The type of testing we conduct for software products depends on a number of criteria. To give the end user high-quality outputs, we employ testing. One of the key phases of the software development life cycle is testing. In our role as testers, manual testing comes first in the process. However, in order to provide clients with goods that are free of flaws, we have started to rely on automated testing techniques in accordance with the situation at hand and market expectations.
Without manual testing, automation testing is insufficient. We wish to assist you in making a decision on the use of automated vs. manual testing more quickly when a customer is unsure.
To ensure that all of the software’s features are functioning as intended, we can use functional user interface (UI) testing and API testing during automation testing. Depending on the needs, we can use tools like “Postman,” “SOAP UI,” or “Rest Assured” for API testing, and Selenium, Test Complete, or any other comparable solutions on the market for UI Functionality testing.
In functional-based automation testing, we ascertain that all functionality is functioning as expected based on the existing UI of the application, however, in API testing we test for the web services as part of integration testing to check whether it fits our expectations or not.
The majority of automated testing solutions are made to test any type of functionality, including button and image upload capabilities, among others. Nevertheless, no matter the automation framework you use, there are some processes that cannot be automated. And occasionally, the automation framework you’ve chosen to use doesn’t actually allow the kind of testing you’re hoping it will. For instance, selenium won’t be supported for window-based applications if you wish to test any such applications. Therefore, it is essential that you have some familiarity with the automation framework in addition to the test cases you intend to automate.
In order to assist you in selecting the appropriate testing option for your requirements and resources, we have developed a series of questions.
- How frequently should your test suite—which consists of a number of test cases—be run?
Automation testing is the greatest option if you want to run your test suite a lot of times within a test cycle. When automation is used, repeated testing does not take much time.
- Which test cases should be prioritized?
Compared to other features, some are more likely to fail. To prevent human mistakes such as the feature being overlooked during the testing cycle, it is preferable to test such a high-priority product using automation testing techniques. You can without a doubt carry out the test cases manually for the other functionalities of the applications.
- What about testing using data parameters?
It becomes tedious and time-consuming to repeat the same operations when you have to run the same test on several data sets. In order to prevent it, we choose automation testing because it reduces the need for human labor and saves time and money.
- In the case of the Smoke/Regression Test Suite?
Regression testing involves checking a number of key program features to ensure that no new issues have been introduced into the application’s functionality that were previously working as intended after developers make some changes. After each cycle of defect correction, regression suits must be evaluated. When it comes to regression testing, we advise opting for automation testing because these test suites contain a sizable number of test cases that must be executed after each cycle of fault rectification or whenever new functionality is added to the system.
- What if the user interface and functionality are always changing?
Manual testing is the best course of action when changes to the application’s UI or functionality occur frequently because it is very difficult to maintain automated test cases in such circumstances because doing so would take a lot of time, which would raise the cost as well. We choose manual testing when there are any questionable modifications.
- Are you trying out the software program for the first time?
When testing a website or piece of software for the first time, we frequently use manual testing to observe how the application behaves and determine whether or not it is functioning as intended. The likelihood of finding many issues when testing a product for the first time is very high. Once the program is solid, we can move on to automated testing.
- What if there are exploratory tests?
Without explicit test cases or scripts, ad hoc testing is performed. This kind of testing is better suited to human testing than automation testing since it calls for the tester to be flexible, create test cases on the spot, and investigate the application in different ways.
Only human-triggered actions are carried out in automation test cases. We, therefore, carry out manual testing anytime you want to investigate the application’s various behavior in such circumstances.
We have the chance to find out “what will happen if I choose this way or that way” through exploratory or ad-hoc testing. Since there are no boundaries for test cases in ad hoc testing, it will provide us with an application curve graph.
In conclusion,
In the realm of software testing, knowing when to choose between manual testing and automation testing is a fundamental aspect covered in the manual testing online course, catering to both manual testing for beginners and experienced testers. Manual testing, as the cornerstone of quality assurance, relies on human intervention to meticulously assess software functionality, usability, and exploratory testing. In contrast, automation testing, a topic deeply explored in the manual and automation testing courses, utilizes scripts and tools for repetitive, large-scale, and regression testing. Understanding the nuances of when to opt for manual or automation testing is vital to ensure a well-rounded testing strategy tailored to specific project requirements.
