With the continuous integration, continuous deployment, and iterative nature of modern software development, companies are turning to test automation as an effective way to eliminate manual testing and catch bugs earlier in the software lifecycle. In this blog post, you will learn why your company needs a test automation framework and 7 key reasons why it’s an essential investment.
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What is a Test Automation Framework?
A test automation framework is a tool for automating the entire test process. It can be defined as a set of software tools that help you write and run automated tests, act as a centralized source for your test scripts, connect with other tools in your team and help you manage your team’s effort. Test automation frameworks help software teams write and run tests by automating the entire process of gathering and writing data, scripting tests, and running them to make sure the code works as expected. You use test automation frameworks to save time and make sure the code works as expected.
Why Your Company Needs a Test Automation Framework
Automated testing is a critical part of modern software development. It’s used to catch bugs early and increase software reliability. Modern software development practices have changed significantly since the days of manual testing. Agile development and the expectation to deliver working software quickly mean that the testing process has also experienced a radical transformation. The fact that we can now do more with fewer resources means we now have more expectations for the quality of our software. For example, we have new expectations for speed, scalability, and reliability. Speed means we want to make sure our software is faster than a human could be to perform the same task. Scalability means we want to be able to support a large number of users and a wide variety of scenarios. Reliability means we want to avoid any unexpected behaviour that may lead to system outages or crashes.
Key Benefits of Automated Testing
- Faster Test Cycles: Automated testing allows teams to scale faster. Faster teams mean faster feedback and better context for the team. In addition, test automation allows teams to release more often because they can iterate faster.
- More People: Automated testing allows teams to scale larger. Larger teams mean better context and more collective knowledge. People from more teams mean better overall judgement and a more diverse team.
- Better Quality: Automated tests are more thorough than manual testing due to the ability to write more tests and run them more often. Thus, modern tooling is leading to a more accurate picture of the state of the codebase.
Emotional Intelligence for Software Engineers
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify and understand one’s own emotions in order to identify and understand those of others. When you are a junior software engineer, you are often asked to lead and project manages other people. You are expected to understand and empathize with your team members. However, there is a huge difference between understanding and empathizing. Understanding is receiving information, but not being able to apply it. You need to understand that your colleague is frustrated by slow feedback, but you need to understand why they are frustrated. The ability to identify and understand your own emotions and the emotions of others is what empowers you as a human being and as a team member.
Establish a Culture of Automated Testing
When you start automating your tests, you will notice the first signs of progress. Your productivity will increase and you will start to get more work done in the same amount of time. It’s important to note that this is not the norm. It might take a few cycles to start seeing the rewards of test automation. The reason is that the more tests you run, the better you get at writing them. Sure, you start with the same basic set of test scripts, but you will soon discover new ways to test your code and find new data to test it with. This is very exciting, but also very time-consuming. You will need to write tests for existing code, as well as discover how to test new features and code changes.
Bottom line
A good test automation framework will help you write tests faster and run them more frequently. It will reduce the time required to write new tests while increasing your confidence that they are good tests. It will also help you discover new ways to test your code. When you use a test automation framework, you can rest assured that your code will be tested thoroughly and run the same way the customer would. This will help ensure that your product is of the highest quality possible, meets expectations, and is delivered on time.
