<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><ul><li><a href="#Start_your_Agile_Testing_today_with_Testsigma_Automate_your_testing_right_from_day_one_No_coding_skills_required">1.1 Start your Agile Testing today with Testsigma. Automate your testing right from day one. No coding skills required!</a></li></ul></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.



<h3>Start your Agile Testing today with <a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a>. Automate your testing right from day one. No coding skills required! </h3><div>&nbsp;</div>



<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.



 



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KlS1HKLfPPLn4QINIH8btNp2AHueXjWFCseUbsf3g8bjFiuaiHJrYNv1LaWVxjUNimh3gfQW8GlAMotDS4TeooRAq1Emx0skjhjOxzSbR4rONKKAsEaqxk-LM3EgR_JSIFCQmNg" alt="Image result for scaled agile framework 4.6 png" width="687" height="462"/><figcaption>Image Credit: Scaled Agile F<a href="https://scaledagileframework.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">https://scaledagileframework.com/</a>ramework (SAFe) Website</figcaption></figure>



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.



<div>&nbsp;</div>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="815" data-id="4699" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Agile-Automation-Testing_SAFe.png" alt="Agile Automation Testing_SAFe" class="wp-image-4699"/></a></figure>
</figure>



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? 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="827" data-id="4703" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Agile-SAFe-banner-1.jpg" alt="Agile SAFe banner" class="wp-image-4703"/></a></figure>
</figure>

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>







<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="821" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Collaboration_Testsigma.jpg" alt="Collaboration_Testsigma" data-id="4658" data-full-url="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Collaboration_Testsigma.jpg" data-link="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-make-test-automation-more-inclusive/collaboration_testsigma/" class="wp-image-4658"></figure></li></a></ul></figure>



<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;



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma is one such tool that is set to revolutionize the test automation industry because it uses AI as its core. 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. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-tool-why-testsigma/" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> 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.



<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="3001" height="828" data-id="4653" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Shift-Left-Testing_Testsigma-1.jpg" alt="Shift Left Testing_Testsigma" class="wp-image-4653"/></a></figure>
</figure>



<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.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="830" data-id="3560" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" alt="Test automation simplified with Testsigma,Test automation without coding, TryTestsigma" class="wp-image-3560"/></a></figure>
</figure>







<pre class="wp-block-code"><code><a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/business" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Business vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a></code></pre>

How To Make Test Automation More Inclusive

How To Make Test Automation More Inclusive?

Though ‘Fail Fast, Fail Often’ is a commonly misinterpreted phrase, in the positive opinion of the person using the phrase, it is supposed to mean that there should be a quick feedback loop such that errors are caught quickly and frequently. And creating such a feedback loop means that there should be sufficient resources to enable quick turnaround to learn from the failures and make the system ready to fail and come back up again.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_the_Fail_Fast_Concept">1 What is the Fail Fast Concept?</a></li><li><a href="#How_does_Fail_Fast_Work">2 How does Fail Fast Work?</a></li><li><a href="#Implementing_Fail_Fast_Fail_Often">3 Implementing Fail Fast, Fail Often</a></li><li><a href="#What_are_the_Benefits_and_Challenges_of_Fail_Fast_Culture">4 What are the Benefits and Challenges of Fail Fast Culture?</a></li><li><a href="#Fail_Fast_Fail_Often_during_Software_Development">5 Fail Fast, Fail Often during Software Development</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Automation_and_Fail_Fast_Fail_Often">6 Test Automation and Fail Fast, Fail Often</a></li><li><a href="#Resolution_after_Failure">7 Resolution after Failure</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">8 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#What_is_fail_fast_in_agile">8.1 What is fail fast in agile?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_fail_fast_and_Fail-Safe">8.2 What is fail fast and Fail-Safe?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Suggested_Readings">9 Suggested Readings</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-the-fail-fast-concept">What is the Fail Fast Concept?</h2>



The fail-fast concept is a software engineering principle that stresses detecting mistakes and potential problems as early in the software development process as feasible. It is frequently accomplished using a variety of automated testing methodologies, including unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests. This idea is important when quick iteration and frequent releases are anticipated in modern software development. Developers may maintain a rapid development pace without losing <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/software-quality-assurance-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">software quality</a> or stability by discovering and correcting issues immediately.



<h2 id="how-does-fail-fast-work">How does Fail Fast Work?</h2>



This strategy works by finding and reporting defects or issues inside a system as soon as possible. Identifying difficulties as early as possible makes treating them easier and less expensive before they develop more serious issues. The following are the stages required in putting the fail-fast concept into practice:



<ol><li>Detect errors early: The fail-fast idea is to discover faults as early as possible in the development process. This can be done using automated testing methodologies such as unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing. Developers can easily uncover and isolate bugs by running tests regularly.</li><li>Report errors clearly: Proper reporting of errors is essential to ensure developers understand and resolve the issue as quickly as possible. This can involve displaying a descriptive error message explaining what went wrong, where the mistake occurred, and how to resolve it.</li><li>Stop the system from progressing: QA’s should suspend the system when an error is found to prevent future problems and focus on resolving the issue. This can help prevent cascade failures and prevent more serious issues.</li></ol>



Overall, the fail-fast concept is a critical component of modern software development. Developers may maintain a high level of quality and dependability while keeping up with the fast pace of current development by immediately recognizing and correcting errors.



<h2 id="implementing-fail-fast-fail-often">Implementing Fail Fast, Fail Often</h2>



Fail Fast, Fail Often not only means the ability to fail, but it also means the ability to rectify just as quickly and any number of times. Achieving this means putting in systems that can speed up processes and allow for quick feedback. It is only when you have the ability to resolve failures in a minimum amount of time that the ‘fail fast, fail often’ mechanism works.



