Software Test Automation What To Expect In The Near Future

Future of Automation Testing: 9 Important Aspects that Expects Change in Future

<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_NLP">1 What is NLP?</a></li><li><a href="#How_is_NLP_Helping_the_World">2 How is NLP Helping the World?</a></li><li><a href="#Current_Practices_in_Test_Automation_Industry">3 Current Practices in Test Automation Industry</a></li><li><a href="#NLP_Based_Test_Automation">4 NLP Based Test Automation</a></li><li><a href="#What_does_NLP_with_Smart_Test_Automation_Look_Like">5 What does NLP with Smart Test Automation Look Like?</a></li><li><a href="#Why_NLP_for_Smart_Test_Automation">6 Why NLP for Smart Test Automation?</a></li><li><a href="#When_Not_to_Use_NLP">7 When Not to Use NLP?</a></li><li><a href="#Tools_that_Use_NLP_for_Smart_Test_Automation">8 Tools that Use NLP for Smart Test Automation</a></li><li><a href="#Advantages_of_Using_NLP_Based_Test_Automation_Tools">9 Advantages of Using NLP Based Test Automation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Disadvantages_of_Using_NLP-Based_Test_Automation_Tools">10 Disadvantages of Using NLP-Based Test Automation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Why_Does_the_Test_Automation_Industry_Need_to_Move_to_NLP">11 Why Does the Test Automation Industry Need to Move to NLP?</a><ul><li><ul><li><a href="#Check_out_how_you_can_write_reliable_NLP_based_test_scripts_that_make_Test_Automation_effortless">11.0.1 Check out how you can write reliable NLP based test scripts that make Test Automation effortless!</a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">12 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#Is_NLP_Part_of_Automation">12.1 Is NLP Part of Automation?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_NLP_Used_For">12.2 What is NLP Used For?</a></li><li><a href="#What_are_the_Four_Applications_of_NLP">12.3 What are the Four Applications of NLP?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-nlp">What is NLP?</h2>



Natural Language Processing (NLP) refers to a branch of Computer Science, or in more simple words, let us say it refers to a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI).



It is a process with which computers are able to understand the text and the spoken words in the same way as human beings can.



NLP describes the process of making the interaction between human languages and computers possible.



This technology has been around for years and is now being used by several people on a daily basis. We all must have come across NLP in some way or the other in our daily lives.



Alexa, the Amazon voice service is an example of a solution based on NLP. Siri, the voice assistant by Apple and Google Assistant also use this technology.



Some other examples of NLP include:



<ul><li>Spell Check</li><li>Voice text messaging</li><li>Spam filters</li><li>Autocomplete</li></ul>



<h2 id="how-is-nlp-helping-the-world">How is NLP Helping the World?</h2>



If we look around, natural language processing is present everywhere, either in the form of text or speech. There have been numerous studies to make our interactions with machines effortless.



Natural Language Processing(NLP) is when new tools/devices/software/machines are made to understand natural language and make it more friendly to interact with.



NLP is a branch of artificial intelligence that aims to make the interactions between machines and humans as much simple and close to natural language as possible.



When NLP is introduced to a system, you don’t need to learn a new set of rules to work with the system. In some systems, the input is in the form of natural language while in some, the output is readable. Making the natural language interaction with machines, software and systems possible reduces the overhead in learning multiple programming languages for interaction and precious time can be used to accomplish the task at hand efficiently.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 id="current-practices-in-test-automation-industry">Current Practices in Test Automation Industry</h2>



Now, there are multiple tools in the test automation industry that are being used to automate test cases and workflows. There are a few tools that gained huge popularity at one time. Because the majority of people are trained in these tools and also because of lack of sufficient analysis and planning at the time of choosing the right tool for automation, adoption of new technology-based tools have been tough and people still continue to use these tools that have been in the market for a long time.



What is overlooked is the time that it takes to design these test cases and the compromises done with the ease of maintenance and understandability of the test cases for other stakeholders.



Most of the times, design and maintenance takes the majority of the time allotted for automation of test scenarios and there is an extra cost for maintenance of the test automation team and training on specific tools being implemented.



Test script development is a tedious process and updating and maintaining them for every change does not come easy. A lot of time is spent on the initial test script authoring.



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 It is important that we perform automation to keep pace with the increasing complexity of applications. A simple but effective approach to Automation Testing would be <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scriptless Test Automation</a>.



Though there are other approaches like the Record and Playback method to <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automation testing</a>, NLP based testing is not only intuitively easy but reliable.&nbsp;



<h2 id="nlp-based-test-automation">NLP Based Test Automation</h2>



Scriptless Test Automation using NLP is like the icing on the cake because scripts are created in Natural language and still give the option to add more complex scenarios or adapt to new changes.&nbsp; With NLP, you can still write your own tests but without the complexities of traditional test automation.



Tools like <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Tools like Testsigma implement NLP in Test Automation in a way that complex automation can be done easily in plain natural language that can be understood by all. With a minimum or no amount of training, complex automated tests can be written with no coding involved.
 (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma</a> implement NLP in Test Automation in a way that complex automation can be done easily in plain natural language that can be understood by all. With a minimum or no amount of training, complex automated tests can be written with no coding involved. 



The dynamic locator strategy is a powerful feature that makes sure that the tests do not break for any change in the application UI. The test cases can be run on a custom cloud with your preferred web, mobile devices.



Testsigma also has an AI(artificial intelligence) core which suggests fixes to affected test cases as a result of a change.



<h2 id="what-does-nlp-with-smart-test-automation-look-like">What does NLP with Smart Test Automation Look Like?</h2>



Using NLP in Smart Test Automation, the tests are carried out in natural understandable language. The use of NLP in test automation minimizes the test creation time. It is done in a format that is intuitively easy for anyone to quickly adapt and use.



There are several tools like TestSigma that use simple plain English to automate tests. The changing UI elements are maintained by AI.



NLP-based tests can accommodate changes anytime and can easily be edited(if required). NLP makes it easier to automate all of your test cases and tightly integrates them with your dynamic delivery pipeline while optimizing the user experience.



<h2 id="why-nlp-for-smart-test-automation">Why NLP for Smart Test Automation?</h2>



There are many benefits that can be gained by using NLP for Smart Test automation.



<ul><li>Low Learning Curve. Since the tests are written in natural language, it is not mandatory for a tester or anyone from the team to have programming knowledge in order to go through it.</li><li>Since the test cases are created in natural language which does not need to be learnt. The time spent on test creation is reduced.</li><li>And similarly, the test cases become easier to maintain as well.</li></ul>



<h2 id="when-not-to-use-nlp">When Not to Use NLP?</h2>



There are some disadvantages to the use of NLP in test automation:



NLP should not be used in scenarios where your project requirements are not fulfilled by all the functionalities the tool can offer via NLP. In such cases check if customization is allowed in other languages. Or go for another tool that lets you automate according to your project requirements



<h2 id="tools-that-use-nlp-for-smart-test-automation">Tools that Use NLP for Smart Test Automation</h2>



Tools like&nbsp;<a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a>&nbsp;use NLP in Test Automation in a way that complex automation can be done easily in plain natural language that can be understood by all. With a minimum or no amount of training, complex automated tests can be written with no coding involved



In addition to plain natural language test creation, Testsigma also offers some additional features that make your test automation smart. These features include:



<ul><li>Possible Failure Detection – Affected Test Cases</li><li>Test Management Capabilities(Requirements, Test Suites, Test Case priorities etc)</li><li>Automatic Bug Reporting(JIRA)</li><li>Shared Object Repository</li><li>State Management</li></ul>



Another such example of a smart test automation tool is ‘<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.indiumsoftware.com/uphorix-platform/" target="_blank">uphorix</a>’.



