Why you should automate regression testing?

Due to fast-paced software development and testing environments, organizations often face time and cost constraints when it comes to thoroughly testing their web/mobile applications prior to their releases.

When many changes are done in a software for a release, regressions (bugs in a previously working functionality) can appear. Regressions in the product functionality can prove to be a setback for organizations as it can affect the software release deadlines and increase the development costs.

Thus, regression testing becomes essential.

Regression testing when done manually can take a long time but the company needs to do the release on time too. Software testers at this time, have the option to automate their regression testing.

The management may at that time be found asking them “Why should regression testing be automated” or “Why use automated regression testing?”

If you are just starting with automation, then starting with automating the regression test cases is recommended.

Regression testing, a process of hunting the unintended changes in an application, is one of the most ideal candidates for automation. In fact, automation and regression testing go hand-in-hand.

Automation of regression test cases, free up testers from checking the regressions due to the changes/updates in the application and allows them to look after other unusual issues in the product environment. It is required to automate test cases which are stable and repeatable.

If you are looking for a tool that lets you automate your regression test cases quickly and provides you with all the infrastructure needed for test automation, then you should definitely check out Testsigma which is a complete cloud-hosted automated testing solution. You just need to sign up and you can start automating right away!

What Is Automated Regression Testing?

Automation of regression testing usually applies in such cases where tests are repeatable in nature. The automation allows testers to spend more time on other important aspects of the product development.

In simple terms, automating regression testing is performing testing over a software product or an application using automated tools and techniques after making an update or a change in the product. The automation process makes the use of test scripts, workflow and other processes within a regression testing technique. Manually performing regression tests is quite a task as it takes a lot of time and effort which can be utilized in formulating new priority test cases. Hence QA testers go for automated regression testing to automate testing and reduce the time and effort invested in performing the testing process.

By using effective automated regression testing, software firms can minimize both time and money spent on finding and removing bugs from a software application. As the main objective of the regression testing is to check the proper functioning of the existing features in a software application, automation can fasten up the regression testing process and provides maximum test coverage at a much lower cost than manual regression testing. The extent of automation in the regression testing depends on the number of test cases which will apply over time.

What are automated regression testing tools?

The tools that help you automate your regression test cases and provide ROI in the long run are called automated regression testing tools.

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How to Choose the Right Regression Testing Tools?

There are many tools in the market that can automate regression test cases. But some of them will be tailored specially to your needs while others might prove complicated to implement.

You need to look for a tool that proves beneficial for you in all aspects of test automation including test case creation and test case maintenance.

Here's how some of the popular automated regression testing tools compare with each other

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Comparison of Automated Regression Testing Tools

If you are looking for a tool for automation of your regression test cases, a proper research of the tools in the market is essential before you try the ones that you feel fit your needs.

We have chalked out a detailed comparison of the majorly used regression testing tools here.

Regression Test Automation Framework

A test automation framework is the set of rules, a predefined structure or guidelines that the automated test cases should follow. It is essential to have the structure in place for the best outcome of the test automation activity.

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When does Automated Regression Testing Work Best?

Doing the same task over and over again is very tedious and nobody wants to do it, testers are no different. But, the problem is that every time an application code is updated, it becomes important to perform regression testing.

A change in one section can affect other parts in an application because generally most of the software is interrelated with other modules. This is where automated regression testing works best. It can quickly find out whether the new addition in the code is negatively affecting other working parts of the application or not.

Few of the major points are below:

  • Automating regression test is the best solution if you want to check whether the new change in the original functionality of the software has not led to the origin of new bugs or stopped/negatively affected the previous functionality of the software, where you are repeating a test which you have performed before due to a change in the code, design, or anything which is connected with the overall framework of the system.

  • It should be made sure that there will be ROI in the long run if the regression tests are automated - hiring of resources and cost of the tool being used, cost of maintenance, time saved in the long run should all be figured out to calculate if actually automation will be the best solution.

    For eg. If the organization has plans to keep the application running and maintain it in the long run, then automated regression can prove to be beneficial otherwise it may become more of an investment.

  • Automated regression testing works best when there is a significant amount of legacy code that is tested multiple times because in such cases, manual testing cost will be more than the cost of automation.