At present, there are multiple tools and products available in the market that aim to cater to a pain point and make the process easier. But because not all products and processes are the same, the same tools cannot cater to all the needs to establish ‘Fail Fast, Fail Often’. Hence, according to the product and the specific processes followed, thorough research needs to be done on what tools should actually be used.



<h2 id="what-are-the-benefits-and-challenges-of-fail-fast-culture">What are the Benefits and Challenges of Fail Fast Culture?</h2>



The benefits of fail-fast culture are as follows:



<ul><li>A fail-fast culture encourages developers to notice faults early in the development process, resulting in faster resolution of issues and lower total development costs.</li><li>It also promotes innovation by encouraging experimentation and risk-taking, improves teamwork by encouraging developers to collaborate to solve problems, and lowers risk by discovering and resolving faults early in the development process.</li><li>Lastly, it enables developers to move swiftly through the development process by detecting mistakes early and making changes quickly, resulting in shorter development cycles and faster time to market.</li></ul>



Challenges of fail-fast culture:



<ul><li>A fail-fast culture can result in a lack of responsibility, high stress, increased complexity in development processes, and a resource-intensive atmosphere.</li><li>These issues can result in a lack of responsibility, greater stress, a blame culture, increased complexity in development processes, higher expenses, and longer development timelines.</li><li>A fail-fast culture, when executed successfully, can result in a lack of responsibility, high stress, a blame culture, increased complexity in development processes, and a resource-intensive environment.</li></ul>



<h2 id="fail-fast-fail-often-during-software-development">Fail Fast, Fail Often during Software Development</h2>



In the Software Development world, Testing is an important process because that is what decides if the software can be released into the market. Testing is also of various types and is done at different stages of software development. Testing is just like a feedback loop at every step to uncover any issues before moving to the next stage in the SDLC.



For example, during the Design Phase, the Developer created a design for which development would be done, but soon after, a tester figured out a bug in the design. This would hamper the software quality in a real-time scenario. Here, the Design failed, but the feedback was quick so was the defect fix. Hence, in the next step, this error will not be repeated.



Similarly, after the development, a short round of <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/smoke-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">smoke testing</a> will verify that the happy path works. This also gives quick early feedback, and bugs can be handled quickly.



<h2 id="test-automation-and-fail-fast-fail-often">Test Automation and Fail Fast, Fail Often</h2>



After the test cases are designed and the software is developed, it is test automation that matters. If the number of test cases that are automated is more, there is a better probability of catching any introduced bug with any new build. But for the feedback to be configured for every check-in and build, there needs to be a continuous integration system in place. After the continuous integration is put in place, the process that is followed is as below:



<ol><li>The new code is checked in to the repository</li><li>The code is compiled and built</li><li>If the build is successful, test cases are executed.&nbsp;</li><li>After the test case execution, a complete report of the successes and failures of the test cases is sent via email to the concerned people/the team</li><li>If there is any failure, the bug is identified, the feedback is sent and the issue fixed followed by rounds of regression testing.&nbsp; Again, the process starts from Step 1.</li></ol>



When all the possible steps above are automated, the time for feedback reduces by a great deal and when the test cases are run every single time, some code is checked in, the “fail fast, fail often” methodology is realized.&nbsp;



In terms of test automation, the execution of the test suite after every check-in is the major contributor to fail fast, fail often. Thus making it work at its best becomes important. One way is to enrich the test suite with all types of test cases including the complex ones and the edge cases. This can be achieved if along with the testers, other stakeholders are also involved in test case creation.&nbsp;



For eg. The client knows of the critical scenarios that can never fail for them, the project manager knows of the errors that need to be caught before the build reaches the customer, the developer knows the intricacies of the product and will know what parts will be impacted by any feature change. If all of the knowledge along with that of a tester is unified and put into place as automated test cases, the ‘Fail Fast, Fail Often’ system will surely work as it is supposed to. A tool that allows for <a aria-label="For eg. The client knows what are the scenarios that can never fail for them, the project manager knows what are the errors that need to be caught before the build reaches the customer, the developer knows the intricacies of the product and will know what parts will be impacted by any feature changes. If all of the knowledge along with that of a tester is unified and put into place as automated test cases, the ‘Fail Fast, Fail Often’ system will surely work as it is supposed to. A tool that allows for scriptless test automation and relaxes the learning curve is the way to go here.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-agile-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scriptless test automation</a> and relaxes the learning curve is the way to go here.



Read here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/10-reasons-why-test-automation-fails/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Why Test Automation Fails</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>



<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>







<h2 id="resolution-after-failure">Resolution after Failure</h2>



When there are changes in the code, changes in the test cases will be needed too. The answer to this is a tool that modifies the test cases according to code changes and makes maintenance easier. Testsigma is a tool that uses AI at its core. Here test cases can be written in <a aria-label="When there are changes in the code, changes in the test cases will be needed too, the answer to this is a tool that modifies the test cases according to the code changes and makes maintenance easier. Testsigma is a tool that uses AI at its core. Here test cases can be written in simple English using NLP and AI adapts itself to new changes automatically.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://dev.to/lvnya_c/automating-a-web-application-using-testsigma-s-nlp-grammar-48b6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">simple English using NLP</a> and AI adapts itself to new changes automatically.