Features include:&nbsp;



<ul><li>Low code automation</li><li>Intelligent scripting</li><li>Swift compatibility</li><li>Native Test Data generator</li></ul>



<h2 id="advantages-of-using-nlp-based-test-automation-tools">Advantages of Using NLP Based Test Automation Tools</h2>



<ul><li>Low Learning Curve</li></ul>



One of the major problems that NLP aims to solve is the high learning curve for most of the automation tools that need some programming language to be learnt to automate test cases. NLP supports the creation of test cases using Natural Language which means there is no specific set of rules that needs to be learnt or understood.



<li>Easy to Read and Understand test cases</li>



When test cases are created using Natural Language, they are not only but understandable for users at all levels. These include BAs, Manual Testers, QA Managers, stakeholders, etc. This means any member of the team can have a look at the test cases and review them if needed.



<li>Easy to Maintain test cases</li>



When the test cases are easy to read with just the need to set up some configurations in the background, re-iterating through them and introducing changes becomes easier too.



<li>All Stakeholders can be involved during test case creation</li>



As creating the test cases only needs the knowledge of natural language being used for eg. English, the test cases can be created by anyone in the team, this means manual testers who know the system better can be involved to write the test cases and also, anyone from the product or project management or the client-side can drop in to enhance the quality and coverage of the test cases.







<h2 id="disadvantages-of-using-nlp-based-test-automation-tools">Disadvantages of Using NLP-Based Test Automation Tools</h2>



<ul><li>A new tool</li></ul>



Not really a disadvantage but when a new tool is adopted for some major workflow in an organization it means there will be some time taken to evaluate what it offers, how it is different from the previous tools and then finally how to use it to best suit the organization. This involves a bit of an effort at the outset.



<li>Existing automation infrastructure will need changing</li>



For an NLP based Test Automation tool, the major disadvantage for a team that already has a full-fledged team working on a test automation solution is the cost of moving to a new tool may prove too much and at such times the decision to move to a new tool should only be taken when it is sure to&nbsp; prove beneficial in the long run. Also, let us not forget the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/reluctance-to-abandon-automated-tests-switch-to-scriptless-automation-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reluctance to abandon existing automated testing approaches</a> and make a shift to a rather new approach to automation testing.



<li>Special Automation Team can seem redundant</li>



As is common practice, legacy automation testing tools need special skills for automation, it becomes essential to keep a dedicated team of automation testers. For NLP tools, automation testing can be performed by manual testers, BAs and stakeholders. The automation testing team may seem redundant to some but there are more important things to manage. 



<li>New Tools may not have a great online presence</li>



When new tools are being researched on, one of the major reasons behind choosing them is their online presence. When adopting new tools for eg. the ones with NLP, this may prove to be a road-block, but the tool owners aim to provide full help and support via their support staff.







<h2 id="why-does-the-test-automation-industry-need-to-move-to-nlp">Why Does the Test Automation Industry Need to Move to NLP?</h2>



Tools like <a aria-label="Tools like Testsigma use NLP for test case creation and have AI at its core and need special mention here because they aim to provide end to end solution for automation on the cloud reducing test automation worries to the minimum.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> use NLP for test case creation and have AI at its core and need special mention here because they aim to provide end to end solution for automation on the cloud reducing test automation worries to the minimum.



NLP based automated tests can easily be edited(if need be) and makes it easier to automate all the test cases and tightly integrate them with the dynamic delivery pipeline while optimizing the user experience.



With the simplicity of NLP based tests, flexible, easily understandable tests can be created which well suits Agile development and allows for iterative delivery of quality software!



<h4 id="check-out-how-you-can-write-reliable-nlp-based-test-scripts-that-make-test-automation-effortless">Check out how you can write reliable NLP based test scripts that make Test Automation effortless! </h4>



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



<h3 id="is-nlp-part-of-automation">Is NLP Part of Automation?</h3>



Yes, NLP is part of the test automation tool. NLP-driven test automation tool makes it easy to write the test automation script using plain English used in day-to-day life. NLP-supported test automation tool required little or no knowledge of programming language.



<h3 id="what-is-nlp-used-for">What is NLP Used For?</h3>



NLP means natural language processing. It helps to communicate with computing devices and software in plain English. For example, if a test automation tool provides NLP&#8217;s, then you will be able to write the test cases in plain English used in day-to-day life instead of using the scripting language.



<h3 id="what-are-the-four-applications-of-nlp">What are the Four Applications of NLP?</h3>



Four applications of the NLP are



<ul><li>Test automation- Used in the test automation tools to make the test script creation easy.</li><li>Email filter- It is used in email management software to categorize and filter emails automatically.&nbsp;</li><li>Predictive text- Whenever you get the suggestion of text or a whole sentence, NLP works behind the scenes.&nbsp;</li><li>Language translation- It helps to make language translation more efficient and effective.</li></ul>

Natural Language Processing (NLP) Based Test Automation

Enhancing the robustness of CI/CD Pipeline

CI CD Test Automation | Ways To Enhance the Robustness

With advancements in technology, major areas in every field are researching and employing new tools to simplify their workflows and make things simpler. These tools also mean reduced effort and time. But as is common, we are apprehensive of anything new and are reluctant to step out of the comfort zone and into an unknown territory.



The same is the case with new improved automation testing approaches like <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="The same is the case with new improved automation testing approaches like Scriptless automation testing that are now being introduced in the market. (opens in a new tab)">Scriptless automation testing</a> that are now being introduced in the market.



<div>&nbsp;</div>



Some common thoughts that prevent us from exploring such new tools are “Scriptless automation is not really going to be that easy”, “What if something unexpected happens?”, “What if this is not the right way?”, “But I&#8217;m halfway through. I&#8217;m not jumping in that bandwagon! ”.



And, “What is wrong with our current processes?”, ”We don’t really need a change, all our needs are met.”, “Embracing new processes means new sets of tools and processes, and again it will need either hiring new people or training the existing ones.”



 



Of course, fearing the unknown is good but why rule it all? Giving these scriptless automation testing tools a try and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Of course, fearing the unknown is obvious and good but giving these scriptless automation testing tools a try and comparing them with the traditional scripted ones in all aspects is the need of the hour for better adoption of technology and moving ahead.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-alternative-for-automated-regression-testing/" target="_blank">comparing them with the traditional scripted ones</a> in all aspects is the need of the hour for better adoption of technology and moving ahead. Let us discuss the reasons why new user-friendly scriptless automation testing tools are still only a second thought.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><ul><li><a href="#The_market_tends_to_lean_towards_open_source_and_free_technologies">0.1 The market tends to lean towards open source and free technologies</a></li><li><a href="#There_are_a_lot_of_test_cases_that_are_automated_already_moving_to_a_new_tool_seems_cumbersome_and_expensive">0.2 There are a lot of test cases that are automated already, moving to a new tool seems cumbersome and expensive</a></li><li><a href="#When_tools_are_being_researched_for_implementation_the_famous_and_widely_adopted_ones_are_generally_preferred">0.3 When tools are being researched for implementation, the famous and widely adopted ones are generally preferred</a></li><li><a href="#Fear_of_the_unknown">0.4 Fear of the unknown</a></li><li><a href="#Maintaining_the_current_automated_tests_is_tedious">0.5 Maintaining the current automated tests is tedious</a></li><li><a href="#Because_of_the_high_learning_curve_of_the_automation_testing_tool_in_use_there_are_just_a_handful_of_resources_that_can_debug_the_test_cases">0.6 Because of the high learning curve of the automation testing tool in use, there are just a handful of resources that can debug the test cases</a></li><li><a href="#You_are_looking_to_reduce_the_time_and_cost_involved_in_writing_and_maintaining_your_automated_test_cases_in_the_long_run">0.7 You are looking to reduce the time and cost involved in writing and maintaining your automated test cases in the long run</a></li><li><a href="#An_overhaul_in_the_product_is_being_planned">0.8 An overhaul in the product is being planned</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Try_Testsigma_for_Scriptless_Automation_Testing">1 Try Testsigma for Scriptless Automation Testing</a></li></ul></div>
<h3 id="the-market-tends-to-lean-towards-open-source-and-free-technologies">The market tends to lean towards open source and free technologies</h3>



As Open Source and Free tools like Selenium and Appium don’t require an initial investment to learn and apply, the number of people skilled in such tools is much more compared to the paid ones. This also means that these tools are adopted by more number of companies than the ones that would require monetary investment on the automation testing tool.&nbsp; 



Thus, Ease-of-use and less cost of resources, in the long run, is a factor that is missed accounting for when automation is planned. 



