This post will explore the best practices for creating a robust automated testing strategy. Automated tests can be used to assess code quality and ensure that it continues to function as expected over time. Therefore, it is essential to create a strategy that will maintain consistency in your tests and pave the way for future success with automated testing. Let’s get started!
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Before you even get started with your scripts
It is important to remember that automation isn’t the be-all and end-all of testing. Since humans write automated tests, they can make mistakes just like anything else.
While you should employ automated testing wherever possible, you should not replace all your manual tests with automation. Constantly evaluate your current situation and what you want to achieve before jumping on an automation solution.
1. Consider your use case
Before getting started, you should have a clear picture of what you are trying to accomplish with your automated testing strategy.
For example, are you unsure about the effectiveness of your unit testing suite? Or are you simply looking for an easy way to test various components on different environments across applications?
Each type of automated testing has different requirements and will impact how you approach your testing strategy. Once you are clear on the goal of your automated tests, you can move forward.
2. Evaluate the complexity of your application
If you are working on a large application, make sure you consider this when implementing your automated tests. The more complex the application, the harder it will be to implement comprehensive computerized tests that can handle all of its features.
If you are planning on making significant changes in the future, then it is likely that you will need to rewrite your tests when this happens.
Using UIlicious as your automated testing solution can help you save time and money on maintaining your automated test scripts. Since its scripting language is far more maintainable than most of its competitors. Indeed, it doesn’t only rely on XPath and CSS selectors, which make your testing scripts ready to face most of the changes on your web page elements.
3. Evaluate your testing environment
It is vital to consider the type of platform where your tests will run. In some cases, it may take some time and work to get the test environment up and running. However, this is one of the hidden benefits of automated testing because it allows you to create repeatable tests that run wherever needed.
4. Plan before you start
Before writing your first automated test, take some time to plan what you want the test to do. For example, what inputs will it receive? What actions should it perform? This thinking process will give you a good idea of the specific steps that the test will need to take.
5. Consider the expectations you have for your test suite
Before starting production testing, make sure that your team is clear on what they are expected to do. What are the standard practices when it comes to writing tests? How long should each test take? How many tests are needed? You can use UIlicious test run history reports to ensure that everyone stays on track.
6. Choose the right test automation tool for you
If you are new to test automation and looking for somewhere easy to get started, look no further. It's never been simpler than before to automate tests with UIlicious. UIlicious makes testing a piece of cake! Our intuitive test language lets you describe test scenarios for your web application as user stories and turns them into automated tests. You can try it for free, without needed to install any software or browser extensions, and no sign up required, at UIlicious Snippet. And you are curious to try the professional edition of UIlicious Studio for more serious testing requirements, you can register for a free trial, no credit card needed.
How to write your first tests like a pro?
As with any other type of programming, you can do some specific things when writing your automated tests to make them easier to maintain.
7. Use your design and documentation as the starting place for the tests
Use the design and documentation as a base to work from when creating your test suite. You can then add, remove or alter tests according to the changes you need to make.
This process will save time in the future because it will not require any significant modifications to your tests. Doing this will also ensure that the tests stay true to the original documentation and design of your application.
8. Keep it simple
This isn’t always easy to accomplish, but it is essential to keep your testing framework simple instead of complex. If you find that your tests are growing in complexity, then this is likely a sign that your testing framework is becoming too complicated.
If you have issues with test complexity, consider which parts of the application are being tested. If it is an isolated part of the application or other types of tests in place for this area already, consider using them to build your automated tests.
9. Make your tests independent
When writing automated tests, try to keep them as isolated as possible. This makes it easier to reuse the tests because they can run independently of other testing suites. If your automated tests are not independent, then you may find that changes made in one test will affect others and lead to unexpected behavior.
10. Avoid duplication
Once you have created an automated test, please do everything you can to avoid duplicating it. It might seem easier to copy and paste a test rather than recreate one from scratch, but this is a bad idea for many reasons. Not only does it create maintenance issues, but it can have unexpected consequences if the tests are not identical.
11. Use your imagination
Automated testing is a great way to explore new areas of development that you might not normally consider. As well as taking advantage of the features that already exist, look for third-party software – like Applitools for example – that can help you improve your tests. With the right software, you can reduce the time it takes to create your automated test suite and increase its overall effectiveness.
12. Create manual tests
No need to read the title several times; you did read it right!
You may find that you need to create manual tests and automated ones. Manual testing is an excellent way of getting feedback about your application from real users without relying on automated tests that may be incomplete or inaccurate.
Automated tests are not always the best way to ensure that a feature of your project behaves appropriately. If you want to know more about choosing between automation and manual testing, we have written a detailed article that compares these two complementary types of testing.
It is also useful to create Manual tests because these can be used as a basis for automation testing. With good manual tests in place, this can serve as the starting point for building a strong automation testing framework in UIlicious.
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Things to do when you get used to your automation tool
When you start performing automation testing, you will slowly get used to your particular tool and its strengths. This will enable you to develop new strategies for your test writing process.
13. Create reusable components
Make sure that your tests can evolve with your application. This means creating components that can be reused across multiple tests instead of manually writing out each test.
Your tests should follow the same standards as your application, so they are easy to read at a glance. However, you also want them to remain flexible to accommodate the same code across all platforms.
With UIlicious, this is a breeze. Whether you are writing your tests for desktops, mobiles, or tablets, UIlicious allows you to write, reuse and share the same code across all platforms.
14. Make use of mock objects
A mock object is a software tool used in automated testing to simulate the behavior of real objects. For example, mock objects are used to test the functionality of code that depends on external resources, such as databases or web services. Using mock objects can ensure that your code is reliable and accurate, even when the external resources it depends on are unavailable.
Mock objects allow you to replace existing functionality with something more appropriate in an automated test. This gives you a lot more control over the behavior of your tests and can make it easier to work with specific applications.
15. Create unit tests
A unit test is an automated test that ensures specific parts of your code do what they are supposed to do. You can create unit tests for any part of your code but make sure you only test the minimum amount of code necessary.
16. Create integration tests
An integration test is an automated test that evaluates your application as a whole by simulating real-world user activity. You can configure these types of tests to use mock data if you want to avoid filling your database with unnecessary information.
17. Make use of continuous integration
If you have an existing application then it can take some time before your test suite is complete enough for you to use it productively. Continuous integration is a development practice where members of your team submit each new feature or piece of code for automated testing before it can be used. This allows you to provide feedback early and avoid delays in the delivery of your application. As well as this, it gives you the chance to fix bugs before they cause any problems.
Continuous integration is different from continuous testing since there is no final evaluation or release involved. It simply means that your tests are constantly running so they can alert you if anything goes wrong with your application.
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Let’s wrap up
As you can see, there are a number of things to consider when writing automated tests. Creating successful automated test scripts can be a daunting task, but it's important to make sure that your tests are reliable and accurate.
Evaluating your application's complexity and testing environment before beginning production is an important step in the process. This will make it easier for you to create repeatable tests that run across different platforms without any changes being necessary.
By following other tips in this article, you'll be able to create reusable components that can easily accommodate any changes made to your application. As well as using mock objects and integrating with continuous integration, make sure you take advantage of the features already available in your testing tool. With UIlicious, this is easy to do!
UIlicious provides automation tools that allow you to write code once and reuse it on all devices with just one script! If this sounds like something that might be helpful for your company, then register now to start trying our powerful automation tool for free!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team would love to work with you so we can provide powerful automated testing solutions at affordable prices.
