Software Testing is primarily an information-gathering process that assists stakeholders in making informed decisions. However, it can be problematic to gather information if the testing process is constantly interrupted by diversions and interruptions. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/best-software-testing-tools-qas-are-using-in-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Software Testing tools</a> and test automation scripts can lead to false positives if proper measures and considerations are not taken when setting up the testing and automation process.



In this article, I will discuss some of the common causes behind false positives and provide you with some tips and tricks to help you avoid them during your <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">software test automation</a> process.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#False_Positives">1 False Positives</a></li><li><a href="#Common_Causes_of_False_Positives_in_Software_Testing">2 Common Causes of False Positives in Software Testing</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Flaky_Test_Automation_Scripts">2.1 1. Flaky Test Automation Scripts: </a></li><li><a href="#2_Changing_Locators_Automation_Hooks">2.2 2. Changing Locators (Automation Hooks): </a></li><li><a href="#3_Unstable_Test_Environment">2.3 3. Unstable Test Environment: </a></li><li><a href="#4_Impractical_Test_Sequence">2.4 4. Impractical Test Sequence: </a></li><li><a href="#5_Configuration_Issues">2.5 5. Configuration Issues: </a></li><li><a href="#6_Script_Development_Execution_on_one_specific_machine">2.6 6. Script Development &amp; Execution on one specific machine: </a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Impact_of_False_Positives">3 Impact of False Positives</a></li><li><a href="#Avoiding_False_Positives_in_Software_Testing">4 Avoiding False Positives in Software Testing</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Auto-Healing_Locators">4.1 1. Auto-Healing Locators: </a></li><li><a href="#2_Robust_Locators_Automation_Hooks">4.2 2. Robust Locators (Automation Hooks): </a></li><li><a href="#3_Automatic_Retry_Reruns">4.3 3. Automatic Retry / Rerun(s): </a></li><li><a href="#4_Scheduling_test_runs_periodically_to_ascertain_stability">4.4 4. Scheduling test runs periodically to ascertain stability: </a></li><li><a href="#5_Develop_execute_on_separate_machines">4.5 5. Develop &amp; execute on separate machines: </a></li><li><a href="#6_Plan_Testing_across_Layers">4.6 6. Plan Testing across Layers: </a></li><li><a href="#7_Refreshing_Test_Environment">4.7 7. Refreshing Test Environment: </a></li><li><a href="#8_Verbose_Logging_Observability">4.8 8. Verbose Logging &amp; Observability</a></li><li><a href="#9_Using_Contract_Verification_Scripts">4.9 9. Using Contract Verification Scripts: </a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 class="has-text-align-left" id="h-false-positives">False Positives</h2>



False Positives are commonly observed due to:



<ul><li>Errors in software test automation scripts</li><li>Instability in the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test environment</a></li><li>Failures due to third-party libraries or cooperating processes, etc.</li></ul>



If you are into software test automation, you may have already seen false positives like:



<ul><li>Automation Test Script Failure due to changing locators</li><li>Test Pipeline Failure due to Build Issue(s), etc.</li></ul>



<h2 class="has-text-align-left" id="h-common-causes-of-false-positives-in-software-testing">Common Causes of False Positives in Software Testing</h2>



Now that we have an understanding of what a false positive is, let&#8217;s look at the common causes:



<h3 id="1-flaky-test-automation-scripts">1. Flaky Test Automation Scripts: </h3>



It is one of the most common reasons behind false positives during software test automation. Flakiness or instability can be due to many factors. Some of the popular ones are:



i. Poor design of test scripts



ii. Non-modular / non-maintainable code structure



iii. Non-clean code



iv. Poor testability of the application



Read here &#8211; all about <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/flaky-test/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flaky Test</a>.



<h3 id="2-changing-locators-automation-hooks">2. Changing Locators (Automation Hooks): </h3>



Regardless of the test automation platform, a common feature is the reliance of automation on some hooks or locators. If these hooks change too frequently or are not defined in a robust way, it may lead to frequent false positives followed by an investigation and fixing time. Commonly used automation hooks are:



i. XPaths



ii. JSON Paths



iii. XML Paths, etc.