<h3 id="there-are-a-lot-of-test-cases-that-are-automated-already-moving-to-a-new-tool-seems-cumbersome-and-expensive">There are a lot of test cases that are automated already, moving to a new tool seems cumbersome and expensive</h3>



When a lot of time and money has been invested during the automation of test cases and there is a large test suite that is being executed already. It does make much sense to move these to a new scriptless automation testing tool. Even though it will be scriptless, it will require some time for covering all test cases. 



This is a valid point unless the test cases are proving too much to be maintained. This point will be discussed in detail later in the article. 



<h3 id="when-tools-are-being-researched-for-implementation-the-famous-and-widely-adopted-ones-are-generally-preferred">When tools are being researched for implementation, the famous and widely adopted ones are generally preferred</h3>



Before any automation testing is put into place, most of the companies spend some time in figuring out the tool that best suit their needs. One of the major factors in picking up a tool is the high adoption rate. If there are multiple organizations that use a tool, the trust factor is more.



People also rely on experience when the question of using an automation testing&nbsp; tool comes up. If in an organization there is someone who has previously worked on a tool, that tool will automatically get preference because that is known to work first hand. Again, in this scenario, the much-needed analysis before choosing the right tool is skipped and the advantage of using a scriptless automation tool is mostly forgotten. 



<h3 id="fear-of-the-unknown">Fear of the unknown</h3>



As discussed before, when someone is asked to use a new tool that has not been widely used yet. The fear of unknown failures and the belief that help, when needed, would not be readily available, prevents people from adopting it. 



Even though we discussed why there is a reluctance to abandon already automated tests, we also need to know what are the scenarios when adopting new scriptless automation tools will prove beneficial for you. 



<h3 id="maintaining-the-current-automated-tests-is-tedious">Maintaining the current automated tests is tedious</h3>



If you would look at testimonials of people using scriptless automation testing tools in the market like Testsigma or any other, you will find out that people have moved very large sets of test cases to new automation tools and have saved time and money in the long run. So, if there are moments when the amount of time and effort that is being spent while automating the test cases seems to get on your nerves, re-evaluating the tools used will prove beneficial.&nbsp; 



<h3 id="because-of-the-high-learning-curve-of-the-automation-testing-tool-in-use-there-are-just-a-handful-of-resources-that-can-debug-the-test-cases">Because of the high learning curve of the automation testing tool in use, there are just a handful of resources that can debug the test cases</h3>



If there are a limited number of people that can write and debug your test cases and you have a large testing team, it is time to switch to a testing automation tool that enables all the users to create the test cases. The way to go here is a scriptless test automation tool. The need to collaborate is important too. 



<h3 id="you-are-looking-to-reduce-the-time-and-cost-involved-in-writing-and-maintaining-your-automated-test-cases-in-the-long-run">You are looking to reduce the time and cost involved in writing and maintaining your automated test cases in the long run</h3>



A scriptless automation testing tool may require some investment upfront but what needs to be considered is the total cost involved in learning the tool, test case automation and maintenance. If the total cost is less than the cost for another tool that has a higher learning curve and requires more time for test case automation and maintenance, then the choice is clear.&nbsp; 



A scriptless automation testing tool like <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="A scriptless automation tool like Testsigma that offers AI supported scriptless automation and test case maintenance, is sure to keep the maintenance cost to a minimum. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> that offers AI supported test case maintenance is sure to keep the maintenance cost to a minimum.



<h3 id="an-overhaul-in-the-product-is-being-planned">An overhaul in the product is being planned</h3>



If your product is going through an overhaul, it is the perfect time to reconsider your choices in terms of the automation testing tool being used and if possible, go for a better solution.



Check out the different scriptless testing methods you need to check out!



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 <ts-linktext-value>Scriptless Test Automation</ts-linktext-value>
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<h2 id="try-testsigma-for-scriptless-automation-testing">Try Testsigma for Scriptless Automation Testing</h2>



In today’s times, when Testsigma provides automation that can be scriptless, test cases that can be maintained via artificial intelligence, can be hosted on the cloud saving infrastructure cost, can be integrated with all widely used tools for analysis and reporting and last but not the least, the test cases can be run on a device farm in addition to physical devices!



Check out <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-tool-why-testsigma/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Check out Why Choose Testsigma as your Scriptless Test Automation Tool? (opens in a new tab)">Why Choose Testsigma as your Scriptless Test Automation Tool</a>? 



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Reluctance To Abandon Automated Tests And Switch To Scriptless Automation Testing

Earlier, there was the Waterfall model. Then came Agile methodology. And as the IT world slowly moved toward automation, DevOps became the next big thing. Surely, there must exist some benefits to adopting the latest software development practice. But it is only beneficial when combined with automation. DevOps test automation is a way to develop and test the code quickly and push it to the market without any major errors.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_DevOps">1 What is DevOps?</a></li><li><a href="#DevOps_Test_Automation">2 DevOps Test Automation</a></li><li><a href="#Where_Do_QA_and_Test_Automation_Fit_with_DevOps">3 Where Do QA and Test Automation Fit with DevOps?</a><ul><li><a href="#QA_and_Test_Automation_with_DevOps">3.1 QA and Test Automation with DevOps</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_Impact_of_DevOps_on_QA">4 What is the Impact of DevOps on QA?</a><ul><li><a href="#Impact_on_QA">4.1 Impact on QA</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#How_Automated_Testing_Powers_DevOps">5 How Automated Testing Powers DevOps?</a></li><li><a href="#Testsigma_Your_Best_Yet_Move_Towards_DevOps_Test_Automation">6 Testsigma: Your Best Yet Move Towards DevOps Test Automation</a><ul><li><a href="#Here_are_a_few_features_Testsigma_offers">6.1 Here are a few features Testsigma offers:</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions_FAQs">7 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_QA_in_DevOps">7.1 What is QA in DevOps?</a></li><li><a href="#Is_test_automation_part_of_DevOps">7.2 Is test automation part of DevOps?</a></li><li><a href="#Is_DevOps_better_than_automation_testing">7.3 Is DevOps better than automation testing?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-devops">What is DevOps?</h2>



DevOps is the combination of software development practices that combines Software Development (Dev) with Information Technology Operations (Ops) intended to speed up the development life cycle of any software application. It is critical to delivering new features and improvements, bug fixes, and updates frequently in close alignment with business objectives.



In a nutshell, DevOps practices include Agile planning, <a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-integration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Continuous Integration</a>, Testing and Continuous Delivery, and of course monitoring and improving. Let us remember that DevOps is not a process or a technology or even a standard. Many businesses, software companies, and IT professionals refer to DevOps as a culture focusing on rapid delivery through the adoption of agile lean processes. DevOps heavily involves technology, technologies for building systems to be delivered and more importantly, testing automation tools for QA testing purposes.



