Test Case Automation: The Best Practices We Bet You Never Knew
Tags: test, case, automation
Published: 2023-03-09 06:15:07

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**Overview**

Test case automation is one of the most important aspects of software development and quality assurance. Automated test cases allow developers to quickly and accurately identify bugs, detect performance issues, and improve code coverage. By automating testing solutions, developers can save time, money, and resources while ensuring their product meets its stated requirements.

**Best practices for test case automation**

The first step in any automated test case process is to determine which areas need automation. Depending on the size of the project and the complexity of the application, some areas may be more suitable for automation than others. A comprehensive analysis should be conducted to determine which pieces of code are best suited for automation and which areas require manual testing. This analysis should consider time requirements, resources available, criticality of the code being tested, etc.

Once the areas have been identified that need automated test cases, developers should begin by creating an outline or “script” for each test case they intend to automate. This script should include all necessary user interfaces (UI), conditions, and expected results that will be tested by the automated test case. The script should also detail any prerequisites needed prior to running each automated test case such as data setup or system configuration changes.

When writing individual automated tests, it is important that developers pay close attention to proper coding standards as well as scripting techniques such as modular programming and reusability. Proper coding standards ensure consistency across tests as well as better readability for future maintenance efforts if needed. Modular programming allows for tests to be broken down into smaller more manageable chunks that can all work independently if needed without having to re-do all other tests within a suite when making modifications. Reusability allows for common elements such as assertions or data validation methods to be used across multiple tests thereby allowing efficiency gains throughout the entire testing process.

**Conclusion**

In addition to following proper coding guidelines when writing individual automated tests it is also important to adhere to best practices when designing a complete suite of automated tests such as organizing them into “test suites”. Test suites are collections of tests related by a common subject or purpose where any given set of tests can be run in sequence with minimal additional effort required by the developer running them. Additionally grouping related tests together by purpose helps increase maintainability over time since only those relevant tests will need modification if modifications are made elsewhere later in the development cycle rather than needing an entire suite rewritten just because a single element changed within it somewhere along its lifecycle..

In order for an automated testing process to truly succeed developers must also make sure they stay up-to-date with industry trends—like new tools or frameworks—and incorporate these advancements into their existing processes wherever possible. Additionally utilizing cloud-based environments can help streamline efforts since cloud servers offer improved hardware capabilities while helping reduce upfront costs associated with procuring hardware resources traditionally needed when running large scale testing processes locally on dedicated machines. Finally having good communication between team members helps ensure that everyone understands what needs done ahead of time so there are no surprises at run-time once work begins on adding new functionality or fixing existing bugs/issues within existing applications..

The key takeaway from this article is that effective use of test case automation not only helps improve product quality but can greatly reduce overall costs associated with larger projects due largely in part due to its ability for faster identification & resolution compared with traditional methods like manual testing alone