Pickerwheel is the UI element, specific to mobile devices that allows a user to pick a single value from multiple values displayed as a scrollable list. This UI element is available on both Android and iOS. Here, in this article, we will be discussing how to automate PickerWheel specifically for iOS. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#How_to_automate_PickerWheel_UI_element_using_Appium">1 How to automate PickerWheel UI element using Appium:</a><ul><li><a href="#Approach_1nbsp">1.1 Approach 1:&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Approach_2nbsp">1.2 Approach 2:&nbsp;</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="how-to-automate-pickerwheel-ui-element-using-appium">How to automate PickerWheel UI element using Appium:</h2>



Automation of an iOS-specific pickerWheel UI element via <a href="http://appium.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Appium</a> using the XCUITest driver is quite simple. Let’s look at 2 approaches to do so below:



<h3 id="approach-1">Approach 1:&nbsp;</h3>



The simplest way to automate the PickerWheel is via the “driver.sendKeys()” method. PickerWheel contains values in the form of strings. The same string that needs to be selected can be passed as a value via sendKeys and the needed result can be achieved.



Here, the pickerWheel element is accessed via method “XCUIElementTypePickerWheel” as in the sample code below:



driver.findElement(By.xpath(&#8220;//XCUIElementTypePickerWheel[@value=&#8217;Today&#8217;]&#8221;)).sendKeys(&#8220;Wed 25 Dec&#8221;);



Here:



Element located by pickerWheel is “//XCUIElementTypePickerWheel[@value=&#8217;Today&#8217;]”.



Value picked by pickerWheel is “Wed 25 Dec”.



Refer image below to get more clarity about PickerWheel via Appium Inspector:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/J_HrgZCkZeut_5Y85cwlWqh4LDE-BoYqqNe7-0AmnVBJfc4M_1QqAOU3B_xx7kgfhdK50XiOf5su0ETpkQOlyg3oNqoppJonJG_VK7c-jzhFM-67kMdZBFwODS__5zWy8mdwl7p2" alt="PickerWheel via Appium Inspector"/></figure>



<h3 id="approach-2">Approach 2:&nbsp;</h3>



In the second approach, javascript’s mobile method selectPickerWheelValue can be used:



{



HashMap&lt;String, Object&gt; params = new HashMap&lt;&gt;();



params.put(&#8220;order&#8221;, &#8220;next&#8221;);



params.put(&#8220;offset&#8221;, 0.15);



params.put(&#8220;element&#8221;, ((RemoteWebElement) pickerWheelElement).getId());



driver.executeScript(&#8220;mobile: selectPickerWheelValue&#8221;, params);



}



And it accesses the pickerWheel values in forward or backward direction, as needed, using the above parameters.&nbsp; &nbsp;



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Order: The value of order determines where to pick the next value &#8211; for forward direction “next” value should be passed and for backward “previous” should be passed.</li> <li>Offset: The height of the wheel at which click should be done.</li> <li>Element: PickerWheel element.</li></ul> 



Let’s discuss how the pickerWheel interaction can be automated in an iOS native application using simple natural language in <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Let’s discuss how the pickerWheel interaction can be automated in an iOS native application using simple natural language in Testsigma: (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma</a>:



&nbsp;&nbsp;“ Pick option by text test data in the UI identifier picker view”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MfMACuooCy5IgXb0SdL7D2OZIFhyG7ThZukVMSF8UZ2OhZTlFUZWk6SuQFmgiigWV0qgeI696xlMc-7h6BSWPm0NdBZxb2Rxj01z0p_72SjYfpYuJyxO2I7QuQdCLjAvOzGvfQmL" alt=""/></figure>



Here,&nbsp;



test data: The pickerWheel value that should be selected regardless of direction. ui identifier: &nbsp;locator of the PickerWheel Element.



Suggested Reading: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Suggested Reading:
3 Steps to Automate Mobile Applications Using Testsigma (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/3-steps-automate-mobile-applications-using-testsigma/" target="_blank">3 Steps to Automate Mobile Applications using Testsigma</a> <a href="https://artoftesting.com/what-is-testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Suggested Reading:
3 Steps to Automate Mobile Applications using Testsigma
Sample web application testing using Testsigma (opens in a new tab)">Sample web application testing using Testsigma</a>

Automate Picker Wheel using Testsigma

During the multiple phases of the software development life cycle(SDLC), multiple types of testing are performed depending on the stage of development. Each <a href="https://www.elluminatiinc.com/software-development-life-cycle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stage of the SDLC</a> has different requirements and objectives for the testing to fulfill. The testing phase starts with unit testing, followed by integration testing, system testing, system integration testing, acceptance testing, and regression testing.&nbsp;



During each testing phase, if something does not work as per the requirements, the defects detected by the testers are raised and assigned to the developers to fix. Once defects are fixed, they are retested by testers to ensure it works as desired. This is called retesting. But isn’t it the same as regression testing? They are not. Let us discuss regression testing vs retesting in detail in this article and understand all about regression testing vs retesting.



Regression Testing:



<a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Regression testing</a> checks if code changes affect existing features. It confirms that the application still functions correctly after updates. It includes functional and non-functional tests and is not done on new modules.



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Read all about <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Regression Testing</a></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



Retesting:



Retesting, also called <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/confirmation-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">confirmation testing</a>, ensures that previously identified defects are fixed correctly. It involves re-running failed test cases to verify they now pass.



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td class="has-text-align-center" data-align="center">Read all about <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/retesting/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Retesting</a></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>







<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Regression_Testing_vs_Retesting_Differences">1 Regression Testing vs Retesting Differences</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">2 Conclusion:</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">3 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#Is_Retest_done_after_Regression_test_What_comes_first_Retesting_or_Regression_Testing">3.1 Is Retest done after Regression test, What comes first Retesting or Regression Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_difference_between_Retesting_and_Sanity_Testing">3.2 What is the difference between Retesting and Sanity Testing?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="regression-testing-vs-retesting-differences">Regression Testing vs Retesting Differences</h2>



Let&#8217;s explore the key differences between Regression Testing and Retesting in software testing:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/slH2WelOaROSYHXoze7fX8A.png" alt="regression testing vs retesting differences" class="wp-image-8564" width="576" height="499" /></figure></div>







<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Regression Testing</td><td>Retesting</td></tr><tr><td>Purpose</td><td>The primary purpose of regression testing is to ensure that recent code changes have not adversely affected existing functionalities. It involves running previously executed test cases to verify that new code modifications haven&#8217;t introduced new defects.</td><td>Retesting is focused on verifying that a specific bug or issue reported earlier has been fixed correctly. It involves running test cases related to the particular issue to confirm that it no longer exists.</td></tr><tr><td>Scope</td><td>It encompasses many test cases, not just those related to recent changes. The goal is to check the overall integrity of the software after any modifications.</td><td>It is narrowly focused on a specific defect or issue and involves re-executing only the test cases directly related to it.</td></tr><tr><td>Automation</td><td>Automation is commonly used for regression testing because it involves running many test cases. Automated test suites help efficiently execute these tests whenever there are code changes.</td><td>Automation can be used for retesting, but it&#8217;s only sometimes necessary, especially for one-time verifications of specific issues. Manual testing is often sufficient for retesting.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Plan</a></td><td>It is typically part of the overall test plan and is executed at various stages of the development cycle, such as during integration testing, system testing, and even post-release maintenance.</td><td>Retesting is usually planned and executed when a specific defect is reported. It may only be explicitly mentioned in the test plan if necessary to verify the fix.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/what-is-test-case/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Cases</a></td><td>Test cases for regression testing cover a wide range of functionalities and scenarios to ensure the overall stability of the software. They are not limited to specific defects.</td><td>Test cases for retesting are specific to the reported defect. They are designed to replicate the conditions that triggered the issue initially.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



In summary, while regression testing and retesting are important aspects of <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/software-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">software testing</a>, they serve different purposes and have distinct scopes. Regression testing is a broader practice aimed at ensuring overall software stability, often automated while retesting is a focused verification of specific bug fixes, typically done manually or with fewer test cases.