Read more &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/devops-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Devops Testing</a>



<h2 id="devops-test-automation">DevOps Test Automation</h2>



DevOps test automation is the practice of automating the testing of builds in the DevOps process.



Test automation is the practice of automating the review and validation of applications under development by the testing team. They write test cases, run the scripts, and raise possible bugs that are still present in the application. This all happens as per QA testing practice.



In CI/CD pipeline, QAs do not wait till the end to test the product quality. Continuous building and testing of the product go on till it is branded as fit for market release. For example, test automation in DevOps empowers businesses to build, test, and ship products faster and more reliably. It further supports streamlining incident responses and improves collaboration and communication across teams and stakeholders.



<h2 id="where-do-qa-and-test-automation-fit-with-devops">Where Do QA and Test Automation Fit with DevOps?</h2>



DevOps plays a very important role in the Software Development Life Cycle (<a href="https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/software-development-life-cycle-sdlc/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SDLC</a>), but where exactly does QA fit in the continuous integration of DevOps practice?



The answer to the question is simple. QAs, with their test automation activities, fit in every release. They, the QA tester team, thoroughly check the product and make sure it is well-polished and production worthy. They make sure that quality is ensured throughout the testing and delivery cycle, and each of the testing and development groups is answerable for it.



Continuous integration and <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/continuous-delivery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">continuous delivery</a> practices, and software updates take place almost every week. And it is possible for business operations to encounter problems that can be rooted mainly from being a defect in the product that pretty much affects multiple business users. This is quite a common scenario nowadays for businesses. Therefore, everyone needs a quick fix, especially when the product is failing.



Having a hot fix means it needs to go through testing right before moving to production. This is where the QAs and test team come in. This is where they need to take responsibility and accountability in evaluating and doing some assessments on whether the immediate fix resolves the current issue the production is facing and, most of all, whether the fix does not affect the functionality of any of the existing features within the application. So just as much as the Developers and Product Owners want to get rid of the outage with a quick fix, a Quality Analyst is needed to mitigate future outages to as much an extent as possible.



Check here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/devops-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Devops Testing Strategy</a>



<h3 id="qa-and-test-automation-with-devops">QA and Test Automation with DevOps</h3>



Basically, QA ties together development and operations and enables them to collaborate to have software and applications up and running. Everyone in the organization takes responsibility for quality and stability, and thereby for the success of the business.



Developers think more like a tester and continually checks their own code for potential errors. Conversely, a tester, whose responsibility is to test the application or software using different types of testing tools &amp; methodologies, thinks of workarounds to fix the code. In such a scenario, organizations without a strong and definite QA and testing strategy to “continuously test” in DevOps face troubles in meeting their goals for an accelerated speed of delivery. Get to know some<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/devops-automation-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> DevOps Automation Tools to Look Out </a>.



Give Testsigma a try! It speeds up the testing process of Agile and DevOps teams. <a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sign up for a free trial now</a>!



<h2 id="what-is-the-impact-of-devops-on-qa">What is the Impact of DevOps on QA?</h2>



DevOps is roughly an approach, but rather it is a culture and a practice of continuous integration, continuous deployment, and continuous improvement. Multiple teams are involved and working together to work as a DevOps team. Therefore, it affects not only QAs but also the development team, business operations, production support, etc.



If we are solely talking about QAs, we can formulate the impact of DevOps test automation.



One, DevOps is considered an enabler for businesses to reduce IT budgets. Get to know the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-devops-is-important-for-modern-businesses/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">importance of devops in business</a>. It improves the efficiency of end-to-end delivery and runs on a lean delivery framework. It also works as a working end-to-end test automation framework.



Nowadays, successful businesses today are design-thinking driven. The majority of them have a strong sense of urgency, aided by innovative software engineering practices. Businesses today need to have a working continuous delivery practice in place. Having one in place pretty much mandates a better outcome of product quality and speedy release. Automaton is the key to success across DevOps processes.



Delivery by co-located, integrated teams using innovative tools prevents collaboration and communication issues.



Manual errors and stove-piped communication issues are completely addressed just by having a good DevOps governance model. The model itself mandates “Fail Fast, Fail Often,” which comes from the “Test First” concept. This means that testing is a continuous process and more extensive in nature. Testing allows cohesiveness between the team of teams and the automation of everything possible. Testing is paving the way for continuous improvement in the test processes being delivered via iterations. Intelligent test automation, better regression, and continuous test augmentation, to name a few, are some benefits of DevOps.



<h3 id="impact-on-qa">Impact on QA</h3>



From a testing standpoint, DevOps addresses some of the key testing challenges. For instance, in a<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> test environment</a>, virtualization, automated deployment, automated build and configuration management, data refresh, and maintenance become seamless. On the other hand, continuous Integration, automation, and verification – test first centric test-driven development, behavior-driven development concepts allow test processes to improve in a DevOps Model.



With all these, it is safe to say that as far as DevOps and Test Automation are concerned, DevOps accelerates the project delivery and life cycle of building an application. On the other hand, it is designed to speed up the testing phase without compromising the quality of the product.



Having the best of both worlds, DevOps knowledge and practices, along with Test Automation, is promising for the success of the business. With the right team roster and an automation tool like Testsigma, you will have your product live in the market in no time!



If you haven’t tried Testsigma yet, then you are missing out on shifting your QA team from manual testing to test automation in a jiffy. Above all, it lets your QA team be a part of the DevOps test automation process.



<h2 id="how-automated-testing-powers-devops">How Automated Testing Powers DevOps?</h2>



You cannot do DevOps if you don’t automate testing. And although automating every step and through might be a long process, starting with the first step is a good idea. We have all the reasons why automated testing in DevOps is the way to go:



<ul><li>Better collaboration and communication: DevOps with automation build clear and concise communication between all the teams and stakeholders handling that particular project.</li><li>Speed and agility: Improve the overall project timeline and quality to ensure that users get the best and most updated version of the product.</li><li>Scalability: Consistently provide quality builds in the CI/CD pipeline by distributing the development process across multiple teams.</li><li>Security: Take care of all the security and compliance measures by following the automated practices to run, test, and deploy all your builds.</li><li>Reliability: Increase product release reliability with higher test coverage options with automation.</li></ul>



<h2 id="testsigma-your-best-yet-move-towards-devops-test-automation">Testsigma: Your Best Yet Move Towards DevOps Test Automation</h2>



Now if we start talking about the “perfect” QA tool that fits DevOps culture and practice, there are a few things we need to keep in mind. Factors like the iterative, automated, and incremental nature of DevOps. The QA tool must, at all costs, be flexible enough to handle all the unforeseen changes during testing sessions. More importantly, it should be scalable to the extent of enduring workloads during the continuous development, continuous testing, and continuous deployment phases.



What we should be looking for is a tool that completely adapts tools to how DevOps works. A tool that is an enabler that can empower your testing team for iterative releases. On a special note, the tool should be scalable and reliable to handle the incremental amount of code changes.



Just to summarize all this, what you need is a solution that is designed for Test Automation in DevOps.Sure, there can be a lot of testing solution provider in the market like UFT that uses VBScript as its scripting language, then there are tools in service virtualization for Testing and many more of them that claims to be an “all-in-one testing solution” and choosing just one would be a difficult task.



Well, in that case, sometimes it is best to try it for yourself. You may try Testsigma, an all-in-one Unified Test Automation Software for Web, Mobile apps, and Web Services, and one that works well for DevOps and CD.



