Automation testing is gaining popularity in the software development life cycle by offering numerous advantages such as rapid feedback, quick release, and improved accuracy. Despite these benefits and popularity, there are several false beliefs present in the market that stop product owners from taking advantage of automation testing. In this blog, we will discuss the common myths and realities for testers, developers, stakeholders, companies, and the general audience so they can leverage the benefits of automation testing efficiently.
Let’s discuss some common automation testing myths:
▶️Myth 1: Automation testing is better than manual testing.
Reality: Manual testing and automation testing both have benefits and drawbacks. The most successful application comes from using both testing techniques as per the project requirement.
Example: The company decided to develop a mobile application where regression and smoke testing will be done by automation testing and manual testing for exploratory testing, usability testing, and UI testing. By using both testing types, the team can cover comprehensive coverage of the tests.
▶️Myth 2: Automation testing can replace manual testing and dispel tester jobs.
Reality: Automation testing gives a helping hand to the tester to test the application by reducing testing time, allowing focus on complicated scenarios, early bug detection, and many more. Testers still need to test the application scenarios manually, which need human judgment and can not be automated.
Example: A mobile application with a complex UI may require manual testing for a smooth user experience. However, automation testing can verify the functionality and performance of the application. Thus, automation testing neither replaces manual testing nor takes away tester jobs. It helps them to work efficiently.
▶️Myth 3: Automation testing discourages human interaction.
Reality: Automation testing provides a new channel to communicate with team members.
Example: Automation tools generate a report of the executed script, and the team can discuss the status and quality of the product by analyzing that report.
▶️Myth 4: Automation testing is only suitable for larger projects.
Reality: Smaller projects can enhance productivity after implementing test scripts for critical, lengthy, and repetitive tasks.
Example: A small startup company developing a new web application can use open-source automation tools to ensure the quality of the product and testing is done for every test case of the application before launching it.
▶️Myth 5: Automation testing is a one-time investment.
Reality: Automation testing indeed needs investment at the time of setup. However, it’s an ongoing process where you need to invest in the automation scripts for the update and maintenance as per application requirements that come/change over time.
Example: Consider a web application that undergoes UI changes once in a while as per the requirement. The automated test must be updated to get an effective and proper expected result; otherwise, the failed script reduces the automation strategy’s effectiveness.
▶️Myth 6: Automation testing is too expensive and requires lots of resources.
Reality: Initial investment might be costly, but over time it will help you to reduce the cost for post-release bugs and manually repeating test execution, which may need more resources.
Example: The team added automation testing for e-commerce websites and successfully launched the product. Thanks to automation scripts, the team can integrate new features like another payment gateway as per customer demand in less time with less effort and high quality. This shows that automation testing helps enhance the product with less cost and resources.
▶️Myth 7: Automation scripts can be written by anyone.
Reality: To write automation scripts, technical knowledge of the core language and framework is required. Without it, the outcome of the automation testing may not meet the expected output, the automation tester may be unable to complete tasks within the deadline, and scripts may fail due to incorrect web element selection or improper handling of the dynamic locator.
Example: Consider someone writing the automation test cases using Selenium with Java without the knowledge of it. The outcome will be unreliable, produce inconsistent results, and take more time to debug instead of working on targeted tasks, which will reduce confidence and increase delay in delivery. On the other hand, known people write automation scripts that can run smoothly, complete tasks on time, and provide reliable and constant results.
▶️Myth 8: Automation testing can be written by professional experts only.
Reality: If you want to write an automation script, then a person with knowledge of technology is required. However, nowadays many automation tools are available, such as UiPath Studio and Automation Anywhere, which allow you to do automation testing by learning tools only.
Example: A non-technical person who has to spend hours adding data entry of the people into software undergoes short training in automation tools such as UiPath Studio to automate the data entry process to save significant time on repetitive tasks.
▶️Myth 9: Automation scripts can run on all the build versions.
Reality: Automation scripts can run on multiple versions, but if any change occurs in the application due to a requirement change or new functionality addition, it will fail, and automation testers have to update it to run and pass successfully.
Example: The client put the requirement of adding a new field as mandatory in the registration form. The already written script will fail as the fields were not present in the script. The automation tester needs to update the script to make it pass. Moreover, if the client asks to add new functionality, like adding a forgotten password link, then the already scripted test scenario will pass into the newly arrived build as well.
▶️Myth 10: Automated tests never fail.
Reality: Automated tests can fail for reasons such as bugs occurring, requirement changes, and environmental issues in the software or application. To make sure automated scripts run smoothly, maintenance and modification are required into scripts.
Example: If the tester wrote a test script according to the requirement shared by the client for the registration form and there is a bug in the form that the register button is not enabled, then the automation script will fail until that bug is resolved by the development team.
▶️Myth 11: Automation guarantees success.
Reality: Automation testing helps the development process to deliver a high-quality product, but it can not be guaranteed because it can fail due to some glitch, unfound scenario, occasionally failing to detect bugs, and not selecting the right tools and technologies.
Example: A company decided to perform automation testing for their newly developed e-commerce website using the latest tools and technologies and asked a team to work on it without verifying their skill sets. As a result, the company needs to face post-release defects due to poorly written scripts and lack of maintenance.
▶️Myth 12: Automation test scripts take a lot of work to maintain.
Reality: With proper planning, good design principles, and selecting robust frameworks, automation test scripts can be created highly maintainable.
Example: The team used the framework selenium with POM design to separate logic from test scripts. It allows the team to change the web elements only instead of the whole script when the UI of the application changes.
▶️Myth 13: Automation testing gives immediate ROI.
Reality: Automation testing offers long-term benefits, and it takes time to give positive ROI. Once automation scripts are set up properly and show profit ROI, it will save time, cost, and resources in the long term.
Example: A company needs 100 hours of manual testing per release, and the per-hour testing rate is 50 dollars. For every release, the company needs to spend $5,000 to get high-quality software. The initial setup of automation testing might take 200 hours, which costs $10,000, but once setup is done, automated tests run in 10 hours per release, costing $500 to the company. So automation testing can save money, and time in the long term and not the short term.
Conclusion:
To conclude, there are various misconceptions in the IT world regarding automation testing. However, automation testing is amazing for projects if it takes place by carefully understanding requirements, choosing the right tools and technologies, and the right team members. It is not just a trend; it has become an important phase of the development life cycle to deliver products promptly with high quality and less cost. We hope that this blog clarifies your misunderstanding regarding automation testing and that you can make proper decisions regarding the products.
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