Have you ever felt frustrated at the amount of tedious, repetitive testing required with each software release cycle? As an expert tester with over a decade of experience who has lived through the evolution of test automation, I totally get it!
The good news is automation testing tools and frameworks can save the day by removing the burden of mundane regression validation so you can focus on more rewarding, value-add exploratory testing.
In this complete guide, I‘ll demystify test automation to help you successfully incorporate it into your team‘s workflows. Expect clear definitions, real-world use cases, tool comparisons and best practices supported by hard-won lessons from 1000‘s of automation initiatives.
Let‘s get started!
What is Test Automation and Why Does it Matter?
Test automation refers to using specialized tools, frameworks and scripts to replicate manual QA testing activities in an automated fashion. The goals are to:
- Accelerate repetitive test execution for regressions
- Improve consistency and reliability of outcomes
- Enable continuous validation as part of deployment pipelines
- Free up human testers to focus on complex scenarios
While manual testing allows nuanced user based validation across subjective dimensions like usability and visual appeal, test automation wins out for rapidly validating deterministic business functionality:
"Test automation really shines for regression testing where the same operations and flows need to be revalidated often. Automation handles this scale of repetition faster and more consistently than any human tester ever could"
Typically a specialized automation tester or software development engineer in test (SDET) takes responsibility for analysis, design, development and execution of test automation.
They possess technical expertise to quickly ramp up on various tools and languages while collaborating with business analysts to ensure coverage of critical user journeys.
Key Benefits of Test Automation
When deployed judiciously, test automation delivers quantifiable improvements across quality, cost and scheduling dimensions:
- 70% faster test execution – Regression suites run in a fraction of previous time
- 90% reduction in human effort – Tedious manual validations are eliminated
- 25%+ increase in coverage – More combinations can be tested at scale
- 50%+ drop in test maintenance costs – Automation suites age better than manual test cases
Where Does Automation Fit Into the Testing Process?
While techniques vary across development lifecycles, test automation generally serves as an accelerator for the repetitive aspects of functional validation allowing more room for exploratory testing:
![Test Automation in SDLC] (https://i.ibb.co/ScT8Xgg/Test-Automation-SDL-Framework.png)
In Agile projects, test automation is woven into development sprints from the beginning and evolves incrementally as features stabilize.
For sequential Waterfall development, test automation kicks in during system testing and remains largely static through user acceptance testing.
Regardless of approach, the hybrid blend of manual and automated testing provides the best balance.
Let‘s explore popular techniques and tools for both!
When Should You Automate Testing?
Based on the unique needs of your project, certain types of testing are better suited for automation while others require ongoing manual validation.
Prime Candidates for Automation
- Smoke & Sanity Testing – Automate cursory checks that verify availability and key features
- Regression Testing – Rapidly revalidate existing functionality hasn‘t broken
- Cross Browser Testing – Validate UI/behaviour consistency across browsers at scale
- Load & Performance Testing – Stress test infrastructure capacity like concurrency
Better Left To Manual Testing
- Usability Testing – Subjective, user centric assessments of ease of use
- Exploratory Testing – Ad hoc tests reliant on human intuition and insight
- Accessibility Testing – Validating compliance with standards is tricky to automate
For most projects, strive for a thoughtful balance combining automation efficiency with human judgement.
Leading Open Source Test Automation Frameworks
||Web|Mobile|Desktop|
|-|————-|————-|—————–|
|Code Based|Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Puppeteer, WebDriverIO, Protractor|Appium, Espresso, UI Automator, Calabash, Robotium|Sikuli, Dogtail, PyAutoGUI|
|Codeless|Katalon Studio, TestProject, LambdaTest| |TestComplete, Ranorex|
Selenium is by far the most popular choice for web test automation thanks to its cross-browser support and language flexibility. Java bindings are most common although C#, Python and JS options exist.
Appium brings Selenium‘s approach to native, hybrid and mobile web apps across iOS and Android. Tests scripts exercise on-device functionality via automation driver sessions.
Cypress delivers next generation web automation optimized for modern JS apps. Its unique approach entirely runs from within the browser yielding faster, flake resistant execution.
Top 5 Commercial/Cloud Test Automation Platforms
Leading commercial solutions combine robust desktop/mobile/web test creation, automated scheduling, parallel test execution, insightful reporting and third party integrations into end-to-end ecosystems. They accelerate time to value with polished frameworks while opensource requires more heavy lifting.
BrowserStack markets itself as "the world‘s leading software testing platform" thanks to an industry leading breadth of 3000+ real mobile devices and browsers available on demand to validate functionality, performance and visuals at massive scale.
