Test automation management tools
Encyclopedia
Test automation management tools tools are specific tools providing test automation collaborative
environment that is intended to make test automation
efficient, clear for stakeholders and traceable. Since test automation is becoming cross-discipline (i.e. mixes both testing and development practices), the need of specific and dedicated environment for test automation is becoming vital.
usually lacks of reporting, analysis and providing meaningful information about project status from automation perspective. Test management systems from the other hand mostly targeted on manual effort and cannot give all the required information.
Test automation management system leverages automation effort towards efficient and continuous process of delivering test execution and new working tests by:
methodologies and SDLC. In most cases test automation is to cover continuous changes in order to minimize manual regression testing, therefore at glance reporting is essential to be up to date and move project quickly. The changes are usually noted by seeing difference of errors in test logs between day A and day A+1. For example, difference in number of failures (logs errors) signal about probable changes either in AUT or in test code (broken test code base, instabilities) or rarely in both. Quick notice of changes and unified workflow of results analysis, ultimately, reduces cost of testing overall and moreover increase confidence on project quality attributes with clean reporting on hand.
utilizes test automation as primary driver to rapid and high-quality software production. Concepts of green line and thoughtful design supported with test before actual coding assume having special tools to track, analyze and make right decision within TDD process.
which explicitly supposes to have automated test suites as final stage upon building, deployment and distributing new version of software. Basically, based on acceptance test results, a build is declared either as qualified for further testing or not qualified (rejected). CI web dashboards provide all relevant information on all stages of software building including automation test results. However, CI dashboard does not support comprehensive operations and views for automation engineer. This is another reason for having dedicated management tool which can supply high-level data to other project management tools such as CI, test management tools
, issue management, change management.
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
environment that is intended to make test automation
Test automation
Test automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions...
efficient, clear for stakeholders and traceable. Since test automation is becoming cross-discipline (i.e. mixes both testing and development practices), the need of specific and dedicated environment for test automation is becoming vital.
Motivation
Test automationTest automation
Test automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions...
usually lacks of reporting, analysis and providing meaningful information about project status from automation perspective. Test management systems from the other hand mostly targeted on manual effort and cannot give all the required information.
Test automation management system leverages automation effort towards efficient and continuous process of delivering test execution and new working tests by:
- Making transparent, meaningful and traceable reporting for all project stakeholders
- Easing test debugging through built-in test results analysis workflow
- Providing valuable metrics and KPIs – both technical and business-wise (trend analysis, benchmarking, gap analysis, root cause analysis, risk point analysis)
- Grid benchmarking and comparison of test execution days reduces analysis and review effort
- Clean traceability with other testing artifacts (test cases, data, issues, etc)
- Keeping historical data in a single place, easily retrievable
- Post project analysis and automation performance assessment (basically progress of test coverage shows the group performance)
Compliance with Agile
Test automation management tools are perfectly fit AgileAgile
Agile can refer to:*Agility*Agile , an American Thoroughbred racehorse* Agile management*Association of Geographic Information Laboratories for Europe *Agile Software Corporation, a provider of product lifecycle management solutions...
methodologies and SDLC. In most cases test automation is to cover continuous changes in order to minimize manual regression testing, therefore at glance reporting is essential to be up to date and move project quickly. The changes are usually noted by seeing difference of errors in test logs between day A and day A+1. For example, difference in number of failures (logs errors) signal about probable changes either in AUT or in test code (broken test code base, instabilities) or rarely in both. Quick notice of changes and unified workflow of results analysis, ultimately, reduces cost of testing overall and moreover increase confidence on project quality attributes with clean reporting on hand.
TDD
Test-driven developmentTest-driven development
Test-driven development is a software development process that relies on the repetition of a very short development cycle: first the developer writes a failing automated test case that defines a desired improvement or new function, then produces code to pass that test and finally refactors the new...
utilizes test automation as primary driver to rapid and high-quality software production. Concepts of green line and thoughtful design supported with test before actual coding assume having special tools to track, analyze and make right decision within TDD process.
Continuous Integration
Another proper test automation practice is being part of continuous integrationContinuous integration
In software engineering, continuous integration implements continuous processes of applying quality control — small pieces of effort, applied frequently...
which explicitly supposes to have automated test suites as final stage upon building, deployment and distributing new version of software. Basically, based on acceptance test results, a build is declared either as qualified for further testing or not qualified (rejected). CI web dashboards provide all relevant information on all stages of software building including automation test results. However, CI dashboard does not support comprehensive operations and views for automation engineer. This is another reason for having dedicated management tool which can supply high-level data to other project management tools such as CI, test management tools
Test management tools
Test management tools are used to structure automated tests and manual test processes, and to easily manage multiple environments. Quality assurance teams use these types of tools as a single application for managing test cases, environments, automated tests, defects and project tasks...
, issue management, change management.
See also
- Test managementTest managementTest management is the activity of managing some tests. A test management tool is software used to manage tests that have been previously specified. It is often associated with automation software...
- Test automationTest automationTest automation is the use of software to control the execution of tests, the comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, the setting up of test preconditions, and other test control and test reporting functions...
- Test management toolsTest managementTest management is the activity of managing some tests. A test management tool is software used to manage tests that have been previously specified. It is often associated with automation software...