<h3 id="3-unstable-test-environment">3. Unstable <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Environment:</a> </h3>



There are a number of factors that can directly or indirectly affect the state of a system and the environment in which it is being tested. Some of such factors are:



i. The current and changing state of the system 



ii. Dependent processes and their effects on the test environment



iii. Version changes



iv. Breaking contracts



<h3 id="4-impractical-test-sequence">4. Impractical Test Sequence: </h3>



In some cases, a test depends on specific business logic. Ex: Reading software from a device makes sense if you have already written software for the device. If someone wants to test the read functionality but does it after a delete software test, it will just lead to an impractical test sequence and a false positive.



Write Software &#8211;&gt; Read Software



Delete Software &#8211;&gt; Read Software



<h3 id="5-configuration-issues">5. Configuration Issues: </h3>



Most complex software have a configurable build, and deployment system. When such configuration is not managed properly, it can lead to a range of configuration-related issues. Oftentimes, the configuration(s) is done manually, which can lead to unintended issues



Also, as an automation engineer, does your test suite consider specific versions of each dependency? Does it also consider the test environment states? Do your automation scripts use the setup and teardown (cleanup) modules to set up the test environment?



<h3 id="6-script-development-execution-on-one-specific-machine">6. Script Development &amp; Execution on one specific machine: </h3>



Scripts that only run on local machine is mostly FLAKY. Script developers often ignore factors that may change on other machines when developing a script for a specific machine. Moreover, Programs don&#8217;t do what they haven&#8217;t been told to pay attention to, which leads to false positives.



<h2 class="has-text-align-left" id="h-impact-of-false-positives">Impact of False Positives</h2>



False positives often end up creating a ripple of side effects. It can impact testing in ways you might not expect. Here is how false positives can impact your testing:



1. Loss of time:&nbsp;



i. In going through logs



ii. In investigating the problem



iii. In reproducing the test steps



iv. In fixing the test scripts, environment, etc.



2. Noise in Automated Testing Cycles



3. Loss of credibility &amp; integrity: False positives from your software test automation is inversely proportional to your test process credibility.



4. Defocus on the actual information gathering process (testing)



“The more you go in one direction, the far you go from the opposite direction.”



Jerry Weinberg



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<h2 class="has-text-align-left" id="h-avoiding-false-positives-in-software-testing">Avoiding False Positives in Software Testing</h2>



The best strategy to deal with false positives is by avoiding them in the first place. To prevent false positives, here are some tips and tricks:



<h3 id="1-auto-healing-locators">1. Auto-Healing Locators: </h3>



If you have ever attempted GUI App automation, you already know about the challenge of continuously changing locators. However, a good automation solution will allow multiple locators to identify GUI elements that can be used to make the system self-heal in the event of a locator failure. Ex: <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> provides the facility of auto-healing locators by default.&nbsp;



<h3 id="2-robust-locators-automation-hooks">2. Robust Locators (Automation Hooks): </h3>



Writing robust locators is a craft and requires a good understanding of the element lookup process. Learning how to write robust and stable locators is always a good investment.&nbsp;



<h3 id="3-automatic-retry-rerun-s">3. Automatic Retry / Rerun(s): </h3>



Automatic retry/rerun strategy can help you know the consistency of the issue. In some cases, the issue can be due to a momentary glitch in the test environment. Automated rerun strategies confirm this and save you time investigating a false positive.



<h3 id="4-scheduling-test-runs-periodically-to-ascertain-stability">4. Scheduling test runs periodically to ascertain stability: </h3>



A script not running is as good as a script, not present. Testing scripts should always be run periodically to ensure the stability of the environment, product, test scripts, infrastructure, etc.



<h3 id="5-develop-execute-on-separate-machines">5. Develop &amp; execute on separate machines: </h3>



Running regression tests on separate machines is a good strategy to avoid the pitfall of flaky scripts. Testing on separate machines helps reduce the likelihood of flakiness. You can also run headless tests or use docker containers or cloud systems. Read about <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-headless/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium Headless Tests</a>



<h3 id="6-plan-testing-across-layers">6. Plan Testing across Layers: </h3>



Planning entire testing on one layer can be a bad strategy in most cases. Testing should always be planned across several layers. Also, consider the flakiness index of different layers. Flakiness Index: UI &gt; API &gt; Unit



<h3 id="7-refreshing-test-environment">7. Refreshing <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Environment</a>: </h3>



Test Environment and state can lead to false positives in your test results. Things that generally help to avoid such issues are:



1. Resetting State



2. Using Hooks



i. Setup 



ii. Teardown 



3. Spinning up docker containers, etc. 



<h3 id="8-verbose-logging-observability">8. Verbose Logging &amp; Observability</h3>



<h3 id="9-using-contract-verification-scripts">9. Using Contract Verification Scripts: </h3>



If you are <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/api-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing API</a>(s) that depends on contracts, then it is always good to run scripts that:



i. Monitor Contracts



ii. Monitor Dependencies



For all our visual readers, I have summarized this entire article in the form of this <a href="https://xmind.app/m/sxBCik/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mind map</a>.



