The Benefits of Automated Testing You Should Know About

What is the value of automated testing? Learn which projects can benefit the most.

Developing software products is a complex, multistep process, carefully designed and executed by the development team. In these jigsaw puzzles of tools, frameworks, methods and requirements, quality assurance is an important piece. However, it shifted places over the years. In more conservative, older software development methodologies like the Waterfall Model, it took place relatively late in the process. In the newer, fast-paced, software testing agile methods, it’s performed in parallel with the programming. The focus now is on delivering continuous, high-quality value to the customer. And here is where test automation can resolve many head-scratching issues.

What is automation testing

In IT, we have multiple types of testing. The most popular of them are, of course, automated and manual testing. By automation testing, we mean writing scripts that can be run automatically. In the limited time and cost, it could be implemented to cover the most risk-prone areas and key features of the product or taken further to test the whole system thoroughly. Test automation can be performed in multiple technologies, as there are many automated testing tools which are widely used and supported. To make the testing process of writing efficient and the code easy to maintain, you can decide to use Selenium, Cypress, Playwright or Appium. The developer will be able to advise which one of the available solutions is the best for the project. The tester and developer must have a good workflow to simplify the development process and deliver the best version of the project to the client.
Before we jump to the benefits of automated testing, and also a couple of examples where automated software testing is not a medicine, let’s stress that there is no software without defects, even if the test automation is in place. Catching all the bugs in the early stages but also in the next steps in product development is simply not possible due to limitations of time, budget and human factors. Unless the system is very simple, there is no way to test it with all possible input data and preconditions. Therefore, testing only shows the presence of defects, not their absence. There are bugs we know and bugs we don’t know that we don’t know, as Socrates would probably say.

Benefits of Automated Testing

In the fast pace of continuous software development, where a new version is released many times a year, there is a high risk of breaking an old feature. Growing project complexity makes it unavoidable but also makes thorough regression testing take longer with each new version. When executed manually, these repetitive tests are also prone to human errors.

Fortunately, here is where automation shines the brightest.

Automated testing helps with that kind of problem. Automated test scripts speed up time-consuming tests that need to be performed often. A typical scenario is to run regression every night, so no human involvement is needed at that point. Next, the tester (also known as a QA Specialist) analyzes the results in the morning during working hours. Instead of a few days or even weeks, such tests take just one night’s sleep.

The development and maintenance of automated tests takes much longer than manual testing. But the value of putting effort and money into it grows with every test run. Automatic testing can be run an unlimited number of times. It shows software defects almost instantly after they are introduced.

From the business perspective, automation testing with the help of monitoring can shed light on some essential aspects. It makes it clear how many hours are saved on manual testing in general. Also, it shows how much less time is needed for regression testing in comparison to performing it manually. The number of additional testing cycles, the percentage of automated tests in comparison to all tests in the test suite, and the rise of code coverage with tests can be easily measured.

Which Projects Can Gain the Most from Automation Testing?

In some projects, the return on investment in automation is bigger than in others. It should be decided early whether it’s the right turn to take because only the system designed from the very beginning with it in mind will allow testing to be smooth and seamless. Let’s point out just a few factors to take into account.
Long-term projects lasting over a year can definitely benefit more because of the time available to develop the tests and the significant number of manual testing hours to save. If an application is extensive, and the need for manual testing time is ever-growing, test automation will solve the problem.

The projects differ not only in the duration of development but also in the support time of the previous versions. If the plan is to maintain the system for a long time, then automation will reduce the cost and labour of repetitive testing of those versions. The same tests solve the quality assurance headaches of development in short cycles, where testing must be done quickly. While there might not be sufficient time for meticulous manual testing between releases, once written, automation tests can fill that gap.

The other software for which automation may be essential are safety-dependent projects, where catching the bugs at the early stage can be a matter of life and death. It does not mean only plane or resuscitation machine software; it could also be any health-related app or navigation app.

Projects that require testing with a big amount of data are also front runners for testing automation. Feeding the test with different sets of inputs and having the script show immediately if the result is correct is an immense assurance that no test passed falsely due to calculation error.

What About Manual Testing? Is it necessary?

But does it all mean that there is no need for a manual tester if the project is tested automatically? The answer is no. All test cases should always be tested manually at least once. Having in mind what’s been said, some projects may not benefit from automated testing as much. If the project is uncomplicated and development short-lasting, the test automation may not be worth the effort and cost. Also, for projects whose requirements are changing often, the test automation will only introduce a high cost of rewriting the tests with every change.

You are still not sure if you should use automated software testing? You can contact us, and we will answer all of your questions. We will execute a deep research of your project and give you a plan for the testing process.