A Complete Guide to Test Automation

June 26th, 2024

Traditional manual testing for repetitive, highly stable test cases can be a bottleneck, slowing down the software delivery process and hindering the team’s ability to meet customers’ ever-increasing demands. Test automation can help overcome these challenges by eliminating the need for forced, costly trade-offs.

What Is Test Automation?
Test Automation Benefits
Which Tests Should Be Automated?
Test Automation Types
Challenges in Implementing Test Automation
Best Practices for Implementing an Automated Testing Strategy
Automated Testing Trends
Final Thoughts On Test Automation In QA
More on Test Automation

What Is Test Automation?

In software testing, test automation (or automated testing) is the use of automation technologies to manage test data, run tests, and analyze test results to improve software quality.

Automated testing decreases the number of human mistakes while producing consistent and accurate findings every time.

The result is improved quality, lower costs, less work, and a more productive team.

Comparing Test Automation to Manual Testing

Manual testing is a type of testing that requires humans to perform tests manually without the aid of automated tools.

The graph above illustrates the cost savings using automation testing vs manual testing as the number of test cases increases.

With automation testing, the cost decreases as the number of test cases increases, showing the scalability and cost-effectiveness of automated testing over time.

Meanwhile, with manual testing, the cost increases with the number of test cases, reflecting the resource-intensive nature of manual testing, which requires more labor as the workload increases.

See where manual testing shines and where automation is ripe.

Test Automation Benefits

The four key test automation benefits are:

1. Quicker Launches:
Automated testing is five times faster on average than manual testing. Lowering the time and effort necessary to test allows software tests to be conducted rapidly and repeatedly, providing quicker feedback on software quality.

2. Broader Test Coverage:
More tests can be executed, leading to better coverage, which means developers can detect more issues and verify that the software meets all requirements and specifications.

3. Improved Software Quality:
With automated testing, errors can be detected early in the development process. This allows developers to fix them rapidly, lowering the probability of errors reaching production.

4. Lower Testing Costs:
Reducing the time and effort needed for testing allows developers to concentrate on other key areas of software development while running tests fast and often, reducing the amount of time spent on them.

Which Tests Should Be Automated?

Automate any tests involving complex calculations to minimize human error. To decide which tests to automate, consider the following criteria:

Tests that require execution on multiple hardware or software platforms and in diverse environments.
Tests that need to be performed with various data sets.
Tests that ensure extensive coverage of intricate functionalities.

Test Automation Types

Test automation is ideal for analyzing large amounts of data and datasets that would be hard to test manually. It is crucial when evaluating software products with a large number of users and complex features.

These are some of the main testing types that can be automated:

Function Testing

Automating functional testing verifies the functionality of a software product and whether the software meets certain specifications and performs correctly.

Regression Testing

Automated regression testing allows software products to be tested after modifications are made to ensure they do not introduce new issues. It is necessary to guarantee that the software product continues to perform correctly after modifications.

Performance Testing

Automation of performance testing that determines how a software product performs under different loads and conditions. It helps identify performance problems and ensures the software can withstand loads.

Usability Testing

Automating usability testing determines the usability of a software product. It helps identify any usability flaws with the software product, hence improving user experience and accessibility.

Unit Testing

Unit testing involves testing individual software components. It is important because it checks the code’s accuracy and ensures that it works properly. Additionally, it helps identify any code flaws, which can be corrected before merging them with other software components.

Integration Testing

Integration testing analyzes how different software components interact with each other. Software components must operate properly and effectively. It can detect any defects that may arise from integrating several software components.

Security Testing

Automated security testing verifies the security of a software product. It helps identify any vulnerabilities in the software product that attackers may exploit.

Test Automation Example: Unit Testing

The following example demonstrates how unit tests verify individual units of logic in isolation, contributing to more reliable and maintainable code.

Imagine we are developing a financial application that calculates a loan’s monthly payments based on the principal amount, the interest rate, and the loan’s length.

We will write a unit test using Python’s unit test framework to validate that our function correctly calculates the monthly payments.

Function to Test (Python):

Unit Test (Python):

Explanation:

test_calculate_monthly_payment: This test case verifies that the calculate_monthly_payment function returns the correct monthly payment amount for various inputs. The expected values are calculated in advance and used to check the function’s accuracy.
test_zero_months: This test checks the function’s robustness by testing a boundary condition. The function should raise a ValueError if the number of months is zero, as paying off a loan in zero months is not feasible.

By running these tests, developers can verify that the function behaves correctly under various scenarios, catching potential errors early in the development process.

This test automation example demonstrates how unit tests verify individual units of logic in isolation, contributing to more reliable and maintainable code.

Challenges in Implementing Test Automation

Despite its numerous benefits, implementing test automation can pose certain challenges.

These include a lack of skilled resources, high upfront costs, selecting inappropriate tools or frameworks, and maintaining test scripts with changing requirements.

However, these can be mitigated by implementing a proper strategy, training, tool selection, and adopting best practices in script maintenance.

Best Practices for Implementing an Automated Testing Strategy

A successful test automation process is not just about writing scripts; it requires a deep understanding of the constantly changing test automation landscape.