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion:</h2>



In conclusion, &#8220;Regression Testing vs Retesting&#8221; illustrates two vital yet distinct facets of the software testing process.



Regression Testing is a method that ensures the stability and functionality of a software system during modifications. It involves passed and failed test cases and can be performed manually or with automation tools. While it ensures business continuity and detects potential side effects, optimizing can be time-consuming and challenging. Retesting, on the other hand, is a specific practice that re-executes failed test cases to verify defects, enhancing product quality and reducing verification time.



Understanding the disparities and advantages of these two testing approaches is essential for maintaining software integrity and delivering high-quality products to users. The choice between regression testing and retesting hinges on the goals and priorities of the testing phase within the software development lifecycle.



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



<h3 id="is-retest-done-after-regression-test-what-comes-first-retesting-or-regression-testing">Is Retest done after Regression test, What comes first Retesting or Regression Testing?</h3>



Yes, retesting is done after regression testing. Retesting is done after a software release to ensure that the new features function properly, but regression testing is done before the software is released to ensure that the new features work properly, while regression tests are conducted to determine if there are any earlier issues in the software.



<h3 id="what-is-the-difference-between-retesting-and-sanity-testing">What is the difference between Retesting and Sanity Testing?</h3>



Retesting entails testing a specific software functionality. It is not good for automation because the test case varies every time. If a defect or problem is discovered in the code, it is merely a portion of the testing process.



Sanity testing is performed to ensure that each function performs as intended. Only one component of the entire system is subjected to sanity testing. The primary goal of the testing is to ensure the system’s stability.

Regression Testing vs Retesting-Differences and Examples

To improve the quality of a software product built by developers, software testing is the key. Testing is essential to ensure that the end product delivered is stable and works according to the required specifications. As software testing plays a significant role in the delivery of the final product, it is necessary to consider that the testing process must involve accurate, exhaustive test cases and firm test strategy.



Test coverage has a huge impact on what is received as an end product. Efficient and apt test coverage covers all minute points &amp; areas, that many times go neglected. Complete test coverage should include scenarios on latency, speed, security, and usability. Hence, organizations always look for testers who can comprehend testing with precision and effectiveness. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Common_TestnbspAutomation_Mistakes_QA_Teams_Tend_To_Make">1 Common Test&nbsp;Automation Mistakes QA Teams Tend To Make</a></li><li><a href="#1_Identifying_what_can_be_automated_and_not">2 1. Identifying what can be automated and not</a></li><li><a href="#2_Not_providing_proper_training_to_team_membersnbsp">3 2. Not providing proper training to team members&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#3_Lack_of_Supervision">4 3. Lack of Supervision</a></li><li><a href="#4_Not_paying_heed_to_your_Return_on_Investment_ROI">5 4. Not paying heed to your Return on Investment (ROI )</a></li><li><a href="#5_Automating_large_tasksnbsp">6 5. Automating large tasks&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#6_Use_of_Record_Playback_tools_for_scripting">7 6. Use of Record &amp; Playback tools for scripting</a></li><li><a href="#7_The_tool_is_chosen_just_because_it8217s_open-source">8 7. The tool is chosen just because it&#8217;s open-source</a></li><li><a href="#8_Other_common_test_automation_mistakesnbsp">9 8. Other common test automation mistakes&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#What_are_the_basic_principles_to_achieve_success_while_automating_a_process">10 What are the basic principles to achieve success while automating a process?</a></li><li><a href="#Tips_for_QA_team_members_to_achieve_a_good_success_rate_in_automationnbsp">11 Tips for QA team members to achieve a good success rate in automation&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Tips_for_QA_Team_Leads_to_achieve_success_in_automation">12 Tips for QA Team Leads to achieve success in automation</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">13 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="common-test-automation-mistakes-qa-teams-tend-to-make">Common Test&nbsp;Automation Mistakes QA Teams Tend To Make</h2>



<h2 id="1-identifying-what-can-be-automated-and-not">1. Identifying what can be automated and not</h2>



For a tester, understanding what areas to automate and how it will help the organization is the basic rule of thumb for the success of test automation. If a tester fails to understand the primary goal of automating a process and what benefits it will bring to the organization, it would be a waste of money.



If you have no experience with automation, it’s difficult to decide which tasks to automate and which ones to execute manually. But it’s also a mistake going in without a plan. You need to have a clear understanding of automation and how it will affect daily tasks, cost and time in the long run.



<figure class="wp-block-embed-wordpress aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-testsigma-blog"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="fKuEIS984t"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/when-to-choose-test-automation-framework-over-manual-testing/">Types of Test Automation Frameworks &#8211; Choose Right Framework</a></blockquote><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="&#8220;Types of Test Automation Frameworks &#8211; Choose Right Framework&#8221; &#8212; Testsigma Blog" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/when-to-choose-test-automation-framework-over-manual-testing/embed/#?secret=NBiFwPWJLT#?secret=fKuEIS984t" data-secret="fKuEIS984t" width="600" height="338" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
</div><figcaption>How to determine which framework is right for your organization? </figcaption></figure>







<h2 id="2-not-providing-proper-training-to-team-members">2. Not providing proper training to team members&nbsp;</h2>



Organizations often fail to understand that making a change is easy, but making people accept the change and live with it is really very hard. This is where businesses struggle. They adopt automation without taking their team on board and don’t understand their employees who make or break the deal. 



There are two critical phases where you need to ensure your team is with you:



1. &nbsp; Training and adaptation



2. &nbsp; Testing and implementation of the automated solution



The introduction of any tool requires proper training of the tool to the members who will be using it. It should not be rolled out to the organization and asked to do hit and trial. The tools should be made familiar with a bunch of people and then once they are well versed with it they should train others.



The best way to do this is by offering training. Before enacting your automation strategy, <a href="https://www.visme.co/teams/training-and-development/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">create a training document</a> and have multiple meetings and workshops. It’s also helpful to host a testing session to ensure your staff fully understands the automated processes. 



<h2 id="3-lack-of-supervision">3. Lack of Supervision</h2>



Supervision is not limited to managing your staff and their roles during automating a project. Supervision also includes managing the entire project along with the automation process. Failure to manage your automated processes results in losing control of the project and impacts sales adversely. Supervisors should always monitor the automated process activity to ensure all processes are successful and if something goes wrong, they should be the first one to know and get the issue fixed.



<h2 id="4-not-paying-heed-to-your-return-on-investment-roi">4. Not paying heed to your Return on Investment (ROI )</h2>



Investment in automating a process is not limited to license purchase only, it may require much more investment such as :



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Cost of implementation and installation</li><li>Extra tools and services</li><li>Hiring specialized staff</li><li>Running cost</li></ul>



For more insight on it,&nbsp; please refer to the link below:&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/when-to-automate-and-why" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/when-to-automate-and-why/</a>



<h2 id="5-automating-large-tasks">5. Automating large tasks&nbsp;</h2>



It’s a common perception, first to automate larger tasks. But, practically it is always better to automate smaller tasks first and focus on larger tasks later.



If you start automating the larger tasks first, it is going to be difficult and time-taking to complete. You also risk making serious errors and disrupting your whole process. Hence, it may lead to a loss of money.



What if you’re bogged down with multiple large projects. If automating them is the only solution, reorganize and prioritize these tasks into smaller chunks. Automate some parts of the task which you think are repetitive and work independently on the other parts. 



<h2 id="6-use-of-record-playback-tools-for-scripting">6. Use of Record &amp; Playback tools for scripting</h2>



Record and playback tools generate complex scripts that are difficult to understand and maintain. Record and play features should only be viewed as a way to generate skeletal scripts. It should not be used as a final step in automated script creation. When automation is newly introduced in any organization, many testers depend on record and playback for creating test scripts, as they are not well versed with the automation process and methodology. Effective and Efficient Automation Testing requires good knowledge of the system and the creation of simple scripts. When testing scripts are simple, they are easy to understand for everyone in the team. Such scripts are also easy to maintain and update for testers that are well aware of the module.