<h3 id="here-are-a-few-features-testsigma-offers">Here are a few features Testsigma offers:</h3>



<ul><li>Start with Test Automation Ecosystem, which enables you to access <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/essential-elements-of-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">essential elements required for test automation</a>. There is no requirement for a tool and setup.</li><li>Continuous Testing for Agile and DevOps teams that uses a shift-left approach incorporates Continuous Integration and Continuous Development, providing fast feedback to accelerate the delivery of web &amp; mobile apps.</li><li>Super-Fast Test Development Using Simple English lets everyone write automated tests at least five times faster using plain English. No coding skills are required.</li><li>Fully Loaded Test Lab on Cloud to Run Tests which offers over a thousand Operating System/Brower/Version combos and two thousand plus real mobile devices to run a significant amount of tests in minutes.</li><li><a href="https://testsigma.com/parallel-test-runs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parallel Test Execution</a> Save Time and Cost because of scalable test environments and parallel test executions to run thousands of tests in minutes for faster feedback.</li><li>AI to Reduce Maintenance Efforts and Improve Productivity by saving test maintenance time by 70%. AI also helps affected and potential failures upfront to save execution time and costs.</li></ul>



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With all these being said, it is best to say that Testsigma is built for QA teams to automate testing in DevOps. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t be left behind. Sign up now for a free 21 days’ trial!



For more information, visit <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma Official Website</a>.



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions-faqs">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)</h2>



<h3 id="what-is-qa-in-devops">What is QA in DevOps?</h3>



The role of QA in DevOps is to verify the product’s quality. It is also to ensure that the application aligns with the user requirements and with the business goals.



<h3 id="is-test-automation-part-of-devops">Is test automation part of DevOps?</h3>



Yes, test automation is a part of DevOps that consists of running automated test cases to validate a build’s proper functioning. Test automation comes after build development is complete.



<h3 id="is-devops-better-than-automation-testing">Is DevOps better than automation testing?</h3>



Both DevOps and automation testing have their own benefits. While they both can function without one another, it is better to combine them to get the best quality final product for your users.<gwmw style="display:none;">

Where Does QA and Test Automation Fit in DevOps

DevOps Test Automation | Where Do QA and Test Automation Fit in DevOps?

<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma undertook the work of providing customers with the best experience in using their test automation solution. What makes this test automation suite competitive from the other vendors out in the market is that it is scriptless(NLP based), maintained by AI, and can be hosted either on-premise also on the cloud.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma </a>undertook the work of providing customers with the best experience in using their automation testing solution. What makes this test automation suite competitive from the other vendors in the market is that it is scriptless(NLP based), maintained by AI, and can be hosted either on-premise also on the cloud. 



What also sets Testsigma apart from the rest is, they built their solution to address all the testing-related concerns of every business, whether small or medium business to even an enterprise. 



One of the major reasons why customers prefer&nbsp;Testsigma is the product’s capability to scale to the extent of catering volumes of the workload for the largest organization especially for those organizations that adopt Agile and DevOps methodologies. 



Agile adoption is now a trend to many businesses which means that the&nbsp; playing field of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Agile adoption is now a trend to many businesses which means that the&nbsp; playing field of software testing has been levelled.
 (opens in a new tab)">software testing</a> has been levelled. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_Is_Agile_Testing">1 What Is Agile Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#VUCA_World_Reason_Why_Companies_Opt_for_Agile_Testing">2 VUCA World: Reason Why Companies Opt for Agile Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Know_Your_Role_in_SAFe">3 Know Your Role in SAFe</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-agile-testing">What Is Agile Testing?</h2>



Agile based testing is a process that is intended to perform a quality check on an application or software that follows the principle of agile software development. In traditional development, typically it uses a “big-bang” deferred testing approach, while agile testing develops and test systems in small increments, often developing tests before writing the code, story, or feature. 



With this approach, the test itself helps to elaborate and clearly define the intended system behavior, even before the system is implemented. In other words, quality is established at an early stage. Pretty much like agile development, agile testing is a collaborative, team-oriented process where everyone shares the responsibility of testing the software.



Yes, you have read it right! Everyone has to do their fair share in agile testing and that is to test the software! This it is often referred to as “teams-of-team”.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 



<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Agile testing comes with a “test-first” approach that practically applies to all types of agile work such as defining software capabilities and its features, outlining the non-functional requirements, creating user’s stories based on client’s specification and requirements and as well as coding. It can also be applied to the hardware components of the application. This is the same way tests are written during the coding or development stage, acceptance tests for capabilities and user stories and features are there to clearly define the output. Also, the right timing of clearly defining the proposed system behavior by the way also mitigates the need for overly detailed requirement specifications and sign-offs.
 (opens in a new tab)">Agile testing</a> comes with a “test-first” approach that practically applies to all types of agile work such as defining software capabilities and its features, outlining the non-functional requirements, creating user’s stories based on client’s specification and requirements and as well as coding. It can also be applied to the hardware components of the application. This is the same way tests are written during the coding or development stage, acceptance tests for capabilities and user stories and features are there to clearly define the output. Also, the right timing of clearly defining the proposed system behavior by the way also mitigates the need for overly detailed requirement specifications and sign-offs. 



Unlike conventionally-written requirements, these test cases are automated wherever possible. Even if they weren’t, they still provide a clear definition of what the system does, rather than an idea or statement of early thoughts of what it was supposed to do.



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<h2 id="vuca-world-reason-why-companies-opt-for-agile-testing">VUCA World: Reason Why Companies Opt for Agile Testing</h2>



Today, most of the business adopt agile mainly to addresses all possible scenario of the VUCA world. But what is VUCA World? 



First of all, VUCA stands for Volatility – Uncertainty – Complexity – Ambiguity. 



Volatile change in environments is constant. It is usually masked by rapid, unexpected and significant changes with tentative duration. Uncertainty is a component of some instances, with a lack of clarity and making the outcome unpredictable. Complexity is a manifestation of the multiplicity of interconnected factors, and the nature of it can be quite difficult for us to process and at times, it puts limit for control. Ambiguity brings along an environment that has everything in it, are hard to decipher with mixed messages and many are unknown unknowns. 



These are just some of the high-level details of what most businesses are dealing with in today’s world. 



This is why it is a good move for a business to start practicing Agile as a culture. Adopting agile means you are shifting towards DevOps and it means that testing is happening and more people are getting involved in it. 



With this enterprise level of testing, it is critical for everyone involved in agile testing to know their role and scope!







<h2 id="know-your-role-in-safe">Know Your Role in SAFe</h2>



In a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), testing (including automation testing) at an enterprise level means we are involving professionals from several departments. From portfolio management to program management and the team itself that is primarily composed of software developers alongside the QA test team. 



With so many participants, it is for a must not only for you but for everyone else to know which role to play for the project to succeed. 



For you to have a clear insight into this discussion, I am sharing the three-layer organizational abstract from Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). This is how a typical agile organization looks like.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="2960" height="1695" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11113908/Agile-scaled-framework.png" alt="" class="wp-image-54458" srcset="https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11113908/Agile-scaled-framework.png 2960w, https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11113908/Agile-scaled-framework-768x440.png 768w, https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11113908/Agile-scaled-framework-1536x880.png 1536w, https://s3.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11113908/Agile-scaled-framework-2048x1173.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2960px) 100vw, 2960px" /><figcaption><a href="https://framework.scaledagile.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">source</a></figcaption></figure></div>



The Team Layer are teams of software developers and testers closely working together to create a product from selected user stories, strictly governed and prioritized by the Product Owner with the scrum master who makes sure that agile practices are in place. 



The Program and Large Solution Layer is mostly a team of Architects and Program Manager who is responsible for demonstrating a working software at the end of each sprint cycle. The are also teams from the IT infrastructure department who provisions platforms for continuous integration, development and staging, and as well as for end-to-end testing. 



