Advantages and Guidelines of Automated Testing

"Automated Testing" is automating the manual testing process currently in use. This requires that a formalized "manual testing process", currently exists in the company or organization.

Automation is the use of strategies, tools and artifacts that augment or reduce the need of manual or human involvement or interaction in unskilled, repetitive or redundant tasks.

Minimally, such a process includes:

Detailed test cases, including predictable "expected results", which have been developed from Business Functional Specifications and Design documentation

A standalone Test Environment, including a Test Database that is restorable to a known constant, such that the test cases are able to be repeated each time there are modifications made to the application.

The following types of testing can be automated

Functional - testing that operations perform as expected.

Regression - testing that the behavior of the system has not changed.

Exception or Negative - forcing error conditions in the system.

Stress - determining the absolute capacities of the application and operational infrastructure.

Performance - providing assurance that the performance of the system will be adequate for both batch runs and online transactions in relation to business projections and requirements.

Load - determining the points at which the capacity and performance of the system become degraded to the situation that hardware or software upgrades would be required.

Benefits of Automated Testing

Reliable: Tests perform precisely the same operations each time they are run, thereby eliminating human error

Repeatable: You can test how the software reacts under repeated execution of the same operations.

Programmable: You can program sophisticated tests that bring out hidden information from the application.

Comprehensive: You can build a suite of tests that covers every feature in your application.

Reusable: You can reuse tests on different versions of an application, even if the user interface changes.

Better Quality Software: Because you can run more tests in less time with fewer resources

Fast: Automated Tools run tests significantly faster than human users.

Cost Reduction: As the number of resources for regression test are reduced.

Choosing the right tools for the job and targeting the right areas of the organization to deploy them can only realize these benefits. The right areas where the automation fit must be chosen.

The following areas must be automated first

1. Highly redundant tasks or scenarios

2. Repetitive tasks that are boring or tend to cause human error

3. Well-developed and well-understood use cases or scenarios first

4. Relatively stable areas of the application over volatile ones must be automated.

Automated testers must follow the following guidelines to get the benefits of automation:

? Concise: As simple as possible and no simpler.

? Self-Checking: Test reports its own results; needs no human interpretation.

? Repeatable: Test can be run many times in a row without human intervention.

? Robust: Test produces same result now and forever. Tests are not affected by changes in the external environment.

? Sufficient: Tests verify all the requirements of the software being tested.

? Necessary: Everything in each test contributes to the specification of desired behavior.

? Clear: Every statement is easy to understand.

? Efficient: Tests run in a reasonable amount of time.

? Specific: Each test failure points to a specific piece of broken functionality; unit test failures provide "defect triangulation".

? Independent: Each test can be run by itself or in a suite with an arbitrary set of other tests in any order.

? Maintainable: Tests should be easy to understand and modify and extend.

? Traceable: To and from the code it tests and to and from the requirements.

For more visualization of this article and free training tutorials on Testing: http://www.exforsys.com/content/category/17/259/340/

Exforsys offers free training and career help specializing in C, C++, C#, Java, J2EE, .NET, PeopleSoft, SAP, Siebel, Oracle Apps, Data warehousing, Oracle/SQL Server/DB2 and Testing. Please visit http://www.exforsys.com for more Training Tutorials, for IT Interview questions visit http://www.geekinterview.com, for articles and resources visit http://www.itquestionbank.com

---

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 5 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

Home Electronics: The Facts About Plasma TV

Not so many years ago, homes across the country watched... Read More

Customize Your Portable Player with an MP3 Player Accessory

Everywhere you look today people are listening to personal audio... Read More

Computer Performance Tips

Introduction In this article I will clearly spell out the... Read More

Why There Are Color Differences in Printing from Your PC

This article describes the basic properties of color, what the... Read More

Cisco CCNA Certification: Five Things To Do DURING The Exam

There are plenty of articles out there about how to... Read More

4 Easy Ways to Speed Up A Sluggish PC

Computers are supposed to speed up our productivity?to help us... Read More

Setting File Permissions On A Unix Server

File permissions are one of the strengths that the Unix... Read More

Make Windows XP Run Faster!

A friend told me: "My computer startup seems to be... Read More

Image Formats: GIF, JPEG, BMP

When browsing the internet you are likely to come across... Read More

JVCs First Three-Layer Combo-Disc Blu-Ray / DVD

JVC developed and used a high-performance reflective film to produce... Read More

Does Microsoft Show Hackers How To Attack?

After another security hole recently surfaced in Microsoft's Windows operating... Read More

How To Have Two (Multiple) Copies Of Windows

Having two operating systems is not as difficult as many... Read More

A Tale of Two Regeds

Tech support tells me to type 'regedt32' as opposed to... Read More

Apache, MySQL & PHP for Windows

Apache, MysQL and PHP for Windows could be a nice... Read More

The Many Benefits of Owning a DVR

Has This Ever Happened To You? OK.. it's Friday night,... Read More

The Benefits of Open Source

If you are a building a website or a forum,... Read More

Temporary Fixes to Spyware, Ad-ware, and Virus Infections

So you've got some spyware, ad-ware, or viruses on your... Read More

Favorite Things To Do With Home Technology

Save money. Save 10-15% on utility bills per month. Work... Read More

Image Conversion In Computers

JPEG, GIFF/JIFF, BMP, and TIFF are the most commonly used... Read More

Have You Invited A Spy Into Your Computer?

Yes, it's true. You may have inadvertently invited a spy... Read More

Consumer Electronic Information: The Basics of the DLP Projector

Projectors have come a long way in the past few... Read More

Got Virus?

GOT VIRUS? Your Data is NOT lost forever!In the wake... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity Customizations

Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way to popularize it's... Read More

Mail-merging: The Principles

About mail-mergingMail-merging is the process of merging variable data and... Read More

Digital Cameras: How Many Pixels Do I Need?

With the bewildering number of digital cameras on the market,... Read More

CCNA 640-801 Certification Primer

The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification is meant for... Read More

Computer Consulting 101 PC Troubleshooting Advice

While most small businesses really do need to find a... Read More

Cache In Your Chips And Get A Bus!

Computer related terminology could sometimes be daunting to newcomers. These... Read More

COOKIES - What Are They!!

Cookies, not the kind that Mom makes, but the computer... Read More

Use Your Computer For Your Entertainment Needs

By using your computer today you can find a lot... Read More

10 Tips to SPEED Up Your PC

1. Let your PC boot up completely before opening any... Read More

New Computer? Steps to Protect Your Computer Before Connecting to the Internet

Getting a new computer should be an exciting and gratifying... Read More