If in an organization, the general development trend is to keep adding changes to an application’s existing features and functionalities ,then , the maintenance cost will be more than the cost saved by the automation of regression testing. Here, automation should not be opted.

When it comes to choosing a tool that is best suited for automation of regression testing, the tool should be such that it allows you to automate at all stages of development, the tool should also integrate with your CI/CD workflow.


Testsigma has all these features and in addition it also notifies you of all affected resources in case there is a change. This helps you maintain your automated test cases better.

How To Decide The Entry and Exit Criteria For Regression Testing?
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Top 8 Automated Regression Testing Challenges in Agile

Regression testing ensures that modifications or upgrades to a program or system do not affect previously tested functionality. However, various issues can influence the quality of the testing process, such as the following.

1. Reduce Regression Impacts – Plan Small & Frequent Releases: To reduce the probability of increased regression impacts, it is important to encourage the development team to release frequent code changes to the testing environment.

2. Understand the AUT/Product better: A thorough understanding of the application is crucial for identifying areas that may be more susceptible to issues resulting from new changes. One way to achieve this is by preparing story cards for each module and connecting them to show the relationship between them.

3. Involve QA in Code Reviews: Including the Quality Assurance (QA) team in code reviews can help them gain an understanding of the areas that were modified and facilitate the detection of regression issues in the future.

4. Dev-QA Pairing: QA can also collaborate with developers during the development of new modules, providing an excellent opportunity for them to take notes and plan their regression suites, ensuring maximum test coverage for the release.

5. Use Defect Tracking Systems to Document: To keep track of any issues that arise during testing, it is crucial to document them in detail with supporting evidence. This information can then be used to create regression test plans.

6. Identify the Regression Test Coverage Right: To mark a test case as a regression test candidate, it is important to consider high-risk areas cases of the AUT, the basic workflow of typical business use cases, the core features of the AUT, and the test cases that uncovered defects in previous test cycles.

7. Automating Regression Suites: Deploying an automation tool framework to run the regression packs and quickly report any code changes that break the application to the development teams can significantly reduce testing efforts and enable the identification and resolution of issues in a timely manner.

The Role of Automated Regression Testing

Software organizations know the value of regression testing as even the most favorable new functions doesn’t matter if they cause problems in the operation of the old functions.

Automated regression testing plays an important role in various cases including when you modify the code of the application during SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle), if the application requirements changes in the middle of the cycle, when you plan to undertake enhanced/upgraded software or when you are looking to fix the bugs quickly.

Under automated regression testing, test cases are re-implemented to check the functioning of the previous functionality and to find new bugs as a result of addition of new features or functionalities in the application.

Sometimes due to time and budget constraints, organizations don’t give much attention to the importance of regression testing and allocate very little time and resources to it. As a result of this, most of the time all the previous efforts on testing goes waste and the end result does not meet the required quality levels leading to dissatisfaction among the customers and product failures.

Automated regression testing process solves this problem in many ways. As it speeds up the regression testing, it doesn’t affect the product deadlines and timely detection of bugs and non-working functionalities save a lot of time and resources spent on maintenance, thereby increasing the return on investment (ROI).

To ensure ROI, choosing the right tool for automation is essential too. Read here to know how to choose the right test automation tool.
Read here to know how to choose the right test automation tool.

Automated Regression Testing Resolution

1) Discover & Plan

a.Identify product release scope

b.Define test plan and activities


2) Design & Develop

a.Identify product release scope

b.Define test plan and activities


3) Execute & Report

a.Execute tests

b.Reports test results and bugs
identified


4) Test Closure

a.Provide quality test reports

b.Perform post production testing


Here are some points to consider before going for the automated regression testing:

  • Write test scripts based on the workflow of the application

  • It is logical to maintain and control the version of the test scripts as it helps keep track of all the changes that you make to a testcase

  • Risks related to the application workflow can be analyzed using the test results as input

  • Test script operation can be automated based on the changes or updates in the code

  • Include all those functionalities that are more frequently and are prone to high-risk workflow conditions

  • Include repetitive tests in the regression test suite which run for multiple builds

  • Include all those test cases which tend to cause human error

To make sure that the time taken for the complete process is minimum, the tool for test automation should be such that it helps in all these points. Testsigma lets you create test cases in simple English and uses self-heal like features to reduce maintenance time. It also updates affected resources every time there is a change in your application code.