We hope you learned something about false positives and how to avoid them during the testing process through this article.



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Wondering why to choose an open source test automation tool, read here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/reasons-to-choose-an-open-source-test-automation-tool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reasons to Choose an Open-Source Test Automation Tool</a>

Software Test Automation False Positives & How to Avoid Them

What are False Positives & How to Avoid Them?

The iterative approach to software development emerged around the 1990s. What started as a small co-located, self-sustaining team approach was widely adopted by many development teams. The agile mindset paved way for multiple development frameworks, including the infamous “Scrum methodology”. 



With time, processes undergo metamorphoses, during which a few unpleasant practices sneak in causing distractions within the teams. This article focuses on a few unpleasant software testing distractors within an Agile Scrum team.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The below agile testing distractors may not have a significant impact in plain sight, if left unattended they may cause potential harm in the long run.&nbsp;



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Muted_Refinement_sessionsnbsp">1 Muted Refinement sessions&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Absence_of_testing_notesnbsp">2 Absence of testing notes&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Separate_QA_boardnbsp">3 Separate QA board&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Ignored_test_effortsnbsp">4 Ignored test efforts&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Commenting_defectsnbsp">5 Commenting defects&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Piggybacking_testersnbsp">6 Piggybacking testers&nbsp;</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-muted-refinement-sessions">Muted Refinement sessions&nbsp;</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/sXomQO3fUniztvQJkVhL5aaLVmojX6kgllxDRl6VcT_oVXcPEXhht-HsWY2Bdq-4Exi56oTV2JAMnvJ8q87DolB5JnwVaSlyB2EwCGksvBfeQRVsSerCo31HmogvGa4MksGSV0BRZ3cGBnGbe-c_1748948974.png" alt="Muted Refinement sessions" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>The unpleasant phenomenon in Agile testing 1&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>



By default, the complexity of a user story is linked to developmental effort conveniently ignoring the testing effort involved. Sometimes implementation would hardly take any time but, the impact of this change stimulates a larger blast radius which significantly boosts the time required for testing. 



A user story is complete and common understanding is established only if the story is addressed in 360degrees. Test implications should be considered during refinement sessions. Test <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/quality-engineering-discussions-with-james-espie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">engineers should facilitate this discussion</a> with the product owner and the wider development team during the refinement session.&nbsp;



<h2 id="absence-of-testing-notes">Absence of testing notes&nbsp;</h2>



Refinement sessions provide a good opportunity for the PO(Product Owner) and the development team to scrub through the user story and add more details. Breaking down a user story into implementable tasks, clarifying any open questions, and validating certain aspects of implementations are the main aim of refinement meetings. However, most of the teams miss out on capturing the test notes.&nbsp;



Let us first discuss what a testing note is?&nbsp;



The supplemental details required to execute the tests for that particular user story is called a testing note. It can be any details like &#8211; test data, plugin requirements, dependency on external services, test limitations, test relevancy, etc.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/5vtx-1rhghBdiJ_9puW34i9d3j70PtyOIeClmqtcu9n765OorbqDPmzfsHe2GodvqESTJ_rpKrSIDCJ3sbs82ZHiiPEH7FbY3Kyhki6Ov4-nrkjM_-U1Hm0cG-BEf3N-B4w-c2oCWciOqz12dF8_1748948976.png" alt="Absence of testing notes" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>The unpleasant phenomenon in Agile testing 2&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>



In real-world projects, not all stories can be tested in all environments.&nbsp;



For example: develop or test environments have limited configuration capacity and files of certain sizes cannot be processed. Capturing testing notes helps teams to bring clarity and a shared understanding of how a particular scenario can be approached. It also gives POs a good opportunity to understand the hidden risks.&nbsp;



<h2 id="separate-qa-board">Separate QA board&nbsp;</h2>



Mainstream scrum boards restrict by displaying only the user stories movement across swim lanes. However, an agile <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-be-an-active-tester/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tester performs much more test activities</a> than just the new feature testing or regression testing. For example:&nbsp;



