The number of tests that you can validate through manual testing is limited. But with automation, you can spend more time creating and adding new tests to your test suite. Your product’s test coverage will significantly increase.

Saves time and money

Testing software is often repeated during the development cycles to guarantee quality. Every software release should be tested on all hardware configurations and supported operating systems. Implementing these tests repeatedly is time-consuming and costly.

On the other hand, automated tests can be run repeatedly at no added costs. They also run faster than manual testing. Time savings can translate into significant cost savings.

Enhances team’s efficiency

Feedback for newly built software features may take a long time. But with test automation tools, the feedback cycle can be shortened, giving faster validation for product development stages.

Automated tests are highly valuable. They help detect errors or faults during the development stage, enhancing the efficiency of the development team.

Improves accuracy

Testers can make costly mistakes when performing monotonous manual testing. Test automation will perform similar steps precisely whenever they are executed and always record detailed results.

Choosing an Automation Testing Tool

There is no single tool that all teams can use as their software testing technique. Your team’s best option will depend on your unique needs. But regardless of the test automation tool you choose, make sure to do the following:

• Proof of concept (POC) for two weeks
• Ensure the solution you opt for fits with the development workflow of your team

Here are some of the best automation testing tools you can try:

• Selenium WebDriver – an open-source automated regression testing tool for browser-based site automation
• Appium – a free, cross-platform UI testing tool for mobile apps
• io – a developer-centric tool that makes test-driven development a reality
• Microsoft Playwright – a cross-browser testing tool for end-to-end testing

Automation Best Practices

Here are some of the test automation best practices you must adopt:

Shared ownership

Among the common mistakes software firms commit is assigning one engineer to handle automation. The entire team does not know what is happening – which should not be the case.

The team’s collective knowledge is crucial to your test automation success. Shared ownership will allow testers to pass on their skills and knowledge to others. That way, every person involved knows the process and can participate.

Divide tasks

Assign tasks to members based on their technical competence while generating test cases and suites. When the test requires a propriety tool, those with diverse skills must create automated test scripts easily. But if the team decides to employ open-source technology, those familiar with the tool’s coding should take on the tasks.

Use data-driven tests

Using data-driven tests simplifies the software testing process by reducing it to one test. This results in a single data set that the team can use to work through various data parameters.

Test early and frequently

Start testing early. Also, run tests as often as possible. That way, you can easily detect and resolve errors. Doing so will also save you time and money as opposed to dealing with errors later in the process or even in production.

Prioritize quality and detailed test reporting

Set up a test reporting infrastructure with the right tools to provide high-quality and detailed test reports. Also, group tests are based on test results, type, tagging functionality, and other parameters.

Final Thoughts

Test automation is a software/app testing technique that executes a test case suite using automated testing tools. It effectively improves your testing effectiveness, accuracy, test coverage, feedback cycle, and execution speed.

Implementing the right testing process and using the appropriate tools are critical to test automation success. But in some cases, using automation testing parallel with manual software testing offer a more favorable result. Test automation helps with quality improvement while increasing speed.

Automate tests today! Learn about automation testing tips and news by checking out sites like TestGuild. Get actionable advice from a community of testers for free.