<h2 id="7-the-tool-is-chosen-just-because-it-s-open-source">7. The tool is chosen just because it&#8217;s open-source</h2>



Nowadays, Open source tools are being widely accepted in the market. But, selecting an open-source tool as it would be cost-saving should not be the only tool selection criteria.



Open-source tools require you to be well versed with technical skills. If any issue crops up while handling the tool, you won’t be able to get the support over the phone or mail from the vendor.&nbsp;



Open-source tools attract users as they have no licensing fees but they also come with some limitations. Some have limited functionality and may not give you all the features you need, so be very clear about what you require and how the tool will help you to automate your desired requirement.



Many organizations end up using both open-source and commercial tools together since the commercial tools can fill in any missing functionality that the open-source tools don&#8217;t have, and often add value on top of the open-source tools.



The article&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Many organizations end up using both open-source and commercial tools together since the commercial tools can fill in any missing functionality that the open-source tools don't have, and often add value on top of the open-source tools. The article&nbsp;Reluctance To Abandon Automated Tests And Switch To Scriptless Automation Testing discusses&nbsp;why new user-friendly scriptless automation testing tools are still a second thought.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/reluctance-to-abandon-automated-tests-switch-to-scriptless-automation-testing/" target="_blank">Reluctance To Abandon Automated Tests And Switch To Scriptless Automation Testing</a> discusses&nbsp;why new user-friendly scriptless automation testing tools are still a second thought. 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" width="4454" height="1144" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Testsigma_Easy-scripting.jpg" alt="Testsigma_Easy Scripting" data-id="7683" data-full-url="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Testsigma_Easy-scripting.jpg" data-link="https://testsigma.com/blog/8-top-test-automation-mistakes-and-tips-for-qa-teams-to-avoid-them/web-3/" class="wp-image-7683"><figcaption class="blocks-gallery-item__caption">Write simple reliable tests in Testsigma</figcaption></figure></li></ul></figure>



<h2 id="8-other-common-test-automation-mistakes">8. Other common test automation mistakes&nbsp;</h2>



The most common test automation mistakes which organizations tend to make while indulging in the fresh setup of automation process are:&nbsp;



<ol><li>Not understanding the benefits of automation</li><li>Not setting automation goals</li><li>Using automation to improve a bad process</li><li>Automating larger tasks as opposed to automating time-consuming tasks</li></ol>



Before you implement your automation strategy, understand these test automation mistakes and prevent making them. 



<h2 id="what-are-the-basic-principles-to-achieve-success-while-automating-a-process">What are the basic principles to achieve success while automating a process?</h2>



Some simple tips can be kept in mind while implementing automation:



1. Keep things simple. Do what is required. You should not overdo things to make it look fancy and complicated.



2. Doing simple things does not mean automating an easy process. It means you should take baby steps to achieve your automation goals. You may start automating with a simple feature, but it may happen that the final implementation of automation turns out to be complex.



3. The team should be cross-functional. You should not restrict the automation job either only with the testers or only with the developers. Each of the disciplines has to step into each other’s shoes to achieve automation of the project. This approach gives everyone an in-depth knowledge of the project and also the ability to tackle any technical issues that may arise.



4. Take your time to understand the application which you want to automate. Design it well to avoid technical mistakes.



5. Keep asking for feedback frequently from clients and testers to ensure the right product is being built.



6. Apply proper coding standards and practices. The design should be simple, try to keep the tests independent of each other. Consider factors like “maintainability” of the test suit.



7. Automation for a team is not just the implementation and maintenance, but it also includes the integration of the automated suite to Continuous Integration(CI). It requires testers to learn and adopt new skills, new tools, and technologies. 



<h2 id="tips-for-qa-team-members-to-achieve-a-good-success-rate-in-automation">Tips for QA team members to achieve a good success rate in automation&nbsp;</h2>



<ol><li>Each individual is responsible for their work product and its quality.&nbsp;</li><li>You should be responsible for your work, how to do, what to do and when to do. Team lead should not tell you what to do, every single day.</li><li>You should never hesitate in communicating, asking questions no matter even if you feel it is irrelevant, raise concerns, red-flags or issues as soon as they arise.</li><li>&nbsp;You should keep yourself updated and never stop learning.</li></ol>



<h2 id="tips-for-qa-team-leads-to-achieve-success-in-automation">Tips for QA Team Leads to achieve success in automation</h2>



<ol style="padding-bottom: 10px"><li>Establish strong processes and train your associates in such a way that they can work independently with minimum or no supervision</li><li>Consider the team’s opinion on timelines, schedules, effort estimations, and planning.</li><li>You should be approachable to the team for any type of communication.</li><li>Be a team player and share responsibilities.</li></ol>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="828" data-id="4652" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Shift-Left-Testing_Testsigma.jpg" alt="Scriptless Test Automation_Testsigma" class="wp-image-4652"/></figure>
</figure>







<h2>Conclusion</h2>



In a competitive market, where the client demands high-quality products with fast-paced delivery, automation surely helps, if chosen wisely. Before automating any process, understand the requirement well, find out the limitations, list down all requirements that can be automated.



Once the requirements are thoroughly understood, then comes the crucial part of tool selection. While selecting the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/select-right-automation-testing-tool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Once the requirements are thoroughly understood, then comes the crucial part of tool selection. While selecting the right test automation tool, always focus on return on investment, time-saving on the process, cost-saving and overall benefits it brings to organizations. (opens in a new tab)">right test automation tool</a>, always focus on return on investment, time-saving on the process, cost-saving and overall benefits it brings to organizations. 



You should not just run behind automation and think it would create magic and help in faster delivery of the product. Wisely select the areas of automation, have a clear test strategy and test plan. Start automating a smaller module, everyday repetitive activities and focus on larger modules later to avoid the common test automation mistakes we are likely to make.



To excel in the world of automation, you should keep <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="You should not just run behind automation and think it would create magic and help in faster delivery of the product. Wisely select the areas of automation, have a clear test strategy and test plan. Start automating a smaller module, everyday repetitive activities and focus on larger modules later. To excel in the world of automation, you should keep upgrading your&nbsp; testing skillsets, taking challenges and never giving up. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-20-websites-for-online-automation-testing-courses-and-certifications/" target="_blank">upgrading your testing skillsets</a>, take up challenges and never give up!

Few mistakes to not make in test automation_Testsigma

8 Top Test Automation Mistakes And Tips For QA Teams to Avoid Them

12 Latest Software Test Automation Trends To Look For In 2022

12 Latest Software Test Automation Trends To Look For

Top 20 Websites For Online Automation Testing Courses and Certifications_Testsigma

Top 20 Websites For Online Automation Testing Courses and Certifications

<a href="https://theagileadmin.com/what-is-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DevOps</a>, as a solution to implement Agile, is being used worldwide for over a decade now. It lets teams automate all redundant development and Ops related tasks. Thus, it helps teams achieve the main goal of Agile &#8211; quick and frequent releases. But, the one process that has still lacked proper attention is the quality of the releases.



