Automation is a crucial part of all modern development processes. Be it Waterfall, Agile, or any other methodology used, they all play a part in continuous development, integration, testing, and more. For developers, this means 10, 20, 50 releases per year. Pushing out so many updates and builds with no automation would be a pain in the neck.
Automated testing is a way out for all companies who are already using or are looking forward to implementing Agile into their workflows. On top of that, the quality of testing and the number of detected errors is higher when the workflow is automated.
How to approach automated testing? What should a developer do to create an efficient ecosystem for running scripts? In this post, we’ll touch on automated strategies in detail.
What Is Automated Testing?
This approach to testing has become extremely popular as companies start to transition towards DevOps. Opposite to a traditional development environment, companies have started performing testing not at the end of the cycle but early on.
In order to be able to run dozens of small tests simultaneously without creating a bottleneck for developers and stalling the process, QA professionals have picked up on automated testing. Essentially, it allows them to:
Automated Testing Strategy
In general, an automated testing strategy includes the overall approach to testing and reporting. All the processes are outlined and planned along with the expectations for the testing cycle.
When working on an automation strategy for testing sessions, testers will start from outlining the following points:
While the structure of the strategy is highly depending on the structure of the company, the number of people involved, and the methodology a business has adopted, the number of steps and actions to take remains fairly steady.
Here’s an example of automated testing strategy you can use for executing scripts.
Step 1. Choose cases for automated testing
As much as developers would want automated testing from A to Z, there are bottlenecks that can only be assessed manually to the fullest of their extent. So, before figuring out the logistics of automated testing, you will have to decide which cases will be up for automation.
If your test case matches one of the following categories, you can be confident about automating it:
Step 2. Hire an automation engineer or a team
After you have determined a set of cases that will be up for testing, it’s time to choose a team to help you with the execution. Hiring an automation engineer is not an easy task especially if you want him to be versatile and capable of creating multi-faceted scripts.
Here are a few tips to reduce the number of challenges down the road and help you find a fit candidate in no time.
While skills are crucial when it comes to looking for an automation engineer, salaries are still a factor to consider. In case you’re not familiar with the job market, here are the salaries of a junior, middle, and senior automation professional.
Job title | Hourly rate | Yearly salary |
Junior Automation Engineer | $18.64 | $55,000 |
Middle Automation Engineer | $30.29 | $74,000 |
Senior Automation Engineer | $50.73 | $102,000 |
All the data is provided by Payscale (April 2019)
Step 3. Select the Right Automation Tool
Choosing a suite of tools for testing is crucial when it comes to an automated testing strategy. You need to ensure all the software you use for script execution would improve, not limit the process. At the moment, there are dozens of solutions with a similar range of features – choosing the one to go with is, by no means, easy. For high-performance API architectures, a gRPC load testing tool can be particularly valuable in ensuring the scalability and efficiency of your services.
That’s why a developer needs a set of criteria to use for support. Here are a few factors that influence the set of tools a QA specialist chooses to go with:
Step 4. Create the test automation framework
When creating a test automation framework, a QA specialist has to ensure it is scalable. Keep in mind that the framework is rarely used for a single project – instead, it is a template of test automation strategy, guidelines, and principles your testers should be capable of using for any kind of automated testing.
While your testing framework will depend on the scope of testing and the tools you choose to handle executions, here are a few general tips to take into account.
Step 5. Getting your team up to speed with automation
Establishing an agile and comprehensive testing framework is crucial – but it’s even more important to ensure a testing team adheres to it. If you’re a business owner or a project manager, it’s your job to establish a link between testers and developers as well as within the testing team itself.
Here are a few tips that will help you onboard QA specialists faster and build teamwork within the department.
Step 6. Setting up the testing environment
The test environment is a combination of software and hardware needed to test the performance of the system. Setting it up the right way is the bedrock of a successful testing session. Here’s a short checklist for creating a favorable environment for automated tests.
Step 7. Developing An Execution Plan
When a team lead is understood by their team, understands its expertise and the range of cases and tools used for testing, and the environment is up and running, it’s time to elaborate on a detailed execution automated testing plan.
Here’s what it normally consists of:
Step 8. Writing Scripts
One of the crucial steps of the automated testing strategy is writing scripts for execution. In order to make sure your automated tests are efficient and assess the functionality of the application to the best extent possible, consider paying attention to the following guidelines:
Step 9. Reporting
After a series of tests is executed, a QA manager has to capture insights and put them into a readable and concise document that will help developers improve the product. While there are tools that create reports automatically – you’d only need to revise the content – there are a few tips that make test results reporting easier and way more efficient.
Step 10. Script maintenance
Creating a low-maintenance reusable test suite is a struggle for a fair share of testing teams. There are QA specialists who put no emphasis on test suite maintenance whatsoever – as a result, their scripts end up stale and underused.
Here are a few tips for testers who are eager to improve script maintenance.
Automated Testing at PFLB
In case you’re looking for a team of experienced testers and automation engineers, be sure to contact PFLB. Our team will create and execute an automated testing strategy that will comply with your company’s development methodology and will be non-invasive to developers.
Here are the types of automated testing we normally handle:
Do you want a team of certified testers to handle your next big project? Contact us today – PFLB will be happy to get on board. You can also take a look at the full list of performance testing services we offer to choose which type of testing your project needs.
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