Test Engineering, Test Automation … Professional Development, Management, Community Building

Despite of all critique and challenges, automation is a valuable aspect of testing strategy. Every new automator needs to answer questions like that: “How do you choose which test cases to automate?” While everything regarding testing is very specific, we may try to give an answer through general idea supplemented with concrete examples. Cross-posting my […] ...

To perform testing, GUI automation scripts need to encapsulate the following components: Test data, used for input and verification. Service functionalities, like reporting, data retrieval, etc. GUI mapping – set of logical names of GUI controls mapped to their physical properties. GUI operation, i.e. recognition of controls, sending commands, retrieving property values. Test instructions (test […] ...

Scalability is an integral characteristic comprising the following: How well volume of test cases can be extended without linear (or even geometric) growth of efforts for creation and maintenance. How well the same testing coverage can be applied to different environments. How well framework of the solution supports creation of integration of tests, by reusing […] ...

Maintainability is an integral characteristic comprising the following: Updates in test logic and/or GUI mapping caused by the changes in the application under test. Design or refactoring of automation for the purpose of expansion of coverage. Expansion or update of data set. Execution, testing, and debugging of testing scripts.   New environment setup Data changes […] ...

Performance of automated tests must be optimized by design and implementation, to achieve best coverage in shortest time possible within the constraints of the context. This should be achieved by use of configurable synchronization parameters, proper design of automated test cases and test scenarios. Failure criteria: Execution of knowingly failed test cases, i.e. execution of […] ...

Attendance Automated tests must be designed for unattended execution. Failure criteria: Test script may stop or break execution at any moment. Manual action required to continue the execution. Full restart is required if execution was stopped. Upon error or failure execution is skipped to the next script, leaving gaps in coverage. Scripts don’t log errors […] ...

Automated tests must be delivered as a software product which can be used (operated) by testers and other team members without special technical skills in programming or automation tools. Operation requirements for all setup and preparation procedures: Must require only general computer skills; Must follow a single standard; Must use centralized and unified configuration file(s). […] ...

Automated tests, as a product, should be available for use by any tester (and other team members) with minimal technical skills required.   This requirement heavily applies to the following procedures: Automation setup before execution. Launching execution of scripts. Reviewing test execution reports.   This requirement somewhat applies to the following procedures: Performing project-specific environment […] ...

Transparency of coverage should include written information about the following: Implemented Test Coverage – coverage of each and every automated test case, including test purpose and main execution steps. Executed Test Coverage – automatically generated test execution report, with each and every automated test case that was executed, including test purpose, all execution steps, and […] ...

Creation effort maps directly to costs – one can compare creation expenses with potential savings. Creation effort is an integral characteristic comprising the following: Test design or re-design of manual test cases to convert from human judgment to mechanistic verification. Automation design and development, including creation of scripts and any reusable components. Swiftness and efficiency […] ...

The automation is fundamentally limited to mechanical verification (aka Checking) – through comparison of values only. However, with proper design, automation may simulate many of usage scenarios, which will trigger possible problems either detectable through comparison or directly impacting the flow of test execution. Combination of cheap high volume of automated tests with human attention and […] ...

By industry standard definitions, test automation is created with the purpose of extending coverage, saving in test execution time, allowing for increase of test iterations, earlier detection of defects, and everything altogether. Therefore, only created and successfully used on a regular basis test automation should be considered as adding value. Coverage assessment must be done […] ...

As I’m finding myself, I’ve been writing about QA Test Automation quite extensively in the years around 2010. No surprise – it was my main specialty. Then I was extending and sharpening my skillset in the field of QA Testing, and writing more and more about my new interests. Yet it wasn’t a transition – […] ...

Reference Page: Comparison Rules ...

General Recommendation Object-Oriented GUI Recognition method should be used whenever possible. If an object is completely supported by testing tool then wrapping functions (provided by the testing tool) should be used to interact with the object. If an object is partially supported by testing tool then object’s native methods and properties should be used when […] ...

Original date: 12 May 2009, 5:00pm Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness. Maintainability Requirements Matrix Setup – What level of convenience you want to have setting-up the scripts? If Test Data file and path are hard-coded in the script then pointing to another data file requires code change. […] ...

Original date: 6 May 2009, 12:30pm Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness. Scalability Requirements Matrix Platform – What applications should be able to handle the Framework? The business need for automation of QA/testing activities appears when testing volume, turnover and coverage requirements make it beneficial enough. Volume ...

Original date: 28 Apr 2009, 1:00pm Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness. Robustness Requirements Matrix Manned / Unmanned Test Execution – What level of manual efforts in automated testing would be acceptable for you? Baby-sitting Test script may stop or break execution at any moment. Manual action […] ...

Original date: 21 Apr 2009, 12:30pm Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness. Usability Requirements Matrix 2 Transparency – Do you want Automated Test execution to be another “black box”, or you want to have a fully reproduced picture with documented test results? Execution Log Built-in execution log […] ...

Original date: 14 Apr 2009, 1:30pm Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness Usability Requirements Matrix 1 Applicability – How would you want to use Automated Testing solution? Basic Regression Testing Implemented as a sequence of data entry steps going through the screens. No or simplified verification based on hard-coded ...

QA Automation – GUI Function Wrapping Some of the statements below will be covered in detail in my subsequent posts. Now I use them to get straight to Test Step requirements. Please read details below the picture. Quality Assurance Functional/Regression Automated Testing and Test Automation Requirements: Usability, Maintainability, Scalability, and Robustness. Let’s break them down […] ...

Automated Test Report Requirements Every executed Test Scenario must be reported Report must include for each Test Case: description both in brief and detailed views Report format must be user-friendly and easily transferable to formats like MS Word, Excel Test Case Report Requirements Enlist order of the all Test Steps executed Define Test Data source […] ...