1. Supporting small hot-fixes&nbsp;



2. Short enhancements&nbsp;



3. Legacy applications support&nbsp;



4. Usability testing&nbsp;



5. Automating the user stories&nbsp;



6. Maintenance of automated scripts&nbsp;



7. TestOps etc



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/8T1QM1uf0AmUJEIGlHrHTYiwxdbU27VMf4Pu3xUW61U9_6HaxbFlSSvNhWL6Ydg7ralpHDt8lDrqAFepsPXmkH-D9PD5a7VOLHa9AsCIsWDNvFFgdBRApjlBg26eri1isQBBBTNo9uEMqGxBtGc_1748948977.png" alt="Separate QA board" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>The unpleasant phenomenon in Agile testing 3&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>



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By and large development teams remain unaware of any of these activities. Agile development team tasks should be as transparent as possible. The available capacity of every team member should be taken into account before pulling in sprint tasks. 



Especially the automation tasks are separated out to different scrum boards, this is detrimental in a long run. To stop this from becoming a major distractor, all the peripheral test activities should be made visible in the sprint scrum board to account for overall delivery within the agile scrum team.&nbsp;



The idea is not to completely discourage having a separate QA scrum board, this can be handy in some <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/agile-automation-testing-safe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scaled agile</a> teams when multiple scrum teams have to coordinate several tasks. However, the clarity of what should stay away from mainstream scrum boards should be given a thought.&nbsp;



<h2 id="ignored-test-efforts">Ignored test efforts&nbsp;</h2>



After scrubbing and combing the backlog in the refinement session, PO prepares a prioritized backlog list which will be presented in a scrum planning meeting. The development team maps each task against the size which implies the effort required to implement the story. Planning is a crucial scrum activity, and most teams miss out on taking testing efforts into account.&nbsp;



This is an anti-pattern in agile methodology. A story is considered to be complete only if it goes through development and testing activities. Agile teams should encourage every team member to actively participate in the planning poker session. Test Engineers should confidently step forward to provide their view on the user stories during the planning meetings.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/NBe9UdY9kggu_biAxAuULTkvu9_TC8_E21miSZPLUwthN6hV9RZn5tMnuTVBmVVRDZfbBqTATQvgRR_XmO_AGerigjrD7j52oEh5Clh1vTYtSwKMukFWwDokguIa8WuAib_5rYaNim2BocT7zcA_1748948978.png" alt="Ignored test efforts" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>The unpleasant phenomenon in Agile testing 4&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>



<h2 id="commenting-defects">Commenting defects&nbsp;</h2>



Agile recommends reducing waste and weeding out all the overhead activities. Development teams who do not use external bug reporting tools, encourage team members to report the bugs within the user story tickets. In such cases, the test team will miss out on the most valuable QA activity “root cause analysis”. Why is it even important? Defects are a mirror to the health of the application, a good quality report states the weak links and helps the development team in strengthening those areas which need deeper attention.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/OvOyCBgRq_6ruLf6WjmnaLZM7_MdLqQSMXBByYQ0UBe4y-TEdIA2N8BRY2CgNcrB4w2iyML35Qdx3SvNiEaXZYn1wjmT0tBya2xi0kkYxpHNcXTzxLGzv-ivJovBMUthNoVUactR6xoKRBX-hUc_1748948975.png" alt="Commenting defects" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>The unpleasant phenomenon in Agile testing 5&nbsp;</figcaption></figure></div>



Teams commenting defects within the user story will be unable to aggregate the bugs and feed the root cause analysis activity. The whole idea of iterative development is driven by continuous improvement, when defects are not accessible teams miss out on valuable intrinsic details. To avoid this becoming a distractor in agile testing, it is important to educate development teams about the importance of defect analysis and follow bug reporting either using dedicated tools or some other way where they can aggregate data over a period of time&nbsp;



<h2 id="piggybacking-testers">Piggybacking testers&nbsp;</h2>



Early feedback helps development teams to adopt changes more easily. User stories checked earlier in the development cycle help to establish an early feedback loop. In the real world situation, when the user story is developed and tested PO’s are expected to do a walk-through and bring forth any changes if required.&nbsp;



POs/PM create dependency on testers to give them the demo of a new feature. If the tester and PO fail to catch up on time, the tickets just pile up in the QA lane thus increasing the cycle time. Apprehend this bottleneck even before it piles up to cause deeper issues. Encourage POs to put their hands on the application and try out the features themselves. Doing so not just reduce the latency but also helps business to understand how the feature fits with wider application.&nbsp;



