Automation Testing Tutorial for Beginners (Process, Benefits, Tools)

What is Automation Testing and How Does It Work?

Automation Testing, often known as Test Automation, is a software testing approach that involves the execution of a test case collection using particular automated testing software tools. On the other hand, manual testing is carried out by a person sitting in front of a computer, methodically carrying out the test processes.

In addition to entering test data into the System Under Test, the automated testing software may analyze predicted and actual outcomes and provide complete test reports. Software Test Automation necessitates significant financial and human resources.

Continuous implementation of the same test suite will be required in subsequent development cycles. This test suite may be recorded and replayed as needed using a test automation tool. There is no need for human interaction after the test suite has been automated. Test Automation's return on investment has increased as a result of this. The purpose of automation is to minimize the number of test cases that must be done by humans, not to completely remove human testing.

In this automated software testing course, you'll master the fundamentals of test automation, including −

• What are Automation Testing and How Does It Work?

• What Are the Benefits of Automated Testing?

• What Test Cases Should Be Automated?

• Method of Automated Testing

• Choosing a test tool

• Describe the automation's scope.

• Planning, Design, and Development are all important aspects of any project.

• Implementation of the Test

• The Automation Framework

• Best Practices for Automation Tools

• Advantages of Automated Testing

• Automated Testing Types

• What Should You Look for in an Automation Tool?

• Automated Testing Software

What are the benefits of test automation?

Test automation is the most effective technique to improve software testing effectiveness, test coverage, and execution speed. The importance of automated software testing may be summed up as follows −

• Manual testing takes time and money to test all procedures, fields, and bad cases.

• Manually testing for multilingual sites is challenging.

• In software testing, test automation eliminates the need for human interaction. Unattended automated testing is possible (overnight)

• Test automation accelerates the execution of tests.

• Increased Test Coverage is aided by automation.

• Manual testing may become tedious and, as a result, prone to errors.

What Test Cases Should Be Automated?

To maximize the automation ROI, test cases to be automated might be chosen based on the criteria below.

• High-risk – critical-to-business test scenarios

• Test scenarios that are run on a regular basis

• Manually doing test cases that are time consuming or challenging

• Test Cases that take a long time to complete

Test cases in the following categories are not appropriate for automation −

• Newly developed test cases that have not been personally performed at least once

• Test cases in which the requirements change regularly

• Test cases that are run on an as-needed basis.

Process of Automated Testing

In an Automation Process, the stages are as follows −

Step 1 − Choose a test tool

Step 2 − Define the Automation Scope

Step 3 − Design, Planning, and Development

Step 4 − Execution of the Test

Step 5 − Maintenance

Choosing a test tool

The technology that the Application under Test is based on has a big impact on the Test Tool you choose. QTP, for example, does not support Informatica. As a result, QTP will not be able to test Informatica apps. Conducting a Proof of Concept of Tool on AUT is an excellent idea.

Define the automation's scope

The area of your Application Under Test that will be automated is referred to as the scope of automation. The following factors aid in determining scope −

• The elements that are critical to the company's success

• Scenarios with a significant quantity of data

• Functionalities that are shared across apps

• Possibility from a technical standpoint

• The percentage of business components that are reused

• The difficulty of the test cases

• Cross-browser testing using the same test scenarios is possible.

Planning, Design, and Development are all important aspects of any project.

You establish an Automation strategy and plan at this phase, which includes the following details −

• Tools for automation have been chosen.

• The design of the framework and its characteristics

• Automation things that are both in-scope and out-of-scope

• Preparation of an automation testbed

• Scripting and execution schedules and timelines

• Automation Testing Deliverables

Execution of the Test

Automation During this phase, scripts are run. Before they may be configured to run, the scripts need input test data. They generate extensive test results after they've been run.

The automation tool may be used directly or via the Test Management tool, which will launch the automation tool.

For instance, Quality Center is a Test Management solution that, in turn, invokes QTP to run automation scripts. Scripts may run on a single system or across several machines. To save time, the execution might be carried out at night.

Maintenance Methodology for Test Automation

The Test Automation Maintenance Approach is a step of automation testing that is used to see whether the new features introduced to the program are operating properly. When new automation scripts are introduced, they must be evaluated and maintained in order to enhance the efficacy of automation scripts with each release cycle.

The Automation Framework

A framework is a collection of automation principles that aid in the automation process.

• Maintaining Testing Consistency

• Enhances the structure of tests

• Code use is kept to a minimum.

• Code maintenance is reduced.

• Reusability should be improved.

• Involvement of non-technical testers in coding is possible.

• The time it takes to learn how to use the instrument may be cut in half.

• Uses data when it's appropriate

In automated software testing, there are four kinds of frameworks −

• Framework for Data-Driven Automation

• Framework for Keyword-Driven Automation

• Framework for Modular Automation

• Framework for Hybrid Automation

Best Practices for Automation Tools

Keep the following in mind if you want to get the most out of automation.

• Prior to the commencement of the project, the scope of Automation must be specified in detail. This is a good way to establish expectations for Automation.

• Choose the correct automation tool: A tool should not be chosen primarily on its popularity, but rather on its ability to meet the automation needs.

• Select a suitable framework.

• Scripting Standards - When creating automation scripts, standards must be observed. Some of them include −

  • Create code with consistent scripts, comments, and indentation.

