Every organization’s goal is to speed up the software testing process. That is why testers devise and implement methods to ensure that the testing is completed in a small-time period. Different tools are used in automated testing. Some of these tools use multiple programming languages, making it easier to test the software as you can use the language you understand effectively.
There are different reasons why automation testing is highly preferred over manual testing. The chances of making errors when using automated testing are minimal compared to the manual testing approach. Test automation tools allow testers to implement automation testing techniques for great test coverage which leads to a faster release of the software. On the other hand, text coverage is limited because the testing process majorly depends on humans. Humans are prone to making errors, so testers will spend most of their time revisiting the test cases and correcting all the issues detected. Thus, it would be better to automate most of the process to save time.
That said, what makes the automated testing process time-sparing and efficient?
Managing test setup and teardown
APIs and different databases can create the particular environment for the test cases you want to execute. Most of the automation testing tools support using APIs, databases, custom functions, data files, and other test techniques that help manage the test setup and teardown. However, remember that teardown impacts the speed of the testing process, especially when testing the Graphical User Interface.
Creating setup steps and perfect scenarios needed for the test cases is useful in unique scenarios where data needed for the processes must be in a specific state before execution. Just imagine setting up the next test scenarios when test execution takes place quickly!
This has a huge impact on the success of the test cases and can even cause failures that impact the speed of the whole process. If you automate the teardown process, you will effortlessly remove or clean up actions carried out before the current state. In addition, it will help ensure that these actions don’t interfere with the environment needed to facilitate other tests.
The use of cookies
In automation testing, cookies are used chiefly when testing web development to make the process faster and more efficient. Automation testing tools can easily use the information stored in the cookies, like preload test scenarios and logging information. During the testing process, if testers don’t want to keep logging in multiple times, they use the cookies to preload the login information.
This saves a lot of time and makes the whole process efficient. For instance, cookies can be used when dealing with two test scenarios when you aren’t sure which test version will come up next. Remember that with automation testing, you only test a specific scenario. Testers use the cookies to turn off the feature flags and any other specific features, and you can quickly know which test scenario will be tested next.
You can store information, turn on or off features, and track and save information about different user sessions, which means you can use cookies to increase testing speed. Different tools provide the option to use cookies in the test automation. For instance, Selenium Webdriver has a command referred to as addCookie.
Distributed execution
Test automation tools enable you to execute distributed, enhancing speed and efficiency. In this case, test cases are executed across many different virtual computers in the cloud. Docker is one of the cloud services that provide the option to spin various environments for executing test cases.
Test cases that are data-driven or repetitive are heavy processes and sometimes take much of the computer’s processing power. With distributed testing, testers can speed up the execution process as the test cases are carried out on the cloud.
The use of distributed test execution removes the management of browser and server versions. This eliminates the time that is needed to set up the test environment. Test environments can be set up on cloud resources, saving testers time.
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Parallel execution
Automation testing tools enable you to test cases sequentially. That means that you are running the test cases one after the other. This improves the speed of the execution significantly. Testers can also run multiple automated test cases simultaneously, which means they can have multiple browsers open. Thus, they can then test suites being run at the same time.
The good thing with automated testing is that the testers can control the number of sessions created and, thus, the amount of parallel execution. It all depends on the type of test cases that are being carried out. This cuts down the time it takes to run all the test suites. The more you increase the number of parallels, the more you reduce the time to run.
Parallel execution also helps to test across browser combinations and different mobile devices. For instance, you can have one parallel execution dedicated to Internet Explorer and another for Safari or Google Chrome. Tests with dependencies are grouped to run in the same instance following the order specified. This saves time and makes the whole automated process more efficient.