Related reads:



<a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/regression-testing </a><a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/continuous-testing </a><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-test-automation-challenges-to-look-out-for/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/blog/top-test-automation-challenges-to-look-out-for/ </a><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/understanding-agile-testing-framework/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/blog/understanding-agile-testing-framework/ </a><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/challenges-insprint-automation-regression-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/blog/challenges-insprint-automation-regression-testing/</a>

The Unpleasant Phenomenon In Agile Testing

The core objective of both code coverage and test coverage remains the measurement metrics leveraged to simplify the assessment of the quality of application code. These are significant for developers to rectify any errors if discovered and enhance the overall quality of an application.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Code_Coverage_vs_Test_Coverage_8211_Overview">1 Code Coverage vs Test Coverage &#8211; Overview</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_Code_Coverage">1.1 What is Code Coverage?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Test_Coverage">1.2 What is Test Coverage?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Code_Coverage_vs_Test_Coverage_8211_A_Comparison">2 Code Coverage vs Test Coverage &#8211; A Comparison</a></li><li><a href="#Code_Coverage_vs_Test_Coverage_Which_One_Should_You_Choose">3 Code Coverage vs Test Coverage: Which One Should You Choose?</a></li><li><a href="#Summary">4 Summary</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">5 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_the_difference_between_code_coverage_and_feature_coverage">5.1 What is the difference between code coverage and feature coverage?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="code-coverage-vs-test-coverage-overview">Code Coverage vs Test Coverage &#8211; Overview</h2>



<h3 id="what-is-code-coverage">What is Code Coverage?</h3>



Code Coverage is the percentage of the source code executed by a test suite. It points out what has been tested and what has not been tested, thereby revealing untested paths. Tools such as JaCoCo or Istanbul usually visualize such data by pointing out areas where more tests are needed. High code coverage may imply high quality but does not guarantee it; it is a good metric for the effectiveness of testing.



<h3 id="what-is-test-coverage">What is Test Coverage?</h3>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Coverage</a> is the extent to which the testing process covers the software requirements or specifications. It ensures testing all aspects, both functional and non-functional, based on defined criteria. Sometimes, test coverage may be measured using requirement traceability matrices or similar tools.



This will help ensure that all features have been validated and verified against requirements, thus enhancing confidence in the product, though it does not coincide with the thoroughness of testing.



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-create-best-test-case-design-get-maximum-test-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How do You Ensure Test Coverage</a>



<h2 id="code-coverage-vs-test-coverage-a-comparison">Code Coverage vs Test Coverage &#8211; A Comparison</h2>



Let us look into this table to know more:



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Aspect</td><td>Code Coverage</td><td>Test Coverage</td></tr><tr><td>Definition</td><td>Measures the percentage of code executed during testing.</td><td>The extent to which testing covers requirements/specifications.</td></tr><tr><td>Advantages</td><td>Identifies untested code, helps improve code quality, provides insights into testing effectiveness, helps in refactoring, and can lead to fewer bugs in production.</td><td>Ensures all features are validated, highlights gaps in testing, enhances confidence in product quality, facilitates requirement tracking, and encourages comprehensive test design.</td></tr><tr><td>How to Measure?</td><td>Tools like JaCoCo, Istanbul, or Clover are used to track executed lines/branches.</td><td>Through requirement traceability matrices or testing frameworks that align tests with requirements.</td></tr><tr><td>Mechanisms</td><td>Instrumentation of code, Static analysis.</td><td>Mapping requirements to test cases and test case reviews.</td></tr><tr><td>Tools</td><td>JaCoCo, Istanbul, Clover.</td><td>TestRail, HP ALM, Jira (with plugins).</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage-techniques/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Coverage Techniques</a>



<h2 id="h-code-coverage-vs-test-coverage-which-one-should-you-choose">Code Coverage vs Test Coverage: Which One Should You Choose?</h2>



It’s now time to address the elephant in the room – code coverage vs test coverage: which one to choose and why. As both of these are completely different measurement approaches, it won’t be justified to choose between the two. Code coverage is a quantitative measure and is more related to the white-box testing technique. While on the other hand, test coverage is a qualitative measure and a black-box testing approach. 