Another challenge in the software world is the technology and methodologies that change every other day. Keeping up with these changes is essential for the companies otherwise they face the threat of losing out on the competition in the market. Here again, a Unified test automation tool like <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Another challenge in the software world is the technology and methodologies that change every other day. Keeping up with these changes is essential for the companies otherwise they face the threat of losing out on the competition in the market. Here again, a Unified test automation tool like Testsigma comes to rescue where it helps maintain the test cases using the AI core it has and provides integration with all kinds of tools. It also provides cloud hosting for all test cases as well as device farm to run those test cases on. So the cost of investing in the procurement of any new devices in the market that needs certification is reduced.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> comes to rescue where it helps maintain the test cases using the AI and provides integration with third party tools. In addition to local devices&#8216; execution, it also provides cloud hosting for all test cases as well as a dedicated device farm to run those test cases on. So the cost of investing in the procurement of any new devices in the market that needs certification is reduced.



Thus, enabling your testers with the latest tools in the market with the least amount of effort and keeping your <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-case-vs-test-script/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test cases</a> up to date and good on coverage will help your software development process to fail fast, fail often via well-defined <a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test automation</a>.



<a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>



<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="815" data-id="4517" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Testsigma2.jpeg" alt="Test Automation simplified with Testsigma" class="wp-image-4517" /></figure>
</figure>



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



<h3 id="what-is-fail-fast-in-agile">What is fail fast in agile?</h3>



The fail-fast concept is a key principle in Agile development that emphasizes discovering and correcting faults as soon as feasible. It is often implemented by agile development teams using a range of testing methodologies, such as automated unit testing and continuous integration. This allows agile teams to quickly detect difficulties and make required modifications to keep the project on track, enabling a more adaptable and iterative development approach.



<h3 id="what-is-fail-fast-and-fail-safe">What is fail fast and Fail-Safe?</h3>



There are two techniques to handling errors and failures in software development: fail fast and fail safe. Fail-fast is a software engineering concept that stresses detecting mistakes and potential problems as early in the development process as feasible. It is often used in Agile software development processes and is implemented using various automated testing tools. Fail-safe is a software engineering concept that ensures a system can continue to operate even when something goes wrong. It is intended to identify mistakes and failures and take appropriate action to prevent additional damage. Fail-safe is frequently employed in sensitive systems, such as aviation or <a href="https://www.schmidtandclark.com/medical-devices-lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medical devices</a>, where even little errors can have serious effects.



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



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/chrome-extensions-for-web-developers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">16 Chrome Extensions for Web Developers</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/chrome-extensions-for-testers/">10 chrome extensions for Testers</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/debugging-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Top 10 Debugging Tools in 2023</a>

Test Automation To Achieve Fail Fast, Fail Often

Now that we understood the benefits of Automated Testing(in Part 1 of Series, &#8220;<a aria-label="Now that we understood the benefits of Automated Testing(in Part 1 of Series, &quot;Shifting towards Automated Testing for Continuous Delivery&quot;), and to implement the tool that many of us would consider is open source. Unarguably, Selenium. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/shifting-towards-automated-testing-continuous-delivery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shifting towards Automated Testing for Continuous Delivery</a>&#8220;), and to implement the tool that many of us would consider is open source; unarguably, Selenium.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Selenium">1 Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_IDE">2 Selenium IDE</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_RC">3 Selenium RC</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_WebDriver">4 Selenium WebDriver</a></li><li><a href="#Selenium_Grid">5 Selenium Grid</a><ul><li><a href="#The_Architecture_of_Selenium_Grid">5.1 The Architecture of Selenium Grid</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Selenium">6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#Challenges_Involved_in_Automated_Testing">7 Challenges Involved in Automated Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">8 Conclusion</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="selenium">Selenium</h2>



Selenium is an open-source Automated Testing tool which provides a single interface to help you write test scripts in programming languages like Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, etc. to test web-based applications.



&nbsp;Selenium has 4 components:



<ul><li>Selenium IDE</li><li>Selenium RC</li><li>Selenium WebDriver</li><li>Selenium Grid</li></ul>







<h2 id="selenium-ide">Selenium IDE</h2>



Selenium Integrated Development Environment is a Chrome and Firefox plugin that can log interactions in the browser and generate its code in programming languages mentioned above, as well as Selenese which is Selenium’s own scripting language (yes, Selenium has its own scripting language!). 



<h2 id="selenium-rc">Selenium RC</h2>



Selenium Remote Control, also known as Selenium 1, was the first tool of Selenium Suite. Selenium RC is a server, written in Java, that accepts commands for the browser via HTTP. All the browsers which support JavaScript can be automated using Selenium RC.



In Selenium RC there is a manual process called Selenium Server which acts as a middleman between the code and the browser, and it is mandatory to start before the execution. The commands (API’s) are sent to Server which interprets the command and converts it into JavaScript and then JavaScript is injected to the browser. After that, the browser executes the JavaScript and responds to a Server, which again interprets the command and returns the code to the respective language.



 



<h2 id="selenium-webdriver">Selenium WebDriver</h2>



Selenium WebDriver, also known as a Selenium 2.0, is the most important tool of the Selenium Suite. Selenium WebDriver formed as a Selenium RC upgrade, and it does not require any manual process like Selenium Server, instead, there is direct communication between code and browser.



<div>&nbsp;</div>



Selenium WebDriver consists of: 



<ul><li>API – Application Programming Interface. Ports test scripts written in Ruby, Java, Python, etc. to Selenese (Selenium’s own scripting language), through bindings.</li><li>Library houses the API and language-specific bindings. Although plenty of third-party bindings exist to support different programming languages, the core client-side bindings supported by the main project are: Selenium Java (as selenium jar files), Selenium Ruby, Selenium dotnet (or Selenium C#, available as .dll files), Selenium Python, and Selenium JavaScript (Node).</li><li>Driver – Executable module that opens up a browser instance and runs the test script.</li><li>Framework – Support libraries for integration with natural or programming language test frameworks, like Selenium with Cucumber or Selenium with TestNG.</li></ul>



The way Selenium WebDriver works: 



The WebDriver protocol has a local end named client which sends the commands (test scripts) to a browser-specific driver. The driver then executes these commands on its browser instance. So, if the test script calls for execution on Chrome and Firefox, the ChromeDriver will execute the test on Chrome; the GeckoDriver will execute the test on Firefox.



