This article will explain how to create and implement an excellent test automation strategy to ensure that your testing efforts are well worth it and that the quality of your software reflects a carefully thought-out plan.
It also allows you to optimize your product fully before it is used by your customers.
What Could Go Wrong If I Dont Plan Ahead?
Lets start by talking about what happens when you dont implement a test automation strategy. Weve seen what happens when you dont have a test automation strategy in action.
Inability To Demonstrate Business Value
Many teams dont spend the time to look at the business case for implementing a new solution or test automation, like performance testing or browser testing.
The tech is cool. Its definitely something that could help your business. If you dont spend the time to link that with real business value, you risk the project being cancelled or not approved at all because you cant demonstrate ROI.
Vision Problems
Its difficult to have a clear vision without a plan. Automation projects are prone to change direction. You might need to add a new automation application as part of the framework or even change the technology.
When youre faced with a problem, it can be easy to postpone or cancel the project if you dont remember what your original vision is. A vision gives you a way to document the pivotal questions that arise and then act accordingly.
Technology Efficiency Loss
You also risk "technology efficiency losses" if you dont have a clearly defined test automation strategy. Your test automation needs to be matched with the application that you are building.
You will end up trying to force technology into solutions for which it is not appropriate if you do not take the time and plan to document this.
Unpreparedness For "Testing Squeeze"
Agile development was supposed to have eliminated testing squeezes, but as we know, it hasnt. Software development is still a world of testing squeezes.
If you want to know what to cut, then youll need to have a test automation plan. What scripts do you need to cut? What was most important to test? What was the business value of testing? If you dont have that information or something similar in your strategy, it can be difficult to know what to cut, where to look, and how to do it.
You may end up just cutting everything and removing it to deal with it later.
What Is Test Automation?
Lets define a test automation strategy now that you are aware of the need for one.
A test automation strategy can be thought of as a microcosm for your larger testing strategy. Many of the techniques that you used to build and develop your overall testing strategy are the same as those for your test automation strategy.
Your test automation strategy will be on the same level as your system and performance tests because you are using the same data to determine what to automate, the best way to automate, and the technology that makes sense.
A test automation strategy is part of your overall testing strategy. It uses the same types of tools and processes to determine the user experience, the tester, the developer, and the metrics.
What Do Test Automation Strategies Serve?
You might still be unsure of the real purpose behind a test automation strategy. What is the goal? It is important to first inform about the risks, capabilities, and functionality and then develop a repeatable, reliable process for informing.
Its also a great way to share your plans and goals.
This can also be used as a conversation starter and a way to introduce a new concept or technology into your business.
Its also a tool for auditing, which allows you to compare what you planned against what you actually did.
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What Is A Good Test Automation Strategy?
Do not worry about the format. You dont have to create a 70-page Word document. A living document, such as a map of the mind, can be used.
Mind maps are a great tool for automating test strategies. You can begin with rough sketches or ideas to build up a larger test automation strategy document. The format is not important.
Automate Api Tests That You Find Useful
An automated test suite is ideal for any API Development that needs to be tested frequently or continuously.
Review the API gateway documentation, application functionality, and all workflows to determine which APIs need continuous testing.
API tests that need continuous testing or monitoring are:
- Validation at the endpoint Is it working? Is it accepting valid messages?
- validation of data. Does the application display the expected data? After an application update, is the data accurately updated?
- API construct validation. Is the data displayed in the correct field, or does the response have the correct mapping?
- Security handling Does token reception and response work as expected? How do you handle rejected messages?
- Communication failures. What happens when a message or data transfer fails?
- Message format validation. Are messages meeting formatting standards?
APIs that are only occasionally used may be tested manually or prioritized using functional regression test suites.
APIs serving news feeds and decorative items within the application may be important, but they are unlikely to require continuous testing or automated test suites.
QA testers must verify that APIs related to data return the desired data across all platform users. Most cloud applications, for example, support both web and mobile apps.
Both platforms are likely to rely on the same API, but theyre coded separately. Automated tests should be created to ensure that both platforms display the same data.
After teams have covered the API connection through basic tests, it is possible to add complexity and expand the coverage of the test.
For example, QA test teams using Postman could automate via a series of JavaScript snippets, either individually or in combination, to increase coverage.
Api Test Automation Best Practices
API automation is useful for functional, connectivity, and security testing. Verifying that endpoints not only respond but also process valid and invalid messages is essential.
Security is a key factor in business operations. It relates both to application functionality and connectivity. Create automated API testing that covers all three items for the best business value.
Create a set of API security and functional tests that can be executed routinely, i.e., continuously or at least daily.
Connectivity tests should be added for both expected scenarios and failure scenarios. Connectivity tests should be performed at least weekly or daily, depending on how important the API is. Consider creating a critical testing suite for those items that require continuous testing and leaving the rest to a daily schedule.