So there’s no exact answer to this question &#8220;code coverage vs test coverage: which one to choose &#8220;, as it would entirely depend on your business requirements and the intricacy of the software application. In a majority of the cases, however, both test coverage and code coverage are used.



<h2 id="h-summary">Summary</h2>



People have always mistaken both test coverage and code coverage to be the same term. But they don’t have anything in common!



For all the testers, having an in-depth analysis of code coverage and test coverage is vital. Not only do these techniques offer efficient testing, but also help developers save hundreds of hours and executives save resources.



Additionally, 100% code coverage should not be sought at any stage of SDLC because it will end up wasting more time and resources as developers would miss out on vital testing modules when short at the time. None of the code coverage or test coverage is a perfect choice, but you should try both of them for a considerable amount of time. The combo would most likely yield the ideal results.



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="what-is-the-difference-between-code-coverage-and-feature-coverage">What is the difference between code coverage and feature coverage?</h3>



Code coverage measures the percentage of code executed during tests, while feature coverage assesses whether all specified features or functionalities are tested.&nbsp;



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 <ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage-metrics/</ts-linkurl-value>
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 <ts-link-item>
 <ts-linktext-value>Test Automation Coverage</ts-linktext-value>
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 <ts-linktext-value>Test Coverage Techniques</ts-linktext-value>
 <ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage-techniques/</ts-linkurl-value>
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feature image of Code Coverage vs Test Coverage

Code Coverage vs Test Coverage: Differences You Need to Know

Working in software development as a tester, it can be difficult to find time to improve the testing process when you are the bottleneck to release with lots of tickets, stories or features to test. I am currently a QA Lead at <a href="https://cerahq.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Cera Care</a>, one of the fastest growing healthcare startups in Europe. Working in this fast moving environment is very challenging for my team, where features are prioritised over anything else and teams have up to 6 developers to 1 QA engineer. 



As you can imagine this does not allow much time for activities outside of feature testing. Quality is compromised as the feature will be described as a minimal viable product (MVP). Improvements are added to the backlog to be implemented after the initial pilots or user feedback. 



Before being able to tackle the quality technical debt another priority comes along meaning there is no time to revisit the feature. What has this got to do with being an active tester you might ask? Well, that’s where the testing role within my team has changed to more of an advisor and involves collaborating closely with developers, product, user experience (UX) and data.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/dI1RSiHdiHE94aLrHdLqNb1rn8ZBI_OFRwjrBFsRif39IG66YpL-gK413gqrMK512G4tQQHeHyZjVlieNb1eSgRIpg3jEKi0ect1jWj_lgGyBsX9Nb7zvOzdjuXFDZJyHJn3WtfoBRlBVShefA_1748949335.jpg" alt="Testsigma - How To Be An Active Tester" width="600" height="400"/></figure>



Tester stereotype by<a href="https://unsplash.com/@markusspiske?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> Markus Spiske</a>



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#How_to_break_down_the_traditional_testers_stereotype">1 How to break down the traditional testers stereotype</a></li><li><a href="#Being_proactive_instead_of_reactive_in_testing">2 Being proactive instead of reactive in testing</a></li><li><a href="#Getting_involved_in_development_discussions">3 Getting involved in development discussions</a></li><li><a href="#Working_with_data_to_understand_user_funnels">4 Working with data to understand user funnels</a></li><li><a href="#Tester_participation_is_often_a_2_way_process">5 Tester participation is often a 2 way process</a></li><li><a href="#Testers_everywhere">6 Testers everywhere</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="how-to-break-down-the-traditional-testers-stereotype">How to break down the traditional testers stereotype</h2>



Only a short while ago, I had a conversation with a startup founder who I explained the difference between checking and testing in relation to the value a tester can provide to the development process. With a strong product knowledge and an inquisitive mindset to explore the inner workings of a system. 



The tester can get involved in conversations at the beginning of the development process. In my current organisation that starts with user research to discover what the current challenges are that the user is facing. At this stage the tester can sit in on the user research sessions or read the results that are published on dovetail. 



This insight is invaluable for the testers to understand how the user would interact with the feature once it has been developed. They can form realistic scenarios when they come to explore the system and run their <a href="https://www.developsense.com/blog/2009/04/of-testing-tours-and-dashboards/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">testing tours</a>.



<h2 id="being-proactive-instead-of-reactive-in-testing">Being proactive instead of reactive in testing</h2>



Building on the participation of the tester in the user experience research phase. Sometimes you need help from other people and teams to enable your productivity. Such as investigating ways to make parts of the system easier to test with developers. Or finding data to improve your test data set with the data analysts. 



