In MagmaLabs we know that testing is something that helps us to prove that our projects have the expected quality, but it's very common to spend a lot of money doing Manual Testing. Is there another option to start reducing this cost and increasing the results without losing any the level of quality?
The answer to that is to implement Automation Testing. But what really is Automation Testing? How can you implement it?
What is not Automation Testing?
- All work made by a person in front of a computer, whether they are executing test cases and identifying/reporting bugs, that is not automation.
This means that automation is the use of tools to execute the test cases. Automation Software can also use test data to validate the systems to compare the actual results against the expected results.
What is the main purpose of Automation Testing?
The main objective of automating tests is not to eliminate Manual Testing but to reduce the number of test cases that are run manually.
Remember that Manual Testing is always required because there are many areas, modules or features that are too complex to test automatically. In those cases, it is best to test manually instead of automatically.
Why use Automation Testing?
- Running manual tests for all scenarios, workflows, fields and negative scenarios is time and cost consuming.
- Automation does not require human intervention.
- Automation improves the speed of test coverage.
- Manual testing becomes repetitive and mistakes can be made.
What can we implement with automation testing?
We can implement all the repetitive test cases, all of those test cases that are tedious or difficult to perform manually. There are some test cases that are more difficult to perform manually, test cases which are time-consuming and those that are critical for the business.
All these examples are part of the small list of test cases that you can implement with Automation Testing, but you can also identify more examples during the manual testing execution.
How to implement Automation Testing successfully?
The implementation of Automation testing is not easy and you will need to be prepared before starting.
Automation Process
- Select a tool to use during your implementation, this tool will be based on your needs, the best tool is the one that covers all of them, from code, business complexity, etc.
- Define your scope to implement with automation testing, remember there are some test cases that are better to implement manually, the other ones you can implement with Automation.
- You need to make a plan of implementation.
- Develop your scripts.
- Execute your test cases.
- Give proper maintenance to your test cases in order to have the expected results.
Automation Framework
- Your framework will help you to have a better implementation maintaining the consistency of your automated test cases.
- Less maintenance of code
- Improves re-usability
Best Practices
It's always recommended to understand what others already know, in this way you will drive an easier road. When you see the others mistakes or lessons learned, you will be more successful in your implementation. This is the reason why you need to consider following these best practices:
- The scope of the Automation needs to be defined before to start the project
- Select the correct automation tool
- Select the correct automation framework
- Define your standard for the scripts
- Measure with metrics
Know what is the reality of automation implementation and what should be your goal.
Nowadays the companies are implementing test technologies as following:
- Manual Testing 80%
- Automation Testing 20%
Your goal to implement Automation successfully should be:
- Manual Testing 20%
- Automation UI Testing 20%
- Automation API Testing 60%
This scenario should be your main goal, therefore, you will have a good investment in your implementation effort and a realistic plan to successfully implement your automation testing and ensure the highest quality of your product development.
