Automated testing

Automated software testing is one of the software quality assurance methods by which QA engineers detect bugs, errors, defects and any other problems that arise during product development. Unlike manual testing, automated testing is not performed by a person, but with the help of special services and programs.

Automated testing has significant advantages over manual testing:

• Saving time. Programs run faster than humans and maintain high accuracy, so automation can shorten the product development cycle. This is especially true in large and SaaS projects, where testing is a routine and daily process.
• Possibility of reuse. The test script is created once and can be used later without restrictions, including in other projects.

• Lack of human factor. It is human nature to succumb to emotions and fatigue, which can cause errors in manual testing. The program, on the other hand, always works in the same way, which is why the likelihood of flaws in the QA department is minimized.
• Load testing capability. With the help of special software, a tester can simulate a large number of users online and check how the product works under high loads, which is almost impossible to achieve in manual testing.
• Quality reports. Based on the results of testing, the program generates a complete and comprehensive report in the prescribed format.
  QA tests can be run at any time of the day and seven days a week. This makes it possible to check the correctness of the code as many times as you like – at least after each change.

The process of automated testing is carried out according to a certain algorithm, which can be divided into six successive stages:

• Definition of volume.

Test scope is a list of product features, parts, or integrations that need to be tested. At the same stage, you need to determine which tests will be performed automatically and which manually.

• Tool selection.

There are many test automation tools on the market. When choosing one of them, the technology, functionality and specifics of the software product are taken into account. The budget of the project should also be taken into account.

• Strategy Development.

A testing strategy is necessary to organize the process. It is a detailed work plan that describes the general approach to testing and its ultimate goal.

• Setting up the testing environment.

Before proceeding with direct testing, a team of QA engineers configures the software and hardware that will be used in the work.

• Script writing.

At this stage, QA specialists create test scenarios based on real project requirements. They should be scalable, reusable and easy to understand.

• Test execution and reports.

The QA department runs automated tests and checks the correctness of the software product. Based on the results of this check, a report is generated, which contains comprehensive information about errors and defects in the code. Based on the test results, the TOR is generated for developers for debugging.

It is worth adding that it is important to perform automated testing from scratch – from the first steps of software development. This will make it possible to detect serious bugs in the project immediately and fix them in a timely manner.

It is impossible to fully automate the testing process, since only a person can detect some errors, especially when it comes to checking UI interfaces. But there are types of tests that benefit the most from automation.

Unit testing

Such tests are aimed at checking the performance of individual modules – parts of the code that do not depend on the rest of the application. This is a routine and time-consuming task that can be easily automated.

Integration testing

The testing stage, which checks the performance of a group of modules combined into a coherent mechanism.

Smoke testing

Smoke, or “smoke” testing is a type of QA designed to detect obvious errors that may occur even in the early stages of software development. Most often done by a programmer.

Functional testing

The task of this type of testing is to check the software product for compliance with functional requirements – whether it is capable of solving the tasks assigned to it. Most often, functional testing does not include code review.

Regression Testing

It is carried out every time after debugging bugs found in the software. Helps testers to make sure that the developer correctly fixed the defects, and that the corrections he made to the code did not lead to unforeseen changes in other parts of the product.

Performance Tests

During such testing, QA engineers simulate a high load on a software product, as if tens of thousands of people use it simultaneously in different conditions: they log in from different browsers and operating systems, in different time zones, etc. In fact, performance testing has no alternative methods in manual testing.

AVADA-MEDIA performs all types of automated software testing. For each project, we develop a unique QA strategy and write our own scripts to ensure an unrivaled level of quality control.

To learn more about how we perform software testing, contact us by filling out the form below.