Do’s and Don’ts of Automation Testing

Automated software testing is a technique which makes use of software scripts to simulate the end user and execute the tests, thus significantly accelerating the testing process. It has marked benefits in terms of accuracy, dependability, enhanced test coverage, time and effort saving. Automation aids in reducing the duration of release cycles, albeit at a price. Initial cost of setting up an automated process for testing acts as a deterrent to many cost conscious organizations. However, it does prove beneficial in the long term, especially with CI/CD. Hence, it is important to follow certain best practices and avoid common mistakes while automating the testing process. 

Following table gives a quick overview of what to do and what not to do while planning test automation. These points are further elaborated in entailing paragraphs.

Do’s	Don’ts
Right Team & Tools	Automate everything
Application knowledge	Automate from day one
Right test cases	Solely rely on automation tools
Short & independent test scenarios	Ignore FALSE failures
Prioritize test automation	Ignore Scalability
Records of manual vs automation test cases	Ignore performance testing
Test data management	Delay updating modified test cases
Test case management	Use multiple automation platform

What to do for successful Automation Testing

• Choose the team and tools prudently

It is vital to have the right set of people working on the right tools to reap the maximum benefits from test automation.

• Good knowledge of application being tested
  Team selection and testing tool selection will be dependent on the kind of application being tested. Having in-depth knowledge of application will help in making right choices in terms of human, hardware and software resources. Click on this link to read more about this blog : Test Automation