How Can You Automate Your QA Testing?

As software complexity intensifies and consumer expectations soar, developers face mounting pressure to deliver new applications and updates swiftly. Despite the need for speed, comprehensive automation testing remains vital to uncovering bugs and ensuring software excellence.

In response, many organizations leverage automated testing to expedite workflows and optimize the efficiency of the quality assurance (QA) process. While manual testing retains its significance, automation offers startups and enterprises alike the opportunity to economize time and resources.

What does QA Automation entail?

QA Automation, also known as Automation Testing, involves the creation of automated scripts to conduct software tests using automation testing tools. These scripts can be executed repeatedly, performing tasks previously carried out manually by testers. In essence, QA automation tools streamline repetitive testing tasks, enhancing test coverage and mitigating the possibility of human errors.

Furthermore, with the integration of third-party reporting libraries, automation testing can present test results with a range of statistics, including details such as Passed, Failed, Skipped, environment specifics, execution time, step details, graphical representations, and trends.

Beyond simplifying repetitive tasks, automation testing enables the execution of more complex tests that may be challenging or time-consuming to conduct manually. It also allows the software testing team to concentrate on intricate test cases that cannot be effectively addressed through automation.

When to Implement QA Automation in Testing

• For Repetitive Tests: Automating the execution of a consistent set of test cases for each release is advisable when your project demands it. Not only does this approach free up testers' time, but it also expedites execution with minimal risk of human error.
• Data-Driven Testing: Automation is crucial when there is a need to run the same test cases with varying data sets. Manual testing under such circumstances may lead to monotony for testers, increasing the likelihood of overlooking some data sets. Implementing data-driven automation testing frameworks significantly reduces the time and effort of testing these scenarios.
• Number of Test Cases: The decision to opt for test automation hinges on the volume of test cases within a test suite. While manual testing is suitable for smaller projects with fewer test cases, automation becomes imperative for larger projects with a substantial number of test cases.
• Regression or Smoke Testing: Automated testing is well-suited for regression and smoke testing suites, as they must be executed after each defect fix cycle and at the commencement of each test cycle, respectively, to ascertain the absence of new defects and the proper functioning of the application's core features.
• Order of Executing Test Cases: In projects where the sequence of executing test cases is critical, automation proves advantageous. Manual execution in such cases requires QA team members to memorize the execution order for each iteration, adding complexity, time consumption, and potential errors. Automation allows for the setting of test case order and priorities in the desired sequence.
• Cross-Platform Testing: Automating tests across multiple environments or systems is essential, as manual execution is time-consuming and prone to errors. Manually conducting tests across various systems would necessitate a testing team corresponding to the number of systems to be tested. 

Automation streamlines this process by enabling the simultaneous execution of the same automation script across multiple systems.

How does QA Automation function?

• Establish Objectives: Before commencing QA automation, it is essential to define the long-term and short-term goals of test automation. Discussing with senior management and stakeholders to outline the roadmap is crucial.
• Test Approach Planning: Recognize the various testing levels and avoid conflating automation solely with end-to-end testing. Emphasize the construction of test pyramids for a comprehensive testing approach.
• Select a Framework: After comprehending the business value, selecting an appropriate framework is pivotal. Discuss the available automation frameworks with the team to choose the most suitable one.
• Test Automation Environment: Understand the application's anticipated usage environment for validation, whether it be development, staging, production, or a combination of these. Implementing an efficient test grid that facilitates parallel testing is also critical, enabling the simultaneous execution of multiple tests on multiple devices.
• Risk Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of potential risks associated with automation testing and effectively communicate these findings to management. Be mindful of the risks inherent in the chosen tools and strategy.
• Develop, Execute, and Maintain Tests: Initiate the creation of automation tests, prioritizing critical features initially. Execute these test cases regularly and ensure timely maintenance, as active development may prompt adjustments.
• DevOps Integration: Integration with DevOps reduces the testing team's dependence, enabling any team member to execute tests and obtain reports.
• Reporting: Generate comprehensive reports that encompass the total number of test cases, along with the count of passed and failed cases. Ensure the report is intelligible to individuals without technical expertise.
• Review and Retrospect: Continuously review test scripts, pinpointing causes of false failures and factors influencing test case creation. Explore ways to enhance the process, aligning with the original goals and automation strategy.