The concept of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="DevTestOps (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/devtestops" target="_blank">DevTestOps</a> was introduced to put a special focus on continuous testing for each step of the development process along with DevOps. DevTestOps ensures that along with Development and Operations related tasks, the feedback on quality is continuous and given the importance it deserves.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_DevTestOps">1 What is DevTestOps?</a></li><li><a href="#How_is_DevTestOps_different_from_DevOps">2 How is DevTestOps different from DevOps?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_need_of_using_DevTestOps_How_continuous_testing_enables_DevTestOps">3 What is the need of using DevTestOps? How continuous testing enables DevTestOps?</a></li><li><a href="#Myths_about_DevTestOps">4 Myths about DevTestOps</a></li><li><a href="#Best_Practices_to_follow_in_Continuous_Testing_for_successful_DevTestOpsnbsp">5 Best Practices to follow in Continuous Testing for successful DevTestOps&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Continuous_Testing_For_Enterprises_Tools_Available_in_the_Market">6 Continuous Testing For Enterprises: Tools Available in the Market</a><ul><li><a href="#Below_are_a_few_tools_that_can_be_considered">6.1 Below are a few tools that can be considered:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Suggested_Readings">7 Suggested Readings</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-devtestops"><a href="https://testsigma.com/devtestops" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What is DevTestOps?</a></h2>



As per the DevTestOps Manifesto 2018:



“The goal of DevTestOps is not to silo “Test” from Dev and Ops, but simply to raise the visibility of testers and testing as integral parts of the DevOps quality culture”



DevTestOps is a combination of DevOps and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="DevTestOps is a combination of DevOps and Continuous Testing. The process involves testing early, testing often and testing throughout the software delivery pipeline. It highlights the key role of the tester in the development of the product along with the Ops professionals. Devtestops ensures continuous feedback of testers to developers throughout the stages of product development, thus reducing business risk and the possibility of finding defects at later stages. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/continuous-testing-at-the-speed-of-agile-and-devops/" target="_blank">Continuous Testing</a>. The process involves testing early, testing often, and testing throughout the software delivery pipeline.



DevTestOps highlights the key role of the tester in the development of the product along with the Ops professionals. DevTestOps stresses that the continuous testing framework should be integrated with the CI/CD pipeline. It lays most importance on the continuity of testing feedback to developers throughout the stages of <a href="https://artkai.io/services/product-strategy-consulting" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">product development</a>, thus reducing business risk and the possibility of finding defects at later stages.



In the <a href="https://kruschecompany.com/agile-software-development/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Agile testing and development methodology</a>, all members of a cross-functional Agile team are equally responsible for the quality of the product and the success of the project.



Hence, testing of an agile project is done by the whole team, not just designated testers or quality assurance professionals but also team members whose primary expertise may be in programming, business analysis, and database or system operation.&nbsp; 



Below image clearly depicts how testing can be included in different stages of a DevOps process.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><a href="https://danashby.co.uk/2016/10/19/continuous-testing-in-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Tv1Y-4LFiC6I97wudGjfsRlGp_xZPSpKPS3MRugAu_QjTARCwALnPSEJkeMcweLaEUa7UmqYSgtdgZTo7iDS9ZtscVJCoYuMJEgZZx5-fUv3yQRkw_de5yFiMiMLNElhzuAlG5Fb" alt="stages of a DevOps process"/></a></figure></div>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><figure></figure></figure></div>







<h2 id="how-is-devtestops-different-from-devops">How is DevTestOps different from DevOps?</h2>



DevOps automates most of the manual operations in the <a href="http://forbytes.com/blog/agile-software-development-life-cycle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">software development life cycle(SDLC)</a> which leads to faster delivery of the product. DevOps is successful but there are possibilities of missing critical bugs, scenarios and business requirements in the product as continuous testing is not performed.



To eliminate the possibility of missing defects, functionalities and business risks, DevTestOps idea was brought forward in which Continuous Testing was implemented as a major part of the software delivery pipeline.



Let us discuss about Continuous Testing.&nbsp;



The word ‘continuous’ means the code is continuously developed, delivered, tested and deployed. The testers identify possible scenarios based on requirements, create and execute test cases from the beginning of the software delivery pipeline and shares feedback with the development team, on the business risk involved.



It is an uninterrupted execution of automated tests while being part of the software delivery process, facilitating immediate feedback based on the business changes associated with the product and mitigating risks before they proceed to the next SDLC stage.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/GYzT4r1NzO-M4fiH2MP-1Jw7v-0NAhFUmmC-K_AXXKbvcRI0xRbISFe0NTB9h1MYVXu-K4VxqaBw7PzYQZWnV4buQAMz6_7rYPqRnvQ8K7D6mW9vDyQxqnRuoQaRynhNb8WOM4vb" alt="continuous testing 
"/><figcaption>The goal of continuous testing is to test early, test often. (Image Source: http://www.professionalqa.com/) </figcaption></figure></div>



Continuous Testing helps in testing the code through the software development cycle which reduces the gap between testers, developers and the operations team. The end-to-end automation of tests helps to integrate QA into DevOps processes to maintain continuity and thereby address the overall challenges of quicker development cycles.



The scope of Continuous Testing is pretty huge with validation of the functional and non-functional requirements of the product. It involves API testing, unit, integration and system testing of the software all done under a simulated environment with test automation.



<h2 id="what-is-the-need-of-using-devtestops-how-continuous-testing-enables-devtestops">What is the need of using DevTestOps? How continuous testing enables DevTestOps?</h2>



DevOps is enabled when continuous integration is implemented along with continuous delivery and continuous deployment. And thus, to enable DevTestOps &#8211; continuous testing needs to be integrated to already implemented setup of continuous integration + continuous delivery + continuous deployment.



With DevTestOps, testers also play a vital role throughout the process of development, delivery and deployment by enabling testing feedback at each step through continuous testing.



As testing is implemented at each stage and most of the processes are automated, it has led to below improvements:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">The defects are detected at an early stage hence are easier to fix, ultimately resulting in timely delivery of the product.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">It shortens the regression cycle from weeks to hours by just automating the process.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">The developers and testers work together with leading to a better understanding of the module and increasing the quality of the product exponentially.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">The tester gets a chance to perform all kinds of testing during the phase of product development.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">The tester becomes an equal owner of the product as a developer.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">Automated build and deployment accelerates the process and avoids any human error and dependency.</li></ul>



<h2 id="myths-about-devtestops">Myths about DevTestOps</h2>



<ol><li>Continuous Testing requires 100% automation. As we all know 100% automation of an application is impossible hence many scripts are run manually in the process of continuous testing.</li></ol>



<li>Large organizations do not benefit from continuous testing as they have huge development and QA teams which make coordination difficult.
Continuous testing, since its inception, has been revolutionary for both testers and developers. Developers are moving closer to customers to shape the user experience according to their changing needs, whereas testers are now closer to the developers and business analysts, taking part in the SDLC from the early stages.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 5px">It is expensive.</li>



Yes, it is a one-time investment but once the team is equipped with functionality, return on investment is tremendous due to:



<ul><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">Better code quality as no commit goes untested.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">Developer receives immediate feedback about the product from the tester which helps in finding the root cause and easily fixing the bugs in less time.</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">Since bugs are detected early hence the cost of fixing is less.&nbsp;</li><li style="padding-bottom: 5px">Almost no human mistake as most of the process is automated.</li></ul>



<h2 id="best-practices-to-follow-in-continuous-testing-for-successful-devtestops">Best Practices to follow in Continuous Testing for successful DevTestOps&nbsp;</h2>



<ol><li>Adopt more test automation: Do not focus only on automating the test case but also the repetitive process. It helps in saving a lot of time.</li><li>Integration of tool: Selection of the tool should be done wisely to make testing effective, faster and easier</li><li>Transparent communication: Communication and understanding between all the teams should be very effective. It avoids confusion and yields good productivity.</li><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/performance-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Performance testing</a>: It should play a vital role during the delivery cycle to avoid any crash issue which may result due to high volume user inflow.</li><li>Perform Multilayer testing: All types of testing such as integration, API, GUI, database testing should be incorporated during the delivery cycle and maximum testing types should be automated.</li></ol>



<h2 id="continuous-testing-for-enterprises-tools-available-in-the-market">Continuous Testing For Enterprises: Tools Available in the Market</h2>



Multiple types of testing can be covered in DevOps such as unit, system, integration, end to end, performance, security, cross-platform, multiple platforms, responsive, and API testing. There are multiple continuous testing solutions in the market. These are tools that automate one or more test activities right from planning, requirements, creating a build, test execution, defect logging, and test analysis. 



As a thumb of rule, look for tools that enable easy automation and also support integration to continuous testing.



