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Automated testing is a strong ally for any tester who wants to survive this ever-changing technology landscape. As systems grow more complex, you need to explore this form of testing to maintain high standards of quality and efficiency. In this post, we will look at a step-by-step approach to adopting automated testing and also take a look at smart test automation tool testRigor for the job.
Why do you need to transition to automated testing?
You can look at software testing as a skill. You need to have the caliber to do it, but when done entirely manually, it can be resource-intensive, prone to human errors, and time-consuming. Hence, you need to find ways to automate some, if not all, of this testing so that you can achieve more in less time while upholding the quality standards.
Here is a list of reasons why you should start your journey of automated testing.
- Speed and efficiency: Automated tests run significantly faster than manual tests. They can be executed quickly and repeatedly, which is especially valuable in Agile and DevOps environments where rapid deployment cycles are common. This speed allows for more tests to be run in a shorter period, leading to faster identification of bugs and issues. Here are the top DevOps testing tools.
- Cost-effectiveness: While the initial setup cost for automated testing can be high, it pays off in the long term. Automated tests can be run repeatedly at no additional cost. Over time, this reduces the cost of testing per release as the same test suite is used to validate every new version or feature of the software. Read how to save budget on QA.
- Accuracy and consistency: Automated testing removes the possibility of human error in repetitive and detailed-oriented test cases. It ensures that tests are performed consistently every time they are run, providing accurate and reliable results. This helps tremendously when testing complex systems.
- Increased test coverage: Automation makes it possible to increase the depth and scope of tests, improving the quality of the software. Automated tests can easily check the memory contents, data tables, file contents, and internal program states to determine if the product behaves as expected. Through automation, you can thus cover more features and edge cases in a system than manual testing.
- Support for development practices: Automated testing integrates seamlessly with modern software development practices such as Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD). This helps integrate automated testing as a part of these processes, thus ensuring that the software is tested multiple times without depending on a tester. Read here the best practices of Continuous Integration and testing.
- Improved feedback loop: Automation helps quickly identify defects and provide feedback to developers. Thus, developers can fix the issues before progressing too far in the development cycle, which in turn reduces the cost and time to fix bugs.
- Scalability: Automated tests can be scaled easily to handle large systems and are capable of running tests that would be impractical to perform manually. This includes stress testing, load testing, and performance testing, which are critical for ensuring that a system can handle real-world use. Read this article to understand more about test scalability.
- Facilitates development: With the assurance that any code defect will be caught quickly through automated tests, developers can freely experiment and innovate. This security encourages more aggressive development of features without the fear of inadvertently introducing bugs into the system.
- Documentation: Automated tests can serve as a form of documentation of the system’s intended behavior. This can be especially useful for new team members who need to understand what the application is supposed to do.
- Enables frequent regression testing: You can perform automated regression testing frequently, which helps check that the recent code changes have not adversely affected existing functionalities. This is crucial for maintaining the stability of the system over time. Learn here how to achieve test scalability.
- Job security: With the expectation of having a fast-paced testing environment, organizations want testers who have the skills of both manual and automated testing. Having this accomplishment in your repertoire will help you become a valuable resource to your organization.
Transitioning from manual to automated testing
Since you are a manual tester, you already have the knack of finding skeletons in the software’s closet. You know where to look and how to do it. Now, all you need to learn is how to use a tool like a test automation framework to do the job for you, quite like using a vacuum cleaner instead of manually wiping off the dirt.
Let’s take a look at how to hop onto the automated testing wagon.
Assess your present readiness for the transition
Take stock of what you already have and what you need additionally. Since you’re a manual tester, all your skills in writing test cases, identifying crucial and error-prone workflows, and any other domain/industry-related experience, are extremely valuable.
Make a list of below points to start:
- The processes that you use during manual testing. Here is a beginner’s guide to manual testing
- Most common types of testing (like regression testing, unit testing, etc.)
- Present skill set and knowledge of the team
Knowing where you or your team stands presently will help you figure out what else you need going forward.
Define automated testing objectives and scope
Just like you define a test plan before getting started, think about what you want to achieve through automated testing.
Prepare a list of below points:
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What are the tasks you want to automate?
- Regression tests
- Any other repetitive tests
- Data-driven testing
- Testing across different environments like dev, UAT, production
- Email testing, SMS testing, table data testing, etc.
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What type of test cases do you want to automate?
- Only those specific to test suites?
- Critical issues identified over the software’s lifecycle?
- Error-prone workflows?
- Business-critical workflows?
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What is the scope of automated testing to increase test coverage?
- Only focusing on web testing as yet?