The Portfolio Layer is the stakeholder group. Stakeholders are executives that make sure that the program is aligned to the enterprise’s business strategy and model. 



Now just to weed out the “devils in the detail”. Here is a more detailed breakdown of roles involved in such enterprise activity.



Testers&nbsp;are the ones who are closely working with the product owner to add and refine the done “criteria” for user stories. They are not only responsible for developing test scripts but they are also accountable for creating frameworks for manual and automated testing. In a nutshell, they always do a benchmark of the system and find flaws within it. If there are defects then they are expected to work with developers directly to create a solution and validate them. 



System Team Testers – This team is the one who develops the platform for testing and frameworks that empower the team that makes up the Agile release train. Creating and running automated tests to enable continuous integration and continuous deployment falls within their bucket too. They also provide provisioning of network and virtualization that allows the test team to test and develop independently of one another. Most importantly, they are the ones who conduct audit and testing of cross-system topics like Single Sign-On (SSO), security, compliance and regulatory standards which may or may not fall to being the QA test team “out-of-scope support”. 



Then we have the “Other Actors” from the user management team, user experience experts and several other architects who play as backup and support roles in such activity. 



Test Architects are those who define testing strategies, framework, and methodologies, and work hand in hand with System Architects in ensuring that the product application is designed for quality testing. 



Automation Architects lead the analysis and proof of concept activities when it comes to automation testing. This is to ensure that consistency for build verification tests and regression test suite are in automation is in place. Overall, they are engaged in everything that has something to do with automation such as preparing the test cases, setup specifications and configurations, the staging of test cases and its data. These are also the people who make automation testing in SAFe (Scale Agile Framework) possible. 



System Architects are not involved in testing directly, but they are the ones who design the system to cater to overall testing sessions and workloads. 



UX Experts is team of user experience experts who are deeply involved UX testing, and providing inputs as to what approach is needed for usability testing and test automation method. 



Business Analysts provide support to the agile and system teams in developing and executing end-to-end testing. They also provide recommendations on functional and non-functional requirements, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).&nbsp; 



Product Owners at times typically involve in testing and ad hoc testing. 



Additionally, in an agile ( also SAFe ) team, testers ( also automation testers ) are becoming a part of virtual teams and are commonly referred to like the Communities of Practices (CoPs). CoPs are comprised of people from different teams and departments having common expertise and knowledge. They come together as one and participate in activities to share their expertise and experiences.



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Automation Testing in a SAFe ( Scaled Agile Framework ) in an enterprise, everyone is accountable for quality which makes everyone a tester regardless of their levels within the organization. Therefore, other enterprise businesses opt for cross-skilled resources. For instance, developer-tester role, an individual dedicated to programming as well as testing. 



Now that you have the bigger picture of Agile Testing, what role do you play in? How is your agile culture within your organization different from this? 



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Agile Automation Testing In SAFe

Test automation is being increasingly adopted by a majority of software companies. And yet, there are many that stay away from it. The biggest concern of these organizations is that they are not sure if the investment they put in test automation will ever bring back returns. 



Another aspect of the same problem is that although everyone involved with the development of a project has been involved in manual testing at some level. When it comes to automation, they often find themselves in the unknown and hence unsure. Hopefully, by the end of this article, we will be in a better position to solve both the problems. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Current_Practices">1 Current Practices</a></li><li><a href="#Contribution_From_Different_Resources">2 Contribution From Different Resources</a></li><li><a href="#What_Is_Needed">3 What Is Needed?</a></li><li><a href="#What_Do_New_Improvements_In_Test_Automation_Industry_Entail">4 What Do New Improvements In Test Automation Industry Entail?</a></li><li><a href="#What_Are_The_Benefits_Of_Using_Test_Automation_Tools_That_Use_New_Technologies_And_Techniques">5 What Are The Benefits Of Using Test Automation Tools That Use New Technologies And Techniques?</a></li><li><a href="#How_Will_The_Adoption_Of_New_Tools_Lead_To_Test_Automation_Becoming_More_Inclusive">6 How Will The Adoption Of New Tools Lead To Test Automation Becoming More Inclusive?</a></li></ul></div>
<h3 id="current-practices">Current Practices</h3>



A typical day in the life of an Agile software development team that has also invested in test automation looks like this:



<ol><li>Developer checks in code</li><li>The code is built</li><li>The Automated set of test cases is executed on the built code</li><li>If the automated test cases run successfully then the code is deployed, else the cycle repeats</li></ol>



When software development is under progress and the quality assurance team is waiting for a feature to be ready for testing, their tasks include:



<ol><li>Creation of manual test cases for features that are in development.</li><li>Automation of test cases for tested and stable features.</li><li>Editing and update of the automated test cases that fail because of a change in the code.</li></ol>



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<h3 id="contribution-from-different-resources">Contribution From Different Resources</h3>



Test automation can be done on multiple levels and different members of the team can contribute in different ways.



Automation of black-box test cases is done by the quality assurance people who have special skills to do these tasks. The contribution from developers is in the form of unit tests and white box test cases that they add to test their own code.



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://dzone.com/articles/continuous-testing-functional-experts-agile" target="_blank">Test Automation by Functional Experts and SMEs</a>&nbsp;is particularly important in Agile CI/CD cycles. The product manager, program manager or project managers that are involved in business specifications gathering and handling the client end, receive and review the emails of the test results and any other analysis reports on the test.



Although product/project managers are the ones that interact with the customers, their involvement in the test automation phase is not much. They are involved in the review of the the manual test case documentation, but reviewing automated test cases is usually not their cup of tea. Due to this, there are times when important scenarios don&#8217;t get automated.



Once a feature becomes old and only the automated test cases are executed before a release &#8211; there is a big chance that the important scenarios that were important to the stakeholders are missed. The result could be a break in these important scenarios which go unnoticed till the time it is found by the end user. 
Embarrassing right? What if there was a test automation tool that would enable the stakeholders to add these test cases for test automation by themselves? <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a> sure is one such test automation tool.



<h3 id="what-is-needed">What Is Needed?</h3>



Although there is a process set in to transfer all the requirements that come from the client to the developers and the testers. In all the processes involved and the time invested during the design, development and testing phase, a lot more intricacies are added to the product that needs to be taken care of both my developers and the testers. 



Thus, before the release time, the involvement of a person who has first-hand knowledge from the customer who has not been involved in the details of design and development gives a unique insight to the product and how well it caters to the business requirements.



To make sure that the automation actually covers the business requirements, the reviews and inputs from the product/project managers are vital. For ensuring that the developed features are fully tested via automation, the reviews by developers are essential too.



The best possible way would be to enable a person who is not well versed with the coding practices to review the automated test cases and if possible to easily automate the scenarios that they deem important.



This way two purposes would be fulfilled:



<ol><li>The most important test scenarios would be automated</li><li>The automation team would get more time to work on the intricacies of automation. Giving them the time and opportunity to also include complex test cases to the test suite and more time for maintenance and increasing the robustness of the test cases.</li></ol>







<h3 id="what-do-new-improvements-in-test-automation-industry-entail">What Do New Improvements In Test Automation Industry Entail?</h3>



Artificial Intelligence(AI) is the new technology trend that is being adopted by most industries as is by the software industry. What the test automation industry needs to do is to use this technology and enable all the stakeholders of a software/project to review the automated test cases with a minimum <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/automated-functional-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">learning</a> curve.&nbsp;



Testsigma is one such tool that is set to revolutionize the test automation industry. In Testsigma, test cases need to be written only in simple English and once the test cases are execution ready they learn and adapt to new changes and make maintenance easier with the help of AI.



