Top 5 Automated Testing Best Practices

In a time when smoothly running applications are more critical than ever for businesses, test automation has come to play a prominent part. It shortens development cycles, offers help with repetitive tasks, and improves product quality.

Having a bug-free website is a primary requirement for success in the digital arena. While some testing processes will always require human intervention, automation testing simplifies testers’ lives. For example, integration tests and regression tests are most suitable for machines.

But achieving benefits like a shorter time to market, higher ROI, and better software quality is not a piece of cake. The automated Software Testing platform you use has a significant role to play. Testers need to know the best practices for automated app testing to get these benefits. In this post, we will look in detail at the top 5 automated testing best practices. Let’s dive right in.

1. Begin Testing in Early Phases and Make it Frequent

The worst practice you can do as a tester is to pile up code for testing later. Is there any unit ready to undergo automated tests? If yes, ditch the hesitations and test it out as soon as possible. This will help the QA team recognize and rectify errors instantly. This also reduces higher complications in the later stages.

Besides beginning to test in the early stages, you should also repeat tests often. When the frequency of performing tests is high, it eliminates the chances of having many problems during product launches. This practice helps an organization save money, resources, and time.

2. Create a Well-Planned Strategy

Now that it is clear how crucial it is to test early and a lot, it’s time to develop a well-planned testing strategy. Start by identifying the test cases you can automate. Your plan should carefully craft an entire system to identify the test cases for automation and a proven-for-success automation approach.

Testers need to realize that they won’t be able to automate all test cases. There are three main types of test cases:

• Those you always run
• Those you only run in some scenarios
• Those you run before release (key functionality ones)

Like the above three categories, you can identify many more scenarios and put the identified test cases into these. Try to automate those test cases that take the most of your time. When you complete the identification, it’s time to start developing test cases.

Start by writing the ones documenting the test objective, test requirements, expected outcomes, and failure criteria. You should also substantiate test success by determining checkpoints.

3. Select The Right Test Automation Tool

The success of test automation is highly dependent on picking the right tool. Here are some key pointers to consider while choosing yours.

• Depending on what you are testing and the operating system you are working with, you should check the tool’s technology and the platform it supports.
• The tool used select should be flexible for testers with different skill levels.
• Your tool should be rich in features, but it shouldn’t complicate the creation of automated tests. Your tests also shouldn’t break if your UI changes.
• Your test automation tool should easily integrate with other components of an existing ecosystem such as CI / CD pipeline, defect management system, test management system, and source control. Some popular tools you should check its integration with include Git, Zephyr, Azure DevOps, JIRA, and Jenkins.

A lot of companies rush towards some sort of listed best test automation tool throughout the industry. While that’s an excellent way to narrow down some options, you should always check the automation framework that works for your business needs. You can always take free trials to determine whether a tool suits your business.

4. Remove Uncertainties and Add Comments

The whole reason behind automated testing is to discover errors and bugs and rectify them quickly. An issue arises in case a test fails. That’s when developers identify and resolve problems with code optimization as the primary intent.

However, false results and inconsistencies can create further issues. If a false positive or a false negative occurs, there is an issue with the test. So, you should focus on reviewing the automated tests to eliminate uncertainties by regularly updating them as and when required.

Also, you should always add relevant comments wherever required. This practice comes in handy when multiple engineers are working on the same code. After all, that’s better than expecting all team members to be mind readers!

5. Create UI Resistant Test Cases

It’s common for an application’s user interface to undergo changes between builds in earlier phases of the Software Development Life Cycle. Sometimes these changes have a significant impact on test results. For instance, if the testing tool uses location coordinates for finding an object, it won’t be able to do so in case the location changes. In other words, when the test runs in such a situation, it will fail.

You can replace old names in the whole project right before you run the test against the app’s new version to ensure success. By providing separate names for controls you don’t have to change the test to ensure the smooth working of your automated tests.

Conclusion

The benefits of test automation would go beyond the scope of this article. But one thing is for sure. Following the above best practices is crucial to make the most out of your automated testing efforts. If you have decided to transition to automation testing, these best practices can be your initial guide to making the switch.

These practices will also help eliminate common blunders and your automated mobile testing process. It minimizes many post-launch issues when you implement test automation with the right approach.

Test automation already requires much effort, especially in the implementation phases. But if you follow the suitable methods to unleash its true potential, it will all be worth the effort. Understandably, implementing these practices all of a sudden can be tricky. Therefore, if you have any doubts are queries, sound off in the comments section below.