Test automation frameworks offer a perfect environment for executing automation test scripts. These test automation frameworks use guidelines, concepts, practices, coding standards, and many more. It helps because users can follow the standards during automation. There are several types of test automation frameworks you can select from. Based on your requirements, evaluate each one, and then decide on a framework that best suits your needs.
How to select a test automation framework?
To help your organization decide the best framework, check the following considerations:
- Evaluate the technology and application used and the user experience
- Also, evaluate how the application has been developed
- Verify the testing needs and evaluate the application workflow
- Also, understand the licence cost of each automation testing tool
- Determine the expertise level of your team and their knowledge and understanding with various tools
- Consider the testing patterns you plan to include based on your previous test automation experience
- Assess the risks involved in selecting a particular test automation framework
How to implement a test automation framework?
It is not easy to make test automation work, always. Your team may face several hindrances for instance, regarding code policy, resources, maintenance, and updates. However, some practical norms help teams to implement test automation successfully. Consider the following while you implement a test automation framework.
Detailed Planning:
For any test automation framework to be implemented successfully, as a first step, come with a detailed plan for the test automation framework. Arrange and define tools, coding programming languages, and resources, and plan for reporting, test script security, and maintenance. Also, document how the team will develop, store, and implement test automation. Further, it is better to have a clear understanding of how your team will manage version control.
Arrange for Resources:
Identify team members who develop and manage code and test scripts. Documentation and test scripts should be stored in a location that is accessible to all team members. It helps them to work in the desired manner. Moreover, it enhances productivity. Also, arrange for training on the version control system. Identify the tools each team will use to develop a test automation framework. It applies even if you build it from scratch; identify which team would use test script development so that you can save time and effort. If you rely on test automation services, they will do the job for you quite fast and get the upper hand over your competitors within no time!
Establish Policies for Reporting, Logs and Maintenance:
Make sure that you include reporting error logging in your test automation framework. It helps with the analysis of failures in test scripts. Further, it enables testers to remedy script errors. Reporting and error logging are two critical components of a maintenance plan. Your team needs to match the manual test cases with the changes in the application.
Give the Framework a Trial Run:
After building your test automation framework, test it. You can create an automated test suite with full workflows and alternate workflows. You can implement the automated tests and verify results, and, finally, assess the tests by manual execution. Check if the automated tests fail to identify any defects found by manual tests. Adjust the framework based on your needs. Then, implement a test automation framework after addressing the issues.
How Should You Optimize the Test Automation Framework?
You have to consider the following key points to optimize your test automation framework:
- Make your test automation framework user-friendly
- Follow a precise working plan in advance
- Performing code review to help identify bugs in the framework
- Identify the areas that need further improvement through code review
- Use a uniform format for code reviews.
- Make some changes in the framework if you use standard coding, which does not offer optimal efficiency.
- Last but not least, communication is the key. Establish effective communication and provide visibility and fast access to release notes
- Use style guides and coding standards for readability and consistency.
End note
Before you adopt test automation, no matter whether you use code or automation tools, you should understand that complete automation is a distant dream. Therefore, you need to focus on areas where you can execute test automation as per the capabilities of the selected tool.
Rely on reusable components for common tasks to optimize the test automation framework and reduce manual effort. While using data-driven testing, you can use these reusable components to act as a base infrastructure for your processes. Further, they can be implemented with several data sets. Isn’t that pretty nice?
These are a few tips and best practices for managing and optimizing automation testing resources. Further, you can manage it efficiently without breaking your wallet while enhancing the speed and quality of your test automation process and its results.
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