  • Appropriate Exception Handling - How errors are handled in the event of a system failure or unexpected application behavior.

  • For Error Logging, user-defined messages should be codified or standardized so that testers can interpret them.

• Measure metrics - The success of automation cannot be judged just by comparing the manual and automated efforts, but rather by collecting the data listed below.

  • Percentage of faults discovered

  • The amount of time necessary for each release cycle's automated testing.

  • Release takes the least amount of time possible.

  • Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) is a measure of how satisfied customers are with

  • Enhancement of productivity

If you follow the above recommendations, your automation will be a huge success.

Advantages of Automated Testing

The following are some of the advantages of test automation −

• Testing is 70% quicker than manual testing.

• More application functionalities are tested.

• dependable in terms of outcomes

• Maintain Consistency

• Saves both time and money

• Enhances precision

• During the execution, no human intervention is necessary.

• Enhances Productivity

• Improved test execution speed

• Test scripts that may be reused

• Frequently and thoroughly test

• Automation allows for a longer cycle of execution.

• Earlier delivery to market

Automated Testing Types

• Testing for Smoke

• Testing at the unit level

• Integrity Checking

• Testing of Functionality

• Keyword Research

• Testing for Regression

• Data-Informed Testing

• Testing in a Black Box

What Should You Look for in an Automation Tool?

Choosing the appropriate instrument might be difficult. The criteria listed below will assist you in choosing the right tool for your needs −

• Support for the Environment

• User-friendliness

• Database Validation

• Object recognition

• Image Evaluation

• Testing for Error Recovery

• Mapping of Objects

• Used Scripting Language

• Support for a variety of test kinds, such as functional, test management, mobile, and so on...

• Multiple testing frameworks are supported

• The automation software scripts are simple to debug.

• The ability to distinguish items in a variety of settings.

• Test reports and findings that are extensive

• Reduce the cost of training for chosen tools.

One of the most difficult difficulties to overcome before automating is tool selection. Identify the needs first, then investigate potential tools and their capabilities, create expectations for the tool, then do a Proof Of Concept.

Automated Testing Software

On the market, there are a plethora of Functional and Regression Testing Tools. Here are the greatest test automation solutions that our experts have recommended.

1. Ranorex Studio

Ranorex Studio, an all-in-one test automation solution, is used by over 14,000 people across the globe to speed up testing. For novices, Ranorex offers simple click-and-go codeless tools and a comprehensive IDE and open APIs for automation specialists.

Features

• End-to-end testing and functional UI on PC, web, and mobile

• Cross-browser testing is a method of determining how well a website works

• SAP, ERP, Delphi, and legacy systems are just a few examples.

• Apple's iOS and Google's Android

• Run tests in parallel on actual or virtual computers, locally or remotely.

• Playback of the test execution on video

• Reporting capabilities built-in

• For a full testing toolchain, Ranorex connects with top technologies like as Jira, Git, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Bamboo, Bugzilla, SpecFlow, NeoLoad, TestRail, and more.

Kobiton

The Kobiton mobile device testing platform supports both scripted and script less test automation. Users may develop manual tests that are automatically re-run on a range of real-world devices. Kobiton fully supports test automation frameworks like Appium, Espresso, and XCTest, as well as providing its own scriptless test automation using NOVA AI.

Features

• Kobiton's device lab management allows you to connect to cloudbased devices, on-premises devices, and on-desk devices.

• Manual test sessions may be converted into scripts that can be run on many devices, allowing users to generate test scripts automatically.

• When a test fails, easily link your defect management system to immediately record tickets with debug sessions attached.

• Appium Anywhere technology from Kobiton guarantees fewer flaky test scripts by ensuring that your test executes the same on all devices.

• Kobiton's scriptless test automation provides open-source Appium code that may be used in a variety of ways.

ZAPTEST

ZAPTEST is a Software Automation solution for any company that utilizes software for operations or development and wants to automate back-office operations or software testing procedures while also developing a revolving automation framework.

Features

• Automated Functional and Performance Testing

• RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation (Robotic Process Automation)

• RPA Software Automation + Seamless Testing

• Execution on Multiple Platforms (Parallel)

• Automated DevOps (Mock-ups)

• API Evaluation

• Auto-Documentation

LambdaTest

LambdaTest is a popular tool for doing automated cross-browser testing. They provide a selenium grid that is ultra-fast, scalable, and secure, allowing customers to conduct tests on over 2000 browsers and operating systems. It works with all modern and older browsers.

Features

• Test execution is quick and flawless thanks to the newest tech stack

• To reduce test cycles, parallel test execution is used.

• Simple connection with CI/CD, project management, and team communication systems.

• Users may test their geo location as well as their locally hosted website.

• Users may use a variety of APIs to get all of the information they need.

• All major languages and frameworks are supported.

Conclusion

Test Automation is a software testing approach that executes a test case set utilizing particular automated testing software tools.

Test automation is the most efficient technique to improve software testing productivity, test coverage, and computational efficiency.

The technology that the Application under Test is based on has a big impact on the Test Tool you choose. Maintenance of Test Automation Approach is a kind of automated testing that is used to see whether the new features introduced to the program are operating properly.

For automation to be effective, the correct automation technology, testing procedure, and team must all be in place. For effective testing, manual and automated approaches should be used together.