<h3 id="below-are-a-few-tools-that-can-be-considered">Below are a few tools that can be considered: </h3>



<ol><li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Selenium: It is an open-source tool, used for most of the functional test automation, supports a wide range of browsers and operating systems. However, there are many limitations and challenges using Selenium, as it requires technical knowledge and mobile automation cannot be done.</li></ol>



<li style="padding-bottom: 10px">Testsigma: Testsigma aims to improve automation and testing speed by a slew of features. The test creation is very simple, easy and quick as tests can be created in simple English. You would feel like you are not automating but just writing test cases. 

Test maintenance is further simplified by using AI and ML technologies in the backend that try to fix errors in a build due to changes in elements. Not only this a range of browsers and devices are hosted on the cloud and your test cases run on them in parallel. It also integrates with all majorly used CI/CD tools.</li>



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<li style="padding-top: 20px">Eggplant: This is a scriptless automation tool that uses image-based technology. It provides cloud-based service and test lab which ensures 24*7 access to the team. Eggplant can be used across all platform desktop, web and native.</li>







<li>Watir:&nbsp;It is an open-source tool used for web automation and continuous testing, based on ruby language.</li>







<li>Tosca:&nbsp;It is a model-based test automation tool, used widely across all platforms, and has embedded business intelligence. This tool automatically scans the AUT(Application Under Test) script and loads into the software with minimal manual steps. Business intelligence helps the tool in suggesting certain critical tests which help the team identify the trouble areas, and thus reducing the risk.</li>







<li>Rational functional tester: One of the pioneer tools in the automation industry which supports functional, data-driven, API, performance and regression testing. The tool requires knowledge of .net and java scripting to automate the process.</li>







<li>Appium:&nbsp;It is used for mobile testing. It is a kind of wrapper on selenium. This tool requires a sound knowledge of a testing framework for its implementation.</li>



A flawless DevTestOps environment can be put together when the testing team works closely with the Dev team and seeks support for continuous release and deployment through DevOps. Hence, for an organization that is looking for a solution to release high-quality products into the market without delay DevTestOps is the solution to go for.



<h2 id="suggested-readings">Suggested Readings</h2>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/devops-principles/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Devops Principles: Benefits And How to Implement it?</a> 



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/devops-life-cycle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DevOps life Cycle | Phases Explained with Example</a>  



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-do-agile-and-devops-interrelate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How do Agile and DevOps Interrelate</a>

What is DevTestOps | Role of DevTestOps in Continuous Testing

<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Testing">1 What is Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_a_Testing_Framework">2 What is a Testing Framework?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_an_Agile_Testing_Framework">3 What is an Agile Testing Framework?</a></li><li><a href="#Does_an_Agile_Testing_Framework_need_to_be_agile_itself">4 Does an Agile Testing Framework need to be agile itself?</a></li><li><a href="#What_makes_a_good_Agile_Testing_Framework">5 What makes a good Agile Testing Framework?</a><ul><li><a href="#Common_vocabulary">5.1 Common vocabulary</a></li><li><a href="#Test-driven_development">5.2 Test-driven development</a></li><li><a href="#Different_tests_for_different_teams">5.3 Different tests for different teams</a></li><li><a href="#Domain_experts">5.4 Domain experts</a></li><li><a href="#Exploratory_testing_and_Extreme_Roleplays">5.5 Exploratory testing and Extreme Roleplays</a></li><li><a href="#Tests_Organization">5.6 Tests Organization</a></li><li><a href="#Sprint_demos">5.7 Sprint demos</a></li><li><a href="#User_facing_documentation">5.8 User facing documentation</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-testing">What is Testing?</h2>



Testing is the process of finding defects in a product/process to notify behaviour that isn’t acceptable for a user, to highlight how much of the product conforms to the expectations and what are the deviations. Testing ensures the quality of a product and forms a major component of the Software Development Life Cycle.&nbsp;



<h2 id="what-is-a-testing-framework">What is a Testing Framework?</h2>



A testing framework is a set of rules that define how to do the testing. It incorporates tools and practices that can make testing easier, effective and efficient. Broadly, it provides the pillars on which testing can be planned and executed.



<h2 id="what-is-an-agile-testing-framework">What is an Agile Testing Framework?</h2>



Agile is all about embracing the fact that change is constant. Software products that follow Agile Methodology are always on the roller coaster ride of constantly changing requirements, technical stack, timelines, deliverables, etc.



For software developed using Agile methodology, small iterations of the product are built and evolved at regular intervals(called sprints). These small iterations of the product also need to be tested to ensure that quality issues are identified and resolved timely.



A framework that enables testing of these small iterations of the product makes for an Agile Testing Framework.



<h2 id="does-an-agile-testing-framework-need-to-be-agile-itself">Does an Agile Testing Framework need to be agile itself?</h2>



Yes. As the product adapts to the changes getting introduced, the same needs to be done for its testing framework. The testing framework for an agile product needs to be constantly revisited to weed out obsolete tasks and practices and incorporate new ones. Also, not all components of the framework are needed from the start. You have to add and remove from the framework as per the need.&nbsp;



Also, you should start thinking about testing from the beginning. Not only in the Development Phase, testing should be incorporated in the Requirements and Design Phase also. More about this on &#8216;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Also, you should start thinking about testing from the beginning. Not only in the Development Phase, testing should be incorporated in the Requirements and Design Phase also. More about this on 'Is your automation testing tool ready for Shift Left testing?' The nature of testing performed in these phases could be a bit different. For example, in the Requirements Phase, testing could be related to business analysis. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-tool-ready-for-shift-left/" target="_blank">Is your automation testing tool ready for Shift Left testing?</a>&#8216;



The nature of testing performed in these phases could be a bit different. For example, in the Requirements Phase, testing could be related to business analysis.



In the Feasibility Analysis phase, testing could be related to legal and technical analysis. In the Design phase, testing could be related to user acceptance and security. In the Development phase, testing could be actual unit testing, smoke testing, acceptance testing, performance testing, stress testing, etc.&nbsp;



<h2 id="what-makes-a-good-agile-testing-framework">What makes a good Agile Testing Framework?</h2>



An Agile Testing Framework should be good enough to cover the breadth and depth of a product. Following are some of the features that are crucial for a good Agile Testing Framework:



<h3 id="common-vocabulary">Common vocabulary</h3>



The business and technical teams must share the same vocabulary for terms and concepts related to the product even if it means developing a few new words. Using a common vocabulary eases communication among different teams and even within the same team.



<h3 id="test-driven-development">Test-driven development</h3>



Having a test case that defines the expected behaviour even before the behaviour is implemented helps in clear understanding. You precisely know what should be implemented and are not biased by the implementation details. As long as the test fails, you know the behaviour is not correct. As soon as the test passes, you know you are on the right track. Here the preciseness of the test becomes very important. Identifying what all should be verified as a part of the test to ensure correct implementation of the behaviour is critical. At the same time, care needs to be taken to keep the test easily maintainable, loosely-coupled with the system and finite scope so that it doesn’t end up testing everything or nothing useful.



<h3 id="different-tests-for-different-teams">Different tests for different teams</h3>



Different teams on the product should have different testing criteria for the product. The way business teams test the product is and should be different from the way technical teams test the product. Business teams are better aware of the user scenarios and can better judge the product for user acceptance. Similarly, technical teams are better aware of the implementation details of the product and can better test the code quality through unit tests.



<h3 id="domain-experts">Domain experts</h3>



It is good to have domain experts, as needed, on the team. Domain experts, be it business experts or security experts can provide a different viewpoint for the product. The way business experts aren’t good with technical details, the technical team is not good with the business domain. Having business experts regularly review the product deliverables helps to bring in crucial feedback for the product that could be hard to incorporate towards the end of the product development. Also, business experts are more likely to take the product iterations to customers and gather feedback that can prove crucial in shaping the product further. Similarly, security experts on the team can help close security loopholes in the product early on. Keeping security in mind from the start is important. Following security guidelines while designing the product can help in avoiding flaws that can prove fatal later.&nbsp;



<h3 id="exploratory-testing-and-extreme-roleplays">Exploratory testing and Extreme Roleplays</h3>



Testing is more about mindset, less about a job. As you become familiar with a product, your testing skills start getting influenced by the knowledge of the product. You start making assumptions on how it should be used, which means that you won’t try to use the product differently. This leaves out the scope for testing the product with a different user’s perspective.



