Top 7 Challenges In Automation Testing
An effective test automation system is necessary for today’s agile software development environments. Automation works excellently, especially in the case of smoke and regression tests, and helps the QA teams to create and execute test cases that complex easily. To ensure efficient automation deployed in your software testing it is important to know the challenges in automation testing before you start.
Though automation can act as a power booster for your product pipeline of development projects; certain pitfalls in automation slow down the automation pipelines if not tackled upfront.
Table Of Contents
Why is Automation Testing Important?
When you’re developing software, it’s important to automate testing. Automation allows you to run tests more quickly and efficiently, and it can help to reduce the risk of human error. Automated testing is important because it saves time, reduces costs, and improves quality. It also allows developers to conduct more frequent tests on their software, which can lead to faster feedback and early detection of bugs and issues. Automated tests are also a much cheaper alternative to manual testing by humans. Overall, automated testing is an essential component of modern software development, helping to improve quality and reduce costs while increasing efficiency.
7 Common Challenges in Automated Testing
Here are the 7 most common test automation challenges that teams usually face while adopting automation testing, along with the best solutions to overcome these pitfalls.
1. Network Disconnections
Network disconnection is a common automation challenge that a QA team faces wherein they find it hard to access databases, VPN, third party services, APIs, specific testing environments, etc. due to unstable network connections. These network disconnections cause unnecessary delays and hinder the testing process.
Apart from disconnections, another cause of worry is the inability to access virtual environments which are generally used by the testers for testing applications. QA teams need to have a good monitoring solution in place that can help fix the issue as soon as it occurs and prevent the whole software delivery pipeline from getting affected.
2. Test Script Issues
QA teams may face various problems related to test scripts if they lack the coding related skill sets. Teams facing these issues can leverage reusability (reusing test scripts) to solve the problems and maintain their code. They can maintain the code in a better way by treating test code as production code. Apart from this, periodic testing of the code should be done along with scheduling debugging sessions and identifying key issues with object identifiers.
3. Fixing Code Smell
A code smell is basically any characteristic in the code of a program that has a negative impact on the design quality. Maintaining the code quality is not only important for the programmers but also for the testers.
Fixing code smell can help a QA team achieve:
- Faster test results in lesser execution time
- Help make the automation test suite more robust
- Reduce maintenance cost and effort significantly
It is not possible to find most of the code smell by manual reviewing. In many cases, automated code review tools are used to identify all the bad smell present in the source code.
4. Testing Against Wrong Data
In most of the cases, the QA teams are found to be testing against wrong data as it sometimes becomes difficult to get the right data. This right data is the one that the application will be processing in production.
Data relevancy and data accuracy are the two most important prerequisites for automated testing to give good results. Complicated processes and communication gaps can also prevent the testing teams from getting the updated and most relevant data.
The QA teams should use a robust reporting and analytics solution in order to achieve fast feedback and enhance the overall productivity of the team by working on the data lags.
Read here – Different test automation team structures
5. Upfront Investment
One of the most common concerns, especially for teams not having big budgets, is the high investment required at the initial phase of implementing automation. The investment in setting up a test automation suite prevents the testers from implementing automation testing. On top of operational costs, you may also have to bear licensing costs.
Even if you are considering using an open-source tool such as Selenium or Appium, a level of investment is required to train the testers to use these frameworks. Here’s a good read on the hidden costs of test automation. So, it is better to choose a tool that gives you ROI. Choose an automation tool that helps reduce costs in all areas of your concern.
6. Stability Issues
The stability of the devices is one of the key issues with device labs, as mobile devices are unstable. There are many elements in mobile devices that are subject to constant change, including operating systems, regular updates, performance, etc.
The solution is to keep updating and maintaining the labs to ensure the stability and testability of the devices, or use a cloud-based lab with real devices to test applications. Cloud-based labs can cost a fraction of the cost of setting up a real device lab at your location. If you are looking for a test automation tool, go for one that supports cross-browser testing by default and allows plug in and do that when needed. An example of this is Testsigma, which lets you create test cases on the web and mobile and APIs in one place and execute them on real devices of your choice.
Create simple English automated tests and run your tests on the devices of your choice. No setup or ramp-up delays!
Testsigma lets you create test cases on the web as well as mobile and APIs in one place and execute them on real devices of your choice.
Create simple English automated tests and run your tests on the devices of your choice. No setup or ramp-up delays!
7. Picking the Right Automation Tool
The Gemini World Quality Report in 2018 found that over 50% of IT giants lacked suitable automation tools for their testing teams. This is due to lack of knowledge, lack of expertise, and tool costs exceeding the budget, which are the most common reasons for automation failure. Therefore it is one of those challenges in automation testing that is essential for successful automation efforts.
Conclusion
You can decide the best-suited one based on the nature and extent of your automation testing, whether the automation tool falls in your budget, and it matches your organization’s technical and business-related requirements.
When choosing a test automation tool, it is important to consider the nature and extent of your automation testing, budget, and the organization’s technical and business-related requirements. To some extent, QA teams face test automation challenges and failure, so it is essential to start early and watch for these top common test automation challenges. We have compiled a list of tips for choosing the right tool for test automation.
If you are looking for a one-stop test automation tool to speed up test case creation and execution, try Testsigma. It offers a unified end-to-end test automation ecosystem that helps you run automated tests in a giant test lab on the cloud.
The robust reporting and analytics facility helps get dynamic test reports at all levels to analyze the test case results and mitigate the key issues as soon as they are found.
Testsigma also saves significant time and effort in setting up test cases through its scriptless creation in simple English.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is one of the biggest challenges in automation testing?
Generally automating flaky tests are the most difficult difficulty in automation testing that generates inconsistent results or fails intermittently. These tests also takes time and effort while also eroding the trust in the process of automation.
What are the major limitations of test automation?
The high initial expense of setting up automation infrastructure, as well as the necessity for experienced employees to build and manage automated tests, are two important limits for test automation. The inability to automate certain forms of testing, such as exploratory testing and usability testing, is another constraint.
How to overcome technical challenges while doing the test automation?
To overcome technological problems during test automation, it is critical to have a thorough grasp of the technology stack being tested, as well as qualified automation engineers capable of creating robust and maintainable automation frameworks. It is also critical to employ the appropriate automation tools and technology for the job, as well as to have a well-defined testing strategy that considers the limitations of test automation.
What are the real time challenges in selenium automation?
Selenium automation faces real-time challenges such as dealing with dynamic web content, synchronization issues between the automation tool and the application being tested, and cross-browser compatibility issues. It also requires maintaining test suites and integrating automation testing into a continuous integration and delivery pipeline.
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