Note: Test scripts execute only when the WebDriver’s client and browser/driver are connected. It doesn’t have to be on the same device. However, to enable test execution on multiple remote drivers, you need RemoteWebDriver and the Grid.



<h2 id="selenium-grid">Selenium Grid</h2>



Selenium Grid is the last component of the Selenium Suite and it is used for the parallel testing or distributive testing. It allows us to execute test scripts on different machines at the same time.



<h3 id="the-architecture-of-selenium-grid">The Architecture of Selenium Grid </h3>



In Grid one of the systems is created as Hub. Hub works as a central point controlling all the nodes, it accepts access requests from WebDriver client. Nodes are an actual machine on which execution is done and contains a native OS, browsers and RemoteWebDriver.



<div>&nbsp;</div>



The way Selenium Grid works 



WebDriver-client executes the test on a faraway device through RemoteWebDriver. RemoteWebDriver is like a regular WebDriver, except its two components are the Client (your test script) and Server (a Java servlet that actually executes the test on the remote device).



In your test script, you define ‘desired capabilities’ (device, platform, browser, etc.) of the node where the test will execute. The Hub receives test script, runs through the registered nodes to find the one that matches the desired capabilities, and assigns the test to it for execution.



When it comes to real test automation, the ideal candidates are your regression test cases that you would usually execute to ascertain the overall stability of your application. See the <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing/selenium-regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">detailed guide on how to automate your regression test cases using Selenium</a>.



<div class="bg-primary cta">
Try Testsigma which gives you all the advantages of test automation, with very less effort. Automate your tests faster using plain English! <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Try Testsigma For Free</a></button> <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://calendly.com/testsigma/demo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Schedule a demo</a></button>
</div> 



<h2 id="advantages-and-disadvantages-of-selenium">Advantages and Disadvantages of Selenium</h2>



In this section, we talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using Selenium. For a more detailed study of its pros and cons, do refer to the article here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-automation-testing-pros-cons/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pros and Cons of Selenium as an Automation Testing tool</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Advantages of Selenium</td><td>Disadvantages of Selenium</td></tr><tr><td>1. Selenium is an open source software, anybody can download the source code and use it, modify the source code according to company requirements, but selling modified code is not allowed.</td><td>1. Since Selenium is an open-source software, nobody providing reliable technical support.</td></tr><tr><td>2. Selenium supports various programming languages to write test scripts &#8211; Java, C#, Perl, Python, Ruby and PHP. Although it supports all mentioned languages, only one language can be used at the time. Most of the Selenium Testers use Java (nearly 70%).</td><td>2. With Selenium, we can automate Computer Web Applications and Mobile Web Applications, but we cannot automate Computer Desktop Applications, Mobile Native Applications and Mobile Hybrid Applications.</td></tr><tr><td>3. Selenium supports all currently available operating systems (Mac, Windows and Linux).</td><td>3. Selenium WebDriver does not have built-in Results Report facility, we need to use JUnit or TestNG Testing Framework to generate Test Reports.</td></tr><tr><td>4. Selenium supports various Browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.)</td><td>4. Selenium demands higher-level technical skills, such as programming, from QA team members.</td></tr><tr><td>5. Using Selenium Grid, we are able to execute tests in parallel, so that we can reduce the test execution time.</td><td>5. There is no support for running tests in parallel on a single computer.</td></tr><tr><td>6. Selenium integrates well with popular tools such as SauceLabs, Selenium Grid, Extent, JUnit, TestNG, and others.</td><td>6. Selenium + TestNG/JUnit is not the complete, comprehensive solutions to fully automate testing of your web application. You need different libraries (POI API, GSON, Extent Reports) to make it a complete solution for a testing framework. Managing multiple dependencies is difficult and requires extra maintenance work that everyone wants to avoid. A good dependency management tool such as Maven, Gradle or NPR can make this task easier.</td></tr><tr><td>7. Selenium is backed by a vast community of developers and testers who actively contribute to the tool and documentation.</td><td>7. With Selenium Grid you can execute tests in parallel, as is mentioned above. However, it is not always feasible to set up and manage test machines since the requirements for devices vary with projects.</td></tr><tr><td>8. Reusability and maintainability are much better in Java than in JavaScript if you apply correct patterns.</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<div class="bg-primary cta">
Testsigma is built to address all the challenges in Selenium, Signup for a free trial. <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Try Testsigma For Free</a></button> <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://calendly.com/testsigma/demo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Schedule a demo</a></button>
</div>



As you could see, Selenium has pros and cons and depending on your type of software you should consider which approach is the best. After considering all, maybe Automated Testing would not be the best approach, and that is where <a href="https://dzone.com/articles/scriptless-test-automation-web-application-testsig">Scriptless </a><a aria-label="As you could see, Selenium has pros and cons and depending on your type of software you should consider which approach is the best. After considering all, maybe Automated Testing would not be the best approach, and that is where Scriptless Automation Testing advent.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-agile-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Automation</a><a href="https://dzone.com/articles/scriptless-test-automation-web-application-testsig"> Testing</a> advent. 



We will tell something more about the challenges in Selenium-based Automated testing, so you can better understand the difference between Automated Testing and Scriptless Test Automation.



