What is Test Automation?

 Test automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions. Commonly, test automation involves automating a manual process already in place that uses a formalized testing process.

 Testing tools can help automate tasks such as product installation, test data creation, GUI interaction, problem detection, defect logging, etc.

 Test Automation requires appropriate planning i.e. which tests we have to automate and which we have to perform manually. Also, test automation is implemented where the functionality is stable in the application over volatile ones.

 Benefits of Test Automation: 

1. Fast: Time duration of the testing process will reduce drastically since testing is a repetitive activity throughout the development cycle.
2. Reliable: Accuracy of the testing will be high in automation testing than manual testing.
3. Repeatable: can test how the software reacts under repeated execution of the same operations.
4. Comprehensive: Effectiveness of the application will be improved and can rerun the scripts across multiple platforms simultaneously.
5. Reusable: creates scripts for reusable tests that can be run each time the site or application changes
6. Cost Effective: Total cost of performing manual testing is exorbitant in comparison to automated testing. By executing automation scripts the rate of error will be less than manual testing and it can execute the tests much faster.
7. Improves Quality: By repeatedly executing the automated scripts, more defects can be found and further improvement of the quality of end product can be done .With Automation we can run more tests in less time with fewer resources. 

Type of Test Automation Approach:

There are two general approaches to test automation:

• Graphical user interface testing: A testing framework generates user interface events and observes the changes that result in the user interface, to validate that the observable behavior of the program is correct.
  Many test automation tools provide record and playback features that allow users to record interactively user actions and replay it back any number of times, comparing actual results to those expected. The advantage of this approach is that it requires little or no software development..

• Code-driven testing: The public (usually) interface to classes, modules, or libraries are tested with a variety of input arguments to validate that the results that are returned are correct. Code-driven testing allows the code to conduct unit tests to determine whether various sections of the code are acting as expected under various circumstances. Test cases describe tests that need to be run on the program to verify that the program runs as expected.

 Integration of Test Automation Tool and Test Management Tool:

 In the test management tool, we have an entry of automated Testcases so we can integrate it with the test automation tool. Automated Testcases will be automatically executed and their result will be compared with the expected result in the test management tool.

Also, the actual result and status will get updated automatically in the test management tool. By using Test Automation tool, we can send the acknowledgment mail with the automated Testcases status to the QA persons.

 References:

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Uncategorized Automation benefits, QMetry, Quality, Test Automation, Test Management Tools, Testing

• Affordable Total Cost of Ownership: Low upfront cost for acquisition and deployment, elimination of non-licensing costs and a metered-usage-based payment model with monthly expenses spread out over time reduces the overall cost of ownership. The Subscription based pricing enables economies of scale and makes the expenses more manageable as the teams grows. More importantly, for the SaaS based applications, the provider is responsible for the resources required to run the application & maintenance, which helps to optimize customer’s resources for other tasks. The user gets access to the application by paying for the usage and not owning it.

• Faster deployment and high acceptance: The deployment time for a SaaS based application is faster since it is devoid of the complex implementation tasks associated with the licensed software as it is already up and running on the vendor’s resources. Since these applications are hosted over the internet, no training is required and the adoption levels are high.

• Effortless real time upgrades and updates: A SaaS provider takes care of all the updates and upgrades, which are automatic, seamless and offered at no additional cost, there are consistent smaller changes instead of monster patches that cost time and money to implement. This aids the users to benefit from innovations on an on-going basis with painless upgrades.

• Greater Customization and Scalability: The multitenancy feature of SaaS applications enables the vendors to scale indefinitely and provide exhaustive customization capability.

• Seamless Integration: Integration support was aimed at collaborating with the complementary service providers & business partners of SaaS solutions. This was then extended to imbibe adaptability to the current processes and applications at the customer’s premise. Seamless integration is provided through different web services APIs and Service Oriented Architectures.

• Anytime Anywhere: Today, the teams are geographically distributed and hence real-time collaboration between the team members is the need of the hour. Centralized repository provides a transparent & continuous view of the modifications/updates to the entire team. The mere inherent feature of being hosted over the internet enables the users to use the service from any location.

• Focus to core competencies:  Due to higher accountability on part of the SaaS solution providers in terms of maintaining reliable data centers and secure processes, the customer can divert the resources utilized for the same towards competency building and hence, bringing higher productivity to the business.

Economic factors favor SaaS as during these tough times, capital expenditures are bound to be slashed and force organizations to move to more economical options. The subscription based pricing model of pay-as-you-go, will make SaaS more attractive and affordable. The lower overall TCO and enhanced productivity due to increased focus on core competency makes SaaS favorable.

Uncategorized QMetry, Quality, SaaS, Software as a Service, Testing