The Need of Automation in Agile Testing

The agile project management methodology emphasizes on continuous collaboration between various stakeholders throughout the software development process. Further, the methodology does not consider software development and testing as two distinct processes. So the testers have to collaborate with programmers, managers and customers to ensure that the software meets the specifications and requirements of the client. They also have to test essential components continuously throughout the development process. The enterprises can always automate the software testing efforts in an agile environment to make the testers more productive, get faster test results, and deliver quality software.

Why Test Automation is Essential in an Agile Environment?

Need to Perform a Variety of Tests

In an agile environment, all aspects of the software are tested. So the QA professionals have to perform a variety of tests to deliver a quality application. Often testers have to perform unit, functional, performance, regression, integration, acceptance, and load testing in agile environment. Also, they need to repeat certain tests during each sprint to assess quality accurately. The test automation tools   make it easier for tester to perform and repeat a variety of tests without putting any extra time and effort.

Continuous Regression Testing

As noted earlier, programmers and testers have to continuously collaborate with the customer and other stakeholders in an agile environment. So they receive feedback from the client throughout the development process. Also, the developers need to add new functionality to the software or make changes to the system according to the feedback received from the client. Each time changes are made to the system, the QA professionals need to perform regression testing to ensure that the performance and functionality of the application remain intact. The test automation tools make it easier for testers to perform regression testing regularly without putting any extra time and effort. 

Frequent Changes to the Code

Based on the feedback received from the client, the programmers frequently make changes to the code in an agile development environment. The changes made to the code can have a huge impact on the software’s functionality and performance. So each time the code changes, the QA professionals have to repeat a series of tests. They cannot repeat a number of tests quickly without using any tools. The tools enable them to repeat all tests quickly by executing the test scripts. They can further reuse the same test scripts to perform the tests on a regular basis.

Deliver Fast and Reliable Test Results

In an agile environment, software testing efforts aim to deliver faster and more accurate test result. The quick and quality test results help various stakeholders to take critical decisions. The test automation tools help users to avoid rework and shorter feedback cycles. Thus, it becomes easier for testers to provide reliable test results to managers and customers without requiring any additional time. The tools further help users to organize and structure the test results to make them simple and easy to understand.

Simplify Agile Environment Management

Often organizations find it challenging to create and maintain an agile development environment. But the new generation test automation tools have made it easier for businesses to manage agile environment. The tools enable testers to create test scripts that are reusable and maintainable. The businesses can maintain the test scripts without investing in any additional resources. Further,   they can use the environment to deliver high quality software applications in future. 

Get Higher ROI in Automation

Many organizations opt for manual testing to avoid inflated project overheads. But a business can get higher ROI by automating its testing efforts in an agile environment. In an agile environment, both coding and testing occur simultaneously. So the software’s time to market is reduced drastically. At the same time, the reduced feedback cycles make it easier for manager to take crucial decisions about promoting and launching the software. Also, the enhanced quality of the product contributes towards boosting its popularity and profitability. 

On the whole, a business can reap benefits in terms of time and quality through agile testing automation. But it cannot automate all its manual testing efforts. So it is always important for the business to identify the repetitive tests that must be automated. At the same time, the exploratory testing cases and one-time tests need to be executed manually.

Why is Mobile Automation Testing Valuable?

Automation testing is the branch of mobile software testing which utilizes certain test codes or pre written scripts to check the software of probable bugs and flaws which are to be rectified to create a better version of the same such that it is better accepted by the customers. Automated testing not only provides accurate results but also saves time and is thus considered to be a valuable asset.

1.    Automated Software Testing Saves Time and Money: Repetition is a common phenomenon when it comes to testing the mobile apps. This is due to the fact that the software needs testing during various phases of development. The automated testing frameworks can be reused again and again and hence save money in the procedure. The testing process is completed in a jiffy and multiple machines can conduct testing simultaneously. This saves a lot of time while the process is on the go.
2.     Automated Testing Improves Accuracy: Automated testing runs on a simulated framework with accurate precision. As it is conducted by the machine, the same precision is maintained each and every time the tests are performed. It is said that “to err is human”. Even the most professional tester will commit some mistake at one point or the other. But a machine will never make this mistake.
3.    Automated Testing Increase Test Coverage: Manual testing requires long time to be completed and hence in most cases is avoided when long tests are to be conducted. However, when mobile automation testing is conducted, the test may be left unattended and would be performed with equal precision on its own. This makes automation testing a valuable tool in case of mobile testing. The automated testing procedure conducts multiple complex tests which provide with an increased coverage area which helps in the formation of a better mobile app.
4.      Automation Does What Manual Testing Cannot: Manual testing is performed by human, and well, let’s face it, they have limitations. Manual testing of user interface will require actual users to conduct the test. On the contrary, automation testing can perform the user interface test taking ten, hundreds or thousands of people without their actual presence in a virtual manner.
5.      Automated QA Testing Helps Developers and Testers: Automated tests that are shared with the developers can save a lot of time in the testing procedure. The developers can run the tests themselves and get results before having to send it to the QA department and hence the rectification can be done immediately without to be having to wait for the QA department to send back the results. This helps in boosting the confidence of the developers and saves time too.
6.      Team Morale Improves: As the repetitive tasks can be left to the automated testing of mobile apps, the software testing team can invest their valuable time in conjuring solutions for the more challenging tasks at hand which require personal attention to be resolved. This way a better testing procedure can be strategized and better results can be obtained.