This can be a frustrating process of waiting for others&#8217; time and delaying hands-on testing activities. This is where testers, by becoming an advisor, advocate or coach (however you want to describe it) can be very valuable. 



Collaborating with the product team to make user stories clearer and easier to implement. Refining those acceptance criteria and improving the definition of done for development to include testing, monitoring and release documentation. This frees up testers time to concentrate on activities which refine the testing focus, increase the quality of the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-data/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test data</a> or open up almost impossible areas to test. 



Read here more on <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/active-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Active Testing</a>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/QzLyZj5iRtUz5t2f0FzVXUlts-zI8BjQPBYnWbF0JZYep0BSgmE67_0RWV_b9d3_RhfzLFH8sVQLAfWNXu8JpYoVlY4O0DUqC0ociPv6Ls4aJctPmswaoDPJv72trMbL_TlgmHcpGPJu_622xg_1748949332.jpg" alt="Testsigma - Being proactive instead of reactive in testing" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Developer and tester collaboration by<a href="https://unsplash.com/@charlesdeluvio?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"> charlesdeluvio</a></figcaption></figure></div>



<h2 id="getting-involved-in-development-discussions">Getting involved in development discussions</h2>



Whether you consider yourself a technical or non-technical person (what the word technical means in terms of testing is another blog article). You can always get involved in developer discussions such as “technical refinements” (also called whiteboarding sessions). 



Raising questions around <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/testability/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testability </a>and consistency across API specifications for example is really important to improve the quality of the application. Also at the code review stage of development, a tester can ask the developer to walk them through the feature and the tests they’ve implemented. Identify edge cases and discover any cases which aren’t covered by the automated checks. Understanding the test coverage and where to focus your testing can help identify issues quicker.



<h2 id="working-with-data-to-understand-user-funnels">Working with data to understand user funnels</h2>



One of the most powerful collaborations a tester can make in my opinion is working with the data team. Whether that be looking at user funnels or considering data requirements in the development process. Analysing data in customer data tools like segment can help you identify the most important parts of the system for your users. Also the aim of analysing production data is to validate test scenarios and possibly identify new scenarios. 



Walking through the user funnels with data analysts can help understand what the data is saying. Statistics was never my strong point, despite studying it at A Level (UK college exams) and taking statistics modules at university in my psychology degree (You can read more about my journey on my blog). The data team also provides the bridge between the business and application data. For example in my organisation, reports provided by the data team are crucial for finance to pay employees on time.



 In this example, the data engineers extract and transform the data from the application databases. Meaning the data platform has no direct dependencies on the application itself, only the data in the database. This can lead to data issues downstream without any breaking changes within the application. See the diagram below to explain the complexities of what I described.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Data-dependencies-from-web-application.png" alt="Testsigma - Working with data to understand user funnels" class="wp-image-19599" width="600" height="400"/><figcaption>Data dependencies from web application</figcaption></figure></div>



<h2 id="tester-participation-is-often-a-2-way-process">Tester participation is often a 2 way process</h2>



Tester participation is a two way communication. With all the teams involved that I described above it can feel like as a tester you are the one always asking for people to help you out. However, it&#8217;s very much a two way street, later down the line everyone will appreciate your pestering and constant asking of questions. Working closely with these teams you can develop an understanding for each representative&#8217;s specific interests in the application, enabling you to understand and speak their language. 



Putting in the effort to build these relationships and understand the team&#8217;s challenges will influence the quality of the product. Though it may seem very one sided. There are many situations where the tester will be called upon as well such as reproducing live issues from product owners, developers asking testers to create some test data, UX clarifying whether the designs are still up-to-date or data analysts requesting a dump of pre-production environment to run through their data pipeline.



<h2 id="testers-everywhere">Testers everywhere</h2>



To wrap things up, testers pop up everywhere within the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Being curious is a key asset of the tester within the engineering function. Asking questions is another core skill to encourage conversations and discover unknown information. By participating in all the activities described here, a tester can discover interesting insights previously never discovered. 



By collaborating with people across the engineering function, a tester can improve their communication with technical and non-technical people. Proactively exploring information from multiple sources helps to paint a clearer picture of the whole software development process and beyond.



