A Trip through QA Automation: Positive Impacts and Barriers

Quick Summary - In the world of software development, it’s really important to make sure your software is excellent because there are lots of others doing the same. This is where quality assurance (QA) comes in. It's like a superhero. It ensures your software is good and catches issues early.

In agile development, using automation for QA is essential. It’s like having a robot helper that tests and adapts your software, making sure it meets customer needs.

As the world of software keeps evolving, automation in QA becomes even more critical for faster and better results. Whether you’re a startup or a big company, using automation in QA is a smart choice to thrive in the changing world of software.

Real-life example: Imagine you’re making a mobile app, like a game. Before it goes out to players, you want to make sure it works perfectly. QA is like having a team of game testers who play the game to find any bugs or issues. But to do it faster and better, you also use special testing software that automatically checks the game for problems. This combination of human testers and automated tools ensures your game is fun and works smoothly, which helps it succeed in the competitive world of mobile gaming.

Table of Content

1. What is QA ?
2. What is QA Automation ?
3. Types of QA Automation
4. Tools and Frameworks
5. How does QA automated testing work?
6. The Positive Impact of QA Automation
7. The barriers of QA Automation
8. Vision for the Future
9. FAQs

What is QA?

QA, or quality assurance, is a process in software development that ensures the software works correctly and meets its requirements, aiming to reduce errors and improve its overall quality.

1. Purpose of QA in Software Development:

• QA ensures that software functions correctly.
• QA verifies if the software meets specified requirements.

2. Tasks of QA Testers:

• Adding new features to a customer relationship management (CRM) system.
• Customizing software to specific needs.
• Preventing compatibility issues between new and existing releases.

3. Primary objective of QA:

• The main goal of QA is to minimize bugs both during the development phase and in the production environment.

What is QA Automation?

QA automation, also called “automated QA testing,” is the process of using automation tools and testing frameworks to automate certain software testing methods. It often focuses on automation testing jobs that humans used to do by hand or that were repetitive.

Quality assurance automation is about using tools and software to perform tests automatically, saving time and improving efficiency compared to manual testing.

QA automation is a part of the software development process that uses automated testing tools to check software and provide feedback. It’s really useful for situations where software needs to be created, tested, and delivered quickly and regularly, rather than in stages.

We can test mobile apps and software faster and more efficiently. With the help of QA automation. Because of automatic QA testing, we can give end users software that is more reliable and stable.

Types of QA Automation

Functional Testing: Ensures that the software functions correctly according to specified requirements.

• Example: Testing a login page to verify if valid credentials grant access

Regression Testing: Re-running tests to ensure that new code changes haven’t introduced new defects.

• Example: After a code update, retest all existing features

Performance Testing: Evaluates system performance under different conditions (e.g., load, stress, scalability).

• Example: Measuring website response times under heavy traffic

Security Testing: Identifies vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the application’s security.

• Example: Testing for SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities

Integration Testing: Verifies that different parts of the software work together as expected.

• Example: Testing the interaction between a web application and its database

Usability Testing: Evaluates how user-friendly the software is.

• Example: Gathering user feedback on the user interface (UI) design

Tools and Frameworks

Selenium

• Selenium is widely used for web application testing.
• It supports multiple programming languages, including Java, Python, C#, and more.
• Selenium WebDriver provides a browser automation framework for interacting with web elements.

Appium

• Appium is a popular choice for mobile application testing, supporting both iOS and Android.
• It allows testing of native, hybrid, and mobile web applications.
• Appium supports multiple programming languages.

JUnit

• JUnit is a widely used Java-based testing framework for unit and functional testing.
• It supports test case organization, test execution, and reporting.

TestNG

• TestNG is another Java-based testing framework that offers more advanced features compared to JUnit.
• It supports parallel execution, test grouping, and better reporting capabilities.

Read More: Key Benefits of Automation Testing Frameworks

How does QA automated testing work?

Testing can be automated, but usually it involves writing test scripts, which requires programming knowledge. Normally, your development team does this. Yet, if you use codeless testing tools, you can make tests by using keywords without needing programming skills.

Automating QA testing can be divided into two main approaches:

GUI (Graphical User Interface) testing

1. Purpose: GUI testing is a type of quality assurance testing that checks if a program works the way it should from a user’s perspective.
2. How it Works: It does this by simulating what a user would do - clicking on things with the mouse and typing with the keyboard. It keeps an eye out for any problems and records them so they can be reviewed later.
3. Automation: Instead of humans doing these tasks, automation tools are used to speed up the process and reduce mistakes made by humans.
4. Consistency: We can use GUI testing over and over again to test different parts of the software. This helps us get very accurate results and find and report any problem for the team to fix.

API (Application Programming Interface) testing

1. Importance: API testing is crucial to check how well an application’s programming interface works, especially when there’s no graphical interface to use.
2. Purpose: API tests are used to evaluate both external (third-party) and internal (in-house) APIs. These tests focus on checking entire transactions and specific software parts.
3. What’s Evaluated: API tests look at various aspects, including how fast the API response, the format of the responses, how it handles security issues, and if it can manage tricky situations or unusual cases.
4. Service Virtualization: Sometimes, API testing can use a technique called service virtualization. This helps mimic the behavior of different parts of the software, which is useful when live testing isn’t possible, like with cloud-based apps.