 A user who is a novice (like Charlie Chaplin) may have a different approach for using the product than a user who is fond of pushing the product to extreme limits while using it (like Big Bunny who is known for breaking the products).



 Users from different levels or background may approach and expect the product to behave in different ways. Performing such extreme role-plays during testing can help in identifying issues with the product that cannot be noticed otherwise.



<h3 id="tests-organization">Tests Organization</h3>



When you are dealing with a large number of test cases, that span across teams and domains, daily, it becomes crucial to organize them in a trackable manner. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/the-unpleasant-phenomenon-in-agile-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agile Testing</a> Matrix could be of help here as it not only provides a skeleton to organize the test cases but also becomes the guide to understand the purpose and objective of the test cases.



This is how a basic Agile Testing Matrix looks like:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/PbgwQjB2xsrY22Ls_FahSnrw-6o-HiVWn0ZAcEKcaoGMqeK-nKScOY3fkmdL8ezsnhuPFfFs3ms9EhhRsFnNn2l4JluFFOvWbtegTb9UzKaeyIhNuRHPhnZdeHsbUpPSFZVJUdNH" alt="Testsigma - Tests Organization" /></figure></div>



<figcaption>Source:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html#agile-testing-project-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html#agile-testing-project-1</a></figcaption>



When you try to fill in this matrix with your test cases classified as unit tests, functional tests, acceptance tests, security tests, etc. you tend to realize what purpose each test case is serving for the product and how strongly your test cases are covering the product quality.



With the help of this matrix you can eventually also see which areas of the product have the least focus from a quality perspective and that can give you guidance on where to channelize your testing efforts.



<h3 id="sprint-demos">Sprint demos</h3>



Small iterations of the product built every sprint should be regularly demonstrated to the technical and business teams to check the gaps between what is expected and what is coming out. This helps in catching and correcting any differences in expectations and deliverables early on. Sprint demos also help in building confidence in the team for what they are building. It becomes easier to look at the overall picture when things translate from imagination to real-world and you start seeing some essential pieces of the structure. Sprint demos help achieve that.



<h3 id="user-facing-documentation">User facing documentation</h3>



Although it can be argued that user-facing documentation is/should not be the responsibility of the technical team, the truth is that documentation plays an important role in user experience. Documentation is the go-to place for a user with doubts/queries. When you write and/or review the documentation from a user’s perspective who is not aware of the internal details of the product, you can often see the missing pieces and problems.When you are making someone else understand, your understanding becomes better at what should be, why it should be and where it should be. This helps in identifying a different set of issues with the product, which could then be categorized as bugs or feature enhancements



Agile methodology helps in building products faster but a velocity without quality has no significance.&nbsp; Quality should be held as most important. To achieve velocity with quality, every team member should be concerned about quality. Be it design discussions or actual development of the product, every team member should wear the testing hat and notify issues early. The objective of a product is to serve quality and quality should be everyone’s responsibility.



Further Reading:<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/agile-scrum-methodology-best-practices-agile-teams/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Further Reading: Top 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams (opens in a new tab)"> Top 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams</a>



References



<a href="https://agilealliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://agilealliance.org/</a>



<a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://agilemanifesto.org/</a>



<a href="http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html</a>

Understanding the Agile Testing Framework

Agile Scrum Methodology | 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams

Agile Scrum Methodology | A Comprehensive Guide to 13 Best Agile Practices

Top Automated Testing Practices to Follow

Automated Testing Best Practices: 9 Ways to Ensure Efficient Testing

A typical manual QA tester spends more than 50% of the time in testing the functionality of the application. A majority of time is spent in executing the same test cases multiple times for regression testing. If these repeatedly executed test cases can be automated, a lot of time and manual effort can be saved. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Functional_Testing">1 What is Functional Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Functional_Test_Automation">2 What is Functional Test Automation?</a></li><li><a href="#How_is_Functional_Test_Automation_in_the_Agile_World_different_as_compared_to_that_in_traditional_testing_models">3 How is Functional Test Automation in the Agile World different as compared to that in traditional testing models?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_make_Functional_Test_Automation_successful_in_the_Agile_World">4 How to make Functional Test Automation successful in the Agile World?</a></li><li><a href="#Functional_Testing_Tools_that_can_prove_useful">5 Functional Testing Tools that can prove useful:</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-functional-testing">What is Functional Testing?</h2>



Functional Testing is concerned with verifying the functionality of all the features of an application under test(AUT). These functionalities are tested against the feature requirements making sure that all the requirements for a feature are implemented and working accordingly. 



Developers generally create unit tests for the code they write, but Functional Testing is usually the first testing done by the software testing team once a feature is ready for testing. Functional testing is also included at the time of regression testing done before the final release because the user will be first going through the workflow covered under the functional tests. Thus automating these tests becomes important. 







<h2 id="what-is-functional-test-automation">What is Functional Test Automation?</h2>



When the focus of test automation is functional tests, the process is called functional test automation. Most of the test cases automated here are black-box tests that aim to verify the functionality of a particular feature. This testing could be done for user interfaces, APIs, database, security, or any interface that needs some input and gives some output. 



<h2 id="how-is-functional-test-automation-in-the-agile-world-different-as-compared-to-that-in-traditional-testing-models">How is Functional Test Automation in the Agile World different as compared to that in traditional testing models?</h2>



In traditional testing models, different tasks related to development and testing happens one after the other and usually testing starts once the development is complete. This means that the testers do not have much productive work to do while development is in full swing and this also means that developers won’t have much to do while testing is going on unless there are a lot of bugs to fix. 



Agile Methodology provides a solution to these problems by breaking big tasks into small tasks that are doable in each sprint. This also means that a deliverable is supposed to be ready by the end of each sprint for evaluation. Following this strategy, testing also needs to be broken down into smaller tasks that can be taken up at each sprint. For this, functional test automation should start in parallel with development.







<h2 id="how-to-make-functional-test-automation-successful-in-the-agile-world">How to make Functional Test Automation successful in the Agile World? </h2>



An important <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/ux-testing-ux-lessons-learned-from-my-real-life-experiences-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part in making functional test</a> automation successful is played by the test automation tool. Hence this tool should be chosen after carefully understanding the needs not only short term but long term too.&nbsp; 



Below mentioned points should give you an idea of how to go about it: 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Decide whether to use an already existing test automation framework or build one from scratch:</li>



At the moment, considering there are multiple options available for software test automation, it is recommended that you go through those options first and decide to build your tool from scratch only in case you are sure your application needs such an in-house framework.&nbsp;



An automation framework may need to be built from scratch if:



<ul class="list_style_disc" style="padding-bottom:20px"><li>the application under test uses a technology whose testing is not supported by any of the available tools in the market.&nbsp;</li><li>building a framework from scratch will prove more beneficial than investing in an already existing tool.</li></ul>



<li>The automation framework should give testers the ability to start with automation when the development starts:</li>



Any automation framework you choose should give your testers the ability to design test cases even before actual implementation is in place. Testers should be able to make those test cases work once the features are developed and ready for testing. 



<li>The low learning curve for creating new test cases:</li>



Time is also an investment in today’s world where software development and deployments are happening at breakneck speed. So, choosing a framework that could be learnt easily in a short time is a good investment to make. 



<li>The automated test cases should be easy to create/edit/maintain:</li>



Being developed in an Agile world, the application will go through multiple changes according to the client’s feedback. To keep up with all the changes with ease, an automation framework/tool is needed that enables easy test creation, edits and maintenance. The tool being used should also have the capability to reuse and regroup already created test steps. 