<h3 id="what-are-the-benefits-of-using-test-automation-tools-that-use-new-technologies-and-techniques">What Are The Benefits Of Using Test Automation Tools That Use New Technologies And Techniques?</h3>



If such tools are used, it will not only lead to a gentler learning curve for quality assurance engineers and enable them to write and maintain the test cases easily, but it will also give the project managers and clients the opportunity to add test cases where needed. 



If other stakeholders can add and review the automated test cases, the test suite is sure to cover the most important scenarios before the product hits the market and will lead to a lesser number of bugs.



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<h3 id="how-will-the-adoption-of-new-tools-lead-to-test-automation-becoming-more-inclusive">How Will The Adoption Of New Tools Lead To Test Automation Becoming More Inclusive?</h3>



New test automation tools like Testsigma have made test automation very simple. Not only this, their easy to understand interface allows other members of the team to review the test cases quickly. In addition, Testsigma also has an option to track these reviews that enhance collaboration between the team. 



Enabling other stakeholders to review the automated test cases serves more than one purpose &#8211; The Test Automation process now also conserves the knowledge of the SMEs and functional experts, and also improves the subjective quality of the test cases. 



Thus, enabling the reviews by other team members leads to more quality test cases and better <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/code-coverage-vs-test-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">code coverage</a>. It also leads to a better understanding of the process and clarifies the value addition done by test automation. 



Better understanding also means better adoption. Thus, using a Unified Test Automation Tool like <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Enabling other stakeholders to review and automate test cases serves more than one purpose. It will lead to more test cases and better code coverage. It will also lead to a better understanding of the process and needs of test automation. Better understanding also means better adoption. Thus, using a Unified Test Automation Tool like Testsigma which has the capability of adding test cases in simple English and learns to maintain the test cases via AI is need of the hour and answer to the need to make test automation more inclusive. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> which has the capability of adding test cases in simple English and learns to maintain the test cases via AI is need of the hour and answer to the need to make test automation more inclusive.



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How To Make Test Automation More Inclusive

How To Make Test Automation More Inclusive?

Test Automation To Achieve Fail Fast, Fail Often

Selenium Automation Testing : Top Benefits & Challenges

Software Testing has not evolved to meet the demands of the current accelerated delivery needs. As software becomes sophisticated,&nbsp;traditional approaches to Testing&nbsp;would not be sufficient. With the advancement in technology, Test Automation was introduced to accelerate the process of testing simply by automating test cases and scenarios.



In today’s world, almost every organization is onto Test Automation for better business results.



 



For the past few years, the First generation of Test Automation has been in the spotlight. These provide businesses and testing teams a macro recording which runs in parallel with an Application Programming Interface (API), whereas test execution engines send a command and wait for it to be executed. This tool was working well for short length automation and was also done by combining a logical sequence of such short length macros and test flows. 



Then came the Second generation Test Automation Tools that offers full scripting capability with more features and better support for user interaction. Most of the windows based on common tasks such as operations, application, launch, generating reports were simplified. Frameworks like these are required to be built on long term test automation to go at par with quality the business is expecting. 



As the continuous innovation in technology, <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scriptless Test Automation</a> is rapidly gaining its popularity amongst various IT companies – simply because it is designed to help the testing team to quickly build ready-to-use automated test cases and reusable code assets that have full test coverage.



Scriptless Testing is a term used for test automation done without having to write any script or code. This type of testing is also called codeless testing sometimes. Check the guide for an in-depth read on <a aria-label="Check the guide for an in-depth read on codeless testing. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/codeless-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">codeless testing.</a> 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Second-Gen_Test_Automation_Tool_Selenium">1 Second-Gen Test Automation Tool, “Selenium”</a></li><li><a href="#Scriptless_Test_Automation_Tools_A_Less_to_Zero_Coding_for_QA_Professionals">2 Scriptless Test Automation Tools: A “Less to Zero Coding” for QA Professionals</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_Vs_Scriptless_Test_Automation_Tool_What_is_Best">3 Selenium Vs Scriptless Test Automation Tool: What is Best?</a></li><li><a href="#The_Comparison_Battle_Concludes">4 The Comparison Battle Concludes!</a></li><li><a href="#Testsigma_NLP_based_Scriptless_Test_Automation_Solution">5 Testsigma: NLP based Scriptless Test Automation Solution</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="second-gen-test-automation-tool-selenium">Second-Gen Test Automation Tool, “Selenium”</h2>



Selenium is a suite of web browser automation tools to automate browsers across a range of platforms. It is principally used to automate web apps for testing reasons even though it is capable of so many things. The majority of big-name browser vendors support it. Furthermore, many of these either have taken or are taking steps to make it a native part of their browsers. Besides, it is the core technology used in serried of other APIs, browser automation tools, and automation testing frameworks.



Selenium runs on various browsers and operating systems, and a range of programming languages and frameworks can control it. Plus, it can automate tedious web-based administration tasks.



It also provides for authoring tests without the necessity to acquire knowledge of a test scripting language (Selenium IDE). Selenium also provides a test domain-specific language (Selenese) to write tests in several popular programming languages, including Scala, Groovy, Java, Ruby, C#, PHP, Python, and Perl. The tests can then run against current and newest web browsers. Selenium deploys on Windows, macOS and Linux platforms.



Selenium is primarily composed of respective components with specific role assists the web application test automation development. These are Selenium Grid, Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment), Selenium WebDriver, and Selenium RC (Remote Control).







<h2 id="scriptless-test-automation-tools-a-less-to-zero-coding-for-qa-professionals">Scriptless Test Automation Tools: A “Less to Zero Coding” for QA Professionals</h2>



&#8220;Scriptless” implies “no scripting and programming”. This is somewhat misleading to the audience especially to those who are new to software testing. Scriptless testing doesn’t eliminate scripting and is not suitable for the actual coding of any test automation tool. It is an extremely flexible testing framework with minimal exposure to code. In layman’s terms, it can be said that scriptless testing is an approach to conduct testing without scripting or coding in any programming language. It reduces the time required for creating automated tests by considerably minimizing the amount of scripting needed. 



Scriptless Test Automation is a more structured model where the majority of test cases can be automated by functional users and those are reusable scripts. It is a myth that test architects will be involved in scriptless testing but in real-time they are not. Based on their expertise and knowledge, test architects will be involved in identifying the possible reusable part of the test scripts. When operational scope spreads out, few new components will be added to the application and then test architects will be involved to integrate them. 



Scriptless Test Automation is being refined to highly organized tools for use in multiple real-time test scenarios. The developers of those tools shall have analyzed various business cases, deployment environments, operational scenarios before building each reusable components for their tools. Hence they offer a good standard of practical reliability as well. 



With scriptless Test Automation, testers can create better automation scripts that showcase the core functionality of the application. This type of testing will certainly reduce the number of licenses for the testing tools. Scriptless Test Automation will be more useful from product development companies where the same resources can be leveraged for multiple tasks. 



Thought it has many advantages, there are scriptless test automation frameworks that have complex underlying codes that need to be maintained and updated periodically. Those frameworks are not free – they consume initial and maintenance costs which is more than the tool’s cost. Therefore, choosing the right framework specific to your business requirement is the only manual effort you need to do. 



Using Scriptless Test Automation tools, the testing team does not need any coding or scripting knowledge to create automated tests. However, as a framework, it is a good practice to provide the capability of customization. 



For advanced users, customization can be done by writing their code for covering some unique test scenarios.



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<h2 id="selenium-vs-scriptless-test-automation-tool-what-is-best">Selenium Vs Scriptless Test Automation Tool: What is Best?</h2>



Selenium is required to be built on long term test automation to go at par with quality. For instance, if the testing team wanted to reuse test scripts then it is best to leverage Selenium IDE. Selenium IDE is one of the components of Selenium capable of recording, editing and debugging of functional test scripts. Test scripts have to be made from scratch by the testers, therefore, they are required to know programming or scripting. 



