How To Approach Test Automation

Introduction

Automated testing is in the minds of most software testers, but it is not as easy as it seems. There are many considerations to make before you get started with automated testing. In this article, we will explore some of the different aspects of test automation and how they can be implemented successfully.

Why Automation?

Automation is one of the most powerful tools for improving software quality. It can also save you time and effort, not to mention reduce human errors. So why do so few organizations seem to be taking advantage?

The reason for this is that test automation takes a lot of time, money, and effort—much more than manual testing does. So you might think that there's no way it could be worth all those resources. But if you look at the big picture, automation can actually help improve your product quality over time while reducing costs overall (because fewer bugs will make their way into production).

Key pointers to follow

Automation is not a replacement for manual testing but it is one of the best ways to reduce the effort involved in manual testing. It can also help improve the efficiency of manual testing by reducing the possibility of bugs slipping through because someone forgot to test something. Finally, automation ensures that everything has been tested before an app goes live or gets published.

Tool selection criteria

• Ease of use. The tool should be easy to install, use, and learn.
• Community size. The larger the community is, the more support you can get from other people who have already solved the same problems you are facing and are willing to share their experience with you in terms of best practices or provide help on specific issues that may arise during your test automation journey.
• Open source vs proprietary software. Open-source software is free of charge and can be modified by anyone as long as they comply with standard license agreements put forward by its owner(s). Proprietary software does not allow any modification without prior approval from its owner(s). However, it may cost more than open-source solutions depending on what features are needed for your project requirements and how much customizability is required before deployment at scale across multiple teams within an organization (if applicable).

Automation Implementations Guidelines

Before starting your automation project, you should ask yourself two questions: Why am I doing this? and What do I want to achieve? They may seem obvious, but people often don't think about the reasons for their actions until they've made them. Asking yourself these questions can help you stay focused on your goals and not get distracted by shiny objects (like shiny new UI frameworks).

You can't compare yourself to other people's goals. Every company has its own unique situation, which means that it's impossible to know what would be a realistic target for another firm's web app. So instead of worrying about where everyone else is going, set a goal that's ambitious enough to make you work hard but realistic enough that you have a reasonable chance of achieving it within a reasonable timeframe (e.g., 3-6 months).

Once your team decides on its goal(s), it's time to start working toward them! One way of doing this is by automating smoke tests—the most basic tests possible—so as soon as new features are added or bugs fixed in production code, there's at least some coverage over them from an automated perspective

Test automation is a high-risk and high-reward activity.

Test automation is a high-risk and high-reward activity. High-risk activities have high payoffs, but if you get it wrong, the cost can be very high indeed. The trick with test automation is getting it right: getting the balance between effort and return just right so that you’re able to build on what you’ve got as your needs grow without having to throw away past investments in time or money.

Another thing that makes test automation hard is that it requires skills in areas like programming, testing and project management—skills that don’t normally come together in one person (or team).

Conclusion

At the end of the day, test automation is a high-risk and high-reward activity. If you’re thinking about implementing it for your own projects, then make sure you do your homework first. There are a lot of considerations to think about before diving in headfirst!