Technology

Top 6 Test Automation Principles

As you all know, testing is integral to the software development lifecycle. No software can ever be released into the market without conducting thorough testing. This ensures that the software works as intended and would not show glitches when consumers finally begin using it.

While testing can be both manual and automated, manual testing is generally considered cumbersome and expensive. As a result, organizations have started shifting to the better alternative of automation testing for conducting tests as and when they want without undergoing high costs.

It can be validated by the recent research conducted by Global Market Insights. According to the report, the automation testing market is expected to grow by over 15% CAGR between 2022 and 2032. It shows the high willingness of companies to introduce DevOps and Agile technologies into testing operations.

When you choose automation testing, the initial investment of writing an automated test is the most crucial one. The developers need to understand some underlying test automation principles to achieve their desired ROI.

This blog will familiarize you with the top 6 principles of automation testing that you should remember before beginning your test automation journey. Read on and find out what you might be missing!

Top 6 Test Automation Principles

Here are the top six principles of test automation that can help businesses reap the benefits to deliver top-notch applications in the market:

1. Tests Should Improve Quality

When it comes to testing, the primary principle is the quality of the code, as it ensures efficiency. It shows that the product can be trusted and relied upon by customers. 

In the software industry, multiple metrics assess the quality of tests, like code coverage, number of defects, test failure rate, CI error rate, readability, maintainability, etc.

2. Tests Should Reduce Risks

The next important principle is to build comprehensive automation test suites that can help in reliable bug detection. With this, the companies can effectively mitigate potential risks in the software development and testing process to launch a flawless application for end users.

With good test cases, you can check every line of code in your application for errors. This helps you check your application from top to bottom. You can also find regressions and run your application across multiple devices, browsers, and environments at a scale to detect glitches most cost-effectively.

3. Tests Must Be Easy To Write And Understand

It entails writing test cases that are simple and straightforward. When you write easy automated test cases, you can enjoy several benefits, like increased test coverage, accessibility to non-technical team members, and reduced test maintenance.

While most tests start as manual tests and then get converted to automated test cases, this results in complicated and flaky tests. It is always better to create tests and codes that are in synergy and easy to understand. It makes the test cases more granular and simple.

By following this essential principle, you can minimize the risks of failures within the tests and prevent false positives and false negatives in your testing process.

4. Tests Must Be Easy To Run

With similar software coming up daily, companies can gain an advantage only when they speed up their testing process and launch software before their competitors. To make it possible, it is vital to create automated tests that are easy to run. 

For tests to be easy to run, they must satisfy the following criteria:

  • Independence: Tests should be independent of each other so that QA teams can run them in any order they desire.
  • Lightweight: Tests should be designed so that they can be run within a reasonable time, i.e., they should not have long wait times.
  • Deterministic: Tests should give the same output, given they are run multiple times with the same input and environment.
  • Granular: Tests are called granular when they are designed in such a way that they can be tested on a specific functionality.
  • Idempotency: Tests should not contain any side effects. These side effects include writing to a file, changing data, and saving to a database.

5. Test Should Help Understand The System

Developers sometimes write code but forget how it works a few days later. This problem worsens when they have to understand the code written by other people.

Therefore, tests should be written in a way that serves as documentation to understand how the system works. When developers and testers are in doubt, they must be able to refer to the test suites to find the best course of action. 

Moreover, they should provide examples of how things work. For example, tests should show developers how an API should respond.  

6. Tests Should Require Minimal Maintenance

As a QA tester, one must focus on writing test cases that are easily executable and maintainable. Any good test will require minimal maintenance from time to time, but you should avoid major maintenance in tests.

You can maintain your test suite by writing enough tests. If errors are getting unnoticed in your testing, add more tests. If some tests break with small changes, you must remove them from the suite.

Finally, choosing the best type of test as per the circumstance is crucial. For example, unit tests are faster, while end-to-end tests are more comprehensive and test the user interface.

Wrapping Up

Those considering testing an expensive endeavor generally deal with the costs of poor-quality test suites. If the tests are not up to the mark, many bugs in the application can spiral out of control if not addressed properly.

To avoid landing in such tricky situations, refining your automation testing strategy and developing tests that can serve as the foundation for the overall testing process is advisable.

By following these six test automation principles, organizations can stay ahead of the learning curve and improve testing efforts. It will accelerate the delivery of superior-quality applications to users that will exceed their expectations. Further, choosing the right automation testing platform can benefit the whole automation process. 

TestGrid is one of the leading AI-powered codeless testing platforms trusted by enterprises and SMEs for end-to-end testing. With TestGrid, you can build logical workflows and leave test creation on the platform and execute recorded tests over scalable infrastructure. Using its self-healing capabilities, the executed tests can be fixed on their own, so you don’t have to waste time. 

When you choose TestGrid, you do not have to worry about installation or setting up. All you have to do is login into your account, and you can access all the browsers and devices on your browser. Thus, the platform streamlines the whole process and simplifies software testing significantly.

Ethan More

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