- Later when web testing is automated cover the mobile testing scenarios
By asking such questions, you can avoid the mistake of attempting to automate everything at once.
Choose a test automation tool
The tool that you choose should aid and reduce your work, not make it complicated. Select tools that align with your technology stack, budget, and skill set. Consider tools that offer below capabilities:
- Ease of usage
- Secure and compliant
- Allows you to test the complex scenarios you want to test
- Supports the platforms you want to test (like web, mobile, and desktop)
- Integration capabilities
- Scalability
- Good support
You can even speak to your peers who work with automated testing to learn more about their choice of tools. Most tools provide trials that will help you make informed decisions.
Try to be smart when it comes to choosing the tool. With modern technology, you will find many good options that don’t require you to learn programming languages. Such no-code tools can be game changers in helping you revolutionize your automated testing endeavors. Know more about Codeless Automated Testing.
Automate tests in batches
Begin by automating a small set of tests that will provide quick wins. Typically, these might be simple, repetitive tasks such as form submissions or login processes. Starting small allows you to iron out any issues in the automation process without getting overwhelmed or disrupting existing workflows too much. Make sure to maintain good coding practices, such as using clear, descriptive names for test cases and keeping the code clean and well-commented. Use these coding standards and best practices to maximize the test scripts’ quality.
Scale and integrate
It is time to join the ecosystem. As you become more proficient, start integrating automated tests into your CI/CD pipeline. This integration will ensure that tests are run automatically every time there’s a change in the codebase, providing immediate feedback on the impact of changes.
Monitor, refine, and grow
Just like you keep updating test cases for manual testing, do the same for automated tests too. Continuously monitor the performance and effectiveness of your automated tests. Look for opportunities to expand the scope of automation and refine existing tests to increase their efficiency and coverage. Regularly update the tests to adapt to new features and changes in the application.
testRigor for automated testing
In the above sections, we talked about how important it is to choose the right test automation tool for the job. Especially if you are transitioning from manual testing to automated testing, you need to make sure that the tool helps you rather than hinders you. Of the many tools available in the market, one tool that outshines the lot is testRigor.
As a manual tester, working with testRigor is going to be a piece of cake for you. testRigor is an AI agent that uses generative AI to make test case writing easy, by allowing you to create test cases in plain English language. Most of the test automation tools that claim to offer no-code platforms tend to require you to provide implementation details of the web elements that you work with, like their XPaths and CSS tags. This activity can get challenging on modern web pages, especially for those beginning automated testing.
With testRigor, you can bypass all this. Just tell the tool the text and where the element is seen on the screen, and testRigor does the rest through its generative AI engine.
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In this way, your test cases resemble a lot to the test cases you’d write for manual testing. You can import your manual test cases from TestRail, PractiTest, Qase, etc, directly into testRigor and start executing them as plain English automation test cases.
Read this step-by-step guide to perform end-to-end testing with testRigor.
Using this simple format of writing test cases, you can easily automate various scenarios like email testing, SMS and 2FA testing, CAPTCHA testing, QR code testing, table data testing, audio testing, browser cookies, and more. And you can do all this across various platforms, devices, and browsers.
Coming to the interface, it is easy to use and again, doesn’t require any prior coding experience, making it the perfect pick for manual testers. Read here how testRigor is the best test automation tool for manual testers.
Another great thing about working with testRigor is that it does not worry about the technology stack underneath the application. Test maintenance is negligible with testRigor since this tool uses AI to give you stable test runs. You can even integrate your automated tests into CI pipelines to create a fully automated ecosystem.
testRigor truly depicts how easy test automation can be if you only pick the right tool. You can take a look at what this tool has to offer over here.
Tips to make a smooth transition
Here are some pointers to help you and your team make a smooth transition from manual to automated testing.
Think of the bigger picture in terms of ROI
Most test automation tools offer good plans for enterprises, with prompt support and advanced features. Do consider your budget, but also think of the long-term impact of opting for a plan that may seem costly at first but will reap rewards eventually. Know How to Get The Best ROI in Test Automation.
Choose tools that work for your entire team, not just you
If you are looking for a tool that works for your entire QA team, you must consider the team’s skill set and comfort level with the tool. Another purpose that automating test cases should fulfill is to propagate smooth collaboration among the team members. Powerful tools such as testRigor lets you write test cases in plain English so that the entire team can contribute irrespective of their programming knowledge expertise.
Build testing environments
It is a good practice to test new features and releases across different environments like dev, UAT, staging, and production. If you have been following this for manual testing, do it for automated testing as well. In fact, through CI integrations, you can run these tests on all of these various environments as and when required. Read What is a Test Environment?