Use Testsigma for automation of simple as well as complex test scenarios

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Automate The Generation And Maintenance Of Regression Tests

Regression test generation should be supported by a sustainable process to ensure that the test case failures are reviewed and addressed on a daily basis. The end objective should be a robust regression test suite which evolves with the development of the application and becomes more intelligent day by day. Effective regression testing generates enough test code coverage to cover all the aspects of testing.

It has been analyzed in a study that there is a need for an automated regression tool for generating the regression test cases as and according to the user's needs. If these test cases will be generated and implemented by a tool, then the overall effort and cost can be reduced by a significant margin. By selecting an ideal regression testing automation tool you can not only maximize the effectiveness of your testing process but also meet your project requirements and manage the whole QA lifecycle smoothly.

Test automation scripts written for stable code are generally not reviewed on a frequent basis. Now when the code is changed during the modification of a tested feature or addition of a new functionality, the automation script will give false results leading to unexpected problems. If this continues for a longer duration, the management will see test automation as a time and money waste process. In order to avoid this, it is important to continuously review/examine or maintain automated test scripts.

To avoid wastage of time and resources, test script maintenance should be included early in the software development cycle plan which will keep the cost of resources and time schedule in check with the development process. Whenever a functionality or the code that supports that functionality changes, make sure to update the tests that are required to verify that functionality.

As we know that maintaining regression tests is costly, especially when a developer’s effort is required to find the dependencies and update the test scripts according to the changes made in the code. This process can be automated to a large extent using the automation tool which can analyze the information gathered from the last tests run to automate the test updates required.

But before evaluating an automation tool for selection, give attention to the tool’s ability to manage the complete QA lifecycle, i.e. test generation, editing, cloud execution, advanced notification and getting detailed reports. The auto-generated test by the automated regression testing tool can be used as a safety net to detect the location of errors more effectively while making changes in the code.

Along with simplified test case generation and maintenance, Testsigma is one such tool that can easily work at any stage of your QA lifecycle. Give it a whirl!

Application of Regression Test Automation

It is important for the testers to note that even the smallest of alteration which seems insignificant to an application’s source code could surprisingly result in completely new or unrelated errors in the functions.

In order to ensure that a change or an addition in the code has not broken any existing functionality of the application regression testing is a must-do. Regression caused due to new changes performed in an application can be avoided by re-running the testing scenarios which were initially scripted when the problem was fixed the first time. Here’s a read on how automated regression testing plays an important role in testing software applications.

To make sure any aspects of your software application is not going unchecked; you can try some modern automated regression tool tool such as Testsigma.

With zero programming knowledge requirement, Testsigma not only helps you run thousands of regression tests in parallel on the cloud and local devices but also streamline your testing and help you deliver high quality software applications.

Book a demo with our experts to know more!

Automated regression testing: Effective strategy

The first important thing in automating regression testing is to select the right tool for your project . Some of the key points to keep in mind before selecting an ideal automated regression testing tool are the ability of the tool to develop and maintain scripts quickly, the ability to manage QA lifecycle, ease of use by non-technical persons and reliability.

This is followed by following these best practices listed below:

  • Plan your entire QA strategy to be followed during the product lifecycle.

  • It is important to start testing from the early days and more often as defects which are detected early have less impact on the project deadline and costs. Choose a tool that lets you create test cases in parallel to development. ework. It is permutations and combinations of both the above-mentioned frameworks.

  • Identify the test cases which require automation such as those tests which are repetitive, prone to human errors, difficult to perform manually, and time consuming.

  • The best time to start your scripting is when some of the modules are stable and the testing team has found the bugs repeatedly. The QA team can then proceed with the automation regression testing of those stable modules.

  • Make sure that development teams work closely with the testing team so that any miscommunication or unwanted gaps can be avoided and the overall efficiency of the entire development cycle could be increased. Choose a tool that makes your test automation inclusive.

