Software testing is a crucial element in every IT project. Making sure that you test the software more often will guarantee a higher quality of software. How do you get there? Choose between the manual method and automation testing.
Sticking to manual testing can put you in trouble at times since achieving continuous testing with manual testers could be a lot of work. Additionally, manual testing is susceptible to human error, is costly, time-consuming, and can severely impact customers’ experience.
Companies are always under pressure to innovate, change, and remain competitive. Keeping up with the constant technological advancements is a huge challenge, and companies, as a result, require automation of routine testing procedures so that their software works as expected and adds worth quickly.
It can be achieved by adopting agile methods to reduce development times and faster Time to Market (TTM).
However, manual testing plays an essential part in the development cycle, but it has to be paired with an effective test automation strategy.
This blog will cover everything you need to know about automated testing, the strategies, and best practices in automation testing.
Let’s talk about the fundamental components of a successful test automation strategy.
Top Strategies For a Successful Test Automation In 2024
In automation tests, an efficient and cost-effective approach with a result-oriented method is the most important factor to success.
A well-designed test automation plan helps businesses stay up with market trends and avoid major technological errors. Automated testing strategies include applying tools and pre-written scripts for testing at different levels.
Planning the development life cycle by implementing a smart test automation strategy can increase software efficiency. The test automation approach must focus on the results and include all the important indicators the application will use.
A test automation plan identifies, reports, and audits the risks, flaws, and software features being tested. To implement an effective test automation strategy, you must know the life cycle of the software.
1. Goal Oriented Strategy
We always plan and strategize when we are faced with a goal to attain. One can only formulate an action plan with a clear goal or endpoint. The same goes for an organization. The team works in a program to achieve. Strategies are designed to achieve the objective.
The automation of tests must produce the desired outcome. Set goals that you can achieve. This way, creating the testing plan to meet the goals becomes much easier. According to the saying, Destination is the first step!
Automation Feasibility analysis is the very first stage of the test automation cycle. It’s only possible to automatize some tests that software performs.
So, analyze the feasibility of automation to identify what tasks could be automated or automated and what testing scenarios you shouldn’t automate.
As an example, you could look at the following areas to automate:
- Testing on a variety of devices and interfaces.
- Repeated test cases include login, entering OTPs Captcha, and logging in.
- Processes that take multiple inputs, for example, filling out forms to test validations.
- Time-consuming tasks that are difficult to perform manually.
- Batch or Asynchronous operations that are time-bound.
Automated feasibility analysis examines every scenario. In essence, it’s about figuring out what tests can be automated.
If the features to be automated tested are established, one can determine the best methods and strategies to implement. We are now able to come up with a reliable testing automation plan.
2. Defining the Correct Approach For Test
After analyzing the results, if a user has a goal to reach their goal and is aware of the potential test cases that they can automate the process, the next step would be to design the strategy.
Let’s say you already have a clear idea of what you need to do; all you need to do is figure out the best way to reach that goal.
In this scenario, the first thing to do is to determine the following:
- What should be considered in the automated test?
- How will the team plan to run these automated tests?
The definition of the test method involves selecting the appropriate framework and deciding how to proceed with different types of testing.
It also involves deciding the sequence of execution for various types of testing, including the integration test, unit tests, etc.
It is the point where the automation testing pyramid is a key element. The testing pyramid helps pick the best tests that should be included in the automated test strategy and the order in which they are executed.
Implementing different tests and their frequency, significance, and duration will produce more precise results.
3. Selecting the Right Tools & Testing Environment
The absence of the appropriate framework or set of tools and going forward without a test automation plan can benefit these. Although automated testing can greatly benefit a software development cycle, selecting the appropriate toolbox can be a hassle.
How do you choose the best tool? If one takes a few considerations, one can choose the best-automated tool for them. The process of selecting an automated test tool requires the evaluation of requirements, budget, and team experience, among others.
Here are some points you should be aware of when choosing a tool for the test automation strategy.
1. Choosing the Right Framework and tool
Many test automation tools come from commercial, license-based, or open source. You can choose the most effective test automation frameworks according to your preferences and budget, then categorize them according to the applications you’re looking to try, e.g., web-based or mobile testing of apps.
For instance, Selenium is the most used test automation tool for web automation. Selenium is the most popular, with 21.4 percent of organizations choosing Selenium over other frameworks in this classification.
Appium leads the list for testing mobile apps, with 15.4 percent of businesses choosing Appium over other frameworks.
Because a program is designed to be used on multiple platforms, it’s best to select the type of tool that can be tested on most platforms and systems.
Selecting a cloud-based infrastructure platform such as LambdaTest provides access to over 3000 devices running real operating systems for automated testing.
Furthermore, the cross-browser testing platform lets users test locally or publicly hosted web applications across various operating systems, browsers, and devices.
2. Hiring the Best Testing Team
The team for the project also comprises testers. These are the ones who will eventually utilize the automated test tool. It is essential to think about the level of experience and size of the team of testers. It is vital to select an instrument that is simple for the team of testers to operate and use.
It is vital to select a tool that testers feel comfortable with. Different testers have varying experiences and choices for tech stacks. In light of the diverse nature of the group, it’s essential to pick a strategy that is beneficial to all. The testing team must be in sync with the selected testing automation tool.
3. Budget
What’s your budget? What can you budget for testing automation? In truth, budgetary constraints are the primary aspect of these decisions. Since there are paid and free options, you can pick the most suitable for your requirements and budget.