Check for test data provisions
If you require testing with a lot of data, then make sure to find out whether the testing tool you’ve chosen supports data-driven testing. Read this step-by-step guide to know how to perform data-driven testing using testRigor.
Tool’s compatibility with the rest of the technology stack
This is another consideration for you when opting for a test automation tool. The tool that you choose should be compatible with the technology stack of the rest of your system. However, with testRigor you need to worry about this compatibility, you can just register and start automation your web, mobile (native, hybrid), desktop test cases in plain English commands.
Integrate Early and Often
Incorporate automated tests into your regular development process as soon as possible. This includes integrating tests into your CI/CD pipeline so that they can provide immediate feedback on every commit. Early integration helps identify issues sooner and enhances the efficiency of the development lifecycle.
Maintain good test management practices
Organize your tests properly and maintain them just like you would with your production code. This includes version control, proper documentation, and regular reviews and updates to ensure tests remain effective and relevant.
Address flakiness
Automated tests in the traditional automation tools can sometimes be flaky, meaning they produce inconsistent results. With testRigor you have ultra-stable test cases with self-healing capabilities, tests are isolated and use retries judiciously to handle transient issues.
Evaluate and iterate
Regularly evaluate the impact of automated testing on your team’s productivity and the quality of the product. Use feedback from these evaluations to iterate and refine your approach to testing. This continuous improvement will help in adapting to changes and overcoming any unforeseen challenges.
There’s no such thing as 100% automation
Let’s clear one thing – manual testing is as important as automated testing. You need to decide what gets automated and what doesn’t wisely. Usually, repetitive tasks like regression testing can be automated. Likewise, UI/UX testing, and exploratory testing, need manual testing for best results. Know Which Tests Should I Automate First?
Be patient through the learning curve
Learning a new tool can be challenging, but don’t give up just yet. However, this curve is negligible with testRigor. Remember, this is a one-time investment, and once you are well-versed with the tool, you won’t need to worry about this learning stage.
Conclusion
Transitioning to automated testing can significantly improve your testing processes’ effectiveness, efficiency, and coverage, leading to higher-quality software and more satisfied customers. However, it is also bound to raise questions and concerns. The above list of tips and steps is meant to help you get started, and eventually, you will be fluent in automated testing.
You also need to keep in mind that automation is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution; it requires ongoing attention and refinement. While you keep working on bettering your testing process, make sure to choose good and smart test automation tools that make your job easier.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need to start from scratch when learning automated testing?
As a manual tester, you already have the necessary skills to ensure that you know what to test and what qualifies for a test case. All you need to do now is modify the ‘how to test’ part. Instead of relying on yourself, you will be teaching and delegating your testing work to a test automation tool. By choosing a smart test automation tool like testRigor, this delegation can be even more seamless. Here is a Test Automation Playbook to start.
Should all tests be automated?
No, not all tests should be automated. While automation is beneficial for repetitive, data-intensive, and regression tests, manual testing is still crucial for exploratory, usability, and ad-hoc testing where human judgment is essential. Typically, prioritize automating tests that are time-consuming and error-prone when done manually.
How can I measure the success of my automation efforts?
Success in automation can be measured through various metrics such as the reduction in test cycle time, increase in test coverage, number of defects caught, and overall quality of the release. Additionally, improvements in team productivity and satisfaction, as well as a reduction in release times and bug fix costs, can also indicate success. Know the QA Metrics to Improve Your Software Testing. Read another related article: QA Testing KPIs.
What are common challenges when transitioning to automated testing?
Common challenges include selecting the right tools, training and upskilling team members, setting up an efficient test environment, dealing with flaky tests, and integrating automated tests into existing CI/CD pipelines. Resistance to change within the team can also pose a challenge.
Can automation completely replace manual testing?
No, automation is not a replacement for manual testing but rather a complement to it. Manual testing is still necessary for areas that require human insights, such as usability, accessibility, and overall user experience. Automation is best used to handle repetitive, labor-intensive tasks that can be precisely defined and executed.
How do I maintain automated tests?
Maintaining automated tests involves regularly reviewing and updating tests to reflect changes in the application. This includes revising scripts when features are updated or fixed, removing obsolete tests, and continuously improving and optimizing existing tests to ensure relevance and efficiency. Read: How to Write Maintainable Test Scripts: Tips and Tricks.
Additional resources
- Manual Testing vs Automation Testing: What’s the Difference?
- Manual Testing Cheat Sheet
- Is There any Future for Manual Testing?
- AI Automation Testing: Take Your Testing to the Next Level
- How to do SMS, 2FA, and phone call testing using testRigor?