Advantages of QA Automation

Let us examine some of the business merits associated with the adoption of QA automation:

• Reduced Testing Time and Costs: The consistent release of applications necessitates thorough software testing to identify and resolve any potential software defects. Manual testing, while essential, can impede the timely release of updates. QA automation resolves this issue by enabling the execution of the same test scripts on various hardware and software configurations, allowing for continuous testing. Automation testing is notably faster than manual testing, leading to decreased testing time and overall costs.
• Enhanced Product Quality: QA automation expands the overall scope of the testing process, enabling the execution of numerous test cases simultaneously across multiple platforms and devices. Unlike manual testing, automation testing can thoroughly explore applications, scrutinizing memory data, data tables, and internal file structures. 

This comprehensive approach contributes to improved product quality and performance. Moreover, automated regression testing efficiently examines all application features, a challenging feat for manual testing.

• Optimized Resource Utilization: Automation testing allows QA team members to redirect their expertise toward more advanced product testing endeavors. By automating functional and regression test cases, the dependency on a large QA team diminishes, resulting in reduced expenses associated with recurrent hiring and training of software testers. 

Experienced QA resources can thus focus on devising superior test cases, dedicating less time to routine and repetitive testing procedures.

• Integration with CI/CD and DevOps: Managing manual testing becomes increasingly complex as software code grows intricate and the number of test cases expands. QA automation resolves this complexity, facilitating a smoother transition to the Continuous Improvement & Delivery (CI/CD) mode. Automation testing supports continuous testing, an essential requirement for successful DevOps implementation.

Challenges in QA Automation

QA automation encounters several hurdles that demand effective solutions. Here are the primary challenges:

• Dependency on Human Expertise: Despite the emphasis on automation, test automation tools cannot fully replace skilled human testers. While automation simplifies tasks, it cannot substitute for the judgment and capabilities of an adept tester. Successful automated QA testing relies on skilled professionals with in-depth programming knowledge and testing tool proficiency.
• Tool Selection Complexity: With a myriad of automated testing tools available, selecting the most suitable tool becomes a challenging task. Each tool may not be adaptable to all applications or software architectures, making the selection process intricate.
• Initial Setup Expenses: Implementing an automated test framework often presents significant challenges and initial setup costs for product companies. The maintenance of test automation frameworks is complex and demands substantial resources, including proficient testing professionals well-versed in testing tools and programming languages.
• Inadequate Team Collaboration: Optimal results in QA automation necessitate seamless collaboration and communication between software testers, developers, business analysts, and project managers. Inefficient team collaboration can lead to delays in both development and testing activities.

Best Practices for QA Automation

• Assess test cases for automation: Not all tests are suitable for automation, particularly those requiring human intervention. Identify cases that demand repetitive execution or various data sets as prime candidates for automation. Prioritize automating crucial tests like Smoke and Sanity tests performed regularly for each iteration or release.
• Opt for the right automation tool: Select an automation tool according to the project's platform and technology. Consider team members' proficiency and experience with various programming languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, or C#. Assess the project's budget to decide between open-source or commercial tools like Selenium, Cypress, or Katalon.
• Divide work based on team expertise: Allocate tasks based on team members' skills. Some excel in framework creation and utility structuring, while others are adept at writing test scripts. Properly assigning responsibilities helps expedite automation testing efforts.
• Develop scalable data-driven tests: Create comprehensive test data stored separately in various formats such as XML, Excel sheets, or JSON files. Using external data enables reusable and maintainable automated tests, facilitating the addition of new data scenarios without modifying test scripts.
• Test on real devices: Given the proliferation of device types, it's vital to test applications on the latest devices and browsers before deployment. While establishing an in-house device lab is challenging, leveraging a cloud-based testing platform, such as LambdaTest's real device cloud, is a practical solution. 

LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform for executing manual and automated tests on a large scale. With this platform, users can conduct both real-time and automated testing across over 3000 environments and genuine mobile devices.

Conclusion

Automated testing is an efficient strategy to accelerate the testing procedure and ensure increased precision, leading to significant time and cost savings. Employing both automated and manual testing in tandem can maximize the identification of bugs and flaws.

While automation streamlines testing, certain essential tasks still require human input, such as strategizing the automation process, selecting suitable automation tools, and developing, sustaining, and managing continuous integration and deployment. It's crucial to acknowledge that a certain degree of manual testing remains imperative and cannot be entirely replaced within the realm of Software Testing.