Techniques for Automated Regression Testing

Regression tests are ideal for automation as it increases the test coverage at a lower cost as compared to manual regression testing. As lots of organizations prefer agile methodology, their releases are more frequent due to which they have to opt for continuous testing and automation for regression testing.

Here are various techniques for automated regression testing:

  • Retest All: In this technique, the QA tester executes all the existing test cases present in a collection without missing a single one. This technique is a bit expensive as it requires more time and resources.

  • Regression Test Selection: Regression Test Selection: In this technique, a subset of the test suite is selected for execution instead of selecting all the existing test cases. The test cases are categorized into reusable test cases which are used in succeeding regression cycles and obsolete test cases which are not used in succeeding regression

  • Prioritizing Test Cases: In this technique, test cases are prioritized based on the frequency of use and to prioritize test cases, a level of expertise is required. Executing test cases having higher priority first helps minimize cost and time spent on testing and uncover the maximum number of defects. This technique is more useful in those cases where the codebase is very large.

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Why is Automated Regression Testing Right For Your Project? Or Is It?

Organizations build software applications to provide value to the customers. With time, customer needs change or the organization looks to add more features and better functionalities based on the customer feedback. As we know with each update or growing functionalities, the app becomes more complex. Hence there is a need to test for regression issues more frequently with every update in the code. Automated regression testing could be a life saver for these organizations.

Here are some of the reasons why automated regression testing could be right for your project:

  • Get Higher Test Coverage: As automated testing execute tests at a faster rate, it is feasible to increase the test coverage by doing more comprehensive testing which takes a lot of time with manual regression testing.

  • Get Continuous Results: With automation regression testing, you can get continuous results which help you know when and where exactly the bugs are encountered and their causes.

  • Higher Test Efficiency: As automated tests are fast in execution and takes less time, it increases the test efficiency.

  • Fast Results: Automated regression testing gives you results with very less effort without compromising on the quality.

  • Reusability of Tests: As regression testing is repetitive, automated test cases are reusable and hence save a lot of time in setting up.

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Why Is Automated Regression Testing A Must?

Automated regression testing is a process of verifying that the application has not regressed to a previous state using automation. As we know how costly regression can be for the software organizations, it is important to employ regression testing to avoid it. Though manual regression testing is an option, the process is costly, time-taking, tedious and error prone. This is the reason why automated regression testing is being opted by almost all the software testing teams across the organizations.

Now, why automation is a must, especially when it comes to regression testing is that regression testing is a redundant process as most of the test cases are repetitive which becomes a lengthy process, if done manually. In this era of automation, everything that can be automatable should be automated. If you are doing something manually which can easily be performed via automation, then you are leaving a lot of money on the table. The testers who would be performing these tests manually could be indulged in doing more valuable tasks which has the potential to generate more value for the organization.

It is good to re-run all the relevant tests on the regression test suite after every new change in the code base to ensure everything is working fine. So if you want to get rid of unwanted regressions, opt automated regression testing and save time and money for your organization.

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FAQs

Yes. In fact, regression testing is a major part of automation. Automated regression testing can be a great way to save time and effort compared to manual testing. By automating your regression tests, you can quickly and easily run tests on your software every time a new version is released to ensure that no previously fixed bugs have resurfaced.

You can easily automate regression testing with Testsigma, with which you can create and execute automated tests by writing the statements in simple English or just recording and generating them—without needing to write any code. To automate regression testing using Testsigma, you should:

  • Write or Record-and-generate a test case by performing the steps you want to automate

  • Enhance the test case by adding checkpoints and validations.

  • Organize the test cases into a suite.

  • Schedule the test suite to run automatically when new builds are available.

  • Review the test results and identify any regressions that need to be fixed.

You can also go the traditional route and use automation based on code.

Testsigma is, frankly, one of the best tools out there for automated regression testing. It's a cloud-based test automation tool that offers a range of features to help you automate your regression tests quickly and easily. With Testsigma, you can create and execute tests without needing to write any code. You can also easily integrate Testsigma with other testing tools like JIRA, Jenkins, etc. to create a cohesive automated testing pipeline.

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