Do not skip error messages or failure tests. They will let you know how an API reacts to bad data, and theyll alert you to other problems within the application.
It is better to detect failures in a test rather than when the customer uses the system.
Choose The Right Tool For Api Testing
API test automation is covered by many tools. Consider a free version or trial before committing. This will ensure that the tool is easy to use and can be expanded to cover all API tests.
The majority of API testing tools provide code snippets for getting started and also support custom coding. Code snippets allow teams to create valid test cases in different coverage patterns. The tests can also be edited to include more details or increase coverage.
These tools automate API testing:
- Postman. Both free and paid versions are available. Help and tutorials are available.
- Katalon. All levels of expertise can use it. Minimum maintenance requirements. Supports integration with CI/CD tools and DevOps.
- Apigee. Apigee is a tool that designs, secures, and scales APIs. Google Cloud services is part of this offering.
- SoapUI. API Testing Tool for REST and SOAP-Based APIs.
- JMeter. Open source and cross-platform Java testing. Apache JMeter runs on any platform with a Java VM.
- ReadyAPI. It offers the same features as SoapUI, but it is a brand-new offering.
How to Create a Test Automation Strategy
Lets get started now that you have a better understanding of the purpose, value, and appearance of a test automation strategy.
Step 1: Define High Business Value Tests
First, we need to identify the most important tests to perform. These are the ones that can cause a business to fail.
Knight Capital Group is a trading company that went from fully operational to bankrupt in 45 minutes due to a software failure (i.e., a high-value test that was not considered).
Work with your company to determine what high-value tests they have. This will help you understand if your solution fits into your critical scenarios. This will help you to demonstrate the true value of your automation framework in ROI discussions.
Step 2: Identify Your Risk
Knowing what to test first and what to check last is a key component of any test strategy. This testing automation priority should be determined using a risk-based method.
By calculating the business impact of the test and adding it to the likelihood of failure, you can determine whether a particular thing is high-risk or low-risk.
Prioritize the items with the greatest business impact and the highest likelihood of failure. Then, put the items with the least business impact and the lowest probability of failing at the bottom of your list.
It will also be very helpful with the testing squeeze mentioned above and knowing what to cut first.
Read More: Web API Development With Node.js And MongoDB
Step 3: Know Your Resources, Technology, And Tools
It is important to know how the overall automation of testing will impact your environment. Have you got the right accounts to run it? Have you got the right access to your environment? Are you able to access the libraries, APIs, and any other necessary pieces to make your testing automation solution communicate with your applications? You must have a working solution that you can easily integrate into your framework without slowing it down or creating fragile or broken tests.
Step 4: Check Your Data Quality
Many test automation projects are hampered by data errors. You could save hours by ensuring the data was correct at the beginning of the project using a script within your automation framework or by running prescripts that validate or load data.
You should examine your data handling, storage, data source, retry logic, masking, and de-identification for each release or big framework iteration.
Step 5: Define Your DevOps
You need to include this in your strategy for testing automation.
You should ask:
- Where do you store the code?
- What is your deployment strategy?
- Are the environments you are running it in safe?
- Are you using libraries and open-source code that is secure?
It is important to perform some form of security scanning, and you should have a plan for the scanning process.
Step 6: Take Into Consideration Your Testing Environment
Documenting environmental conditions is a complex process. Do you require certain tokens or VPNs? Do you require a lunchbox? What is the function of this box, where it lives, and whos responsible for it? How are these systems patched? Documenting all of this will help you onboard new testers into your organization and set up logins.
You need to know where your code runs at all times, and you should have it documented.
Step 7: Tag Your Tests
Then you can say, "I know that these are the scripts for my checkout, login, and so on." Therefore, it doesnt matter if we have 20,000 or 50 000 test automation scripts, smoke tests, etc.
If you do not have these tags, you will have to spend a lot more time trying to determine the purpose of some tests and which tests to run.
Establish a tagging contract to ensure consistency and updates on the most frequently used tags.
Step 8: Find Out About Testing Efficiency
You can apply the same logic to different testing areas as you increase your testing volume. This will help you to save time and money by reducing testing resources and testing time.
If you are doing the same thing for unit testing, manual testing, and automation testing, you may not need three testers to run the exact same test. Understanding your testing automation strategy from the unit to the UI can save you a lot of time.
Step 9: Embrace Agile Tools
Work on your documentation and embrace your DevOps and Agile tools. Your testing automation should be a living document, updated and reviewed every sprint to ensure you are staying on track with your goals and visions.
Use cloud-based tools to help you make this process a success. You dont have to document every step. Regular check-ins with micro-strategies are important.
The challenges of REST API testing
It is difficult to secure REST APIs because they are so complex. They are hard to reach, have a large number of parameter combinations and communicate constantly with other systems.
Its like searching for a needle among haystacks to find security vulnerabilities in REST APIs. Many dev teams use automated testing methods to deal with REST API complexity.
