Scope of Automation in Testing
Automation is the process of evaluating the AUT(Application under Test) against the specification with the help of a tool. In this article we are gong to discuss the Scope of automation in testing.
Depending on the nature of testing there are two main branches under automation.
- Functional testing with automation.
- Performance testing with automation.
Functional Testing with the help of Automation.
Functional automated testing has emerged as a key area in most of the testing processes. The main area where the functional testing tools are used is for regression test case execution.Mostly in the agile scrum methodology where frequent releases are happening, it is almost impossible to execute all the regression test cases manually with the short span of time.Automation gives a high ROI(Return of Investment) in this area since it is a one time effort for generating the scripts. Maintenance to the existing scripts will be considerably less if the automation follows a good framework which exactly suits the nature of application. It is advisable to keep at least 60 to 70 % of regression cases to be automated for being adherent to the timelines of test case execution. Automating test cases is not desirable if it is a onetime testing.
Performance Testing with the help of Automation.
Performance testing is the process of evaluating the application performance which is being a critical requirement of every application now days. Performance testing is almost impossible by manual means. There are different tools used across organizations for evaluating application performance. There are different divisions under performance testing based on the nature of testing.
Load and Stress testing
Load testing is performed to confirm that application can withstand the maximum load which is mentioned in the SRS. Here the application will be tested with the specified load without overloading the application. But in stress testing, here the intention is to find out the maximum load the application can accommodate. Application will be tested with more load than the specified limit in order to find out the break point
For load and stress testing, large number of concurrent users is needed and multiple computers are required. In manual testing it is diffcult and almost impossible to run the severe load for several days to identify problems in the application. While using automation the testing software (tool) monitors the CPU and memory usage of each test computer. The tool generates artificial loads by creating virtual users and which will produce a guaranteed test accuracy. The tools can generate number of virtual users on a single computer. Automation help us to find out defects as we can run the test using multiple users, multiple environments on several days.
Automation is an effective means of eliminating/reducing manual effort during regression and functional test case execution. Also the chances of defect escape will be reduced considerably,since human mistakes will not occur once the script is fully developed. Hence the automation is more economical considering the fact of time and quality.
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