How Automation in Software Testing Can Help Relieve Constant Pressure of Releasing New Features?
As the famous saying goes, “change is the only constant thing in life; nothing is permanent, and everything is in a state of constant flux.” This same can be said for software development. Software development includes continuous and rapid changes to the application to include new features and deliver something new and unique before the competition. Everybody knows that applications with the latest features on the market tend to stay on top of the download rankings.
However, developing and implementing new features can be exhausting for the development and testing teams. This is partly because the changes and updates to the base codes may come with bugs and defects and subsequently affect the quality of the application. In worst cases, it can cause software failure and even affect the reputation of the application. Because of this, the testing team needs to perform comprehensive checks on all areas of the application to confirm that the changes are implemented and adopted efficiently.
Software Testing Automation: What it Entails
Software testing is the process of evaluating the functionalities, features, and overall quality of the application to ascertain if it meets the specified requirements and the goals of the project. There are different types of software testing, including unit testing, performance testing, security testing, and integration testing.
However, software testing also comes with its share of challenges and difficulties, especially in the case of bulky or complex applications. It may be challenging to perform complete end-to-end testing unless you use a software tool to automate the process. Software testing automation is the process of using an automation tool to perform software tests through pre-written test scripts. The test automation approach allows the tests to be performed with minimal human intervention and enables the efficient and repeatable execution of tests, which helps to ensure the software quality and reduce the risk of human errors.
How Software Testing Relieves the Pressure of Testing New Features
Software testing automation offers a wide range of advantages over manual testing. For starters, it can relieve testers from the pressure of testing new features manually. It will also improve the effectiveness of software testing and the software team’s productivity.
Let’s look at some of the ways that software testing can ease the software testing process.
Less Stress on the Testing Team
Software teams are constantly pressured to release new features to increase their customer base and ratings in the software stores. However, releasing a low-quality or buggy application can be counterproductive to your project goals.
Software testing automation can aid the regression testing process to confirm that the new changes to the application have not adversely affected other parts of the application. It will help to ensure that applications still work perfectly after modifications have been made to the application and that the changes do not introduce new bugs or re-open previously fixed bugs.
Without an automation tool, it can be stressful and time-consuming for the testers to perform a high-quality check on your application. On the other hand, a tool will minimize stress and allow them to devote their energy to other tasks.
Improved Accuracy and Reliability
Automation tools leave little or no room for errors because the quality of testing remains the same all the time. Manual testing relies on the expertise and experience of the testers. It is possible for them to make mistakes, especially when performing monotonous tasks. Even so, the testing quality could also reduce as the project becomes more complex. This could wipe out the gains you aim to achieve with the new features.
On the other hand, the automation tool can consistently produce the same quality at all times so that you can get accurate results every time.
Increased Coverage of Test Cases
Test coverage in software testing describes how far the test cases check the software’s functionalities and features. While the optimal goal of software testing is to ensure that all parts of the software, including the memory contents, file contents, program states, and data table, are tested, it may be challenging to achieve this without an automation tool. Software testing automation tools can increase the coverage of your test cases by speeding up the tests and performing them with higher consistency and accuracy than manual testing.
With automation tools, testers can easily get a higher test coverage with minimal stress.
Reduced Time-to-Market
Software test automation shortens the feedback loop between writing codes and knowing if it works as expected through continuous testing and integration. This allows developers to quickly get feedback on the quality of the application, thereby allowing them to quickly identify and fix issues before they transform into more complex problems.
Enhanced Collaboration Between Development and Testing Teams
Automated testing can improve collaboration between the development and testing teams.
For instance, the team members can spend more time discussing and strategizing about testing when the automation tool handles repetitive and time-consuming tasks. This results in better collaboration, communication, and coordination between both teams.
Conclusion
Adopting software testing tools into your testing process can help the testing teams cope with the pressure of implementing new application features. It will help them to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of customers and deliver bug-free applications in record time.
