Benefits of Test Automation

What is Test Automation?

Software often aims at providing automation to manual tasks. However, in classic approaches, testing developed software is still done manually. Therefore, the basic idea of test automation is to “write programs that test programs”. As a result, executing tests do not require more manual effort than pressing a “start” button. The test cases are executed automatically, and testing results are presented in a human readable way. Although, Test Automation may not be applicable to all test cases, it aims to boost efficiency in software testing.

Test Automation as a solution to the challenges of the work of software testers?

Test Automation as described above definitely provides potential for increasing efficiency in software testing. But to which extent can it be used to tackle problems that classic testers face each day?

• Reduced time for testing due to decreasing release cycles
   Carrying out test cases is a time-consuming task in software testing. Automating test execution reduces the time required for software testing, enabling testing to keep up with decreasing software release cycles.
  
  
• Less effort needed for testing despite increasing complexity of the software
  Exploding numbers of test cases often makes it infeasible to ensure software quality by manual testing. Test Automation can be used here to dramatically reduce the number of test cases a software tester has to carry out for each software increment. Correct functioning of existing features can be ensured using automated regression tests, letting the software tester focus on newly developed functionality.
  
  
• The increasing influence of software makes testing a crucial activity
  Tackling both of the above-mentioned challenges may already facilitate the use of testing, thereby improving the quality of deployed software. Additionally, Test Automation also increases the range of applications for software testing. It allows to (i) test parts of software that cannot be accessed by humans and (ii) test further aspects of software. Testing parts of software that are only machine accessible allows to better integrate testing and development of software. Testing scenarios that cannot be executed without Test Automation, like performance or stress tests, further increase the quality of deployed software by ensuring performance and security.