What is automation testing and its processes?

Automation testing is a software testing mechanism that performs testing using special software tools to execute a particular set of test cases of software. The automation software can also enter test data into the system under test, compare expected and actual results, and generate detailed test reports.

Due to advancements in technology, automation testing has become a need. Before automation testing, manual testing was the only technique of testing which was time and cost-consuming. Moreover, it was error-prone, increasing the development time, and manually testing multilingual sites makes the task difficult.

Automation testing remarkably increases the test execution and test coverage, thus providing reliable, accurate, and consistent results. we can execute it overnight unattended as it does not require human intervention.

Automated testing process

The following describes the processes involved in automation testing:

Test tool selection

The selection of the testing software needs to be decided before based on the technology of the application tested. For example, UFTAn automated functional testing tool. software does not support Informatica. Therefore, it can not test the application of InformaticaInformatica is a software development company, which offers data integration products.. Before we select a testing tool, its architecture needs to be analyzed and matched with the application tested.

Define the scope of automation

The automation scope is the application parts that are tested automatically. Some of the factors that define the parts of the application that need to be automatically tested include:

• The complexity of test cases

• Pieces of code occupy large memory spaces

• Important and common functionalities in the application

• Pieces of code that are reused often

Planning, design, and development

In this stage of automation testing, the entire testing layout and strategy are designed that would be followed throughout the testing process. This process includes the definition of the objectives and test criteria. It determines test schedules and estimation, plans resource allocation, and more.

Test execution

In this process, the testing software requires the test data, executes it over the application to be tested, and compares the result with the expected results. Once the testing is completed, the software produces a detailed test report. Since it is automation testing, it does not require human intervention and can be done overnight.

Maintenance

Software is passed through a continuous cycle of updates and the addition of new functionalities. This also requires updating the test. Otherwise, it might break the existing test cases. For example, a software update changes the data type of a certain quantity. If the test cases are not updated on time, they might cause errors and fail the execution.