With the advent of AI, now there are tools available in the market that can automatically maintain test cases that fail due to changes in the application. 



<li>The test cases created under the test automation framework should be easy to understand:</li>



It is unsure if the same tester remains with you during the product’s lifecycle and is highly unlikely so make sure whatever framework you choose, the tests created are easy to understand. The tests should be easy since they need to be reworked on by someone who did not create them at some time. 



At present, there are multiple tools available in the market that automate test cases via plain English test steps or flowcharts or screenshots. You need to decide what best meets your requirements. 



<li>Easy to debug:</li>



If any of the automated test cases fail, there should be ample support in the tool to enable the testers to debug and find the cause of failure. If the tool does not make debugging easy, a lot of time could be spent just figuring out what caused the test case to fail. Some of the most sought out features that help to debug are: 



<ul class="list_style_disc" style="padding-bottom:15px"><li>Step by step execution</li><li>Ability to pause execution while debugging</li><li>Ability to take screenshots at the moment of failure</li><li style="padding-bottom:15px">Ability to skip steps while debugging</li></ul>



<li>Scope of integration with other tools if needed:</li>



There are a lot of stand-alone tools in the market starting with CI/CD tools to reporting tools. Before you start working on test automation, make sure the tool you use supports integration with the tools you may be planning to use or may have been already using.



Also, reporting should provide all the needed information in an easily understandable format. 



<li>Support for different types of Test Data:</li>



For different types of test cases, different types of test data could be needed. Sometimes hardcoded, sometimes passed through CSVs or JSON or XML or any other format. Make sure the tool you are using supports passing test data in the format you need. 



<li>Support for API testing:</li>



At present, APIs are the basis of development of functionalities for a lot of products. If your product also uses APIs, the test automation framework or functional testing tool you plan on using should support the automation of these.&nbsp; 



<li>Support for Visual Testing:</li>



Sometimes a need may arise to test the application visually for eg. for the presence or absence of components or text. The tool should have the support either for performing such testing or the ability to integrate with a tool that will allow testing the application visually. 



<li>Ability to run tests against all needed environments:</li>



These days applications are being released on all kinds of devices including desktops, laptops and mobile devices. The application must be tested on all the supported devices of all screen sizes and hence the support for testing on all needed environments should be verified before choosing a tool for automation. 



<li>Parallel execution of test cases:</li>



When the test cases are less in number, execution does not take much time and parallel execution support does not matter but once the number of automated test cases increase, which is bound to happen eventually. Without parallel execution, the execution of automated test cases can become quite cumbersome and may cause unnecessary delay in providing feedback. 



<li>Ability to host test cases on the cloud:</li>



Most of the companies these days use cloud infrastructure for all their development and testing needs and invest in minimal on-premise infrastructure. Thus, a tool that also enables the testers to host their test cases on the cloud and run them directly there can prove highly beneficial. 



<li>Support:</li>



Whatever tool/framework you decide to use, there will be times when you will come across a situation where external help will be needed. At such times, dedicated support for the tool being used becomes essential to make sure your functional test automation keeps going up without any interruption. 



<li>The automation should provide ROI:</li>



There is no point investing in a tool that takes up all your time in the automation of test cases first and then the maintenance of test cases later. Also, if for automation and for understanding the automated test cases you need to hire new resources with specific skills, which means additional investment in terms of money. And if the automated test cases are brittle and are failing most of the time, the contribution to quality can be considered as negligible.&nbsp; 



So, out of all the points above the most important point to consider is to use a functional testing tool that will give ROI in terms of time, money and quality eventually.&nbsp;







<h2 id="functional-testing-tools-that-can-prove-useful">Functional Testing Tools that can prove useful:</h2>



Considering the above requirements, there are a few tools in the market that meet the above requirements:



<ol><li style="padding-bottom:20px">Testsigma: Test cases can be written in plain English and the AI core ensures that the test cases are maintained automatically in most of the scenarios. The test cases are hosted on the cloud and could be executed on a wide range of devices that are again hosted on the cloud. The tool also supports integration with most of the widely used tools.</li><li style="padding-bottom:20px">TestComplete: Automation could be scriptless via keyword-driven testing or could be done by using supported scripting languages. The test cases could be run on a wide variety of browsers and mobile devices. The tool also supports integration with most of the widely used tools ranging from CI/CD to reporting.</li><li style="padding-bottom:50px">TOSCA: Automation is again scriptless(model-based approach) with easy automatic maintenance support.</li></ol>



 Refer this DZone article to know more about the different <a href="https://dzone.com/articles/scriptless-testing-is-not-just-record-and-playback?utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=feedpress.me&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20dzone%2Fdevops" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">functional test automation methods and tools</a> available.  



Thus, when you decide to implement functional test automation in your organization, even before choosing the tool to use, it is essential to understand all your requirements and goals end to end.

Criteria and Requirements of Functional Testing in an Agile World

Scriptless Automated Testing is not the same as Record and Playback

Record and Playback Testing vs Scriptless Automation Testing: Which is Good?

Selenium was first conceptualized in 2004 at ThoughtWorks for website automation and has come a long way from it&#8217;s first Web Driver version to becoming a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Selenium was first conceptualized in 2004 at ThoughtWorks for website automation and has come a long way from it's first Web Driver version to becoming a W3C standard protocol. With a single interface that lets you write test scripts in programming languages like Ruby, Java, NodeJS, PHP, among others and being open-source has gained quite a lot of popularity so much so that Selenium stands tall among the most popular commercial tools today.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver/" target="_blank">W3C standard protocol</a>. With a single interface that lets you write test scripts in programming languages like Ruby, Java, NodeJS, PHP, among others and being open-source, Selenium has gained quite a lot of popularity so much so that it stands tall among the most popular commercial tools today. 



Anyone who has worked on&nbsp;<a href="http://seleniumhq.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Selenium</a>&nbsp;would agree that it is not that easy. If the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/issues" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issues</a>&nbsp;open at the moment and the number of questions being posted on forums like StackOverflow is any indication, the problems faced by Selenium users does not seem to be decreasing.



The test cases are brittle, the failures are common, and the maintenance of automated test cases takes more time and cost than it takes to automate them. However, with a very strong community and integrations, it is workable. But if you are working in tight timelines, this wouldn&#8217;t be the ideal way. 



If we start thinking about why Selenium tests fail, an obvious reason would be that the websites and the technologies used to build them have been evolving at a fast pace. And the number of additions to the features and functionalities has only been increasing exponentially.



Keeping up with the changes and making sure the tests run reliably every single time is not an easy job. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Let_us_look_at_a_few_reasons_why_Selenium_tests_fail">1 Let us look at a few reasons why Selenium tests fail:</a></li><li><a href="#Some_common_errors_that_most_Selenium_users_may_have_come_across_but_are_easy_to_fix">2 Some common errors that most Selenium users may have come across but are easy to fix:</a></li><li><a href="#Limitations_of_using_Selenium_for_Automation">3 Limitations of using Selenium for Automation:</a></li><li><a href="#Alternatives_to_Selenium">4 Alternatives to Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#Benefits_of_using_above_tools">5 Benefits of using above tools:</a></li></ul></div>
<h2>Let us look at a few reasons why Selenium tests fail:</h2> 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Asynchronous websites</li>



Selenium tests are developed keeping a particular order in mind and when there are websites that are built using asynchronous architecture. The order of response cannot be fixed at all times. In such scenarios, sometimes the responses from the website are not in order. As a result, the test case fails. Such failures are tough to debug as well because they are not reproducible at all times. 



<li>Bugs</li>



With websites rapidly evolving, multiple languages and libraries are available for website development. There are a lot of features that needs to be supported.Selenium does come out with a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="With websites rapidly evolving, multiple languages and libraries are available for website development. There are a lot of features that needs to be supported.
Selenium does come out with a better version frequently supporting any new changes that come up but they also leave out bugs and sometimes these bugs appear while people are trying to automate their websites.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://medium.com/hackernoon/selenium-4-0-alpha-released-what-test-automation-engineers-can-expect-6c1838b79243" target="_blank">better version</a> frequently supporting any new change that comes up but they also leave out bugs and sometimes these bugs appear while people are trying to automate their websites. 