<h2 id="challenges-involved-in-automated-testing">Challenges Involved in Automated Testing</h2>



<ul><li>Lack of quicker feedback: Scripts are written after the application is built and stabilized. Early feedback, which is essential for the reduction of the cost of quality in Agile development, is seldom available. Read more on the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Lack of quicker feedback: Scripts are written after the application is built and stabilized. Early feedback, which is essential for the reduction of the cost of quality in Agile development, is seldom available. Read more on the importance of Shift Left Testing. Substantial upfront investment: Huge upfront investments are necessary due to complex scripting environments and tools, and also for test infrastructure. Hence, we would need to hire and train skilled resources. Change of focus: The prime objective of the testing team has moved from testing the functionality of the application to the technical development and execution of scripts. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-tool-ready-for-shift-left/" target="_blank">importance of Shift Left Testing</a>.</li><li>Substantial upfront investment: Huge upfront investments are necessary due to complex scripting environments and tools, and also for test infrastructure. Hence, we would need to hire and train skilled resources. The article&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Lack of quicker feedback: Scripts are written after the application is built and stabilized. Early feedback, which is essential for the reduction of the cost of quality in Agile development, is seldom available. Read more on the importance of Shift Left Testing. Substantial upfront investment: Huge upfront investments are necessary due to complex scripting environments and tools, and also for test infrastructure. Hence, we would need to hire and train skilled resources. The article&nbsp;Overcoming The Ramp-up Delay, Cost and Resources Required To Automate Testing&nbsp; Change of focus: The prime objective of the testing team has moved from testing the functionality of the application to the technical development and execution of scripts. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/overcoming-initial-ramp-up-delay-cost-resources-automation/" target="_blank">Overcoming The Ramp-up Delay, Cost and Resources Required To Automate Testing</a>&nbsp;explains about the test automation ecosystem.</li><li>Change of focus: The prime objective of the testing team has moved from testing the functionality of the application to the technical development and execution of scripts.</li></ul>



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



In conclusion, &nbsp;the key holdups in adopting traditional QA methods are the issues faced by functional and business teams in understanding automation scripts. Additional effort is required to make them available to non-technical users, leading to reduced collaboration between the functional specialists and automation teams. 



One of the solutions to maximize the scalability of Automated Testing is <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-agile-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Scriptless Test Automation</a>. Scriptless Test Automation enables QA Engineer to automate test cases without coding, and any knowledge of it. It helps to achieve faster results and reduces the time expanded to understanding the code.



Now that you know about the basics of Selenium and are aware that scriptless test automation is an alternative to it that makes the test automation very easy, the next logical read for you would be: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-vs-scriptless-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Selenium vs Scriptless Test Automation</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Read more : <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/alternative-to-selenium-automation-testing-continuous-delivery-devops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">An alternative to Selenium for test automation in Continuous Delivery</a></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



Until then, sign up for a <a aria-label="Until then, sign up for a free trial of Testsigma, Scriptless Test Automation tool powered by NLP! Write automated tests using simple English.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">free trial of Testsigma</a>, Scriptless Test Automation tool powered by NLP! Start writing complex automated tests in simple English.



 <div class="bg-primary cta">
Check out what&#8217;s in store! <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Try Testsigma For Free</a></button> <button class="btn cta-btn"><a href="https://calendly.com/testsigma/demo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Schedule a demo</a></button>
</div> 



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Still in doubt? Read the detailed <a href="https://testsigma.com/testsigma-vs-other-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">comparison between Testsigma and other tools.</a></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

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;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/is-manual-testing-becoming-a-bottleneck-in-continuous-delivery/" target="_blank">traditional approaches to Testing</a>&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 rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="As the continuous innovation in technology, Scriptless Test Automation 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.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-agile-devops/" target="_blank">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. <a href="https://testsigma.com/codeless-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Check the guide for an in-depth read on codeless testing. (opens in a new tab)">Check the guide for an in-depth read on 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.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="582" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1.jpg" alt="Try Testsigma banner ad" data-id="3532" data-full-url="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1.jpg" data-link="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-4-automation-engineer-expect/attachment/1/" class="wp-image-3532"/></a></figure></li></ul></figure>



<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 <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-test-automation-tool-why-testsigma/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="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.
 (opens in a new tab)">Scriptless Test Automation tool</a> 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 <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/unified-test-automation-for-agile-and-devops-testsigma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agile and DevOps</a> environments, then a Scriptless Automation Tool is definitely for you.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped"><ul class="blocks-gallery-grid"><li class="blocks-gallery-item"><figure><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="830" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" alt="Test automation simplified with Testsigma,Test automation without coding, TryTestsigma" data-id="3560" data-full-url="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" data-link="https://testsigma.com/blog/using-for-loop-automation-testing-testsigma/test-automation-simplified-try-testsigma/" class="wp-image-3560"/></a></figure></li></ul></figure>



 



<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 <a href="https://testsigma.com/ai-driven-test-automation">Testsigma</a><a rel="noreferrer noopener" 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">,</a>&nbsp;a complete Test Automation ecosystem! <a href="https://testsigma.com/">Testsigma</a> 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 rel="noreferrer noopener" 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">Testsigma&#8217;s&nbsp;home page</a>.



 



<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Background vector created by brgfx &#8211; www.freepik.com</a>

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.







<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.



 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="830" data-id="3560" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" alt="Test automation simplified with Testsigma,Test automation without coding, TryTestsigma" class="wp-image-3560" /></a></figure>
</figure>



<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/calendar" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Calendar vector created by pikisuperstar &#8211; www.freepik.com</a>

Scheduling Test Runs/Executions in Testsigma

Top Eight Essentials to move to Automated Software Testing

How To Start Automation Testing From Scratch? | 8 Key Notes To Start With

In this article, we will learn to <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-mobile-app-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="automate mobile applications (opens in a new tab)">automate mobile applications</a> using <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="In this article, we will learn to automate mobile apps using Testsigma in 3 simple steps.
Mobile apps can be tested using &nbsp;various platforms and testing frameworks. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> in 3 simple steps. Mobile applications can be automated using &nbsp;various platforms and testing frameworks.



