Improving Test Automation Quality Through Code Reviews
According to CISQ research from 2022, the US paid over $2.41 trillion for subpar software. The report also explained how the $1.52 trillion technical debt came to be. Organizations must develop procedures that reduce errors and inconsistencies connected to code as the demand to release high-quality software quickly grows. This is the exact point at which code reviews become popular.
Code Reviews: An Overview
Developers evaluate one other's code as part of a process called code review to make it better. It facilitates bug finding, guarantees adherence to code standards, and improves teamwork. Code reviews can be done in a variety of ways, including pair programming and formal reviews.
Why are Code Reviews Necessary?
Enhancing Maintainability & Code Quality
Code reviews provide other developers a chance to look over newly updated code and make suggestions for improvements. As previously indicated, this ensures that the code is of the highest caliber by assisting in the detection of possible flaws and faults prior to their introduction into production. Additionally, the code becomes easier to comprehend and maintain for future developers who may work on it.
Promoting Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing
Code reviews encourage communication and cooperation among development team members. Reviewers can help team members learn and develop by offering criticism, making alternate approach suggestions, or sharing their knowledge.
Setting Up Standards for Coding
Within a team or organization, code reviews uphold best practices and coding standards. Reviewers can make sure that the code complies with standards, which improves its readability, consistency, and maintainability. These set standards also aid in enhancing the abilities of developers to provide comments and suggest enhancements.
Which Approaches Are Used for Code Review?
Currently, there are two ways that businesses can do code reviews:
Manual Evaluation of Code
Manual code review entails human reviewers closely looking for problems in the code. It can be carried out in a number of ways, including:
Pair programming is the practice of two developers working concurrently on the same piece of code, exchanging quick comments and identifying mistakes as they go.
Informal Code Review: Reviewers examine the code informally, searching for possible problems, errors, or enhancements. This method, which is less structured, can be carried out via meetings, conversations, or code walkthroughs.
Formal Code Review: A more organized process in which a team of engineers reviews code modifications. In order to do this, this may entail the use of checklists, formalized procedures, and assigned roles (such as moderators or reviewers).
Automated Evaluation of Code
Automated code review uses specialized instruments and software to examine the code and identify possible problems. These tools are capable of identifying common coding faults and doing static code analysis.
Moreover, automated code review tools can assist in maintaining uniform coding standards and offer prompt feedback on coding problems. However, it's a good idea to have manual reviews as well for issues that are more complicated and context-specific.
To optimize the efficiency of the code review process, manual and automated procedures can be combined, as each offers benefits of its own. While automated tools give speed and consistency in identifying common concerns, manual reviews offer human insights, expertise, and contextual understanding. The project, the dynamics of the team, and the resources available all influence the method selected.
How Do Test Automation and Code Reviews Work Together?
Test automation and code reviews are complementary methods for ensuring software quality. Code reviews can enhance test automation in the following ways:
Fundamental Knowledge
Code reviews can assist in ensuring that the code adheres to accepted coding practices and is comprehensible. This can facilitate the creation of Automation test with selenium and simplify the process of locating problems during testing.
Interpreting Complicated Problems
Code reviews are another useful tool for finding complex problems that Automation testing with selenium might miss. These can be incorrect claims or problems with the setting. Expert reviewers can, fortunately, provide valuable feedback and ideas to raise the code's quality.
Keeping Design and Implementation Consistent
Code reviews are a very useful tool for making sure that the code is written and used in a way that complies with project specifications. This can lower the possibility of problems during testing and raise the software's general quality.
Increasing Quality Assurance and Automation
Effective Selenium automation testing projects can result from the codebase being improved and made more testable through the input provided throughout the code review process.
The Best Ways to Conduct Code Reviews
A seamless and fruitful code review procedure can be ensured by implementing the following best practices:
Establish Specific Goals
Share the objectives and standards of the code review procedure. Clearly state the goal of the review, be it to find defects, enhance the quality of the code, or guarantee that coding standards are followed.
Specify rules and requirements
Establish rules and norms for coding in your project or company. This guarantees uniformity and gives reviewers a standard context for evaluating the code.
Code reviews should be brief and targeted.
Steer clear of going over a lot of code at once. Rather, divide the code modifications into more manageable, smaller chunks that may be thoroughly examined. This lessens the likelihood of information overload and enables reviewers to offer more targeted input.
Engage the Appropriate Parties
Incorporate subject matter experts and pertinent stakeholders into the code review procedure. Make sure the reviewers have the knowledge required to comprehend the code and offer insightful comments.
