What is Automation Testing?

Automation testing is a software development process that uses programming techniques to execute a predefined set of test cases. These automated tests can be rerun at any time so that the execution of the same test cases can be verified by testers and developers.

Automated testing helps identify defects in an application under test quickly, as it reduces the time taken for performing repetitive tasks like manual testing. It also helps to save time when multiple similar tests need to be performed with different data sets or conditions. In addition, automated tests can be easily repeated on different machines and/or different environments (e.g., different browsers or operating systems).

Why is Automation Testing critical in a Software Lifecycle?

Automated software testing is critical in a software lifecycle for several reasons:

• It helps to ensure that your code works as intended by catching bugs before they make their way into production. This saves time and money and increases your credibility as an organization.

• The main reason automated testing is so important is that it allows you to test every aspect of your app without having to manually perform each test. The tests can be run continuously, meaning that any problems will be detected as soon as they occur. This ensures that the quality of your product remains high at all times.

• Automated software testing uses fewer resources than manual testing—meaning that you can get more done with less effort!

• It offers consistent results. Automated testing is repeatable and reliable, which means that the same test result will always be obtained with the same inputs. This consistency helps developers to maintain high-quality standards while they are working on new code or refactoring old code.

• It improves test coverage and reduces human error risks. Automated tests can be run over and over again in an automated manner, which helps to ensure that all parts of an application are tested properly and thoroughly during development phases, as well as after deployments when regression testing is required for maintaining good quality levels throughout product life cycles.

• It provides more accurate results than manual testers do because it can perform thousands of tests every day without fatigue or boredom from repetitive tasks (which often happens with manual testers).

What tests should be automated?

The first thing to consider is what kind of software test automation you want to do. There are many different types of test automation, including:

Functional testing

Functional testing involves checking that an application or website performs its basic functions correctly. This type of automated testing is often used in conjunction with unit tests since it’s easier to check that a single module works correctly than the entire system does. It also allows you to verify that changes made in one part of the application haven’t broken anything else.

Load/performance testing

Load and performance testing involves simulating heavy loads on your application or website (or even just parts of it) so that you can identify bottlenecks and other problems before they occur during real use. You can do this by using tools like JMeter or Locust, which simulate traffic from multiple users hitting your site at once and measuring how quickly it responds.

Getting Started with Automation Testing

Set a realistic goal

Automation testing is not a silver bullet. It can be a great help, but it’s not going to solve all of your problems. It may even create some new ones! Automated tests are only as good as their test cases and input data; if you don’t design your test cases carefully, you could end up wasting time on false positives (tests that pass when they should fail) or false negatives (tests that fail when they should pass).

The best way to avoid these issues is to set realistic goals for automation testing. You should have one primary goal in mind when starting with automation.

Know what not to automate

Automation testing is not a substitute for manual testing. Automation cannot replace the knowledge and experience of a skilled tester. Automation testing should be used to complement manual testing and not as an alternative.

Automated tests can provide consistent results and reduce test execution time, but they cannot replicate human intuition, judgment, or creativity. Therefore, automated tests must be complemented by manual tests to achieve the best quality possible for an application under test (AUT).

Select the right tools

Selecting the right tools for your automation testing efforts is a critical step. You should choose software testing tools that help you achieve your automation testing goals efficiently and effectively.

There are many automation tools available on the market, such as Selenium, Appium, Robot Framework, etc. Selecting an automation tool depends on various factors like cost, performance, etc. It is best to select a tool that meets your requirements and allows you to perform only those tests that you want to automate.

Select the right test grid

Test grids are a combination of the number of tests to be run and the number of users who will be using your application. For example, if you want to test 10 features in your application and have 100 testers, then you need a test grid of 10 x 100 = 1,000 tests.

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