What is Automation Feasibility in Software Testing?

Automation feasibility analysis is the process of determining what test cases should be automated based on factors such as the required tools or frameworks, infrastructural availability, ROI, and so on.

Which are the factors to be considered to justify the Feasibility of Automation?

Major factors to be considered during feasibility analysis are ROI, available infrastructure, test strategy, tool & framework being used, availability of time, repetitive nature & complexity of the test cases, and so on.

Why is Automation Feasibility Analysis important?

It is known that 100% Automation is not possible. But in a few cases, not all test cases that can be automated should also be automated due to various factors. So starting automation testing without a feasibility analysis would make the process inefficient.

What is an RPA Feasibility Study?

An RPA Feasibility study is the process of analyzing the technical feasibility of automating a process after thoroughly examining the step-by-step process right down to the most minute detail

Why Do Automation Projects Fail?

Most Automation testing projects fail due to a lack of clarity on which test cases have to be automated, usage of wrong tools, lack of automation goals, and the skill to achieve those goals. An automation feasibility study ensures that your team overcomes such issues.

Automation Testing Archives

Best Practices for Mitigating Automation Testing Risks

by admin | Nov 2, 2020 | Automation Testing, Fixed, Blog | 0 comments

Technology has enveloped the world with its blanket charm, and we are in no position to the benefits it endowed on us. From the first computer to the latest smartphone, the world has transformed into an accessible place for us. Earlier, what was considered strange and unknown is now familiar and mundane. Technology is something that is treated as a democratic resource at best, available for all people. Automation testing might look like it is an unsuitable investment, but instead, it will go a long way. If the faults and risks are corrected and cemented at the root level, it might be a great asset for human civilization.

But what uses is this technology and software if it can’t enhance itself to suit all people at all times? The need of the hour is inclusivity in all fields which assist everyday human lives. In that case, technology should fill disparity and deformity. For people with challenges, we need more integrated and developed strategies for tests.

Automation Testing Improving Process & Result

Automation testing is a way of Software testing technique to test and compare the actual result with the required outcome. This can be accomplished and won over by writing test scripts or using any automation testing tool. Automation testing is used to automate repeated and habitual tasks and other testing tasks, which are tricky to achieve manually.

The strategy of automating your software tests comes with a myriad of benefits. Not only does this habit help eliminate various complexities and errors seen with manual testing, which is operated entirely by a person, but automation can also improve and better the user experience and give your product launches a streamlined structure.

However, with every advantageous approach comes linked to associated risks. Several issues can show up during test automation that can lead to other problems if the team is not prepared. These risks aren’t enough reason to hamper a concept; they can be uprooted fundamentally and improved upon. Let’s look at ways in which we can lower such risks and make automation a better experience for all users-

Automation testing chances point to costlier expenses

Often, difficulties with test automation come down to the project’s bottom line. According to a National Institute of Standards and Technology study, inadequate testing processes direct to considerably high software developers’ prices. Wasteful methods and tools cost the American economy anywhere from $22.2 billion to $59.5 billion annually. Much of these costs are acquired by the development organization, which has to carry out extra tests due to software malfunctions or mitigation methods. Twenty-five to ninety percent of software development resources are spent on testing; there is often no room in the budget for unplanned, consequent tests.

To prevent exceeding budgets and complete extra tests, testing teams must avoid the typical pitfalls that lead to added testing needs. Efficient testing means grabbing application performance and other issues on the first go-around, so team members must know exactly what they’re searching for.

Develop clarity in your goals and how to reach them

It’s also necessary to have a well-defined list of objectives in place before tests are carried out. These will help inform the tests themselves and guide the team through their insights from these tests. For each automated test, stakeholders should fully understand what they hope to achieve and what steps they will take after seeing the test outcomes. Making a list of clear goals that you’ve established ahead of time will streamline overall testing processes and ensure that the project remains on schedule.

