As more and more testing experts leave their manual testing methods behind and replace them with automated ones, you might start to wonder whether it’s time to do the same.
Even if you’re a professional with plenty of experience, manual testing is still a complex and time-consuming process. What’s more, after completing such a demanding testing process, people can still come across various errors and bugs that they missed.
Fortunately, this is something automated testing can quickly solve. By significantly improving your testing coverage and cutting the time spent on testing, you can achieve better results in less time. This article will focus on the steps required for automating the manual testing methods for your web apps.
Why is automation important
Manual testing will never disappear because there will always be something that can’t be automatically tested. For instance, product insights, responsiveness, and tester’s intuition can’t be placed into an algorithm. Therefore, automated testing doesn’t replace manual testing but rather complements it.
On the other hand, some processes are easily automated. Test automation comes with numerous benefits companies and organizations can enjoy, so it’s crucial to implement it as soon as possible.
The more you delay the transition, the harder it’ll be to catch up with the competitors who have already implemented the necessary changes.
What are the top features of automation testing?
There are plenty, but we’ve decided to single out only the key ones:
- Faster testing – programs that run automated tests finish a lot quicker than humans;
- Increased efficiency – because automated testing automatically runs different testing procedures, you can focus on other tasks and be more efficient;
- Better coverage – the speed and reliability of automated tests allows for better coverage when compared to manual tests;
- Fewer bugs – since the tests are done automatically, there are no errors and bugs that have been missed;
- Enhanced customer experience – all the features mentioned above ensure enhanced customer experience for your clients.
How automated testing impacted the digital world
With automated testing becoming used by companies and experts worldwide, it brought several changes into the digital world. Namely, this kind of testing developed a new outlook on test engineering, and its crucial features changed how we approach testing forever.
The key changes brought by automated testing are:
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More complex software demands
Probably the biggest impact of automated testing on the digital world is the speed of conducting different tests. Because this type of testing allows you to test more in less time, software engineering demands are slowly growing and becoming more complex. Since only automated testing methods can keep up with the newly-developing market needs, they play a big role in what is possible today.
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Flawless results
With fewer manual tasks, there’s also a limited possibility of making an error or mistake. More automation means the tests are optimized and unbiased, so they do a much better job of detecting faults and bugs across various web apps. Therefore, experts can spend less time correcting their mistakes and instead focus more on developing new ideas and solutions.
5 ways to automate manual testing
Once you decide to make the necessary changes and introduce automated testing, there are several things you’ll need to do before starting your test automation journey.
1. Decide what you’ll automate
As previously said, you can’t automate all tasks. Therefore, you need to consider which tests you plan on automating and how. Various factors can influence your decision, including your team’s knowledge and skills as well as the company’s budget.
2. Explore different framework options
Once you decide which testing processes you want to automate, it’s time to find the perfect framework. The market is filled with different solutions, with each software coming with its unique pros and cons. Selenium, Cypress, and Puppeteer are among the favorites for testing web apps.
Many people choose Puppeteer because it supports Chrome and Chromium, so a Puppeteer tutorial at oxylabs.io might come in handy.
3. Choose the right tools
Just like choosing frameworks, deciding on the right tools will depend on what you’re planning to do with them. However, from legacy tools that are rarely used today to AI-powered automation tools, you have plenty of options to choose from.
4. Divide your testing tasks
Different QA engineers have different skill levels. Therefore, it’s crucial to be familiar with your team member’s skills if you want to divide your more and less complex automated testing tasks appropriately.
5. Create high-quality and reliable test data
Quality test data is reliable test data because it allows you to use the same automated tests over and over again. When tests are data-driven, entering new data is more than enough to maintain and reuse the same tests without editing them.
Conclusion
Automated testing is becoming the latest buzzword in the tech world, for a good reason. The automated testing process equips QA testers with numerous advantages and features manual testing will never be able to do. If you’re contemplating whether to take the plunge and introduce new testing methods to your team, this is a sign you should do it.