According to the latest trends in the industry, the market size for Automation Testing has surpassed the $15 billion mark in 2020. In the past, teams and organizations would spend no more than 15 percent of their budgets on testing.
However, today, the figures are now at 30-45 percent. Most teams are focused on automatizing testing, and the cost of testing keeps rising. However, it’s unnecessary to allocate half of your budget for testing just for the sake of it!
If you’re worried about the financial consequences of testing tolls, Don’t be. LambdaTest could bring this ratio down by a significant amount.
LambdaTest offers a variety of plans that can meet a variety of test requirements. Select a plan that is compatible with your requirements, and get the most efficient test automation setting, then save your wallet! You only pay for the services you utilize.
4. Designing Test Scripts and Writing Test Cases
Based on the three initial points, you can select the appropriate tool for automation according to your team’s compatibility and budget, as well as the requirements for software and the test method. The fourth essential component of a well-designed test automation plan is the creation of test scenarios and test scripts.
Many people need clarification on test cases with test scripts. We must first determine the difference between them. What is an example of a test script? A test script is an application that tests certain functions in an automated way. Test scripts are typically created using a set of commands and some programming.
5. Executing Test Plan
After having written the cases, it is essential to plan the execution. Understanding when and how to run automated tests is as crucial as writing the test case. Creating a test execution plan involves incorporating the top tools for CI/CD, such as Jenkins, defining the process during which test executions are to occur and establishing the control of versions.
LambdaTest is a testing platform that can integrate different version-control systems with the CI/CD process. You can configure any of your preferred version control systems using LambdaTest and then conduct the test in live mode.
It is crucial to understand the priority of execution; each test case must be completed first, after which regression and integration testing must be conducted. Additionally, each modification and deployment should be followed by regression testing to verify that the changes are correct and functioning as intended.
6. Result and Documentation
An effective strategy for testing automation is only complete with a finalization. In the end, the results of an automated test can verify whether the software or functionality is functioning as intended if it’s working, great! Transfer it into the following step. What happens if tests fail or find a flaw?
If the test causes defects or bugs, it is essential to have an orderly flow of how the issue is resolved or who will be given for further actions. It’s much easier to manage when proper documentation is in place.
An entire documentation of the end of the project contains the test scenarios, the list of tests to be conducted for functionality, results analysis of results and assigner, assignee workflow, and more.
The process of including automated testing in a project is laborious. However, the proper documents and decision-making get the job accomplished better.
Best Practices For a Successful Test Automation In 2024
1. Hurdles of Automated Testing
When you have built a testing team, the second step will be to figure out what’s stopping your team from advancing toward automated testing. The most common reason is the desire to learn a brand new language of programming.
What team can learn a new programming language and successfully implement a test automation program? These are the challenges the team must overcome. To conquer these fears, teams should begin small.
2. Choosing the Right Tools and Frameworks
The primary goal is to familiarize your team with the framework and tools you want to implement. The selection of the automation tool indeed has a significant impact.
The software you choose to use can be free and open source or commercial ones that have to be bought, but they have more features and provide more assistance.
The tool’s features must match the software application’s testing requirements that need to be examined. It must be compatible with a variety of languages of programming, operating systems, and other operating systems.
3. Which Test to Automate
The first and most important thing is that the team needs to decide the tests to automate. While you can automate tests, it doesn’t mean it has to be applied to every test. It’s optional to automate every test. A lot of tests would be better off being conducted by hand.
Automating complicated and seldom utilized tests is a certain fail and doesn’t warrant your team’s effort. Also, make an inventory of the web browsers and gadgets that are crucial to your specific test suite.
4. Correct Task Allocations
The creation of various tests reflects QA engineers’ proficiency levels. This is why knowing each member’s skills and experience is crucial.
After that, split the testing tasks according to the team member’s expertise. For instance, writing test scripts requires knowledge of scripting language.
To be able to accomplish these tasks, you must have QA experts who understand the scripting language used through the automatic testing software.
The effectiveness of an automation strategy depends on the proper assignment of tasks to the personnel in accordance with the schedule of tests, the experts’ knowledge, and the testing team’s size.
5. Divide into Smaller Modules
Doing smaller modules allows project managers to keep track of the test coverage effectively and know the exact whereabouts of the defect or error. It’s also easier for testers to create test scripts for small modules.
6. Creating a Custom Test Environment
Creating a custom test environment can only be accomplished by replicating the production environment. It means that the test environment needs to be equipped with testing automation systems and tools that aid in developing software with custom configurations.
7. Code Reusability
The most frequent automatization task is locating the appropriate element for each action, such as click, enter, or enter. Code reusability is crucial, as finding the exact component for every step wastes time. Instead, you should create it once and reuse it whenever required.
The quality of a software or app is contingent on the efficiency and effectiveness of its software testing program. Test automation will only aid in achieving the highest quality software and decrease time-to-market if it follows certain best methods.
Conclusion
The initial setup and plan of testing automation could have some loopholes, and it can also seem daunting. However, as time passes and you learn, things come together! After the initial steps have been followed, automation testing could yield huge profits for you.
LambdaTest is the software that will help you complete your work quicker and more efficiently. It also supports the 35 most popular automation frameworks and every Selenium version; the tool allows the possibility to conduct automated tests on the online device farm, including 3000+ browsers and various operating systems.
Additionally, you get the ability to test on real-world devices. It doesn’t matter if it’s a mobile or desktop, Windows, iOS, or Android. With the cross-browser test feature of LamdaTest, it is possible to run tests with various browsers, devices, and browser versions, including operating systems.