Automation: Not a replacement for manual processes

While automated testing is undoubtedly a positive thing, it is by no means a replacement for human exploratory testing. Teams will be required to leverage manual and automated software testing to guarantee the product is ready for launch. A blend of testing types and levels is required to achieve the desired quality and mitigate the uncertainty associated with defects.

Guaranteeing stability before the automation testing process

When it proceeds to automated testing, timing is everything – the appeal must be developed and durable enough to stand up to the experiments’ demands. Even in flexible environments, it’s necessary to ensure stability before carrying out automated tests. Skipping this step could lead to initial test results and added work for both developers and testers. For this purpose, it’s significant to time tests at essential points during the process, particularly for rapid developments.

The execution of automated tests should be consistent

It’s also important to keep in mind that automated testing is not a one-and-done process. Tests must be carried out consistently to gain all the benefits this approach offers. This has the conclusion of highlighting crashes and presenting constant feedback about the health of the arrangement. Automated tests are initiated through the incessant integration system instead of manually to support this. Otherwise, the risk of irregular test runs increases.

Leveraging skillful means is significant

Software Testing Help noted that it’s essential to have a knowledgeable team in place when carrying out automated tests. Stakeholders with expertise in automated testing and programming and development can help the initiative be successful. But, experienced sources don’t just reach the team itself. Testing teams and quality assurance must have a robust solution in place to help them manage tests and collaborate in real-time. Thus, it is imperative to have a test management strategy that fits the bill and provides users with the ability to maintain multiple projects at once and manage both automated and manual testing.

Automation testing might seem like a faulty dream currently because of the risks it houses. For a world that works on manual demands, technological labor is worth living for all human beings. Imagine a world accessible to people of all kinds because technology is available and workable in such a world.

These ways assist you in ways that help you in getting a much more enhanced experience of technology and its various ways of supporting human endeavor through automation testing. You can contact Codoid for all automation testing services!

10 Most Useful Python Test Automation Tips

by admin | Apr 19, 2020 | Automation Testing, Fixed, Blog | 0 comments

As a software testing services company, we encounter many test automation challenges. In this blog article, we would like to list a few useful Python Test Automation Tips, With the hope that you will bookmark this article for future references.

Installing PIP on Windows

Installing PIP on Windows is a simple task and an One-time activity. When you are setting up a test bed for test automation scripts execution, you need to recollect the steps to install PIP on Windows.

Step #1 – Download get-pip.py

Step #2 – Run get-pip.py

python get-pip.py

Virtual Environments on Windows

Installing, creating and activating a Python virtual environment is pretty straight forward. On the contrary, when you play around with multiple OS, you must be aware of the fact that there are different steps involved to activate a virtual environment on Windows.

Step #1 – Install virtual environment package

pip install virtualenv

Step #2 – Create a virtual environment

python -m venv newenv

Note: In the above command, newenv is the environment name.

Step #3 – Activate the virtual environment. Go to the virtual environment folder on Command Prompt, navigate to ‘scripts’ folder, and run ‘activate’ command.

Creating requirements.txt

Managing the required Python packages in requirements.txt is a best practice. If you have already installed the required packages and want to create requirements.txt, then run the below command.

pip freeze > requirements.txt

Note: Once the command is executed successfully, it creates the requirements.txt with the list of installed packages.

Behave JSON Report Generation

If you are using behave BDD framework and would like to generate JSON report after automated script execution, then kick-off the behave execution using the below command.

behave -f json -o reports.json

Customized PDF Report Generation

Publishing readable and useful report is one of the important test automation success factors. You can create customized PDF report using behave JSON report. Refer the following URL for more details – Customized Test Automation PDF Report. You can create PDF report as shown below using pdf_reports package & Pug template.