Their Automate offering brings CI/CD integration, scheduling, debugging tools, device allocation management and hosting for private test labs together into a frictionless SaaS platform. Pricing starts at $399 per month for automation-only needs.
Competitors in the cloud test automation space include SauceLabs, LambdaTest, Kobiton and pCloudy although none can match BrowserStack‘s sheer device diversity and holistic focus beyond purely test execution.
Specialized Test Automation Roles
The increasing prominence of test automation has led to the emergence of specialized roles that live and breathe frameworks, scripts and tools full time:
-
Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) – Combines test automation expertise with solid development skills; architects frameworks, implements resilient tests leveraging coding best practices and CI/CD proficiency
-
Automation Tester – Technical testers who exclusively focus on automated checks; they typically collaborate with BAs to determine scope then handle scripting, execution, maintenance and reporting
–Automation QA Leads – Senior automation specialists who define lifecycle strategy, choose toolsets, size infrastructure needs, establish benchmarks/KPIs and generally evangelize a culture of quality plus efficiency
Building a Maintainable Test Automation Framework
The automation scripting effort gets the most attention but constructing an enduring, extensible underlying framework is equally if not more vital for long term success.
Here are proven architectural principles to enable scale, accelerate troubleshooting and simplify maintenance as tests evolve:
- Page Object Model – UI maps 1:1 to page objects encapsulating locators, actions and validations
- Layered Architecture – Logical tiers separating test logic from underlying tool adapters
- Parameterization – Centralized data store enabling data driven testing
- Object Repositories – Unified store of UI element locators
- Extensive Logging – Debug trail capturing test inputs, outputs and environment details
- Custom Reporting – Visual dashboard with historical fail rate trends
- Code Reuse – Shared steps and workflows across tests
"A resilient test automation framework acts as the backbone enabling long term viability. Too often teams neglect design principles in the rush to meet deadlines which causes maintenance nightmares down the road once tests need updating"
Tracking Automation Effectiveness with Metrics & KPIs
To continually assess and improve automation approaches, concrete metrics should be monitored indicating scope, efficiency and quality:
Automation Coverage – Percentage of identified test cases automated; industry average is ~25%
Automation Maintenance Cost – Effort to update tests as applications change; target 10-15% of initial investment
Lead Time to Automate – Time needed to developautomated validation for a new feature; goal of less than a sprint
Automated Script Pass Rate – Percentage of automated scripts operating without runtime failures meeting target of 90%+
Automated Defect Lag – Delay finding defects with automation vs manual; aim for less than 1 sprint
Discrepancies against targets signal automation improvements like expanded test creation bandwidth, framework enhancements or increased testing environment stability.
Overcoming Common Automation Pitfalls
Even seasoned automation experts encounter traps complicating framework upkeep or diminishing test effectiveness:
Flaky Tests – Brittle scripts failing sporadically due to timing issues, test pollution, resource constraints, env differences. Mitigation – Insert waits, close apps, isolate tests, parameterize data
Unmaintainable Tests – Poorly structured scripts resisting modification as application functionality evolves. Mitigation – Standardize on proven architecture patterns, create page objects plus utilize high-level reusable steps
Limited Test Data – Scripts lack sufficient data combinations to properly exercise boundary use cases. Mitigation – Construct generic data sources enabling developers/SMEs to contribute datasets
Test Env Inconsistency – Dev, QA, Production environments diverge yielding automation false positives. Mitigation – Standardize environments through automation; isolate where needed
Reporting Challenges – Basic logging hampers failure diagnosis while missing dashboard hides progress. Mitigation – Construct living framework documentation site; build custom reporting utility
Through learned experience over countless iterations, these pitfalls can be anticipated and dodged to sustain automation‘s benefits.
Let‘s Get Started With Test Automation!
I hope unveiling test automation‘s inner workings – where it shines, leading tools, specialized roles, engineering best practices etc – has sparked ideas to incorporate into your team‘s validation activities!
Specifically, I encourage trying out BrowserStack‘s cloud based Automate platform which allows running selenium and appium based automation suites across 3000+ real mobile devices and browsers via a flexible, collaborative online portal.
Their real device cloud enables unprecedented test coverage while simplifying environment configuration and maintenance. You can literally be automating your app on dozens of unique real devices ranging from flagship Samsung phones, tablets and chromebooks to specialty consoles and set top boxes in minutes!
All necessary supporting infrastructure, monitoring, debug tools and reporting analytics is handled for you. Give BrowserStack Automate a free trial run – I‘m confident you‘ll be hooked!
Until next time my friend, go forth and rapidly deliver high quality software leveraging test automation‘s superpowers!