Testing Examples of QA Automation

• Automated Web Testing with Selenium:

• API Testing with Python and request library:

The Positive Impact of QA Automation

1. Enhances accuracy

Using test automation increases the likelihood of error-free releases. Automation is more accurate than manual testing since it requires less human contact. The difficulty is that human testers can make mistakes at any review stage. The machine refuses to cooperate.

Reduced human errors minimize failure risk because manufactured test cases are more accurate than human testers. Working with an AI testbot improves test automation accuracy. AI-powered solutions surpass humans in exploratory testing. Even the most careful manual tester may miss something. Automated QA testing is precise and records even the smallest details in every test.

Testers who no longer need to complete Difficult manual tests may focus on implementing automated testing for more complex features. Humans make more mistakes with repetitive release testing. Automation tests duplicate operations identically every time.

2. Economical and time-saving

Testing software on all supported operating systems and hardware combinations every time a source code is amended may be costly and time-consuming. Implementing QA automation enables speedy testing at no added expense, in addition to lowering run time.

There are some test cases that, when carried out by human testers, require a sizable amount of time to execute properly. We can automate these time-consuming manual test cases using automated QA testing.

As a result, we may save a substantial amount of money and time in the long term. Every release, or whenever a new update is deployed, test suites must be run. Traditional manual testing would take a long time to complete; therefore, having automation in place for such testing would reduce the execution time and eventually save money.

3. Early detection of bugs

Early bug discovery is tough with manual testing; it can only uncover a bug after thorough testing. However, due to the preset automated script, we may detect flaws in the application early using automated QA testing.

For bug discovery, it is faster than manual testing. Critical issues can be discovered sooner in the testing process, lowering the cost of correcting them and increasing team efficiency.

4. Increase in product quality A rise in productivity

Companies may increase testing coverage via QA automation. QA teams may now run thousands of automated test cases on several platforms and devices. However, "human" or manual testing cannot examine things "deeply." Memory data, data tables, and internal file structure may be examined during automation testing. The software's quality and performance may improve.

Automated regression testing may examine all application aspects. This makes manual testing difficult. QA automation makes hard work easier. Thus, the team's QA testers may focus on test strategy creation, analysis, and exploratory testing. Automation lets you test your app late at night and get results the next day.

Software developers and QAs can spend less time testing since automated tests run automatically. Automation lets engineers focus on more important duties. As we all know, introducing features is more thrilling than correcting app functioning.

Also read: Importance of Bug Prevention in QA Testing

The barriers of QA Automation

1. Limited engineering resources, hiring skilled testers, or team upskilling

Despite "talk" of full automation, test automation technologies are not "smart" enough to replace human testers. Automated testing can simplify testing, but it cannot replace a skilled tester.

Automated QA testing requires skilled programmers and testing tool experts. A trained software tester must develop automation test scripts, not software engineers.

QA automation requires skilled testers who know programming languages and automation tools. We should recruit expert testers or train our workers on automation. We provide relevant courses, training, and credentials. This ensures our testers can handle automated issues.

Most companies lack the engineering expertise to create, train, and enhance QA models, and getting this talent is difficult due to the talent shortage. Manual QA testing is most likely hindering engineering resources or using them for more important tasks.

2. QA automation may be expensive upfront

Despite all of its advantages, product firms find it difficult to build and deploy an automated test framework. Test automation frameworks are tough to maintain and have large initial setup expenses.

Companies also want qualified testing personnel who are familiar with testing tools and programming languages. Implementing QA automation may necessitate an initial capital outlay for tools, equipment, and training. We should quantify the possible return on investment (ROI) by taking time, enhanced test coverage, and decreased human error into account.

Running an efficient automated test regime may require continuing engineering resources, maintenance, and some resource allocation. The technological skills necessary to maintain the test environment can be costly because professionals are in great demand and command high prices.

3. Choosing the Appropriate Automation Tool or Framework

With so many automated testing solutions on the market, it might be tough to select the correct one. Every automation tool cannot be configured to operate with your apps or software architecture.

Choosing the right automation tool or framework is critical for QA automation success. There are hundreds of open-source and licensed tools accessible, making it tough to pick. We must weigh several possibilities in light of our project needs, compatibility, scalability, and simplicity of use.

We should also undertake extensive research and take into account industry best practices. In order to draw an educated conclusion, seek advice from professionals or peers.

Vision for the Future

As per the statistics of AIMultiple Over the period of time, 33% of companies seek to automate between 50% and 75% of their testing process, while 20% aim to automate more than 75% of the testing process. 24% of companies have achieved more than 50% of test automation in their testing process.

QAble is a prominent automation testing company in India, offering comprehensive automation testing services with quality assurance. Selecting the perfect automation testing tool for your product can be tricky.

It’s crucial to think about what you need, your budget, and whether it works with your system. We offer a wide range of testing services to ensure your web apps are top-notch and thoroughly tested for quality.

Our dedicated team of experts ensures that your products meet the highest standards of quality and reliability. Trust QAble for all your automation testing needs, and rest assured that your web applications will perform flawlessly.