Python Selenium Headless Chrome

Starting Chrome in headless mode using Selenium WebDriver can be done using ChromeOptions. Refer the below Python snippet.

from selenium import webdriver
options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
options.add_argument('headless')
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='chromedriver.exe',chrome_options=options)

Behave Teardown

In most of the BDD frameworks, you need to write setup and tear-down in two different methods. However, in behave framework, you can write both in one method. Refer the below snippet.

from behave import fixture, use_fixture
from selenium import webdriver

@fixture
def launch_browser(context):
    #Launch Browser
    context.driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='driverschromedriver.exe')
    print("=============>Browser is launched")
    yield context.driver

    #Clean Up Browser
    context.driver.quit()
    print(context.scenario.duration)
    print("=============>Browser is quit")

def before_scenario(context,scenario):
    the_fixture1 = use_fixture(launch_browser, context)

Network Throttling

In Selenium WebDriver, you can set network upload & download throughput and latency to run the automation testing scripts in different network conditions.

driver.set_network_conditions(
        offline=False,
        latency=5,  # additional latency (ms)
        download_throughput=500 * 1024,  # maximal throughput
        upload_throughput=500 * 1024)  # maximal throughput

Desktop App Automation Testing

Using pywinauto package, you can automate Desktop App Test cases.

from pywinauto.application import Application
app = Application().start("notepad.exe")

BuildBot CI

If you want to manage all CI related operations using Python code, you can try BuildBot CI.

In ConclusionAs an automation testing company, we use Python and Selenium WebDriver for multiple projects. We hope you have gained incredible insights about various test automation tips that’s has been shared in this blog article, As a continuing trend we will be keep sharing more and more useful automation testing related articles in the coming weeks.

Test Automation Effort Estimation

by admin | Jun 10, 2020 | Automation Testing, Fixed, Blog | 1 comment

Software testing ensures your product meets all customer requirements and addresses each product risk with a proper test plan. Testing can uncover failures of many kinds, and in today’s agile world, automation testing is a part of the work to be done for the story and the benefit of test automation is quite obvious. A properly planned testing process is a must for ensuring the required level of software quality without exceeding a project’s time and budget.

Testing is no longer a one-time task but a continuous process. An estimate is a prediction, it could be an approximation of what it would cost, or a rough idea of how long a task would take to complete. Better testing estimates allow for more accurate scheduling, realize results more confidently, and form the foundation of good management credibility.

Estimating testing in the contemporary world of agile and DevOps demands some new rules. Stories with dozens of tasks that lack the value definition for intended users is not helpful. One need to consider the effort required for test design, test implementation, test execution, and the effort to automate while estimating the story. Especially when you are conducting an automation testing to reduce the cost and time, you should consider the below estimation techniques.

Scope usually means finding the right test cases for automation. The deciding factor for any test to be automated is linked with how many times that particular test can be repeated. When new functionalities get added or if there exist any modification in existing functionality then the automation scripts need to be added/ modified, reviewed and maintained for each release cycle.

• Split the application into separate modules and analyse each module to determine possible testing options

• Prioritize the list of modules and assess the history of each and every test case (as many of the test cases may not have been run often enough to get into the right priority)

• Analyse and classify the Test cases into various categories like API, Web, DB etc and choose the ideal candidate for automation

• Identify the complexity of the test case like Number of verification point or check points for each of the test cases

• Calculate the ROI for the identified test cases

Selecting an automated testing tool is essential for test automation. There are plenty of automated testing tools available in the market, it is important to choose the automated testing tool that best suits your overall requirement. Consider the below factors when selecting the automation tools

• Understand your project requirements and identify the scenarios you want to automate.

• Finalize the budget for automation and search the tool that suits your requirement.

• Compare and choose the tools that fall well within your budget and easy utilisation.

• Check for Logging and Reporting mechanism

• Underlying language which is used to build automation script and check for the feasibility of integrating with the build tools

Below is the combination of tools selection for framework development:

1. Eclipse / RAD – as IDE

2. Ant / Maven – As build tool

3. jUnit / TestNG – as unit test framework

4. Log4j – as Logger

5. ReportiNG – as reporting tool

6. Text files – for tracking the environments/credentials

7. Excel files – for tracking the test data

8. Perl / Python – for setting up an environment and triggering the test scripts.

Framework implementation means designing input files like Excel / JSON / XML etc, designing folder structure, implementation of logger, utilizing build tools and environment related data and credentials.

