Automation Testing – An Introduction To Get You Started
Tags: testing, automation, devops, test
Published: 2023-07-25 05:12:04

The term “test automation” refers to the process of automating tests, data management, and the use of test results to enhance software quality. Although its primary purpose is quality control, its actions require participation from everyone involved in creating the software. It's essential to involve everyone, from business analysts and developers to DevOps engineers, to maximize the benefits of test automation.

## Criteria For Automation
Before you automate a test, you must ensure it passes a series of checks, as failing could result in more expenses than it prevents. After all, reducing human input and costs is a primary motivation for automating tasks whenever possible. Below are some broad guidelines for automating tests. Remember, these guidelines will change depending on your situation.

### Repeatable
Repeatable tests are time-consuming and tedious and can result in errors if performed manually. Automation of repeatable tests gives the best results. Automation will not make errors and will not experience fatigue. So, ensure that the tests you automate are repeatable. The automation of a one-time test would be pointless.

### Determinant
Determinant functions always yield the same result when given the same input. It's the same with tests that you can run automatically.

Because of the many possible inputs that software may employ, reproducible results may be elusive. There is always the possibility that some of the factors at play are purely coincidental, making it considerably more challenging to predict with any precision the final result. It is possible to make up for this in software development by incorporating test inputs via a test harness.

Creating a new user, for instance, would increase the sum of users in the system. When we add a new user, the total number of users won't increase by more than one. [Tests you run in parallel](https://www.headspin.io/blog/parallel-testing-a-comprehensive-guide), however, may produce inaccurate results. It is possible to avoid this false positive through isolation.

### Unopinionated
Opinions are not something that you can automate. Beta tests, usability tests, and similar methods excel in this area. User comments are crucial, but you can't automate them.

## Automation Testing Types
### Unit Tests
You can automate Unit tests. In contrast to integration tests, which evaluate multiple aspects of a system simultaneously, unit tests focus on a single component. This test does not require access to a database, an external API, or any file system. Developers must run it quickly and use it to test the code rather than any external dependencies.

### Integration Testing
Regarding test automation, integration tests are in a league of their own. Integration tests are challenging as they require interaction with external dependencies. When working with external resources that are out of your control, it is often preferable to construct dummy versions of those resources.

For instance, if you're testing logistics software that uses a third-party web service and that service goes down, your test will fail abruptly. Does this indicate a problem with the app? It's possible, but your test environment should provide you enough freedom to build each scenario on specific intent. Never allow a random chance or an outside variable to influence the results of a test.

### Regression Testing
No automated acceptance testing (AATs) means you must manually create regression tests. The two are functional tests but differ significantly regarding who writes them, when, and how. They, too, are controlled by API calls or graphical user interfaces, just as AATs. You can write these tests using a graphical user interface (GUI) tool.

### Performance Testing
There are various types of performance tests, but they all aim to measure how well an application performs under specific conditions. Does it have the strength to withstand intense pressure? Will we be subjecting the system to high heat? Is the goal to improve response time while under stress? Is scalability a concern?

Sometimes, testing like this requires simulating a considerable number of actual users. Having a setting that can support such a task is crucial here. These tests can take advantage of cloud resources, although you can also use on-premises hardware and software.

### Smoke Tests
An effective smoke test will verify that your systems' interdependent components and services are healthy and operational. It's important to remember that a smoke test is not a comprehensive evaluation of the system's functionality. You can execute it automatically, as part of a deployment, or manually.

## Automating Tests
After seeing automation requirements and enough automated tests, here's the test automation method. Prepare, act, and report.

### Prepare
First, we set up the state, test data, and testing environment. As we've seen, tests usually require a specific environment before an action. This environment usually requires setup. It will be necessary to either alter the data or force the application into a particular configuration to get the desired result.

### Act
When the situation or environment is predefined, act! The test driver will execute the code or access an application's API or UI to conduct the test. The test driver “drives” the tests, but the TMS (Test Management System) coordinates and reports results.

## Report Results
Automation testing tools report results that highlight system failures in various formats. The tests can either pass or fail – that is the basic result. Each test case has a pass/fail indicator.

Tests might fail or be inconclusive. The automated system will log all output for the dev team to analyze. This log aids in troubleshooting. After fixing the issue, they can try again.

## Conclusion
Ultimately, automation testing frameworks are a fast and reliable way to boost quality. However, you cannot perform AI testing to automate all tests. Finding the optimal combination of tests is crucial since there are several. Conducting unit tests first, then service tests, and finally, user interface tests is a good approach.

Management of test data, execution of tests, and recording of test results are only some tasks you can coordinate with the help of a test automation system. Teams that are overloaded by recurring manual tests should seek out automation.

Originally Published at: https://www.techzimo.com/automation-testing/