Give Background Information and Recordkeeping
Provide pertinent details regarding the code modifications, like the goals, specifications, and user stories. This aids in reviewers' comprehension of the context and enables them to make defensible decisions.
Encourage a Respectful and Constructive Environment
Promote a courteous and upbeat atmosphere during code reviews. Give specific, useful criticism that is aimed at enhancing the code rather than condemning the developer. In summary, promote a culture of growth and learning.
Make Use of Code Review Resources
Use code review tools to streamline the review process by allowing reviewers to quickly navigate and provide feedback on code changes.
Strike a balance between thoroughness and speed.
Aim for a balance between the thoroughness and speed of code reviews. Reviews should be done on time, but hurrying through them can cause you to overlook crucial details. As a result, strike a balance that works for the demands of your team and the project schedule.
Monitor and Respond to Input
Make sure that the criticism offered in code reviews is properly addressed. In order to make sure that issues are fixed or included in subsequent iterations, track and follow up on issues that are found using issue-tracking systems or task management tools.
Functional Testing vs Regression Testing: Main Differences
What is Functional Testing?
One kind of software testing procedure called functional testing makes sure that every element of a program or piece of software produces the intended results. To put it simply, it's similar to verifying that television turns on and off, displays sounds and performs other functions as intended.
Here, every software feature is examined to ensure that it functions as intended. This entails communicating with databases, APIs, security features, and user interfaces.
The application or system code's structure is not taken into account during functional testing. Outer behavior and user experience are the main points of emphasis.
Important Elements in Functional Testing
In software testing, the functional testing stage is essential for verifying that the system or application's components are operating as intended. The essential elements of functional testing are as follows:
Understanding needs: It's important to be aware of the software or application requirements before beginning functional testing.
You wish to test an e-commerce application, for example. Effective user authentication and product search with filters or sort choices to streamline the procedures of finding results are possible examples of needs. Put simply, understand what the software is meant to accomplish.
Test scenarios and cases: Write test cases that cover every aspect of your system's needs. Provide a detailed, step-by-step instruction guide on how to conduct the tests in this situation.
Assemble test data: To ensure full success, functional testing needs a variety of test data. To see if the software handles both circumstances as planned, choose valid and invalid data sets for the test.
You can try both valid and invalid usernames and passwords for "User Login" to see how the application behaves.
Test environment: Configure the testing environment to be identical to the one used in production. This guarantees that the software will operate as intended in a variety of contexts and configurations.
Test documentation: To make sure that all testing objectives and goals are completed, it's critical to monitor the functional testing process as it moves along. The testing procedure, test reports, test plans, and test reports must all be included in the document.
What is Regression Testing?
In software development, regression testing is a crucial procedure that makes sure that updates or modifications to the code don't generate new issues that could have an impact on the product. Its main responsibility is to guarantee the system's stability and dependability throughout the software development and production life cycles.
Regression testing also makes sure that the original functionalities continue to function as intended by sequentially running a set of pre-existing test cases. The developers are prompted to make the required modifications or fixes if any mistakes are found.
Essential Elements of Regression Analysis
In order to guarantee that all functionalities continue to function as intended even after code changes are made, regression testing is a necessary step in the software development lifecycle. Regression testing's essential elements include:
Test selection criterion: Choosing a single test case requires criteria because regression testing takes a lot of effort. To put it another way, rank the portions of the code or frequently used features that are more likely to be impacted by modifications.
Think about an app for banking. You anticipate doing business frequently. Test selection criteria might prioritize transaction-related tests over features that aren't used as much.
Automation tools: For executing test cases and comparing outcomes, automated regression testing tools like Cypress and Selenium automation testing are essential.
Test environment management: In this scenario, DevOps techniques like configuration environments are relevant. To prevent regressions peculiar to a particular environment, you should keep the test environments the same throughout the development phase.
Version control system: When it comes to bug fixes and code modifications, version control systems such as Git or SVN facilitate tracking down the author and date of the change. In order to identify regression impacts during regression testing, this is crucial for developers.
Test suite: The test suite includes test cases for various functional components of the program. When new issues arise due to code modifications, these test cases serve as a reference. Both Automation testing with selenium and manual tests in the test suite should contain accurate data.