On the other hand, Scriptless Automation Tools already provide ready-to-use automated test cases and reusable code objects. Mostly for Scriptless Test Automation tools, these features are out-of-the-box. It is not mandatory for the testers to know programming or scripting of some sort. It empowers testers and business users to automate testers without worrying about coding. The problem of coding is largely taken care of by the Scriptless Test Automation tool already. 



In terms of debugging test scripts, Scriptless Test Automation tools eliminate the need to repeatedly debug scripted test code as this already done by the tool itself, while in Selenium, automation testers when encountering any test script errors have to debug the test code manually. 



Setting up test environments for Selenium is difficult. Selenium uses various plugins to support Test Automation thus making it a must for system owners and administrators to update and configure everything manually. Scriptless test environments can be built faster and maintained easily creating a hassle-free update environment.



Hence, making a Scriptless Test Automation tool a perfect fit for Test Automation for Agile and DevOps. 



Using Scriptless Test Automation Tool, the testing team can easily automate large test suites faster almost double the times faster compared to Selenium. It greatly reduces the “go to market” time, which comes in handy when there are major software updates. In short, the more the test coverage, the better as it produces a well-refined product which is a win-win situation for the business. 



Scalability and Flexibility is one of the most desirable in Scriptless. It is flexible to work with various browsers available in the market and it scales an amount of workload as much as the business requires. For Selenium to be flexible enough to work with multiple browsers, it needs to have components 



<h2 id="the-comparison-battle-concludes">The Comparison Battle Concludes!</h2>



It’s time to reach our conclusion. Both contenders, Selenium and Scriptless Test Automation Tools do what they do best. Now, which is better?&nbsp; 



Overall, Scriptless Test Automation Tools have an edge over Selenium. Scriptless test automation tools can easily be set up, configured and maintained and does not require any plugins as Selenium does. It can handle the bulk amount of test cases way faster than Selenium.



Scriptless Test Automation Tools do not require that their functional users know scripting and programming. Users can conduct their QA activities with “<a href="https://d1gm6dy5ofa99q.cloudfront.net/assets/videos/common/automated-testcase.mp4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">ready-to-use</a>” test steps which already exist within the platform. 



Unlike Selenium, one needs to add Selenium IDE to leverage playback tool which grants users feature slightly similar with reusable codes scriptless has. If we talk about scalability and flexibility, scriptless is the one in favor. Everything you need is already available. Selenium, for the most part, requires components to utilize and fully leverage it. 



The battle is over. If you are looking for the perfect Automation Testing Suite and a complete solution fit for Agile and DevOps environments, then a Scriptless Automation Tool is definitely for you.



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<h2 id="testsigma-nlp-based-scriptless-test-automation-solution">Testsigma: NLP based Scriptless Test Automation Solution</h2>



When we start talking about Test Automation, we can create a list of issues every business is facing and some which are critical for the business. Some of the major pain points include the usage of multiple tools required in testing sessions, rigorous scripting and coding, test automation frameworks, test lab, integrations and other QA related concerns that need to be addressed.&nbsp; Even with all these, your testing team is all over the place. 



It’s time to say goodbye to all this.



Say hello to Testsigma<a aria-label="It’s time to say goodbye to all this. Say hello to Testsigma, a complete test automation ecosystem.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">,</a>&nbsp;a complete Test Automation ecosystem! Testsigma is an NLP based Scriptless Test Automation tool meant for all! The tests are written in simple English and can automate Web, Mobile apps and API services. To learn more about the tool, the product and services, reach out to the chat section or visit the <a aria-label="Testsigma is a Scriptless Test Automation tool meant for all! It can automate Web, Mobile apps and API services in plain English.
To learn more about the tool, the product and services, reach out to the chat section or visit the Testsigma's&nbsp;home page. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma&#8217;s&nbsp;home page</a>.



 



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Selenium vs Scriptless Test Automation

<a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma provides an option to schedule test executions along with real-time Executions. The Scheduling option allows us to execute the tests on local devices or on the cloud automatically during regular intervals when it isn't convenient for the user to start an Execution.
 (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma</a> provides an option to schedule test executions along with real-time Executions. The Scheduling option allows us to execute the tests on local devices or on the cloud automatically during regular intervals when it isn&#8217;t convenient for the user to start an Execution. 



Scheduled Executions



Testsigma provides an option to Schedule Test Executions along with real-time execution. The Scheduling option allows us to execute the tests on local devices or on the cloud automatically during regular intervals when it is not convenient for the user to start an Execution. For Example, we can start regression tests outside office hours so that productive time is not lost and hardware resources are freely available.







<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Creating_Scheduled_Execution_in_Testsigma">1 Creating Scheduled Execution in Testsigma</a></li><li><a href="#Which_is_the_best_tool_for_Test_Scheduling">2 Which is the best tool for Test Scheduling?</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="creating-scheduled-execution-in-testsigma">Creating Scheduled Execution in Testsigma </h2>



Once you create a free trial account with <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Once you create a free trial account with Testsigma, you will be taken to 'Dashboards'. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a>, you will be taken to &#8216;Dashboards&#8217;. To create a Schedule, you can navigate to the Executions page by going through: 



Test Development &gt; Test Plans



 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Schedule.png" alt="Schedule" class="wp-image-17505" width="840" height="390" /></figure>



 



1. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Click on the Schedule button. A ‘Create Execution’ page would appear like below:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="892" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Schedule1.png" alt="Schedule" class="wp-image-17509" /></figure>



2. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Enter the required details such as the Schedule Name, Description, Select Frequency Schedule Date and Time.



3. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Here are the different types of Frequencies: 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="1920" height="892" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Schedule2.png" alt="Schedule" class="wp-image-17514" /></figure>



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>If we set the Frequency as Don&#8217;t Repeat, the scheduled execution should be run only one time.</li><li>If we set the Frequency as Daily, the scheduled executions should run daily.</li><li>If the Frequency is set as Weekly, executions should run weekly.</li><li>If set as Monthly, the executions should be run every month.</li><li>Setting the frequency of execution as Hourly allows scheduled executions to run every hour.</li></ul>



 



Minute of the Hour: Set the Minute of every Hour when you want the execution to be performed.



For example, if you want to execute a test every 15 minutes, you need to create 4 schedules &#8211; At 0th Minute, 15th Minute, 30th Minute, and 45th Minute 



This will run at the 0th, 15th, 30th and 45th minute of every hour.



 



4. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Click on the Create Button.



 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="600" height="375" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Scheduled-Executions-Testsigma-1.gif" alt="Creating Scheduled Execution in Testsigma" class="wp-image-15344" /></figure>



 



You may set up scheduling on a one-time or recurring basis.&nbsp;Instead of waiting to execute your tests one after the other, you can choose to run your tests simultaneously (<a href="https://testsigma.com/parallel-test-runs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="You may set up scheduling on a one-time or recurring basis.&nbsp;Instead of waiting to execute your tests one after the other, you can choose to run your tests simultaneously (in parallel) across various test environments, set and receive email notifications of the run status. (opens in a new tab)">in parallel</a>) across various test environments, set and receive email notifications of the run status.



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<h2 id="h-which-is-the-best-tool-for-test-scheduling">Which is the best tool for Test Scheduling?</h2>



Choosing the best tool for test scheduling depends on your specific needs, team size, and project requirements. Suggesting Testsigma: It offers codeless test automation with built-in scheduling features. It allows parallel test execution and easy integration with CI/CD tools.

Scheduling Test Runs/Executions in Testsigma

Top Eight Essentials to move to Automated Software Testing

Testsigma Blog