You can read about the six biggest challenges in REST API testing below.
Secure REST API Parameter Combinations
The REST APIs are made up of different parameters, such as the request method, the request URI, and the query parameter.
These parameters are available in a variety of combinations, which must be tested as certain parameter combinations may lead to incorrect program states.
Validating Rest Api Parameters
It is difficult to validate REST API parameters. When they are not validated correctly, issues like wrong string/data type and parameter data outside of the predefined range can arise.
Maintaining Data Formatting Scheme
The data format schema defines how REST APIs respond to requests and responses. Maintaining data formatting can be difficult because new parameters must be added to the schema.
Test Rest Api Call Sequences
To prevent errors, testers must ensure that the REST API is called in the right order. This is particularly important for REST APIs, which are often multi-threaded.
Setup For Rest Api Testing
13 Test Automation Best Practices
Defining Your Goals
Determining your goals is the first step to planning test automation. What do you hope to accomplish with automated tests? You can ask your QA team these questions:
- Do you want to reduce the manual testing effort in your software development?
- Want to test more of your applications functionalities and features?
- Do you want to improve your softwares overall quality by using more efficient testing techniques?
Determining your goals will help you decide what type of tests to automate and how to prioritize.
Select The Right Automation Tool
The second step to successful automation is choosing the right test automation software Developers. It is important to choose a tool that fits the projects requirements and needs.
The tool used for testing should be:
Define Your Test Automation Framework
A test automation framework is an organized set of rules, guidelines, and coding standards that you use when creating automated tests.
Determining your test framework will ensure that your tests are reliable and maintainable. Some of the most popular automation testing frameworks are:
Start Small With A Few Tests
Start with a limited number of test cases, and then gradually expand the scope of your automation. It is better to start with a smaller set of test cases.
This allows for better implementation and planning and also helps identify any potential issues.
Keep Test Data Separate
Separate test data from automation code. It is easier to maintain and update test data without having the scripts affected.
This helps ensure that test data is consistent across test runs.
Use Test Data Management Techniques
Test data management involves creating, storing, and managing data for automated tests. It is crucial to use test data management techniques in order to ensure that your tests are accurate, repeatable and promote data-driven testing.
Some popular test data management techniques include
Implement Version Control
Version control systems such as Git help track changes made to automation scripts and manage collaboration among team members.
In the event of an issue, it is possible to restore earlier versions of scripts.
Use Descriptive Names
The use of descriptive naming conventions in test cases and scripts for automation can help maintain the code and make it easier to understand.
It improves team collaboration and decreases maintenance time.
Keep Your Test Cases Simple
The test cases should have a simple, easy-to-understand purpose with an expected outcome. This will help to prevent confusion and errors during test execution and result analysis.
It is important to keep your test cases sample for automation, as it will improve the quality of your test suites.
- Maintainability
- Reusability
- Reliability
- Debugging,
- Scalability
Simple test cases can be modified and reused in various contexts. They are less likely to make errors, are more reliable, and are easier to debug if something goes wrong.
Simple test cases can also help you to maintain an easily manageable test suite. Keep your test cases simple to improve your test automation and achieve better software quality.
Schedule Regular Maintenance
It is important to maintain automation scripts regularly in order to ensure that they continue working correctly as the test application evolves.
Updating the automation scripts should be done to reflect any changes made in the application.
Implement Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment
Continuous deployment (CD) and continuous integration (CI), both best practices, ensure that automation scripts remain up-to-date and are integrated with any changes made to the application.
CI automated build processes, while CD automates deployment processes. Automated testing, a key component of CI/CD, allows MEAN developers to detect issues early in the cycle of development and prevents them from entering the production environment.
Business functions that are most likely to benefit from AI use cutting-edge technologies like MLOps for their AI/ML projects.
Continue reading our article "Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment" to learn the difference between these two terms.
Tests On Different Platforms And Browsers
Testing on different platforms and browsers can help identify platform- or browser-specific problems. Automated software testing aims to improve software and applications.
Running tests on different browsers will improve the overall quality.
Analyze Test Results
It is important to analyze the test results and take corrective actions when issues are identified. This will help to improve the quality of the application and the effectiveness of the automation scripts.
The most time-consuming part of testing REST APIs is setting up automated test cycles. ERP Development testing platforms can help speed up initial setup, especially for large projects.
The market for enterprise resource planning software is expected to generate US$52.33 billion in revenue by 2024, as reported by Statista.
Error Reporting For Rest Apis
It is difficult to report errors for REST APIs, especially with black-box tools, because the number of parameter combinations that have been tested is not known.
Coverage-guided approaches are the best method to report and monitor REST API testing since they provide useful coverage and error reporting.
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Conclusion
You should consider the business process aspects of testing automation. Each project has its own testing requirements.
To make a decision, you must understand the test case types and automation frameworks as well as the execution method.
