What Is Automated QA Testing? How Does It Work?

Software testing is an activity that occurs non-stop throughout the entire development process. It pursues several goals: to prove that all the functionality in the product works correctly, and if not, to suggest some ways on how to fix it.

Nowadays, the importance of testing can scarcely be overestimated, since modern software is an extremely complex product to develop, yet there’s always a rush for high speed-to-market rates that puts additional pressure on engineers. After all, modern spoon-fed users are not ready to put up with even minor bugs. Thus, testing provides developers with a means for navigating projects between Scylla and Charybdis.

There are plenty of software testing strategies and methods. However, it is customary to distinguish two main branches here: manual testing and automated testing. Today we are going to slice and dice automated testing.

What is Automated QA?

Automated software testing involves the use of special software that monitors test runs and analyses their results.

Today, QA automation tools are one of the most in-demand solutions, taking second place only to the software for Agile. According to some reports, up to 80% of testers use bug tracking tools such as Jira, Bugzilla or Redmine. Thus, it can be concluded that the trend for automation is unlikely to vanish into the air in the near future.

As for QA automation, it works best for the tests that:

• cannot be done manually;
• require a lot of time and effort;
• cover commonly used functionality;
• run iteratively on different builds.

So let’s take a look at how this testing approach can be put into practice.

Let us say you have a task: to carry out the same scenario simultaneously on several machines with different hardware. Under these conditions, it is almost impossible to properly conduct testing in a purely manual way due to the inevitable human factor. However, you can use special tools that allow you to schedule each scenario and run them at exactly the same time.

This and other similar automated testing examples make it clear that this approach not only saves project resources, but also significantly widens opportunities for QA teams.

Types of Automated Testing

There is a number of various classifications of testing methods. However, we bring to your attention a simplified system that includes 3 main types of automated testing.

Automated API Tests

API (an acronym for Application Programming Interface) is a kind of link between databases and user interface, which allows communication between different software systems.

During API testing, QA engineers check the functionality, security, and reliability of the product.

Today, many testers prefer tools such as Postman and RapidAPI.

Automated Unit Tests

This approach is used when it is necessary to check a certain chunk of code – a unit. In order to make sure that each unit is working properly, testers write small programs to test each specific fragment.

Unit testing also plays an essential role in “documenting” functionality. A programmer who is about to jump into a project can look at test results and get an idea of ​​how the code works and how it interacts with a system.

The three most popular unit test automation solutions include NUnit, JUnit, and MSTest.

Automated GUI Tests

Command lines have become a part of irrevocable yesterday, having been universally replaced by graphical user interfaces. But along with this, there emerged an obvious need for GUI testing.

QA engineers require GUI testing to verify that such website elements as menu bars, dialogue boxes, checkboxes, and buttons perform their functions properly, regardless of browsers and platforms.

To test interfaces, you can resort to DogQ, a user-friendly and handy code-free tool.

A Silver Bullet For Bugs

But like any method with its merits and flaws, automated testing is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Disadvantages:

• The program cannot be wrong, but the results of its work can be misinterpreted;
• The automation testing life cycle includes cases management, which also requires your time;
• There are things that only manual testers can handle;
• Testing software may be down.

Advantages:

• The use of automation reduces the human factor significantly;
• QA teams have more free time, which they can devote to more important tasks;
• The software could simulate the activity of many users;
• The processing speed is far higher than that of a human;
• It generates reports and statistics by default.

Test Automation with DogQ

In conclusion, we would like to emphasize once again that in the ever-growing software market, the need for testing automation is stronger than ever. At the same time, the web is still the most tested platform, since 77% of QA specialists have been involved in web testing in 2019.

Test automation empowers you not only to cover a much larger piece of work but also to cope with it much faster than if the tests were performed manually. And bear in mind: the fewer bugs there are in the final product, the better the user experience will be. This is why automated testing has always been a cornerstone.

DogQ is a service that is here to make life easier for both testers and programmers. With DogQ, you can run hundreds of scenarios like a breeze, greatly speeding up your performance. Best of all, you don’t need to know how to write code to take full advantage of our tool.

Feel free to try DogQ right now!