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Android apps using AndroidSDK/UIAutomator2</li><li>iOS apps using Xcode-swift / XCUITest </li></ul>



 



Let us look at the steps one by one.







<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Step_1">1 Step 1</a></li><li><a href="#Step_2nbsp">2 Step 2&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#Step_3">3 Step 3</a><ul><li><ul><li><a href="#SCHEDULE_A_DEMO">3.0.1 SCHEDULE A DEMO</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="step-1">Step 1 </h2>



Keep the app required to automate ready for Upload into Testsigma Lab. Installed on Test mobile Device(Local Hybrid Execution). The application can also be located on local machine or server accessible via direct link on internet. You may read more about the execution models in Testsigma <a href="https://support.testsigma.com/support/solutions/articles/32000021669-how-to-create-edit-delete-executions-" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Keep the app required to automate ready for Upload into Testsigma Lab. Installed on Test mobile Device(Local Hybrid Execution). The application can also be located on local machine or server accessible via direct link on internet. You may read more about the execution models in Testsigma here.
 (opens in a new tab)">here.</a> 



Testsigma Lab is Testsigma’s dedicated device cloud that has over 100+ real web, mobile devices and different versions of Android OS, iOS platforms to choose from to execute the tests.



Other Cloud Lab solutions that Testsigma offers include Sauce Labs and BrowserStack.



 



To upload the mobile application, navigate to&nbsp;Test Development &gt;&gt; Uploads 



In the Uploads page, click on the Upload button in the top right corner.



 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/GlEMhQS6wRtkfEHgaKmwi2zt68sG70V9IbsRQMsCe9HdMLqFplGazAHeWabyr8vvC2GZ_O4crMez6H2mG0dvinCni38OGA0PZ5hVjqSmH0GRO2jzBe8h6tYV9iC3LczoW4VWafxz" alt="Uploads_Testsigma"/></figure>



<h2 id="step-2">Step 2&nbsp; </h2>



Start writing the Test Steps.



If you are new to creating Test Steps in Testsigma, refer the below links to short videos that explains this. Writing automated tests in Testsigma is quite easy as they can easily be written and understood by everyone since the tests are written in plain simple English. Testsigma uses <a href="https://dev.to/lvnya_c/smart-test-automation-using-nlp-h9b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="If you are new to creating Test Steps in Testsigma, refer the below links to short videos that explains this. Writing automated tests in Testsigma is quite easy as they can easily be written and understood by everyone since the tests are written in plain simple English. Testsigma uses NLP grammar to automate complex tests easily and involves no coding! (opens in a new tab)">NLP grammar</a> to automate complex tests easily and involves no coding!



 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="830" data-id="3560" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" alt="Test automation simplified with Testsigma,Test automation without coding, TryTestsigma" class="wp-image-3560"/><figcaption>Test automation simplified!</figcaption></a></figure>
</figure>







Let us write the steps to launch a mobile application, tap on a few elements on the application.



<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gf-0tK-N-c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Entering Test Steps-Quick video</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/4tNN1r-CdyM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Assigning values to the Test Step elements</a> 







The below screenshots the steps for these in Testsigma. In case of doubt, you may refer the Examples tab under the Help(?) icon in the tool.







<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/cz7hupDBopUpPUFRIc7F-lErhl48cs-RD09kNItcS-k0xhtixKYqeNQ8de9L_eKsH-XxotHgue6v3CdT0-dohVBfxr1tjx5Tqf9cXpH3D0rTrtnCIeTw953CivzY-SrnDapW7qBw" alt="Test steps" width="1445" height="541"/></figure></div>



 



<h2 id="step-3">Step 3 </h2>



Run your test. <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Run your test. Testsigma provides multiple device environments to choose from. Choose your preferred combination and click Create and Run.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> provides multiple device environments to choose from. Choose your preferred combination and click&nbsp;Create and Run. 



 



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4pHd8JNhnFNsJuPph6i8nlUbmhlEWrshk7LdkGwRvr6oiq5sHcxERLWdHQbxVdImk_L9yiXS3xlzVkvx2srlefd8xf11Wv4VJD5xYrteuA8M0FYuy88lD30aXAIQvefmYtJCe7AX" alt="create test run" width="603" height="473"/></figure>



 



Run the execution and get customized run results including screenshots, videos, and logs of the run.



 



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/xMwwiw36-VtG7MSpZaZ7MwaTwQgo5H5CEf_8Q4O5g1_FTmiRxwXVZNRpsDU1h4N4BLiJ1uBcsypDxWozPKAye6pZ4Hat_uObUAouMnx4iUJ4AJrEPPrunEux_qLKp2JxZKRfxBYx" alt="test result" width="1450" height="773"/></figure>



 



That’s all you need to automate a mobile application in Testsigma. If you’d like to see more examples like this, let us know in the comments. 



Start a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Start a free trial and try it yourself! Feel free to contact our team by writing to support@testsigma.com or leave us a message in the chat section. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank">free trial</a> and try it for yourself ! Feel free to contact our team by writing to support@testsigma.com or leave us a message in the chat section.







Thank You..Happy Testing!



 



<h4 id="schedule-a-demo"><a href="https://calendly.com/testsigma/demo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="SCHEDULE A DEMO (opens in a new tab)">SCHEDULE A DEMO</a></h4>

3 Steps to Automate Mobile Applications Using Testsigma

Best practices in test automation in an agile environment mean that frequent software releases to production must exhibit the best possible quality.It is essential to synchronize automated testing with the Agile development methodology to ensure that all necessary elements are considered before releasing software into production. Testing early and often is crucial for attaining high quality in frequent software releases. Furthermore, test automation becomes increasingly important during the continuous deployment phase, as it provides immediate feedback to the development team.



