Test Automation

Sachintha Dilshan
5 min readJan 20, 2021

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Test Automation

Test Automation or Automation testing is the practice of going for walks assessments mechanically, handling test information, and using results to enhance software satisfaction. It’s mainly a great assurance measure, however, its sports involve the commitment of the whole software program manufacturing team. From commercial enterprise analysts to developers and DevOps engineers, getting the maximum out of taking a look at automation takes the inclusion of all of us.

The automation testing software program also can input take a look at records into the device below test, compare anticipated and actual outcomes, and generate special check reports. test Automation demands vast investments of cash and assets.

Successive improvement cycles would require the execution of the equal check suite time and again. the use of a take a look at automation tool, it is possible to file this take a look at suite and re-play it as required. once the take look at suite is automated, no human intervention is required. This improved ROI of Test Automation. The aim of Automation is to reduce the number of taking a look at cases to be run manually and not to put off manual trying out altogether.

Why Automation testing

Test Automation is an excellent manner to boom the effectiveness, check coverage, and execution pace in software program testing. Automated software testing is important due to the following reasons.

  • Manual Testing of all workflows, all fields, all negative scenarios is time and money consuming
  • It is difficult to test for multi-lingual sites manually
  • Test Automation does not require human intervention. You can run automated test unattended (overnight)
  • Test Automation increases the speed of test execution
  • Automation helps increase Test Coverage
  • Manual Testing can become boring and hence error-prone.

Automated Test Process

The following steps are accompanied in an Automation process

  1. Test Tool Selection.
  2. Define the scope of Automation.
  3. Planning, Design, and Development.
  4. Test Execution.
  5. Maintenance.

Framework for Automation

A framework is a set of automation guidelines that help in

  • Maintaining consistency of Testing
  • Improves test structuring
  • Minimum usage of code
  • Less Maintenance of code
  • Improve re-usability
  • Non Technical testers can be involved in code
  • The training period of using the tool can be reduced
  • Involves Data wherever appropriate

There are four forms of frameworks utilized in automation software testing,

1. Data-Driven Automation Framework.

2. Keyword Driven Automation Framework.

3. Modular Automation Framework.

4. Hybrid Automation Framework.

Automation Tool best Practices

  • The scope of Automation needs to be determined in detail before the start of the project. This sets expectations from Automation right.
  • Select the right automation tool: A tool must not be selected based on its popularity, but it’s fit to the automation requirements.
  • Choose an appropriate framework
  • Scripting Standards- Standards have to be followed while writing the scripts for Automation. Some of them are-

Create uniform scripts, comments, and indentation of the code.

Adequate Exception handling — How error is handled on system failure or unexpected behavior of the application.

User-defined messages should be coded or standardized for Error Logging for testers to understand.

  • Measure metrics- The success of automation cannot be determined by comparing the manual effort with the automation effort but by also capturing the following metrics.

Percent of defects found.

The time required for automation testing for each and every release cycle.

Minimal Time is taken for release.

Customer Satisfaction Index.

Productivity improvement.

Benefits of Automation testing

  • 70% faster than the manual testing
  • Wider test coverage of application features
  • Reliable in results
  • Ensure Consistency
  • Saves Time and Cost
  • Improves accuracy
  • Human Intervention is not required while execution
  • Increases Efficiency
  • Better speed in executing tests
  • Re-usable test scripts
  • Test Frequently and thoroughly
  • More cycle of execution can be achieved through automation
  • Early time to market.

Types of Automation Testing

  • Smoke Testing
  • Unit Testing
  • Integration Testing
  • Functional Testing
  • Keyword Testing
  • Regression Testing
  • Data-Driven Testing
  • Black Box Testing

How to choose an Automation Tool

Selecting the right tool can be a tricky task. The following criterion will help you select the best tool for your requirement,

  • Environment Support
  • Ease of use
  • Testing of Database
  • Object identification
  • Image Testing
  • Error Recovery Testing
  • Object Mapping
  • Scripting Language Used
  • Support for various types of test — including functional, test management, mobile, etc…
  • Support for multiple testing frameworks
  • Easy to debug the automation software scripts
  • Ability to recognize objects in any environment
  • Extensive test reports and results
  • Minimize training cost of selected tools

Tool selection is certainly one of the largest challenges to be tackled before going for automation. First, perceive the requirements, discover various equipment and its capabilities, set the expectancy from the device, and go for evidence Of concept.

Automaiton testing tool

Success in any test automation depends on identifying the right tool for the project. With a plethora of open-source and commercial automation tools to choose from, automation testing tool selection can become tricky. Here are the best tools certified by our experts.

  1. Ranorex Studio
  2. Testim
  3. 21
  4. Selenium
  5. QTP
  6. Rational Functional Tester
  7. WATIR
  8. SilkTest
  • Selenium

Selenium is a free (open-source) computerized checking out framework used to validate web programs across distinct browsers and platforms. you could use a couple of programming languages like Java, C#, Python, etc to create Selenium check Scripts. checking out-executed the use of the Selenium testing device is usually known as Selenium testing. Selenium software isn’t always just a single tool however a suite of software programs, every piece catering to the exceptional Selenium QA testing desires of an enterprise. here is the listing of the tool,

  • Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
  • Selenium Remote Control (RC)
  • WebDriver
  • Selenium Grid

Selenium IDE

Selenium included development environment (IDE) is the only framework in the Selenium suite and is the perfect one to research. it’s far a Firefox plugin that you can install as easily as you could with different plugins. but, because of its simplicity, Selenium IDE needs to most effectively be used as a prototyping device. if you want to create extra advanced check cases, you’ll want to apply either Selenium RC or WebDriver.

Selenium Remote Control

Selenium RC turned into the flagship testing framework of the entire Selenium undertaking for the long term. that is the primary automatic internet trying out a device that allowed users to use a programming language they decide upon. As of version 2.25. zero, RC can help the following programming languages,

  • Java
  • C#
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Perl
  • Ruby

WebDriver

The WebDriver proves itself to be higher than both Selenium IDE and Selenium RC in lots of aspects. It implements a more present-day and solid approach in automating the browser’s moves. WebDriver, in contrast to Selenium RC, does not depend upon JavaScript for Selenium Automation trying out. It controls the browser by at once communicating with it.
The supported languages are the same as those in Selenium RC.

  • Java
  • C#
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Perl
  • Ruby

Selenium Grid

Selenium Grid is a tool used collectively with Selenium RC to run parallel checks throughout distinctive machines and distinct browsers all at the equal time. Parallel execution method walking a couple of assessments right away.

Features:

  • Enables simultaneous running of tests in multiple browsers and environments.
  • Saves time enormously.
  • Utilizes the hub-and-nodes concept. The hub acts as a central source of Selenium commands to each node connected to it.

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