<li>Dynamic websites that change without refresh</li>



Now websites are built that do a page reload or refresh rarely and, all the changes happen dynamically using JavaScript on the same page. In some scenarios, if there is a small error in one step, the whole test case fails because there is no opportunity to reload or refresh the page.&nbsp; 



<li>Small changes in the website source code</li>



The most common example of such a change is when a unique ui identifier(also known as locator) of an element on the web page changes. When such a change is checked in, all the test cases that were referring to this unique ui identifier fails and needs to be fixed.
Sometimes small changes are passed on to the code that make the test cases fail but Selenium does not report the exact reason for failure and it makes the test cases seem flaky. 



<li>Timeouts</li>



Timeout errors where Selenium fails while waiting for a component to load are very common while automating using Selenium and can be handled by adding appropriate &#8220;waits&#8221;. Just ensure that explicit waits are only added where necessary because that increases the overall run time of the test case. Implicit waits are better to use in such scenarios.



<h2>Some common errors that most Selenium users may have come across but are easy to fix:</h2> 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Alerts, Pop-ups, Nested IFrames</li>Selenium Users faced problems while automating alerts, pop-ups and Nested IFrames related functionalities on a website but with the latest version of Selenium, this problem has been handled quite well. If there is anything that cannot be handled, it is the OS level alerts because Selenium can only handle website related operations. <li>Selenium WebDriver version mismatch</li>Selenium releases WebDrivers for supported browsers to execute tests on them. If the installed browser on the system does not match the versions supported by the web drivers, an exception like this is reported: “This version of ChromeDriver only supports Chrome version 74”. The solution is to either update the Selenium WebDriver to support the installed browser or update the installed browser to the version supported by selenium webdriver and the error will go away.
 <li>ElementNotFoundException</li>
Sometimes during automation, testers miss out on accounting of small components like the page load progress icon and when the script executes, it fails to find the element that will load after the page loads. These situations can easily be solved by accounting for the page load and waiting for the page to load completely. Sometimes an implicit wait for the required element to load can also solve such problems. <li>TimeOutExceptionThis exception appears when Selenium waited for some operation to complete or for an element to appear or disappear but it did not happen during the time it was expected to wait. The time it is supposed to wait can be configured as well.</li> 



<li>Changing location for Selectors</li></ol>



Sometimes when a site is responsive, the location of the selectors on a web page changes with change in size. This results in test cases failing with the web page size. Such failures can be fixed by using a selector that does not change with changing size for eg. using unique names or ui identifiers as selectors. 



Above are the most common exceptions that people face but if you are looking for a more detailed list, check <a href="https://www.katalon.com/resources-center/blog/selenium-exceptions/">here</a>.
These exceptions may occur while testing using any automated testing tool but there are certain limitations of Selenium that are detailed below.



<h2 style="padding-bottom: 10px">Limitations of using Selenium for Automation: </h2>



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Difficult to set up initially</li>



Selenium works with certain programming languages. Elaborate setup for development in the programming language and support for Selenium needs to be prepared before automation can be started.



<li>Substantial time is taken to automate</li>



Because every step has to be coded it takes a good amount of time for just automating a simple workflow.



<li>Substantial time is taken to maintain the test cases</li>



If there are failures in test scripts, it may take a long time to debug and figure out the root cause of failure which also means more cost.



<li>Pass/Fail Reports</li> Selenium does not offer rich reports on its own and requires third party integrations for more than just Pass/Fail error reports.</ol>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="1407" height="374" data-id="5352" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Testsigma_Banner.png" alt="Testsigma_Banner" class="wp-image-5352"/></a><figcaption>Write simple tests while the AI maintain the tests&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>
</figure>



<h2 id="alternatives-to-selenium">Alternatives to Selenium</h2>



Instead of spending a lot of time, money and effort on getting things to work with Selenium, try using other tools that are there in the market and have dedicated technical support, some of such tools are:



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Testsigma</li>



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English. The AI-powered system learns to maintain test cases if there are any changes in the website also suggest changes and indicate the tests that will be affected.https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-alternative-for-automated-regression-testing/ (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English.



This AI-powered automated testing tool is an <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English. This AI-powered automated testing tool is an ideal alternative for Selenium. maintain test cases if there are any changes in the website also suggest changes and indicate the tests that will be affected. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-alternative-for-automated-regression-testing/" target="_blank">ideal alternative</a> for Selenium with all the flexibility that enterprise teams need.



 <li>TOSCA</li>



With automatic object recognition and test case maintenance, <a href="https://www.tricentis.com/products/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">TOSCA </a>is a popular&nbsp; automated testing tool.&nbsp;It maximises reusability and increases maintainability with model-based test automation.



 <li>Katalon</li>



With a Selenium-based engine, <a href="https://www.katalon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="With a Selenium-based engine, Katalon is designed to create and reuse automated test scripts for UI without coding. It is free to use. It also has the option to automate complex scenarios using JAVA or Groovy. (opens in a new tab)">Katalon</a> is designed to create and reuse automated test scripts for UI without coding. It is free to use. It also has the option to automate complex scenarios using JAVA or Groovy.



 <li>TestComplete</li>



Tests can be recorded, scripted or manually created with keyword driven operations and used for automated playback and error logging.While Selenium can only execute tests in a browser (and mobile apps using Appium), <a href="https://smartbear.com/product/testcomplete/overview/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">TestComplete </a>supports Windows applications.



With the support of custom extensions and plugins, TestComplete functions can be extended as per need.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1593" height="388" data-id="6004" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Testsigmas-unique-combo.png" alt="Testsigma's unique combo" class="wp-image-6004"/><figcaption>Sign Up for a free Trial!</figcaption></figure>
</figure>



<h2 id="benefits-of-using-above-tools">Benefits of using above tools:</h2>



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Dedicated technical support</li>



If you face a problem you will always have support available who will give you a timeline to solve any issue you face. They will also help you figure out the issue in case are stuck. Thus you won’t be left alone in the wild looking for solutions when you need immediate help. 



<li>Easier Test Case Creation</li>



These automated testing tools do not demand scripting/programming skills.&nbsp;Katalon and TestComplete use a record and playback approach for test case creation while TOSCA automatically recognises the objects in the application and then test cases are created using the Model based approach. Testsigma on the other hand lets you write automated tests just using plain English! 



<li>Automatic Test Case maintenance</li>



Testsigma, TOSCA, TestComplete have an AI-powered core that enables automatic maintenance of test cases whenever some changes in the website cause the test cases to fail. 



<li>Easier to set up</li>



Testsigma is a cloud-based automated testing tool that hosts all automated tests on the cloud so you don’t need to spend any time or money on initial setup. There is also support for local executions(Hybrid) on your local devices. In comparison, Testsigma is quite easy to get started. 



<li>Low Learning Curve</li>



The special focus of all the above testing tools is the ease to learn them. Thus a lot of time and money that is spent on learning new tools can be saved if any of these automated testing tools are used. It would be quite easy for beginners into automation to get accustomed with these automated testing tools. 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="834" data-id="4519" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Testsigma3.jpeg" alt="Scriptless Test Automation Tool_Testsigma" class="wp-image-4519"/></figure>
</figure>



Selenium is still a mainstream automated testing tool since its inception but now the times are changing and when there are new technologies like AI and ML being employed, teams should explore them to actually know what they have to offer.



Since development workflows are now more complex than they have ever been, and will probably grow yet more complex over time. Selenium is poised to remain relevant for modern application testing. Depending on the requirements, we should be more open to exploring more automated testing tools and choose the relevant one that properly fit our testing requirements.



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Why Do Selenium Tests Fail? : Top Reasons