The automated tests should be reliable and implemented continuously to get instant feedback. You must ensure that most quality assurance is completed while new features are developed within the <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/sprints" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">s</a><a href="https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/sprints" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">print</a>. The new functionalities should not hamper the workflow of the existing features of the application.



The concern is that the Sprint duration is low, making it practically impossible to execute the entire test case when the application advances towards the end of the Sprint. An automated Test Suite is your answer here.



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-prioritize-test-cases-for-regression-testing/">Prioritize and group Test Cases</a> into Test Suites. An initial investment in planning and designing the test automation process would pay off in the long run.



Introducing automation testing into Agile and Continuous delivery has a risk of failure. This is because the test object changes with time as the object is improvised by the developers in every Sprint. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/software-test-automation-what-to-expect-near-future/">Test automation that undergo constant changes</a> would eventually require high maintenance.



So, an obvious question arises, “How do you create a sustainable automated testing architecture for Agile and Continuous Delivery?”



Even though test object changes continuously, working in Agile and Continuous Delivery without Test Automation to cope with changing requirements is impossible.



Refer <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-use-automation-testing-tools-accelerated-development-cycles/">Why Use Automation Testing Tools in Accelerated Development cycles</a>



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Best_Practices_in_Test_Automation">1 Best Practices in Test Automation</a><ul><li><a href="#Keep_Tests_Small_And_Run_Lean">1.1 Keep Tests Small And Run Lean</a></li><li><a href="#Create_High-Quality_Test_Scripts">1.2 Create High-Quality Test Scripts </a></li><li><a href="#Introduce_DevOps_When_Possible">1.3 Introduce DevOps When Possible</a></li><li><a href="#Work_Closely_With_Business_Analysts">1.4 Work Closely With Business Analysts</a></li><li><a href="#Implement_A_Sound_QA_Practise">1.5 Implement A Sound QA Practise</a></li><li><a href="#Follow_The_Best_Practices_For_Test_Automation">1.6 Follow The Best Practices For Test Automation</a></li><li><a href="#Automate_The_Deployments">1.7 Automate The Deployments</a></li><li><a href="#Use_the_Best_Automation_Tool">1.8 Use the Best Automation Tool</a></li><li><a href="#Keep_A_Check_On_The_Development_Environment">1.9 Keep A Check On The Development Environment</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">2 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">3 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#What_are_the_Best_Test_Automation_Practices_you_Follow_while_doing_UI_Automation">3.1 What are the Best Test Automation Practices you Follow while doing UI Automation?</a></li><li><a href="#How_many_Test_Automation_is_Not_Limited_to_Test_Execution">3.2 How many Test Automation is Not Limited to Test Execution?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Suggested_Reading">4 Suggested Reading</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="best-practices-in-test-automation">Best Practices in Test Automation</h2>



Here are some of the test automation best practices you should follow:



<h3 id="keep-tests-small-and-run-lean">Keep Tests Small And Run Lean</h3>



Your <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/continuous-testing-at-the-speed-of-agile-and-devops/">continuous testing</a> process should aim at providing value to the business. Instead of investing in producing artifacts that may not pass any value, create an aesthetically lean <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/software-testing-strategy/">testing strategy</a>. Short test cases will help you remove unnecessary test data, enable instant modifications as per regression requirements, and help slice down the maintenance of large test suites.



<h3 id="create-high-quality-test-scripts">Create High-Quality Test Scripts </h3>



While writing test scripts, testers should ensure that the scripts are flexible to accommodate <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/requirement-traceability-matrix-regression-testing/">regression testing requirements</a>. The scripts may be measured for accuracy, maintainability, portability, integrity, and performance. This will ensure a seamless execution of <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing/automated-regression-testing">regression tests</a> without much intervention from the testers. 



<h3 id="introduce-devops-when-possible">Introduce DevOps When Possible</h3>



DevOps collaborates the development, testing, and operations role in a product life cycle. With DevOps, you can make the most out of collaboration and cross-functioning of the Dev and QA teams and yield a high-speed delivery process. Since <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-devops-is-important-for-modern-businesses/">DevOps</a> is driven by shared development, integration, and accurate time testing, the Agile cycle becomes more efficient when backed with DevOps. <gwmw style="display:none;">



<h3 id="work-closely-with-business-analysts">Work Closely With Business Analysts</h3>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/continuous-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Continuous testing</a> would require you to test correctly from the very beginning. Make sure that the entire team has a clear picture of the product and business requirements before flagging off Development. This means that the QA team should work closely with Business Analysts best if <a href="https://dzone.com/articles/continuous-testing-functional-experts-agile" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">they are a part</a> of the Test Automation process. Ensure that every user story you create matches the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/acceptance-criteria-vs-acceptance-tests/">acceptance criteria</a>. Create an end-to-end test scenario based on the current trends and analytics in order to understand user activities and behavior.



<h3 id="implement-a-sound-qa-practise">Implement A Sound QA Practise</h3>



Build an Agile QA strategy which drives development. Perform regular QA workshops that enable testers to improve their technical skills. 



<h3 id="follow-the-best-practices-for-test-automation">Follow The Best Practices For Test Automation</h3>



Know when you should follow the manual testing approach. Automate regression tests, performance tests, and security tests where possible. You need to strike a proper balance between Automated Testing and Manual Testing.



