Automation testing was the buzzword in the world of testing. But it has become quintessential and helped companies adopt the latest features and ensure a bug-free experience simultaneously. This mode of testing ensures an increase in test coverage and paved the way for the improved productivity of developers and QA testers. But it is needless to mention that manual testing has maintained its relevance in the software development ecosystem.
The world of testing is an extensive area that has multiple categories like:
- Performance testing
- Load testing
- System integration testing
- System testing
- Black box testing
- White-box testing
Most of the mentioned categories perform at their best with automation, while the rest work optimally with manual testing.
Now, it comes to explain the concept of Manual testing and its significance & relevance in the testing world.
It is a type of software testing in which the tester is not supposed to use any automation tool and execute all the test cases manually. Going by the name, the purpose of manual testing is to identify the bugs, issues, defects in the software applications. Now, in the Digital 5.0 ecosystem, it is considered as one of the primary techniques of all testing types and it helps to find our critical bugs in software applications.
Talking about its relevance, every new application must be tested manually before its automated testing. In terms of efforts, manual requires more effort than automation and doesn’t require the knowledge of any testing tool. But in terms of software testing fundamentals, “100% automation is not possible. This point makes manual testing necessary to meet ends.
Goals of Manual Testing
- The prime goal of manual testing is to make software or application bug-free and it works in accordance with the specified requirements.
- It makes sure that all the reported defects are fixed by developers and the build is re-tested on the fixed issues.
- It gives affirmation about the quality of the system and delivers software without any lags and bugs.
Types of Manual Testing
- Black Box Testing
- White Box Testing
- Unit Testing
- Acceptance Testing
- System Testing
- Integration Testing
A Journey to the evolution of Testing: Manual to Automation Testing
Today technology is changing instantly and organizations irrespective of their domains have to adopt the latest one to flourish and stay relevant. They always crave rapid development and in a constant race to adopt agile methodologies to stay ahead of the competition.
Faster development was also introduced as a subset of Agile methodologies to implement new features within a sprint. And obviously, to keep the development cycles shorter, the destined time to test software has reduced now. This scarcity of dedicated testing time has paved the way for more bugs that leads to a bad experience for users.
As per the survey by Statista in 2015, developers around the world listed the reason for insufficient time for the 32% of the software project failures.
In terms of performance, Manual testing performs optimally when it comes to quick results and analysis. But when it comes to repeated iterations and execution of the code, manual testing lacks ability. And as it consumes more time, it can’t match up when the scale is huge and cause unnecessary details.
This is where Automation testing is required. Because it has the ability to run parallel tests on multiple devices, browser versions, and operating systems and identify bugs automatically.
So when it comes to maximum device coverage, the minimum time for testing, and the budget is the constraint, Automaton selenium testing is the most optimal option.
What is Automation Testing?
This testing method uses frameworks to run tests on parallel devices. The idea is to script each framework with the rules of automation related to the software to be tested.
The frameworks are integrated with the multiple components, namely as:
- Reusable modules
- Function libraries
- Test data sources
- Object details
The right automation testing framework can be chosen as per the scenario to deliver optimal performance. The frameworks are also decided as per the project requirement and can be:
- Linear
- Structured
- Data-Driven
- Key-Driven
- Hybrid
- Agile
When to use Automation Testing?
Here are the attributes of Automation Testing over Manual Testing:
- Reliable: The scope of human error is less as tests perform similar operations every time
- Repeatable: The software reaction can be tested through repeated execution
- Programmable: Hidden information can be unearthed through sophisticated tests
- Comprehensive: Parallel multiple tests cover every feature
- Better Quality Software: Most tests can be run in less time to ensure better quality software
- Reusable: The tests can be reused on different versions of an application, even the user interfaces changes
- Fast: Testing enables by machine automated tools is faster than human interference
Why only Automation Testing is not enough and Manual is still required at places?
Automation testing comes with higher accuracy for algorithm-based test cases. But when it comes to UX, aesthetics, functionality, testing ability, automation testing lacks the ability.
Understand this limitation in terms of machine learning. No matter how smart automation is, it simply can’t achieve human-like intelligence and decision-making ability likewise. This is where manual testing still dominates Automation.
Manual VS Automation Testing: A Comprehensive Glimpse
A Road to the Summary
Both methods have their attributes and shortcomings, so the selection of testing models depends on the project requirement. And if you want to identify which type of testing can be done via Manual Testing and which part can be dealt with Automation Testing, get in touch with our testing experts at Mobcoder.