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="margin: auto"><a style="color:#fff" href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Collaborate better on your test automation tasks with Testsigma, try it here.</a></button> 



Related reads:



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-be-an-efficient-and-productive-software-tester/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to be an efficient and productive software tester?</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-be-an-open-minded-tester/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How To Be An Open-Minded Tester?</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/software-testing-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Different Types Of Tools To Help Make Tester&#8217;s Day-To-Day Life Easier</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/15-must-have-skills-for-a-top-automation-tester/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">15 Must Have Skills For a Top Automation Tester</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-become-an-automation-tester/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to Become an Automation Tester</a>

How To Be An Active Tester ?

The era of Low-code/No-code platforms: What you should know?

The Era of Low Code No Code Platforms: What You Should Know?

Automated Functional Testing — How To Do and Best Practices?

How to Begin in Sprint Automation: A Tactical Guide

Cross-Platform-End-to-End-Testing–Explained-with-Real-life-scenarios

Cross Platform Testing: Best Practices & Essential Tools

Interview tips when appearing for QA roles

QA Interview Tips When Appearing for QA Roles

&#8220;What QE leaders ask, when buying Test automation tools/platform&#8221;



First of all, what do we mean by QE?



They are Quality Engineers and they exist in every field like retail, manufacturing, software, SaaS, infrastructure etc.



I’m specifically going to talk with respect to Software testing Quality Engineers



Having worked as a Tester myself for first 8 years of my career at MNCs and Banks,&nbsp;I have a perspective from a client-vendor aspect or being the client myself 🙂&nbsp;



On top of it, having worked as a Solutions architect for 3 years now, for testing tools and platform and helped more than 300 + clients globally,&nbsp;



In this blog, I have shared points according to what I learnt about the needs of a testing team and their manager in any set-up or company, and what they expect when they want to buy a test automation tool or platform.



Here are the top items from trivial to big ones, but all are absolutely important while making a decision:



1. Do I need a tool/ platform?



I’m a tester first and any good tester would know the basic skill of asking questions like &#8211; Why do I need a tool in the first place? This would mean figuring out the limitations of your existing set-up too. For example &#8211; How do I make different devices available to my teams spread globally?



This could be a classic, typical question to need a test automation tool or platform. Thus, depending on a team’s requirements, this list of questions can be created.



2. Will my team be happy using the tool?



When choosing a tool, you should also know or understand the technical prowess and limitations of your team.



So, during a “proof of concept” phase while testing or trying out the tool,&nbsp;you can check with your team on different aspects:&nbsp;



<ol><li>Ease of use of the tool</li><li>Availability / Up-time of the platform</li><li>Integrating the tool with any of your existing tech stack or frameworks.</li></ol>



Why is this important?&nbsp;



Because ultimately, it’s the team who will be using the tool.&nbsp;



So, it&#8217;s important they know how to use the tool and be comfortable using it.



3. Is the tool/ platform solving my problem?



As it is, testing is a demanding job with last-minute changes and builds popping up.



None of the testers and their leaders wants to add to their trouble, if the tool itself is flaky, unstable, and cannot be depended on for results, then what’s the point of it?



The tool should be robust and solving either the need of the test project



Or a requirement or help the test team deliver better results.



For instance: I remember once a client in one of my companies was very particular about the record and playback feature in our product.



He wasn’t asking it for the heck of it; rather he wanted to help his testers transition into automation.



So, like the above example, the tool needs to help the team using it.



4. Future goal for the team and the tool 



The software development cycle was forever highly agile and in this fast-paced era of ever-changing technological aspects, you would definitely want to think about the future goals of the team and project, and, what role will the Test automation tool/ platform be playing in it?



You may also want to think about this one with respect to the Return on investment (ROI) aspect; after all, you will be paying for the subscription model of the tool/platform.



A classic example of this question can be:



Will the tool help me in leveraging its features while creating a test pipeline a QA environment or w.r.t <a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-integration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Continuous integration</a> or Continuous delivery?



💡 Pro tip&nbsp;



Always take the trial of a tool, before you make the decision of buying it.



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="margin: auto"><a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff">Try Testsigma, a tool that brings test automation to everyone.</a></button>



I can go about adding an exhaustive list of pointers to make this list endless and unnecessary.



But, we as testers, always try to understand and emphasise on the Root Cause. And that is what I have tried to with this blog, without beating around the bush.&nbsp;



I hope you find value in it.&nbsp;

Buying a Test Automation Platform? What do QE leaders ask?