Test automation is an important asset of software development teams, especially for Agile teams that have a limited amount of time to perform software testing activities. This article shares some tips to improve your automated test writing practices.
Author: Nataliia Syvynska, TestMatick, https://testmatick.com/
It is logical to assume that automated QA engineers should write tests and establish all necessary technical conditions for their maintenance and monitoring. It is the first thing that crosses one’s mind. And only when automated tests are ready, a software QA engineer can start using them. This also seems quite logical.
Nevertheless, to be completely sure of this, you need to answer the following questions:
- Are the tests you wrote reliable/stable?
- Are all test suites fast?
- Are the results of the tests clear to everyone who works with these tests?
If you don’t have a reasonable answer to at least one question, it means, you do something wrong.
There are a few practical tips that you might find useful in such situations:
- You should always write automated tests. If you don’t do that, there won’t be any automation.
- Run tests on different platforms so each test is technically stable and reliable.
- Analyze test results. If the QA department doesn’t have a clear system for generating test data, then almost all automation activities will be connected with report analysis (but not with tests).
- Share your tests with the whole team. Sometimes it happens that the sales department and senior management do not understand the nature of automated tests. In such a situation, it is necessary to conduct regular presentations so that the whole team is aware of what is done on a project.
How to Start Writing Automated tests Correctly?
To begin with, you need to choose the right tools. Note that the “right” tool and “relevant” one do not always mean the same thing.
The right tool can solve a specific problem. You don’t need an expensive product that can solve only 1-2 tasks on your projects and will simply not be in demand most of the time.
The right tool can expand. Any service has its particular characteristics. It means that today, for example, the tool can be suitable for you, but tomorrow you’ll want to try some new functionality in a real-case scenario (NTLM Authentication or recursive pageObject).
Tips:
- If you work with API – use Feign or Retrofit.
- If you work with the web – use Selenium or Atlas.
After you have chosen the tool, it is time to run tests.
Launching Automated Tests
The main tip for all automated and manual testers – learn how to work with Docker. It isn’t difficult but very useful software when a testing company has to check the performance of original test cases.
Run your tests only on pull-request. A new program code can break the product. And it is not surprising for new projects, since the software structure can constantly change with new functionality or after refactoring the old one. However, a broken product is an abnormal thing for everyone. To get everything correct, you need to remember only a few things:
- The software developer makes a new branch for automated tests on a project.
- Also, he/she helps to record pull requests and test run.
- The whole team of QA automation is focused on bug fixing.
Conclusion
So, let’s see what we have in the end:
- We need to create automated tests (it won’t be a problem with the correct tools).
- We should always run the tests in a different environment to ensure they are multi-functional and resistant to possible system changes.
- It is important to analyze test bugs and customize defects by categories for quick fixes.
- Show your test results to someone else. For example, you can share test scenarios with programmers, so they can use them in their daily work.