Framework means a real or conceptual structure created to provide support or guidance to an entity that could expand in future. In simple terms, a test automation framework can be defined as a set of processes, standards and interactions between the components in which scripts are designed and executed. While implementing a framework one should consider handling scripts and data separately, reuse of code, high extensibility, library creation and maintainability.

Test Case ComplexityWe classify the Test case based on the complexity of the Test case and the complexity of the test case is based on four elements including checkpoint, precondition, test data, and types of test case, which effectively assumes that the complexity is centred at these four elements. Below is the complexity assignment of the test case.

Transactions are measured while hitting /submitting a page / screen. In an ideal scenario a simple Test case should have less than 2 submits or it covers less than 2 navigations from a page. When we read the Test case, we focus on these navigations to calculate the Test case complexity.

Interface complexity

Estimators view and review the user interfaces, API, DB and network to measure the accuracy of the interfaces in providing the service. This complexity describes the external integration/interfaces that are associated with the proposed software. These integrations could be hardware, software, network and communication based on the deployment of the proposed software.

Verification Points

Verification Points are used to verify whether the value of an Application Under Test matches with the expected value. This output value can be considered as input data for other verification points. The complexity is measured using the Test Conditions, Test Data identification, Test Script preparation and Test Execution.

Listed below are the other variables which we need to consider while estimating

While it is quite obvious that the strategic goal of automation testing is to ensure business value, it is just as essential to articulate it periodically to stakeholders on where we stand in the journey towards it. This can be projected in two broad areas – savings in terms of time and cost. Our estimation approach must be dynamic and responsive to changing requirements with the various variables and components described above and the effort is calculated based on test design, test implementation, test execution, and the effort to automate. I hope this will give a head start to those who are seriously considering to calculate the automation testing effort estimation.

Automation Testing Best Practices and Tips

by admin | Mar 13, 2020 | Automation Testing, Fixed, Blog | 0 comments

As we all know that the importance of automation in the IT industry revolution is in pinnacle. If we just hold breathe and ask ourselves a question as to why? Due to its high accuracy of executing the redundant things, reporting results and it needs no or less human intervention hence the cost that a company spends on a resource is relatively reduced in a long run.

Whilst it’s true that the automation is so much beneficial in terms of bringing accuracy in and cost savings to the company, it is also true that if at all the planning and implementation is not taken utmost care it equally gives the negative results

So, in this blog, we are going to talk about the automation best practices.

Understand the application technology then identify the tool

Before we kick start with automation, there has to be a lot of groundwork to be done from the application perspective. Thorough understanding of Application development infrastructure like

What technologies are being used to develop

It’s front end

Business logic

Backend

This will help us identify the tool that best fit for the application which in turn helpful for hassle-free test automation implementation.

Eg:- if at all the application front end is developed with angular js then protractor is preferred to selenium because it’s not possible for selenium to deal with some of the locators.

Determine the type of automation tests. We need to identify what types of testing to be performed on the application then do a feasibility study to proceed with automation. When we say types of test we are dealing with two things

Levels of testing

This is a conventional test approach in almost all the projects, that first unit testing then integration testing followed by system testing. In this testing pyramid as we reach from the top to the base we intensify the test process to make sure there are no leaks, in the same fashion we need to ensure that each level of these tests are automated as well.

Unit tests

This is anyways done by the development team, these tests are automated most likely in the process of building and deployment process. Automated unit tests can give us some confidence that all components are running properly and can further be tested.

Integration tests

It’s well known that Integration tests are performed after unit tests. In the recent agile model in order to conduct parallel testing alongside development activities, we need to consider automating the integration tests as well
These tests come under the classification API and involve verifying the communication between specified microservices or controllers. UI might not have been implemented by the team we perform this.

