What is Automation testing?
Automation testing is an important approach that executes a test case suite using unique automated testing tools. A tester writes the testing scripts and runs them on a tool to execute the test cases. Manual testing, on the other hand, is carried out by a human sitting in front of a computer, carefully carrying out the test processes. Many software companies will have a QA (quality assurance) automation tester on staff. In the early phases, they develop and write the test scripts.
Why is automation testing needed?
Using automation technologies also allows for more regular testing, which improves overall functioning. Software development cycles involve continuous testing, typically of the same test. This is made possible through automation testing, which provides extra team members for other tasks. It can also give more precise and reliable results than manual testing. Ensure that the product is ready for market or that it has progressed to the next stage of development. This affirmation encourages the team to continue working.
Benefits of the automation testing: -
• Improved Outcomes: Because automated testing saves a significant amount of time, especially when complicated and massive systems are considered. This enables testing to be repeated, resulting in better and faster results with substantially less work and time.
• Improved Feedback System: In during validation stage of any software project, automation testing is critical. It considerably improves communication among developers, designers, and product merchants, and allows possible faults to be corrected instantly, increasing the development team's productivity.
• Cost effective: Even if the initial cost for automated testing is larger, the organisation saves a significant amount of money in the long term. It is mostly due to a reduction in the time required to run the tests. It also adds to a far higher level of job quality because there are no risks of neglect or human error. This reduces the need for post-release bug fixes, resulting in significant project cost savings.
• Extension of Coverage Area: More tests may be assigned to any application with the help of automated testing. This results in increased testing coverage and a decrease in software abnormalities. It also makes it possible to test additional features and sophisticated applications. To do the same thing in a manual testing environment, however, a large crew and strict time limitations are required.
• Test script reusability: We can use the same testcase again for the different projects with little changes. With the use of automated testing, more tests can be assigned to any application. As a result, testing coverage is raised, and software defects are reduced. It also allows for the testing of additional features and advanced applications. In a manual testing setting, however, a big team and stringent time constraints are necessary.
Which tests should be performed automatically?
• Human mistake can lead to the failure of tests.
• Tests that are repetitious and tiresome.
• Extensive tests that require the use of many data sets.
• Tests that cannot be carried out manually.
• Manual tests that would take a long time.
• Risky tests.
• Tests that must be done on many hardware and/or software platforms.
Types of Automation testing
There are several forms of test automation. Here's a comprehensive look at the most frequent types of automated testing systems:
Functional testing: -
Functional testing measures the software's performance against the functional requirements/specifications. It focuses on what the application performs and is primarily concerned with black box testing.
Black box testing, also known as behavioural testing, includes examining the functionality of parts without gaining access to their internal workings. This indicates that the tester is absolutely uninformed of the item's structure or design.
Functional testing focuses mostly on evaluating the system's major functionalities, fundamental usability, user accessibility, and the like. Functional testing includes unit testing, integration testing, smoke testing, and user acceptability testing.
Unit testing: -
Unit testing is running tests on individual components or functions in isolation to ensure that they perform properly. It is often performed during the program's development process and is thus frequently the first sort of automated testing performed on an application.
Unit testing is most often done by the developer and is always performed before integration testing.
Unit tests are extremely useful since they help identify bugs early in the development cycle, lowering the cost of fixing them. Unit tests are a fantastic approach for developers to understand the functioning of each unit in the program while also facilitating code reusability.
Unit-testing methodologies are classified into three major categories:
• Black box testing: UI testing as well as input and output.
• White box testing: This examines the application's functional behaviour.
• Gray box testing: running test cases, test suites, and doing risk analysis.
Integration Testing: -
Integration testing entails testing all of the application's various parts in combination. It involves determining if the system overall meets the required functionality. Integration testing examines how distinct modules interact with one another when they are combined. Integration testing is often performed after unit testing and assists in ensuring seamless interaction between the various components to guarantee the overall smooth operation of the product.
The Big Bang Approach, the Top-Down Approach, the Bottom-Up Approach, and the Sandwich Approach are all techniques to integration testing.
Smoke Testing: -
Smoke testing, also known as "Build Verification Testing" and "Confidence Testing," is a minimum collection of tests meant to examine the stability and feasibility of the software's delivered build.
Smoke testing focuses on determining if the primary components of the application are functional or not, and it is used to determine whether the application should be shelved due to a lack of functionality or moved on to the subsequent phases of testing.
Smoke testing is performed after the generated software features have been included in the software package. Any failures in testing at this point will usually result in the program being returned to the development team for revision. Smoke testing is most often undertaken by QA engineers.
Non-functional Testing: -
This testing covers all non-functional aspects of a programme, such as performance, reliability, usability, and so on. It differs from functional testing in that it focuses on how well the product performs what it does rather than what it does.
Non-functional testing is typically performed after functional testing since it is only rational to ensure that the product accomplishes what it is meant to do before analysing how well it does it. Performance testing, reliability testing, security testing, load testing, scalability testing, compatibility testing, and other forms of non-functional testing are some of the most frequent.
Regression Testing: -
Regression testing is frequently referred to as the testing kind that falls within the heading of maintenance testing.
Regression testing entails re-running functional and non-functional tests to see whether the software is working the same way it did before a code or program change was performed. When the performance does not match, the programme is said to have regressed.
The primary purpose of regression testing is to guarantee that any code changes have not adversely affected current functions.
Keyword driven Testing: -
Keyword-driven testing includes using data files containing terms linked to the application under test. Each keyword specifies a collection of activities necessary to complete a step.
Keyword-driven testing requires discovering specific terms and linking them to specific actions. As a result, however, when the keyword is used, the related action is performed automatically.
Keyword-driven testing is a popular solution for many firms since it is brief, adaptable, reusable, and simple to manage. It does not require programming knowledge, enables functional testers to plan testing even before the application is constructed, and is compatible with nearly any automation tool on the market.
Security Testing: -
Security testing is a kind of testing process that detects system vulnerabilities and assures that the system's data and resources are secure from potential attackers. It assures that the software system and application are free of hazards or risks that might result in a loss.
Security tests include functional and non-functional tests that look for weaknesses in software. They expose flaws and potential exploits in a system.
Performance Testing: -
Performance testing is a sort of software testing that ensures software applications function as intended under demand. It is a testing approach used to measure system performance in terms of sensitivity, reactivity, and stability under certain workload conditions.
The practise of examining a product's quality and capacity is known as performance testing. It is a way of measuring system performance in terms of speed, dependability, and stability under variable demand. Perf testing is another name for performance testing.
Tools used for automation testing: -
• Selenium
• Katalon studio
• Ranorex
• Apache Jmeter
• Burp suite