Test automation process is one of the many new technologies used in analyzing and evaluating test results that appears to be a big help in companies. Private organizations, businesses and even governments are able to produce quick results through the use of this system.
This process is most commonly used in systems operated by functional, regression, exception or negative, performance and load testing. Functional testing is the process when the performed operations meet the expectations. Regression testing is when the system’s behaviour remains the same. Exception or Negative testing, on the other hand, forces error condition through out the system. Stress testing determines the capacities of the operational infrastructure and the application.
While Performance testing assures that there will be adequate system performance for both online transactions and batch runs that are relevant to business requirements and projections. Lastly, the Load testing determines the situation when the software or hardware upgrades would be needed due to degraded performance and capacity of the system. These system operations are used basically in different industries that held testings which need fast results.
There are also two approaches on test automation. The code-driven testing which is used to validate returned results and the graphical user interface or GUI testing which is used to check if the program’s observable behaviour is correct.
There are plenty of advantages brought to us by using this automated process. The most common and the most essential benefit is that this process provides quick results. It is ten times faster than the manual process. It can save not only time but the effort and use of man power as well. This is also the reason of its widespread use in companies and other government institutions.
The test automation process is also used in bulk testings that need to produce bulk results at a given time. That’s why this process is preferred in most countries’ election process. Another advantage is that this process, when operated correctly, is very reliable. It can precisely perform its task every time you use it. It should be operated by a reliable operator though. Less involvement of staffs means less human error.
Another advantage in using automated process is that it is repeatable. You can use the software repeatedly in analyzing commonly repeated tests. And this process is also programmable and reusable. You can easily program the software and reuse it on the application’s other different versions.
However, the test automation process, just like any other products of technology, has its disadvantages. The use of this automated system is quite costly and this also requires high maintenance level. Another disadvantage is that this process is case sensitive. The raw data that are analyzed in automated machines should be marked correctly so that the information is clearly recognized by the machine. It should also be free from unnecessary marks to avoid sending wrong information.
Another major disadvantage is that this system does not provide one hundred percent accuracy in analyzing results. The main cause is because of its sensitivity, as stated above, that it gathers unnecessary and wrong data. It is also difficult to handle technical problems and to troubleshoot the automated machine problems. The operator should be knowledgeable enough to know how to fix these problems. It is a major issue in debugging test scripts. Sometimes it can cause a huge trouble if there is an error present in the test script.