Thus you see how mobile automated testing is valuable in the software testing industry. Yes! We accept that automation testing can never completely replace the manual procedure, but it has its own perks which should be utilized as far as possible. 

Myths about Automated Mobile UI Testing

Automated mobile UI testing is very important when it comes to the success of the application. However there are certain myths prevailing to the automated testing procedures which slogs the process and makes people afraid of the procedure. However, these myths are not true on any account as they are superficial. A deep look on the automated testing process will make them disappear.

1.  Speed: It is a common myth of most of the people related to the IT industry that automated testing takes up a lot more time than manual testing. On one hand this fact is true to some extent manual testing does produce faster results when testing mobile UI but only in the initial stages. With repeated testing you either need to add more testing features or diminish the quality of testing. Whereas with automated testing you get to run the same level of testing every time, ultimately saving time on the long run.
2. Coverage: Newer android devices are being released almost every single day in the current days. Hence the number of apps of these operating systems is outstanding. Including this there are more operating systems like the iOS which has even more apps which are being made for daily use. Maintaining a hand load of tools for manual testing of all these apps becomes very difficult and supplying them to the testers whenever and wherever needed becomes a headache. However in case of automated testing only maintaining a cloud server would suffice. With the help of automated testing complete test coverage of apps is possible.
3.  Cost: Yes! Automated testing of apps costs much more than manual testing. But this fact holds true only when the tests are kept to the bare essentials of the app. As and when the environment of the app gets complicated and as does the software itself, manual testing becomes much more expensive as you need more sophisticated tools for the optimum test results. Also with more sophisticated tools for the testing you need an advanced staff who can manage these tools and it will need training them to do so. Thus manual testing ultimately becomes costlier compared to automated one.
4. Consistency: In case of manual testing there is always room for perception which varies from tester to tester and depends hugely on the test that is being considered as well as the app and the environment along with the operating system which the application is based on. When you are applying manual tests on the software there is room for holes through which some bugs may pass out and it is only good enough to detect the basic bugs. Automated testing on the other hand runs on scripts with no room for perception which makes it a full proof one.
5. Reluctance: Automated testing replaces human. Not True! Automated testing only helps in betterment of the manual testers. Automated tests do provide automated results time after time with maximum accuracy, why do you need a human? But automated testing to requires writing of scripts and planning the whole test procedures. This in turn requires human. Automated testing procedure helps in saving time as well as money so that you can utilize these resources for the betterment of the manual testing procedures or to develop better tools and to advance the already existing automated testing procedures.

These are some of the most persistent myths that prevail in the automated testing industry which needs to be busted as soon as possible in order for the betterment of the automated testing of mobile UI.

Automated testing – The future of software testing

Transformation is the most trending word in today’s time. Almost everything is undergoing transformation the inventions, thoughts behind it as well as the outcome. The methods of testing are efficiently experiencing a shift in curve like the every usual transformation from manual to automatic.

The process of manual testing of products and software are long gone, but not totally erased from the process. On the contrary the automated testing has risen to great prominence in the past decade or two. There are automated processes rising up in every sector. Since modern man is currently shifting towards mental outlook than the physical one.

The automated process is way more effective than the usual manual process. Not only is the test efficient enough, but it is also very less time consuming. It provides maximum output, which is accurate in minimum amount of time, which isn’t possible through manual testing as it is more error prone, since humans are bound to commit mistakes.

The process of automation does not need human intervention, but the planning of the process needs so. Since the process itself is a human creation. There are various reasons due to which automated testing is our future- it is here and here to stay for a long time.

The selection of tools under automation testing is the primary feature of the following as it offers the most effective tool. Every test is conducted with some or the other kind of tool. The test tool is required to be specific; with automated testing it has become pretty easy to define that which test selection tool will be needed to conduct a specific test.

Unlike manual testing, under automation not only is the scope of the testing decided but automation as a whole process is put under assessment. In order to avoid any mishap, various steps are taken to define the goals and scope of automation. This is the very reason why everyone prefers an automated test over a manual one.

Although the manual testing is fading away slowly from the mainstream testing process it acts as a base for the automated testing. The future is all about automated testing, but manual testing needs to be present in somewhere as without it, automation cannot be carried out productively.

Thus, though the process of automation saves us time and money, it is still reliant on manpower. Furthermore, the automated design undergoes various steps such as planning, design and development of a software or product. Now under that, almost each and every aspect is covered. The testers are required to just worry about the overview and not the entire process itself as it becomes the duty of the automated testing.

Finally, after all the deep study of the process and its know-how the test is finally executed. This makes the automated testing the most complete form of testing. Although the organization spends hours on studying the process ultimately they aren’t required to waste their time on energy on the process itself.

The businesses are growing, dynamic these days. It is pretty much impossible for a human mind or an organization to employ so much of workforce to derive output. Thus, automated testing is the future – as with each passing session, the process will only enhance and improve itself.