Differences and Similarities: Functional Testing vs Regression Testing
Now let's begin to examine the distinctions and parallels between Functional and Regression Testing using the straightforward table below:
| Aspect | Functional Testing | Regression Testing |
| Purpose | Verifying whether all the functionalities of the software are working as intended. | Ensures the recent code changes do not cause issues with the existing functionalities of the software. |
| Scope | Focuses on specific functionalities of the application. | Verifying unintended side effects of code changes |
| Frequency | Conducted once – during new feature release or update | Execution is often – after code changes |
| Goal | Checks whether the software meets desired feature-specific user requirements and specifications. | Ensures new code changes do not affect existing functionalities. |
Test Automation_Boosting Industrial Growth With Innovation
Automation Market Summary
Software for test automation is helping a wide range of industries by streamlining software testing procedures, cutting down on task completion times, and improving business operations. Leading IT companies have shown a Brobdingnagian interest in the sector in recent years, which has led to an increase in spending for the newest QA and software testing services.
The rapid growth of a wide range of mobile applications in industries including multimedia systems, transport, communication, productivity, and utilities is another factor driving up market demand. Apart from this, the preparation of diverse cloud applications across industries to reduce effective time-to-market further bolsters the global market expansion.
Automation Testing Market Dynamics
Drivers
- Growing use of mobile technology and devices
- A rise in the use of the DevOps technique
- Increased returns on investment through automation testing
- Using digital transformation to transform testing
Limitations
- Concerns about privacy and data protection
Opportunities
- Technological advancements investigating the potential for automation
- An environment of agile development for testing and quality control
Challenges
- Insufficient mastery and proficiency in automated resources
- Choosing and maintaining testing equipment
Automation Testing Boosts Market Growth
The automated testing market is expected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of seventeen.7 % over the course of the forecast period, from USD seven.55 billion in 2017 to USD nineteen.27 billion by 2023. Automation has expanded beyond the simple automation of observation tasks to include information collection and environment observation. The need for intelligent, integrated, and autonomous testing of those constantly evolving business settings and products has been fueled by the emergence of smarter products and smarter applications.
AI, IoT, and DevOps are examples of cutting-edge technology that when integrated into industrial processes encourage businesses to choose automation.
Geographical Division of the Automation Market Analysis
Geographically speaking, North America has contributed the most money to the global market. The region generated more than four-hundredths of the market's revenue share in 2016 and is predicted to maintain its highest share for the duration of the forecast. Europe's revenue contribution to the world trailed North America's, despite the latter being more advanced in the QA and testing industry among the region's businesses. Between 2017 and 2023, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to increase steadily.
The Top 5 Trends in Test Automation
- Automation without code:
There have been some changes in the world of technology recently. The related problem arose from software package checking, where test automation was developed to plug in current software package releases at the best possible quality. Automation has always been interesting since it reduces the need for traditional testing methods while promoting new ones. However, ROI isn't always anticipated. Thus, in order to improve the quality of glancing at automation, "Codeless Automation" is presented. It speeds up results delivery and cuts down on the amount of time needed to understand the code.
- Artificial Intelligence:
Software testing is the only approved method where testers can validate the risks associated with implementing software packages and where associates in the application are often examined under less intense settings. On the other hand, as the drive toward digital transformation continues, testing is gradually moving toward greater automation to ensure optimal accuracy and truth. The world is sounding toward AI, even though a trial is needed to make the application dependable. This means that, rather than relying on human intervention and manual testing, we are inclined to move toward a scenario in which machines gradually advance to management.
- Automation using robotic methods (RPA):
These days, advances in software package testing and artificial intelligence (AI) have smoothed the way for robotic process automation (RPA). Technological innovations like as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and psychological feature computing are revolutionizing various industries. The newest technology, RPA, has the potential to completely reinvent the administration of business processes.
- Agile and DevOps combined:
Organizations are undergoing digital transformation as a result of the need to embrace business changes and deliver products to market more quickly. This results in a growing uptake of structured techniques and methodologies such as Agile and DevOps. Quality must be taken into consideration for team responsibility in order to comprehend the effectiveness of this adoption.
- Adoption in IoT Testing:
The majority of firms nowadays are embracing the Internet of Things (IoT). The functionality, security, and performance of IoT apps and devices are tested. Prior to purchasing their product, the majority of buyers rely on IoT testing. Since every IoT device expects net property, it is vulnerable to hazards and security vulnerabilities. This confirms that IoT testing is necessary.
In summary
Although test Selenium automation testing is challenging, if done correctly, it may transform teams and give the necessary time to look at the project objectively. The market for automation testing with Selenium is undoubtedly growing and has great promise, but in order to make automation work for your company, you need to use the right tools and the correct approach.