There is no predetermined strategy that everyone can follow, but here are some recommended approaches to consider when learning how to design a test automation strategy.

1. How To Select Use Cases for Test Automation

The first step should be determining which test cases would benefit the most from automation. These are usually tests that are easy to manage and maintain over long periods of time.

Test cases that are ideal candidates for automation often have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Stable and have high passing rates

• Large data sets or multiple data sets

• Prone to human error

• Time-consuming when tested manually

• Have significant downtime between steps

• Necessary before manual testing to ensure efficiency

2. Writing Test Cases

Automated test case writing is a challenging task that requires careful attention to detail. To ensure success, it’s essential to focus on application state transitions and data changes. This means that each test case should only contain one test.

The templates for test cases may vary depending on the automation tools in use, but they should always include essential components such as:

Preconditions
Sync and wait statements
Test steps and workflows
Comments
Debugging information
Output statements

3. Refactoring Manual Test Cases For Automation

Converting manual test cases to automated test cases is not a straightforward process. Refactoring is an essential step in this process. It involves modifying manual test cases for automated execution while keeping their original functions/purpose intact.

Ven Shinde quote selecting test cases for automation with business value

4. Choosing a Framework

Open-source libraries can serve as a starting point for test automation, but they lack standardization and lead to inconsistencies and quality issues.

Standardizing test automation frameworks is a complex process that requires a deep understanding of the constantly evolving test automation landscape.

As a best practice, teams should adapt open-source libraries and standardize them for their organization’s automated testing needs.

Then, depending on a company’s in-house knowledge, they may require an expert advisor to avoid common and edge-case pitfalls.

Framework analysis planning is crucial. Without this, scripts can have undesirable or suboptimal outcomes.

5. How To Select The Right Tools & Infrastructure

Selecting the right tools and infrastructure is critical in establishing a robust test automation strategy.

Follow these three guidelines when it comes to choosing:

Align tools with project requirements.
Avoid over-reliance on tools.
Employ real devices.

6. Developing and Maintaining Test Scripts

When developing scripts, always start small, as these will be easier to maintain. Focus on flexibility by making them independent of the user interface (UI), and follow proper test data management procedures to ensure repeatability and modularity.

7. Establishing Governance Processes

Test teams should establish proper governance processes around their test automation efforts. Here are the key steps organizations must follow to build their governance model.

Identify Stakeholders.
Develop and Standardize Processes.
Assess and Mitigate Risks.
Create Processes and Workflows.
Build Reporting Infrastructure.
Create a Transparent Culture.

8. Measuring Success

Ultimately, every organization will have different metrics for defining success, but the most important metrics will always be variations of:

• Test Coverage.

• Test Execution Time.

• Test Failure Rate.

• Addressed Issues.

• Defect Detection Rate.

• Release Frequency.

• False Positive/Negative Rates.

• Test Case Pass Rate.

• Return on Investment (ROI).

Automated Testing Trends

As the QA industry continues to evolve, new applications and possibilities for test automation may arise.

Let’s explore current trends of test automation being applied in QA.

Adaptation to Low-Code/No-Code Development

As low-code development grows, customized automated testing solutions will be crucial for end-to-end testing, integration testing, and making test automation tools more user-friendly to non-technical users.

Comprehensive API Testing Automation

With APIs supporting modern software architectures, robust automated API testing will be essential for functional, performance, and security testing.

Shift Left Testing

We can expect to see the mainstream adoption of shift left testing increase.

Containerization of Test Environments

Containers will standardize and isolate test environments, providing several benefits.

Automated Compliance Testing

As regulations increase, this will become more common as it will be integrated into development pipelines and automated audit trails.

Self-Healing Mechanisms

Automated self-healing will address failures proactively to minimize downtime via automated rollbacks and dynamic resource management.

AIOps for Enhanced Testing Efficiency

AIOps will leverage AI to manage and improve IT operations, integrating with test automation for predictive analytics and resource optimization.

Advanced Mobile App Testing

Mobile app testing will focus more on end-user scenarios and security concerns.

Final Thoughts On Test Automation In QA

The world of test automation is constantly evolving. As QA teams shift towards agile practices and continuous integration, the pressure to deliver new features faster, improve efficiency, and ensure high quality has never been higher. Test automation plays a crucial role in addressing the challenges associated with manual testing, and its adoption is essential for success in modern software development.

To achieve successful test automation, QA teams must adopt a strategic approach that focuses on selecting ideal use cases, adopting best practices in test case writing, and navigating the nuances of tooling and infrastructure. A flexible resourcing model that incorporates both in-house and outsourced capabilities is essential for achieving scalability and efficiency in testing efforts.

QA teams must establish robust governance processes that foster accountability, transparency, and effective decision-making throughout the automation lifecycle. They should adopt metrics that align with modern development practices to measure the success of their automation efforts. By doing so, QA teams can ensure they are well-prepared to navigate the dynamic landscape of software development and deliver outstanding results.

Whether you’re looking to implement new automated testing strategies or improve existing ones, Testlio provides the expertise and tools necessary to achieve efficient and effective quality assurance. Visit our test automation solution page to learn more about how we can speed up your testing efforts!