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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