What is automation testing?
What is automation testing?
The process of automating test execution in software development and quality assurance procedures through the use of software tools and scripts is known as test automation. It entails writing test cases or scripts that can be executed automatically instead of needing human labor. The objective of test automation is to enhance testing efficacy and efficiency by decreasing human errors, optimizing test duration, and enhancing test coverage.
Even while manual testing is possible for many types of testing, including regression testing, executing most testing automatically has frequently more advantages. Flexibility is provided by automation testing because:
- Tests can be conducted at any moment,
- It moves more quickly.
- It is economical.
- allows quality engineers to manage more tests than they could with manual testing.
Making the switch to becoming an automation engineer becomes a realistic goal for many QA professionals. Tests "should" be automated, according to engineers in particular, even though the business reality is far messier.
What advantages may automated testing offer?
Automation testing still has speed as its key benefit, but it also has other benefits that improve the productivity of the software development process.
Some of the main advantages of automated testing are listed below:
- Labor hours saved and test return instantaneous
Over time, automation testing proves to be more economical than the popular perception. Regression testing is a difficult task for manual testing, and as software develops, human testers are under more and more strain. Automation testing is initially labor-intensive but gains efficiency over time by decreasing errors and speeding up test completion, which ultimately lowers costs and improves software quality.
- Quick feedback loop
Automated testing using frameworks like Cypress and Selenium speeds up the execution of test cases, which is particularly useful for repetitive tests like regression and integration testing. Tests that run more quickly yield faster results, allowing teams to get feedback more frequently—a critical component of problem-solving and feature enhancement.
This emphasizes iterative procedures in each sprint, which is in line with Agile life cycles. Agile teams want quick, thorough, and error-free feedback; test automation provides accurate and quick testing, which is difficult to achieve with human testing.
- Optimal distribution of resources
Automation takes care of boring, repetitive testing, freeing up Quality Assurance (QA) staff members' time for tasks requiring judgment and thought. This comprises:
- creating fresh test scenarios
- Specifying metrics for advanced testing
- examining the results of automated tests, or
- carrying out exploratory, ad hoc, and usability tests that are not automatable.
Less tedious work increases tester involvement, which boosts team morale and produces better work. Pair testing can be used in conjunction with automation to help quality assurance personnel find and fix obvious issues in code before it is deployed.
- Enhanced accuracy
Because they are human, manual testers can make mistakes, while automated testing reliably runs scripts correctly and logs comprehensive data. Higher precision is guaranteed by automation, which does away with human error brought on by weariness, carelessness, or other variables.
More thorough heuristics and reports can be obtained by automation testing than by a human filling out a form. A human will explain their experience with your app, which is more subjective and less thorough but still very important, particularly for faults that a machine is unable to detect. This is a separate form of data.
- Early bug detection
Before submitting code, developers can use automation to perform unit tests. These can be followed by other automated tests (such as regression and integration). When faults are found early in the creation process, they can be fixed quickly and with little damage. This is consistent with the shift-left testing approach, which aims to find and fix errors early in the development process, enhancing software quality and cutting down on the amount of time needed to tackle issues later on in the process.
What are the downsides of automation testing?
- High initial setup cost
Investing in testing tools, infrastructure, and team training is necessary for the implementation of automated testing. Smaller projects with tighter budgets may find it less feasible to pursue this option because of the substantial initial setup costs.
- Inability to replace human intuition
While Selenium automation testing excels at carrying out prewritten test scripts, it is not able to replace human creativity and intuition. In order to find small flaws in certain complex circumstances, human testers may need to use their knowledge in exploratory testing.
- Maintenance overhead
For automated test scripts to stay current and functional, they might need regular updating due to application updates and modifications. Inaccurate test results and inefficiencies may occur from not updating these scripts.
- Limited testing for User Experience
Functional testing is the main focus of Automation testing with selenium, and it might not be as useful for assessing an application's user experience. Automation cannot duplicate the insightful usability feedback that human testers offer.
How do you decide which test to automate?
Prioritizing test automation according to their level of desirability is crucial because you might not be able to automate every test you'd like to.
Prioritizing can be done using any of the following schemas:
- The most prevalent types of test cases you use are regression tests.
- Test situations that need a lot of time or repetition
- Tests where human mistakes could cause them to fail
- tedious and repetitive tests
- extensive testing using a variety of data sets
- Tests that are not able to be completed by hand
- High-risk exams (those that call for a thorough response that could be relevant in court)
