The online industry plays a key role in many other industries all around the world. It has influenced various essential services like banking and health.
In these times of global pandemic, the web development industry has gained even more popularity. So, the developing companies had to come out of their shell and incorporate new technologies to meet this surging demand.
The integration of automation testing is one such bold move made by the modern industry. Since automation testing involves completely redefining the existing web testing infrastructure, many companies are still skeptical about it.
Their doubts are even increased by the high initial investment charges for this technology.
So, with this article, we are going to clarify the importance of test automation. We will achieve this goal by emphasizing the massive benefits of this technology.
Before all these, let us understand all the basics of Automation Testing.
The Basics of Test Automation
Automation Testing involves the execution of various test cases with the help of automated test scripts. During the early years of software development, the testers used to conduct all the test cases manually.
This process consumed a lot of time and effort as all the testing processes had to be conducted one by one. A market evaluation revealed that it took up to five days to complete the testing process using manual testing alone.
This is a serious issue considering the highly competitive nature of the web Development Industry. With the help of test Automation, the developers aim to resolve this. Test Automation can complete all the testing processes in less than 2 days. Experts also believe that Automation Testing generates a lot of return on investment in the long run.
Automation Testing also plays an important role in improving the overall quality of the application.
For instance, it saves a lot of time in the testing process and helps the developers to concentrate on other important areas of the project. This means they can create innovative features to add in the future updates of the web application. Test automation also plays an important role in improving the coordination between different teams of a web development company. With this process, all the teams can work in close coordination during the web application development life cycle.
Areas to Implement Test Automation
To use the full potential of test automation, the developer must have an understanding of all the areas that can benefit from this technology.
The primary deciding factor will be the return on investment that each segment can generate. To elaborate on this concept, let’s look at some of the major areas that will benefit from test automation:
Unit Testing: For ease of access, the developers usually divide all the components of a web application into small fragments.
These fragments are popularly known as the units of a web app. Experts believe that unit testing generates the highest ROI when integrated with test automation.
Data-Driven Testing: As the name suggests, this form of testing is controlled by the data that is entered by the user. The primary focus of this testing is to ensure that the website retains its stable performance with all forms of data entry.
Regression Testing: Regression is used to refer to all the repetitive elements that are present on a web application. So, with every update, the total amount of regression continues to increase. It is illogical to test all these repetitive elements manually. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to introduce test automation in this segment.
The Benefits of Automation Testing
To understand the effectiveness and importance of test automation, we need to have a proper understanding of all its benefits. So, let us take a detailed look at some of the major benefits offered by automation testing:
- Increase in Productivity
The execution of Automation Testing doesn’t require any form of human involvement. This means that the developers can set the testing processes to run overnight. Then, they can check the final results in the morning. This means you are utilizing the entire day to conduct all the steps of the testing process. Thus, Automation Testing plays a vital role in improving the productivity of a developing company.
- Accuracy of Test Results
As we already discussed, test automation is devoid of any human involvement. So, there are very low chances of errors or failures in the testing cycle. Unlike humans, there is no fatigue in a machine, so it can continue to work with the same efficiency for hours and even days. Thus, automation testing results are highly accurate and dependable for future references.
- Saves Cost
The maintenance charges for the automation test script are very low. Moreover, the developers can reuse a massive portion of a test script in future development projects as well. The developers should not misjudge Automation Testing by only considering its initial investment charges. In reality, it is one of the most cost-efficient Technologies in the web Development Industry.
- Fast Delivery of Web Applications
Automation Testing executes all the testing processes using automated test scripts. Moreover, the developers can also use parallel testing to improve the efficiency of test automation. Using parallel testing, the companies can execute multiple test instances simultaneously. Thus, Automation Testing plays a vital role in quickly delivering high-quality web applications to the end-users.
Role of Tools in Test Automation
Automation test cases can seem complex, especially to the new developers. So, web development companies can use various tools and platforms to simplify this process. The developers can also use these test automation platforms to improve the efficiency of the test cases. However, the developer must be careful while choosing the test automation platform for their development environment. Currently, there are thousands of automation tools that are available in the market. You must choose the perfect tool by considering your preferences and the project requirements. We can use the example of Lamdatest to have a proper understanding of the segment:
Lamdatest is a platform to execute automated cross-browser test cases on your web application. Using this platform, you can conduct the test automation processes on a cloud-based Selenium grid. It also helps to verify the proper functioning of all local web applications and web pages. Using Lamdatest, the developers can perform test cases on more than 3000 different browsers. Lamdatest generates highly accurate test results by compiling different reports from Virtual Machines, emulators and real devices. Lamdatest also helps to conduct parallel testing on web applications. This means you can verify the functioning of the application on different combinations of Browsers and operating systems simultaneously.
The Basics of BDD Testing
The term BDD stands for Behaviour Driven Development. With this form of development, the companies can reduce the gap between the technical team and the business team. This collaboration can help all the teams of a company to have an equal say during the problem-solving process. The company can achieve this goal by allowing the developers to work in small iterations. These iterations can reduce the gap in the feedback loop. Using this process, the company can also generate documentation that is business-friendly. This business-friendly documentation can be easily verified by the behaviour present in the development system. Let us increase our knowledge of BDD testing and analysis all the core processes present in it:
- The initial process is to consider a small upcoming change similar to the user story. After this, all the teams can work together to formulate a solution for this problem.
- The next step is to verify the solutions with the help of examples. The developers must create this example in such a way that they are easy to automate. Using this process, the company can easily verify the proper existence of the functionality.
- The final step of this process is to write codes for the automation. These codes must automate the behaviour that we described in every scenario. The company can use this result to guide the development process that will follow.
As a developer, you must remember that Discovery is one of the major components of BDD testing. Companies can gain this understanding by holding regular workshops that can enlighten at least three of the major perspectives. For instance, it is a good idea to consider the opinion of the developer, test manager and the stakeholders in the company. Example Mapping is the common name for this meeting format. Companies can solve various important issues with the help of these meetings.
The Implementation of BDD Testing
The concept of Behaviour-Driven Development is already revolutionary on its own. However, the developers can further improve its efficiency by integrating it with test automation. The common practice in the industry is to conduct Automation Testing with TDD or test-driven development. The primary formulation process is the major difference between TDD and BDD. In Behaviour-Driven Development, the developers have to analyze the business potential of an application before forwarding it to the production phase. This process also helps the web developers to create live examples of their idea. Let us analyze the primary development process for Behaviour-Driven automation testing:
- The initial process involves creating a user story for the web application. After the creation, different teams of the company will create examples to understand the behaviour of the system.
- After understanding, the delivery team will create various test cases for performing feature and regression testing on the web application. These tests will verify proper and stable performance.
- After this process, the CI team will ensure that all the integrations and features of the web app pass the test cases.
- The final step involves proper execution of the business perfective in the web app. This is important to create a successful application for the end-users.
The Conclusion
With this article, we can easily verify the importance of automation testing. So, we recommend all web development companies integrate it in the test environment as soon as possible. According to a survey, currently, almost 30% of the web development industry still uses complete manual test cases. However, experts believe this number will continue to decrease as the domination of test automation increases. The developers should also consider test automation as an incredible way to improve their profiles. It’s also a good idea to have a proper understanding of all the modern Automation Testing trends. The companies should also invest adequate time to train their testing team about the benefits of test automation. During this training, they should also highlight the importance of using a proper test automation tool or platform.
Feature image credit: unsplash
