Everyone can agree that technology is moving at a supersonic pace. Every day new products and software are making their way into the hands of consumers. With this speed, it is only natural that companies cannot produce a bug-free product. 

There are skilled engineers in companies who are in charge of testing the software or products before sending them to the masses. But not every bug is squashed by them. This bug-riddled software that ends up in the hands of people will create a domino effect. 

The customers will be less than impressed, the reputation of the company will take a hit. The manual testing of software will also eat up a lot of time and also results in delayed delivery. 

Test Automation – An Intro

To eliminate the shortcomings of manual testing, Test Automation comes to save the day. The functionality of test automation is pretty self-explanatory. It automates the testing process which has a boatload of added advantages. 

This process is taking place with a set of tools that mimics a manual testing process, but only faster, more consistent every time, and more accurate. Automation testing is more beginner-friendly and it’s possible to learn the process more quickly than manual testing. There are countless automation testing guides online which can show the ropes for a beginner to be proficient in using them.

How They Help in Software Development

Software development is the process by which standalone software is created through a series of coding. A lot of process goes into for software to be developed and fully functional. This cycle is collectively called Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

Usually, the software is developed to aid businesses and companies to make life easier for them. But, software developers are also humans and they make mistakes. This will complicate things and make their lives tough.

Usually, after the software is developed by undergoing all the steps, they must pass the testing phase so that it is ready for the customers. The testing process was predominantly done by manual old-school methods. 

It is at this testing stage that engineers can check the software they developed for bugs and its usability. Manual testing was done for a long time and it was fine then. But now with the developments in technology, manual testing just won’t cut it.

The Benefits of Using Test Automation

1. Instant feedback: This is the most notable advantage of using an automated testing tool. With this tool, the development team can identify the potential bugs at the earliest stage of development. This will save them a lot of head-in-hand moments.

2. Saves a ton of time: While using an automated testing tool, time-saving is a given. Instead of having a man run tests non-stop which is weary and less efficient at the same time, automated testing can run these tests on their own. The engineers in charge of running the tests just have to come up with different testing scenarios while the tool does all the heavy lifting.

3. More accurate: Usually if a test automation tool runs the test, we can almost guarantee a result that is accurate down to the very last numbers. They rarely have a bad day when it comes to producing results. While manual testing for small software can produce accurate results, for huge companies this is not likely.

4. Reusability is also possible: Another thing about automated testing is the ability to run tests countless times unless the last of the bugs is squashed. We just need to produce a test script and run the tests even on cross platforms and multiple operating systems.

5. Easy on the money front: One can be easily put off by the huge expenses that come with implementing a test automation system. But after installing them, that’s pretty much it. It requires the minimum amount of maintenance and can work round the clock. This makes the company cut down on costs spent on manual labor.

The Disadvantages of Manual Testing

1. It takes a lot of time while testing new software. This delayed testing process places stress on other aspects such as deadlines not being met, customers getting the products late, things like these.

2. Manual testing cannot filter or iron out all the bugs on the said software. Some or many of them manage to escape even the most skillfully gifted engineers. They end up in the hands of customers who are not happy with the product at hand.

3. The increased cost is another factor accredited to manual testing. People obviously take a lot of time to test and software. For a company, more time spent on a single software equates to more man-hours and more payment to be paid.

4. Clumsy results are common while testing software manually. The tests will yield one result at the first time and running the same test with the same method will produce a completely different result.

This is where test automation swoops in to save the day and everyone’s a winner. The company can cut down its cost. The engineers have their work cut in half. There are significant advantages while using test automation to examine the software you have just developed.

Test Automation Tools

Just because an automation testing process is in place does not mean you will get the maximum result or in this case a bug-free software. The importance of choosing the right tool cannot be stressed enough. Certain tools in the market can do their job with a minimum of fuss.

TestProject

This is the first free-to-use automation tool that is cloud-based and powered by their community. Don’t let the word “free” throw you off. This tool has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. It has neat integrations such as  Selenium and Appium to collaborate with others and also makes sure that everything happens within the instant. The cherry on top is the built-in recording software.

Ranorex 

This automation tool has the best of two worlds. For starters, this is a beginner-friendly tool with no coding interface to discourage budding test automation engineers. But under the hood, this tool is loaded with a full IDE for C# or VB.NET, and open APIs.

Wrapping up

Before a software makes its way to the mainstream, it is always bound to be tested multiple times. But still, the output is plagued with bugs and causes customer dissatisfaction. This is why test automation is the best friend of any tester because they are just too effective to be ignored.