A Beginner’s Guide to Automated Testing: Everything Businesses Should Know

Imagine a world where it was your job to take on the interesting stuff that could really make a difference. No day would look like the last. 

Now, come back to reality. How close is your day-to-day workflow to that dream? 

Automated testing involves using software to test apps automatically. You can then compare the test results with your desired outcome. 

The entire process requires little to no human intervention. It’s a tool that engineers use to perform testing that is difficult or burdensome.

Automated testing can bring you a whole lot closer to what you might imagine as the perfect workplace. To learn more about automated testing, read on. 

Testing is a critical part of development. With testing, coders and engineers eliminate bugs and resolve issues in software, hardware and products. It also enables them to ensure that deliverables perform optimally. 

However, quality assurance presents challenges. Some testing processes are too labor-intensive to replicate, despite their simplicity.

The sheer volume of the testing required for effective quality assurance makes the task impossible to do manually. Automated testing can help you to resolve this issue. 

In the past, software developers would deliver a complete app, send it to market and then wait for the feedback to find bugs. Then, developers would fix the bugs in the next iteration of the software. 

As you can imagine, this was a highly inefficient process. It allowed defective products to go to market. 

Furthermore, it took too long to find and fix problems. This method also resulted in a less than satisfactory customer experience. 

In today’s software development environment, continuous testing and delivery are essential practices in DevOps. However, there are small distinctions that you must consider when deploying automated testing for app development. 

For example, there are two overarching types of testing in the automated domain. There’s automated testing and test automation. 

The two terms seem like different ways to say the same thing. However, they’re quite different. 

Test automation encompasses tracking and managing various tests. Automated testing, however, involves using software to conduct those tests, instead of doing it manually. 

Both test automation and automated testing are essential for continuous testing. However, test automation is essential for successful software development in a marketplace that moves at the speed of light. 

You cannot enjoy the full benefits of continuous testing and delivery without testing automation and automated testing. The pair enables you to take full advantage of the CD/CI process. 

Hopefully, that all makes sense. 

The automation revolution has been in the works for some time. It started with the development of robots and factories. 

Today, artificial intelligence takes automation to a new level. Now, automation is improving everything – from robots to computer programs to the task of monitoring for common cyber threats. Combined with artificial intelligence, automation gives machines and programs seemingly cognitive abilities. 

Automation enables enterprises to improve performance. It also reduces errors and improves quality. You can deploy automation for all different types of testing, including: 

Automation does all of this faster while using fewer resources. What’s more remarkable, however, is that automation technology outperforms human capabilities in many instances. 

Today, companies around the world pay people nearly $16 trillion in salaries. However, around half of those roles have the potential for automation. In the United States alone, employers can save $2.7 trillion by automating a little more than half of the current workflow that adds revenue to the economy. 

This potential extends beyond the coding world. For instance, companies can automate many jobs that involve physical labor. The same is true for jobs that include the collection, manipulation and processing of data.

Most business leaders are now aware of the benefits of automation. However, a considerable number of decision-makers are slow to implement automated processes. What this means is that those who adopt automation now will have a distinct advantage over their competitors who do not. 

Organizations can enjoy a host of benefits by automating key processes. These benefits include increased production, among others. 

For example, companies can produce more consistent goods with automation. They can also reduce waste and improve customer satisfaction using the process. 

Already, automation produces real value for enterprises. The cost to deploy automated practices is minimal compared to the benefits that you can enjoy by leveraging the technique across your organization. 

The benefits of automation vary across industries. The coding community has already taken advantage of and embraced the benefits of the practice. Resultantly, the vertical is enjoying phenomenal results. 

Automated testing enables coders to ensure that deliveries align with organizational objectives. Coders accomplish this by writing test scripts and using automated testing tools. 

These resources enable them to automate many repetitive tasks, such as performing regular website maintenance. Without automation, developers can never perform these tasks effectively. 

Today, software can do nearly anything imaginable. It’s not that much of a stretch to develop software that’s capable of testing other software continuously. 

For a moment, let’s jump back into our ideal programming world. While you’re there, imagine that it’s your first day on the job as a software quality assurance tester. 

You’re on a bug hunt and you just opened a troubleshooting form that contains around 50 fields. It took you about 20 minutes to fill out the form completely. 

To your great satisfaction, you manage to find a bug on your first day. Now, you note the error and add it to the bug system. 

As the day progresses, you find more bugs. In all, it was a pretty great day. 

