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Automated testing


In software development, automated testing is a programmatic process for validating whether code meets the software development team's quality assurance (QA) requirements and functions as expected.



Test automation tools use scripts to examine software code, report outcomes and compare results with earlier test runs. Depending upon the results, the software might be sent back to developers for more work, or it might be approved for deployment. Ideally, each script should only test one feature. If a test script checks multiple features, the developer will not know which part of the software failed.



Automated testing tools run program code through an algorithm that has a start place, a change and an expected result. Automated scripts can follow every possible logic path in minutes and simulate almost any number of users. QA for a large application may take weeks to complete if done manually, but with automation, testing can often be completed in a day or less.



One of the biggest problems with moving to automated testing, however, is that the scripts themselves must be developed and tested. Although this part can be time consuming, once the scripts have been developed and approved, tests can be run repeatedly, at any time of day or night.



This automated approach to software testing supports continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD), two Agile practices that seek to put code changes into production as quickly as possible.

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