A significant phase in the development of any IT product is testing. It helps to determine if the software meets the requirements and if all elements of the application work as they should. If there are problems in the first two cases, it helps to figure out how developers should fix them. In fact, testing is a rehearsal before agreeing with the client and entering production. In this article, we will consider the importance of quality assurance automation services for IT product development. 

How automated testing works

You can check whether the product is of high quality and meets expectations manually or using test automation. In the first case, the QA engineer reproduces user actions and fixes errors, if there are any.

In the second case, the launch, analysis, and output of the result occur automatically, using the software. The IT specialist only analyzes the collected data. Therefore, test automation is a kind of process optimization tool. Let's learn more about automated testing.

Automated testing has a clear algorithm of actions:

1. The programmer analyzes a part of the software under test, he checks what the result of the operation will be if it is intentionally used with data that is not intended for use in the selected forms.

2. After that, the programmer generates data combinations for "input" and "output" that should be used in typical user scenarios. He needs this data for automated testing.

3. Then the programmer deliberately uses incorrect data to track the subsequent reactions in the work of the software.

4. After preparing the test data, the programmer includes it in the code, which takes the form of a test program. This solution will be used to observe how the solution responds to different inputs.

5. Specialists check the performance of the product at different stages of its development. As a result, the development team combines the received data, corrects errors in a quality manner, and the client receives a reliable IT product.

What is an automated testing

Autotests can be divided into three types: integration (API), modular (Component+Unit), and system (end-to-end, UI/API).

The purpose of unit tests is to make sure that the individual functions within the same module from which the software is built are working. As a rule, such checks take a few seconds. System tests are needed to test the application as a whole. Their task is to make sure that the modules of the solution are interconnected correctly. Also, with the help of system tests, they check the functions of registration, billing, and ordering - parts of the application that should never break. The duration of such tests is from ten seconds to several minutes. All you have to do is run the solution, load it into an emulator or web browser, and click through the scripts.

Integration tests are needed to test functionality that cannot be done using a unit test, and using a system test is unnecessary.

This is what the testing pyramid looks like, a visual metaphor with segmentation by task scale level. The higher the autotest in this pyramid, the more expensive it is to develop and maintain.

For an IT solution to have a fast, flexible test base, it is necessary that its predominant part be unit tests, then integration tests, and the smallest share - system tests.

How does it really work? Imagine that you need to add an annotation feature to images. If you check everything only with system tests, you will get a very slow test base: checking any edit in the code will take minutes. And vice versa, if you test only with modules, you will see that due to an error at the junction of modules, the function you need does not work, although the tests pass.

Benefits of automated testing

Test automation has important benefits for developers. Their use helps to quickly solve several problems at once.

1. Identification of errors in the code at the first stages of development. The team can fix these issues right away without wasting resources.

2. Error localization. "Low-level" automated testing helps pinpoint the cause of a problem as accurately as possible.

3. High-speed product development. The developer can write the code for one of the solution elements and check the correctness of its operation in the absence of other parts of the system.

Knowledge. If test automation is correct and up to date, developers always have enough knowledge about the code covered by tests. In the future, newcomers and the team can better understand the actions and motives made in the past at each stage of the development.

Particular qualities of automated testing

Companies continue to give up on manual testing. However, when switching to automated testing, you need to keep in mind some points:

1. Choice of tests. In order for automated testing to be successful, you first need to decide what exactly you will be testing. An error at this stage can spoil the course of all further work.

2. Development resources. Since test automation is software, writing it also requires specialists and time.

3. Support. Automated testing needs regular updating. The tasks of QA engineers include tracking the correctness of the parameters being tested, the correctness of various software versions, etc.

4. Programming skills. Despite the fact that there are solutions on the market that allow you to simplify software testing operations, you should not trust testing people without education and programming experience.

What to choose: manual or automated testing

Manual testing is suitable for projects if:

  • there is no certainty regarding the functionality of the solution;

  • there is no confidence in usability and layout method;

  • there is a desire to localize and describe emerging problems;

  • there is no budget and time for test automation.

Automated testing is recommended for implementation in cases where:

  • there are a lot of manual tests and no time to constantly check the entire regression;

  • it takes a long time between the discovery of an error and its correction;

  • preparation for testing - data generation and configuration settings - requires a lot of time;

  • support for old software versions is required - you need to check new service packs and patches;

  • there is no guarantee that the new code will not break the work of other developers.

Of course, automated testing has nuances. It requires time from specialists to write and maintain. And if the implementation goes wrong, test automation can even do more harm than good. 

Final thoughts

Test automation is an important stage in the evolution of IT development teams, which allows companies to improve the quality of created IT products for end-users. Business as a whole is feeling the benefits of automation as it reduces financial costs and the human factor to zero, and increases labor productivity. The Inoxoft company provides enterprises with QA automation services to reduce the risks of getting low-quality IT products. The team will manage QA execution according to the planning and requirements of each specific case.