On day two of your SQA job, things go pretty much the same. You’re not feeling as satisfied as you did yesterday, but in all, it was still a great day because you found a few bugs. 

Fast-forward to four weeks into your new job. Every day is pretty much the same as the day before. 

You come into work to start the bug hunt, you find them and you record them. Then, you go on to find the next bug. 

As each day passes, it feels more and more like you’re not living up to your potential. Inside, you’re battling with a range of emotions. You might feel tired, angry and demotivated all at the same time. 

As you struggle with these internal emotions, you start to skip steps. For instance, you may only fill out 25 fields instead of the full 50. 

Now, your accuracy is waning. Your energy level is not the same as it was when you first started your shiny, new SQA job. What’s more, your motivation is at an all-time low. 

Around six months into the job, you’re barely catching bugs. Now, you hear about bugs through feedback from the client. 

This scenario is far less than ideal. Fortunately, automated testing can help you to avoid this problem. 

Automated testing is transforming the way that developers test code. The hardest part of deploying automated testing, however, is deciding whether you need it. 

It’s easy enough to read that automated testing is the best thing since sliced bread. However, it’s an entirely different prospect to deploy it in real life where money and your career on the line. 

This sentiment is perfectly logical. It helps to overcome your doubts by considering your project requirements thoroughly. 

For example, a bug-free application is vital for the success of any mobile app deployment. Automated testing can help you improve software quality. It can also allow you to expand the scope and depth of quality testing. 

Before you start looking at tools, think about the skill set of your coders. Consider the languages and tools that they currently use. 

With this information in mind, think about the processes that you need to automate. For example, you may want automated testing tools to integrate seamlessly with their current project management tools. Alternatively, you may place more importance on an automated testing tool that can integrate with your current testing automation tools. 

You’ll also want an automated testing tool that’s easy to use. There’s no point in investing in the technology if no one’s going to use it. 

There are many automated testing tools on the market. This vast array of choices can make it difficult to choose the right one. 

Nevertheless, automated testing is one of the most important aspects of delivering top-notch software. Remember, you can only make the most of testing automation with automated testing.

Still, choosing the right resource may leave you at an impasse. You’re not alone in wondering which automated testing tool is the right one for your unique situation. 

If you choose the automated testing tool, it can do more harm than good. The right one, however, can help you achieve desirable results for every project that you execute. 

You could test the waters of automated testing with an open-source tool. They’re free and easily accessible. 

Furthermore, you can modify open-source code anyway that you desire. However, an open-source solution has limited features. 

The other alternative is a commercial automated testing solution. Programmers design them for professional use. 

Nearly every major corporation that’s involved in development uses a commercial automated testing tool. Open-source solutions cannot offer these companies the same value as a commercial solution. 

As you search for an automated testing solution, you need to consider several factors. You may need an automated testing solution that enables you to configure it in a format that’s unique to your organization. 

Alternatively, you may need a solution that can scale with your organization as your workflow evolves. It’s important to choose a solution that can grow with your organization and also serve your current needs. 

This point highlights the importance of figuring out what you need before you go shopping for a solution. It’s a nightmare to purchase automated testing solutions and then attempt to reshape your business model around a single application. Accordingly, you must figure out what you need before you can find it. 

Around the world, enterprises are deploying automated testing with positive outcomes. They’re improving efficiency and employee productivity. More importantly, however, they’re boosting their bottom lines. 

From an employee perspective, automated testing helps to improve engagement. The technology frees workers to use their creativity to solve problems instead of performing redundant tasks every day. 

Automated testing tools help to make the workplace more exciting. Today, automated testing technology is changing the nature of many roles. Instead of eliminating jobs, however, automation is helping skilled workers reinvent the workplace and find intriguing new challenges.

Now, automated technology is creating new jobs that didn’t exist. This circumstance is creating a considerable transformation among companies and their employees. 

Automated testing can fuel growth. In turn, that growth can create new career opportunities. 

Automation can take over half of the world’s repetitive tasks. By doing so, the skilled workforce can focus on high-value objectives, such as solving problems and finding opportunities. 

EB Pearls has provided our expertise as website and mobile app developers for more than a decade and a half. We are a top full-service digital agency in Sydney that’s helped many clients meet and exceed their objectives. 

Our diverse team of nearly 200 skilled developers and designers can deliver award-winning solutions for your organization. We can help you explore the benefits of automated testing and how it can help you optimize your workflow. 

EB Pearls can help you to build your unique version of an automated workplace. Contact us today to learn more about creative solutions that will boost your organization’s productivity – and your bottom line.