The Top Ways to Succeed in Automation Testing

The Top Ways to Succeed in Automation Testing

Written by Ramsay, In software, Technology, Published On
December 9, 2022
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To be a step ahead in the digital world your website or web application must provide a seamless experience across all supported platforms, web browsers, and operating systems. To achieve this seamlessly, testing becomes an important aspect. But as more complex features are added to websites and apps, manual testing becomes a tedious and time-consuming process. The use of automation testing makes this job easier. Since thorough testing is necessary for peak software performance, automation aids in making testers’ lives easier by reducing the amount of manual testing required.

Automatic testing is preferable to human oversight when conducting repetitive tests like regression and integration. Automated testing not only increases product quality, shortens time-to-market, and boosts return on investment, but it also gives greater coverage and more accurate results.

However, automation testing needs to be paired with the appropriate tools, automated testing frameworks, and technical expertise to be successful. Several test automation best practices must be followed to ensure the success of these kinds of iterative, comprehensive, and data-intensive tests. By striking this equilibrium, testers can maximize the effectiveness of both human and automated testing. Some recommendations for best test automation practices are listed below.

What is Automated testing?

Automation testing compares the actual output with the projected output to find any bugs or faults in the program. An online or mobile app developer’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the app works as intended through testing. The more you learn about the various methods and tricks of automation testing, the less effort you’ll have to put in.

The Top Ways to Succeed in Automation Testing

Automation Testing

Here are some tips or best practices that will make sure that automation testing is fruitful.

Find the Automation-Ready Test Cases

Since it may not always be possible to automate all testing situations, it is essential to pick which ones to do so. When just running tests rarely, it is frequently better to perform them manually. Automated testing is most effective with test cases that can handle large amounts of data and can be run frequently. In order to ensure that each new release is thoroughly tested, test automation’s major objective is to make it possible to run the tests repeatedly.

The benefits may not be worth the time and effort if the test only needs to be conducted once. Regression tests can be done as often as necessary when the product under test undergoes iterative development.

Be thoroughly aware of the product 

Your product’s technology stack should inform most of your tool choices. Do not begin the automation process unless you thoroughly understand your product. Find out which browsers will be compatible with your web app. Learn about the many technological components. If you’re using a desktop app, find out what language it was developed in. Where can I see a list of the application’s external controls? Because of this, you’ll have a simpler time choosing the right tools and automating the process in the future.

Build test plans and experiments

Creating test cases and scenarios manually is a better idea than trying to automate the tests first. Automated testing is only as effective as the test designs used to run those tests, and having reliable test designs can help in spotting issues. Instead of delaying such crucial decisions until late in the development process, test design can identify high-risk locations or other areas where test automation is likely to assist considerably. All the tests that need to be done that also meet the needs of the team and the client should be considered in a good test design.

Establishing a test scenario and creating test cases is a good plan of action. In order to estimate how long it will take to run the tests and locate any bugs, you can build test cases ahead of time. It helps you see potential automation opportunities in your application that you would miss if you only look at the most common use cases.

Manual test cases are also critical 

Test cases that are easy to automate but ineffective at finding problems are avoided by well-written, robust manual test cases. Manually drafting the test case is always the initial step to take. Find out what you need to get started and what information you need to put into tests. Clearly outline each step, and include the outcome you anticipate it will have. Each test case ought to have a well-defined purpose and rely on the others to a lesser extent. At least once, an automation engineer should manually execute this test case to determine which elements must be detected and how the navigation will proceed. Inquire with human testers by asking queries.

Even before the automation script is built, this process can assist find bugs. Experts agree that most flaws are found in creating test automation, not running the tests themselves.

Choose the proper tool

When automating tests, picking the right tool is critical. Several automated testing tools exist; choose the one that fulfills all of your requirements. Given that no two businesses are the same, a given tool may prove more useful in one setting than another. For this reason, it’s important to look for a test management system that can accommodate your organization’s current testing needs while also accommodating potential future modifications to your testing strategy.

Is it a mobile app or a web app that’s being tested? Use an automated testing framework like Selenium to test mobile applications. When it comes to web app testing, one of the most useful automation tools is Appium.

Determine the architectures, languages, and tools to use based on the expertise and familiarity of the testing team. Java, JavaScript, Ruby, C#, etc., are some of the most common programming languages used for automated testing.

Free, open-source alternatives to commercial automation technologies like Selenium and Appium exist for those on a tighter budget. While this may be true in some cases, it’s crucial to keep in mind that not all open-source programs are subpar to their proprietary counterparts. One such open-source technology that is widely used by automated testers is Selenium Webdriver.

Automation has limits

Automation involves conducting fewer tests on a more frequent basis. In order to avoid overwhelming yourself, you should begin by focusing on your smoke tests. 

You should next go over your build acceptance criteria. When you’ve mastered those, it’s time to move on to the timed tests you’ll be using most often. If you must automate tests, make sure that everyone frees up time for a manual tester to focus on other crucial tasks.

Manual testers will not be rendered obsolete by automation. Neither can we expect it to happen. It exists to free up manual testers from mundane tasks so that they can put all of their energy into discovering novel testing scenarios and bugs.

Those tests that are particularly helpful, time-saving, or challenging for manual testers should be automated. Automatization is complete if you do that.

Maintain Logs for Efficient Debugging

In order for testers to determine what went wrong during a test, it is essential that they keep detailed logs of every test failure, including detailed descriptions of the circumstances surrounding the test failure and screenshots or videos of the failed scenario. Select a testing tool it can save browser screenshots automatically at each stage of the test. The faulty process can then be easily isolated in this way. Every QA team must employ the procedures of bug recording and bug reporting for the sake of continuity.

Examine the tests

Regularly evaluating the reliability of your test data and examples is essential. Re-evaluating tests regularly helps find the ones that are no longer relevant to the current test cycle and can be removed. There will be fewer costs and less time spent on maintenance because of this. In addition, you can evaluate tests to confirm their accuracy, which has a far-reaching effect on test automation initiatives.

Using standardized testing methods

You may get through several testing hurdles by employing industry-standard tools, frameworks, and test procedures tailored to your application or situation of interest. For a wide variety of testing issues, you can choose from a number of different testing approaches. There are many approaches exploratory testing, end-to-end testing, and regression testing. 

Conclusion

While automated testing can initially improve software quality and speed up development, it is only effective when used with established standards. If you are looking for a reliable automation tool, then LambdaTest can be of great assistance to your website and application testing needs. The platform gives you fast, on-demand access to 3000+ desktop and mobile environments for browser and app compatibility testing while enabling you to execute Selenium, Cypress, Puppeteer, Playwright, and Appium automation tests on dependable, scalable, and secure cloud-based infrastructure.

Additionally, the Test Analytics package from LambdaTest gives you real-time insight into your testing activities so you can rapidly spot any bottlenecks or high-impact problems. This aids in determining what needs to be corrected so you can quickly deploy improved software while boosting brand confidence. The platform even lets you do a free sign-up with its Automation Testing.

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