Automation Testing Framework: Significance, Benefits and Example
How Automation Testing Frameworks Became Invincible Parts of Modern QA Testing Process?
Test automation is a key requirement for projects requiring to complete several tests that further needs to be repeated across test cycles. While manual testing always remains in place, automation testing carried out in addition to manual testing further make it more efficient by taking care of too many testing tasks within a small passage of time. This is why automation testing should not be taken as a replacement to manual testing but as a great value addition to the testing process. Companies adopting automation testing tend to remain competitively better placed to finish projects in less time without compromising on quality and performance.
Now that the automation testing became integral to the development process of many companies, to make things easier automation testing frameworks are used. Here through the length of this post, we are going to explain what is automation testing framework, how it works and the key benefits of using a test automation framework.
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Table of Contents
What is Automation Testing Framework?
Automation testing frameworks are basically testing environment to execute the testing tasks. A testing framework basically consists of all the tools and practices that the Quality Assurance (QA) testing professionals basically need.
A testing framework comes equipped with the guidelines and rules that the testing professionals find helpful. While the testers can carry out the tasks by applying their own methodologies and approaches, having an organised guideline and set of tools close at hand comes as a guiding force.
Why Use Test Automation Framework?
Let’s begin with the basics. Every QA tester knows that the success of the testing process whether it is manual or automatic depends on thorough planning about the entire endeavour. This is something every testing endeavour gives utmost priority. Now when coming to the planning, it involves two principal areas, respectively the administrative aspects and technical aspects.
While the first includes planning about dates, schedules, milestones, people, etc, the technical side involves testing deliverables, a number of cycles, key tools, data, etc. A framework for test automation provides detailed guidelines for both technical implementation and administrative aspects.
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Automation Test Framework as the Technical Saviour
The automation testing framework in many regards appears as the savior to guide the testers to deal with the intricate technicalities of the testing tasks. It comes as a helping hand to deal with the scripting rules for ensuring to produce highly executable code at a rapid time. Thanks to such frameworks integrated with the projects the risks of typos and efficiency issues are minimum. When you need flawless coding with optimum efficiency, testing frameworks come as great helping hands.
Moreover, a testing framework ensures minimising the wastage of time by helping to figure out the test objective, creating the custom code, debugging the code and making it ready for execution. Thanks to a testing framework, all these tasks are carried out flawlessly within a reasonable time frame.
A good automation framework provides fully equipped script comprising all important information and guidelines to accommodate iteration within the operation and to help repetition of the tasks across test cycles.
Automation Test Framework as Efficiency Enhancer
Automation testing scripts come loaded with all the properties to carry out every different testing task. It does away with the need of duplicating the script at all instances where events of running scripts require accessing the same object. Within the framework, the object definitions are stored in a common repository. This helps to do away with the need for depositing small code and localisation. With so many repetitive tasks are eliminated from the process, efficiency gets a solid boost.
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Other Advantages
A testing automation framework depends on the script containing all standard procedures. This helps the tester to take the testing task in a well-organized manner based upon standard practices and guidance provided by the script. After establishing the automation objective, the script enables you to make a detailed plan with all modalities involved. Such a testing approach is highly coherent, organised with all aspects of the testing endeavour are balanced perfectly within the framework. The modalities and standard procedures of testing tasks help developers does away with the need for frequent manual intervention. This further makes reporting and maintenance job easier as minimum manual intervention is needed for testing tasks.
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How Test Automation Works: Explaining With Examples
As of now, we have seen how testing automation works and how it benefits the testing process with a boost of efficiency, performance, optimum testing output and simplified testing mechanism. Now, we need to explain this with some credible example. As for exemplifying we have decided to pick the case of Gmail.com.
Key features of Gmail we would test include the following:
- Compose email
- Create contacts
- Receiving an email
Now, let us assume that each automation tester is testing one feature. For our present explanation with an example, let us take this simple approach for granted. By allowing the tester to test each feature at a time, we will better understand how things work.
Now, the script of the automation testing framework should have code to carry out the below mentioned operations:
• Compose email:
com launch->Login authorization->Compose email->Write the contents, add attachments(email parameters)->Send email->Logout
• Create contacts:
com launch->Login authorization->Select contacts->Create contact->Save->logout
• Receive email:
com launch->login authorization->check email->read email-> logout
Now the above-mentioned scripts need to be tested through multiple test cycles comprising a combination of different users with different parameters for every operation.
Some of the key components that are repeated throughout the cycles include the following:
- com launch
- Login authorization
- logout
Now, the automation tester will further help in boosting the efficiency of the process by allowing to reuse these components for all tests as per requirement. The framework can significantly help by maintaining reusability of certain repetitive components that can be created, debugged and finalised once and reused several times across testing cycles. This reusability will also help to bring change to any component in a centralised manner.
For instance, thanks to reusability we don’t need to change each script of the 3 Gmail components if the change occurs in the Gmail home page. All we need is to incorporate the changes once in the home page script and other scripts will automatically incorporate those changes. This practice at the same time boosts efficiency and ensures consistency throughout the testing process.
Last but not the least consideration is about dealing with the data. When you incorporate the data into the script, you have the difficulty of coding every time you have to use new data. As a solution to this problem, in automation testing, you need to separate data and code from each other. This will allow you reusing the code wherever possible while always supplying the data as needed. A framework for automation testing helps with this practice.
A testing framework in multiple ways helps to organise the testing tasks to produce the best results. An automation testing framework comes as a continuous guide to the testers for executing the scripts in the best possible way, storing the results in the right place and presenting the testing results.
Conclusion
Testing automation has helped development companies tremendously to ensure optimum performance with their app products. For a rigorous development environment focused on error-free, clean and well-articulated coding practice, testing automation helps to ease out the QA process significantly. The frameworks for automation testing came as a big value addition to give QA testers a sigh of relief from all the repetitive tasks or challenges of orienting the testing endeavour with the project goals. As testing automation has become irreplaceable, there is no going back from these frameworks.
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Author Bio:
Chirag Mudsa is the CEO of leading web and mobile app development company, CMARIXTechnoLabs Pvt. Ltd. He is a goal-driven tech evangelist for a long time of 17 years, specializing in web and mobile development domain. His innovative spirit, strong leadership skills and a profound commitment to organizational growth has given him a key leading position in the industry.
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