System testing

System tests are designed when the system is available, in this level we deal with writing more number of UI tests which would deal with the core functionalities of the application. It adds great value when we consider these tests for automation

Types of tests that can be automated

UI layer tests

User interfaces the most important piece of the application because that’s what exposed to the customer, more often than not business focuses on automating the UI tests. Alongside doing in sprint automation leveraging the regression test suit gives a great benefit.

API layer tests

We should be relying on UI tests alone, given their time-consuming factor. API tests are par quicker than UI tests, automating tests in this layer will help us confirm the application stability without UI. This way we can conduct some early testing on the application to understand any major bugs earlier.

Database tests

Database test automation adds a great value to the team when there is a need to test new schema or during data migration or to test any quartz job that runs in the DB table.

Conduct feasibility study diligently to deem the ROI

While bringing automation into the testing process is essential, it is also very much needed to do an analysis to understand the return on investment factor. Jumping on to automate everything is not a good approach. A proper understanding of the application then taking a decision on the tool and framework selection is recommended.

Failing to conduct feasibility study will lead to problems like weak scripts with flakiness, more maintenance effort.

Points to Consider as a best practice for Automation

Choose the best framework

Choosing a suitable framework is part of a feasibility study. Based on the agreed test approach such as TDD- test-driven development or BDD- behavior-driven development, framework selection, and implementation should be taken into consideration

It’s recommended to go with the BDD framework approach considering the current agile methodologies. As the spec file which can be understood by any non-technical professional drives the test case, its quite easy to follow and define the scope of any test case in the application.

Separate tests and application pages code

In test automation while designing the tests, it’s essential to write test cases and the application pages method. This kind of page factory implementation helps us to get rid of unnecessary maintenance. It’s expected that the application screens likely be changing over cycles if at all the tests are not separated from pages we need to edit all the test cases even for a single change.

Showcase meaningful reports

The main purpose of test execution is to observe the results, be it manual testing or automated testing. Given the context, we need to integrate a reporting mechanism that should clearly state each test step with the corresponding results. When we share the reports to any business stakeholders they should find these meaningful and seem to capture all the correct information.

We have many third party reports being integrated to our test suites such as extent reports, allure reports, and testing reports. The choice of reporting tool should be based on the framework implementation. Dashboards should be very clear. Again BDD frameworks such as cucumber, the gauge would produce better Html reports and these are inbuilt.

Follow distinguishable naming convention for test cases

Not naming the tests properly is the silly mistake we ever do and its costlier. A good name given to the test case itself will speak for the functionality it checks for. This will also make the reports appear better as we are going to showcase the test case name and test case description in the report, it will also help the stakeholders to decipher the reports. Alongside naming the tests a meaningful name, it would be of great help if we can agree to a similar pattern for all test cases in test suit.

Follow the best coding standards as recommended

Despite the programming language when we are scripting the test cases it’s highly important to use the right methods and data structures. It’s not just recommended to find the solution but also to think of the best approach that reduces the execution time. Peer review and review by a senior or team leader in the team before it has been pushed to VCS system.

Here are some best practices when we say coding standards

Use try- catch blocks

Whenever we are writing any generic method or any test method we must ensure its being surrounded by try with possible catch blocks and as a good practice we must print a useful, relevant message according to the exception that’s being caught.

Use static variable to set some constant values

In any automation framework we certainly have some variables which we don’t want to change them at all it’s always a best practice to have them declared as static ones. One good example of this is web driver object is made as static variable.

Considering the scope of variables, we must consider declaring them. Global variables are recommended as we can use them in different methods as the test case executes

Generate random data and append to testdata

In recent times applications have become more advanced when it comes to the point of dealing with the data. In a data-driven test when we are fetching the data from an excel workbook, since the same test data is going to be used upon multiple runs, during the second run if at all application doesn’t accept the duplicate data, we need to supply another set of data. Instead, if we can just append a random number or an alphabet by using the java Random class, it serves the purpose.

Write generic methods

While designing the test automation framework and designing the tests, it’s very important to understand the common functionalities and write them as generic methods. Anyone in the team who is developing a new script needs to make use of these methods as much as possible and any new method that doesn’t exist can be added with the discretion of senior automation developer or team lead. Failing to implement this process will add so much of maintenance to the test code which is tedious.