Ideally, you should perform automated testing from a Continuous Integration server. Create fast processing smoke regression packs and run them whenever the application updates.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3000" height="582" data-id="3782" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2.jpg" alt="write tests in simple english" class="wp-image-3782"/></a></figure>
</figure>



<h3 id="automate-the-deployments">Automate The Deployments</h3>



Continuous testing works best when the deployments are automated incrementally. Instead of waiting for DevOps to deploy the product’s release and QA team to test after that, automate the entire cycle.



Automation should not be limited to merely testing and verification. If you find the process lagging due to repetitive manual procedures, introduce automation to eliminate manual effort and time.



<h3 id="use-the-best-automation-tool">Use the Best Automation Tool</h3>



Be prepared to invest your time and effort in evaluating <a href="https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/top-20-automation-testing-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Popular Automation Testing tools</a>&nbsp;in the market. Selecting the right test automation tools is a crucial part of the continuous delivery process. Before you pin down your choice on a certain tool, make sure that it meets the basic requirements to meet your test automation program.



Here are a few features to begin with, regardless of your custom testing needs: 



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>An OS friendly tool &#8211; The number of operating systems a tool supports, the better.</li><li>Intuitive &#8211; The tool should come with an easy-to-understand UI (videos, screenshots and logs for clear understanding for all user levels) and should provide relatively easy functionality. &nbsp;</li><li>User-friendliness &#8211; This will help the QA team to instantly start with the test automation process.</li><li>Seamless Integration &#8211; Tool should provide collaboration with Bug tracking, CI/CD integration and collaboration.</li><li>The tool should provide instant and precise results to make informed decisions.</li><li>A Steep learning curve – Easier the tool, lesser is the need for team training.</li><li>Tool should be versatile enough to be used in various other projects.</li><li>Data Driven testing &nbsp;&#8211; the tool should test multiple datasets and values and execute a single test script with different input values stored in Excel, CSV or XML formats.</li><li>Support Cross Browser/Cross Device testing in parallel and for all versions of web browsers.</li><li>Allow SMEs, QA Analysts, and stakeholders to provide their feedback and inputs</li><li>Adapt to changing elements of an application UI.</li><li>Finally, the tool should justify its pricing.</li></ul>



You may find a few other tips on&nbsp;<a aria-label="You may find a few other tips in&nbsp;How to select the right Automation Testing Tool?
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/select-right-automation-testing-tool/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to select the right Automation Testing Tool?</a> 



<h3 id="keep-a-check-on-the-development-environment">Keep A Check On The Development Environment</h3>



QA team should keep an eye on the development environment. This may include virtual machines and cloud environments integrated with external databases and services. The idea behind this approach is that a bug may not always lie within the application. Sometimes, the concern could be the environment, network conditions, configuration, and backend database.



Keeping a check on the actual development environment will help you save time when detecting the cause of test failure.



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



Automating tests helps development teams ensure their code changes are tested and validated before they get released to the public. To get the most out of test automation, it is essential to use the right tools, create a good test suite, keep your code clean, and work together between dev and testing teams.



Testsigma is an awesome platform to help you with Agile and Continuous Delivery testing. It&#8217;s super easy to use, so you can still create and run tests even if you don&#8217;t know how to code. It makes test automation a breeze by giving you many cool features like easy test creation, integration with other tools, test management and analytics. Plus, it&#8217;s cloud-based, so it runs faster than ever! It has an AI-powered self-healing feature which helps reduce the time you have to spend on maintenance tasks so you can focus on other important stuff. 



In short, Testsigma is perfect for Agile and Continuous Delivery teams who want to speed up their testing process while still delivering high quality products. Give it a try and see how it can help you!



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



<h3 id="what-are-the-best-test-automation-practices-you-follow-while-doing-ui-automation">What are the Best Test Automation Practices you Follow while doing UI Automation?</h3>



Identifying the test cases that can be automated when performing UI automation is essential. Creating a robust test automation framework and selecting an appropriate tool is vital. Furthermore, reliable and maintainable test scripts should be written and unique, stable locators should be employed. Synchronization techniques should also be implemented, as well as error handling mechanisms. To ensure the accuracy of the results, it is necessary to review and update the automation scripts regularly.



<h3 id="how-many-test-automation-is-not-limited-to-test-execution">How many Test Automation is Not Limited to Test Execution?</h3>



Test automation isn&#8217;t just about running tests. It&#8217;s a process that involves planning, designing, developing, executing and reporting on tests. You can automate a variety of tests, like functional testing (testing how the system works), performance testing (how quickly it runs) regression testing (checking for bugs) and integration testing (making sure different parts of the system work together). You also need to set up and maintain the test environment, generate test data automatically and analyze the results. In short, test automation is more than just running tests &#8211; it&#8217;s an involved process with lots of steps!



<h2 id="suggested-reading">Suggested Reading</h2>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-automated-testing-advantages-of-automated-testing/">Benefits of Automation Testing</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-test-automation-challenges-to-look-out-for/">Top Test Automation Challenges</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/etl-test-automation/">ETL Test Automation</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-20-websites-for-online-automation-testing-courses-and-certifications/">Top 20 Online Automation Testing Courses</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/build-test-automation-framework-from-scratch/">Build Test Automation Framework&nbsp;</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/15-must-have-skills-for-a-top-automation-tester/">Top Automation Tester Skills</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/agile-automation-testing-safe/">Agile Automation Testing in SaFe</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/essential-elements-of-test-automation/">Elements of Test Automation</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/8-top-test-automation-mistakes-and-tips-for-qa-teams-to-avoid-them/">Top Test Automation Mistakes</a>



 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="830" data-id="3560" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/7.jpg" alt="Test automation simplified with Testsigma,Test automation without coding, TryTestsigma" class="wp-image-3560"/></a></figure>
</figure>

Best-Automation-Testing-Practices-In-Agile-And-Continuous-Delivery_Testsigma