Relevant comments to the code

Comments are much needed to any code snippet to help with understanding. It need not be a comment good documentation such as,

What exception is being thrown by the method upon failure?

What parameters it takes?

What it returns back?

Documenting the above things would give crystal clear understanding to any newbie who joins the team and there won’t be any hassles to kick start with script development

Using of properties files/ xml files in the code base

Instead of hard coding or supplying a few of the parameters required for a test such as a browser info, driver exe path, environment URLs, database connection related passwords, hostnames it would be good practice to have them mentioned in a properties file or any XML file, the one advantage is that, these files need not be built every time we trigger the execution. It makes the process a lightweight one also it is easy for maintenance.

Use of proper wait handling

On many occasions we see some of our tests will exhibit flakiness, its highly uncertain to find them why are they failing. If we ever conduct a proper triage we might end up answering ourselves that it has to do with waits. It’s better to go with implicit wait and wherever it’s required we can go with explicit wait so that we are not adding too much of execution time to the script. Unless there is a specific requirement it’s not recommended to use Thread.sleep

VCS system availability

When we as a team automating the application, it must have a version controlling system in place, so that we can manage the code changes and merge without any conflicts or re-works if all goes good under proper guidance. Having a VCS system is ideally recommended for any project that has automation test service.

Bring CI/CD flavor to test automation

DevsecOps is the buzzing thing in the industry in this era, this not just for developers to build the code and deploy but also for testing to automate the execution process, having this infrastructure will help set the execution on a timely fashion or with a particular frequency. We can set the goals as to what should be pre-execution goals and post-execution goals. It can also help the team with sending the reports as an email, the only job left is to analyze the results. This is one good thing to execute the regression tests with more frequency to ensure all functionalities work intact.

Capture screenshots upon failure and implement proper logging mechanism

As the test runs we need to capture the screenshots and have them in a specific directory as evidence. We can take a call whether or not screenshots required for all passed steps or only for failed scenarios based on the memory constraints. The screenshot can further be used share with the development team to understand the error when we report that as a bug.

Also a good framework must write log files to a directory, in order to see the steps have been executed. Dumping these into a file would also help future reference.

Best practices are the things learned from experiences, so adopting them would help us developing and maintaining the automation framework easily and that’s how we pave a tussle free path for our daily routines, some part of this discussion can be a debated as well because in automation world we have many flavors of tools, applications and frameworks so probably there could have been different solutions. The best thing to remember here is, basis the need for analyzing and finding a solution then make it as a practice is recommended.

Hope there could have been some takeaways while thanks a ton

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Amazing clients who trust us

Automation Testing Improving Process & Result

Automation testing chances point to costlier expenses

Develop clarity in your goals and how to reach them

Automation: Not a replacement for manual processes

Guaranteeing stability before the automation testing process

The execution of automated tests should be consistent

Leveraging skillful means is significant

Installing PIP on Windows

Virtual Environments on Windows

Creating requirements.txt

Behave JSON Report Generation

Customized PDF Report Generation

Python Selenium Headless Chrome

Behave Teardown

Network Throttling

Desktop App Automation Testing

BuildBot CI

What is Effort Estimation and why is important

What are the factors affecting test automation estimation in agile

Scope

Supporting Tools

Framework Implementation

We are detailing out the below variables and calculation methods that helps in estimation:

How CSS Selector selects an element

How XPath works

In Conclusion

Understand the application technology then identify the tool

Levels of testing

Types of tests that can be automated

Conduct feasibility study diligently to deem the ROI

Points to Consider as a best practice for Automation

Life cycle of Software Test Automation

Feasibility analysis & its significance

Feasibility study on the application and understand the functional flow

Feasibility study in tool selection

Feasibility study on framework development

Feasibility study on test strategical approach

Feasibility study on infrastructure availability

Calculating the ROI metrics

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions

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