Designing An Automated Functional Testing Strategy

Automated Functional testing is a critical component of software development as it is essential to have the most powerful and influential automation tool available on the market. It can perform various testing actions such as running scheduled automated tests, monitoring results, sending records to separate issue-tracking systems, and a lot more.

For a successful automated functional testing for software delivery, you must have a predefined structure and strategy to save time and test maintenance. 

Today’s article will discuss factors you should consider while automating and a strategy to design automated functional testing.‍

Functional Testing and Its Importance

Functional testing is a process of software testing that verifies that each software application function works in compliance with pre-determined business requirements and specifications.

The foremost objective of functional testing is to validate the application’s functionality and guarantee that it matches your client’s business requirements before the commencement of the project.

Your organization should care about functional testing because it ensures the fulfillment of all the requirements. It also confirms every necessary and basic functionality is working fine in the product. 

Furthermore, it is highly advisable to carry functional testing at an early stage of development so that you can log bugs and possible areas of improvement at the right time.

Also check: Benefits of Using Automated Functional Testing

Why Automated Functional Testing?

Automated functional testing applies tools and technology for testing software to overcome testing difficulties and deliver excellent results faster and more affordably. It can enhance the robustness and scope of tests to build better, high-grade, and quality software with less effort. 

With automated functional testing tools, your company delivers high-quality results that push your end-users' requirements and guarantee that they are happy with the end product. Your customers compel faster processing of voluminous tasks and turnaround timelines, which you can offer them by designing an automated functional testing strategy.

Recommended Post: Functional Test Automation 101: How & When to Start

Building a Successful Automated Functional Testing Strategy

To build a successful automated functional testing strategy for your next big project, let us walk you through the steps below:

#1. Set your goals 

There are multiple test tools available today in the market. However, it doesn’t mean you automate everything you can. The primary step is defining your goals and having a clear objective regarding the features and functionality you want to test.

#2. Selecting testing framework for automation

The test automation framework is a kit of comprehensive guidelines that you need to understand while writing and running your functional tests — for instance, coding standards, procedures, test-data recording, and more. 

#3. Select automation tool

Testing largely depends on your choice of tools. While selecting the right Automated functional testing tools, you should understand the technology supporting the application and the test specifications of the application under test (AUT).

Also read: Choosing the right tools for automated mobile app testing

One more factor in selecting the right automated functional testing tools is the adaptability with the tech stack of the AUT.

#4. Create and run the tests

After setting your goals and selecting the appropriate tools and frameworks, it is time to write the code and execute the scripts. 

Some basic protocols to follow while writing test case templates include:

• Checking for already registered test cases to reduce redundancy.
• Writing bug-free test cases concisely and understandably.
• Executing high-priority test cases first. 
  

#5. Maintain scripts

Maintaining your functional tests scripts means scrutinizing the testing parameters. Implementing a functional test may take extra time when your product is rich in features and under-exploits test automation’s importance. For such scenarios, maintaining test cases exhibits a significant purpose.

#6. Compare Results

Toward the end, you should compare the output of the test results with preset use-case results to check for any practical residual errors. If there is an error, you need to check for bugs and optimize the code. If there are no bugs, you have completed the strategic planning.

Also read - Unit, Integration, and Functional Testing: 4 main points of difference

Identifying Scenario to Use Automated Functional Testing

It would be best if you considered various factors to understand whether automating the test case is ideal for the given scenario or not. Here are some points to execute:

• Look out for the frequency at which you are planning to run particular test cases.
• Check the total number of test cases you have included in your standard test suite.
• Prioritize the features in the application under the test.
• Sort the order of test cases in advance.
• Test single functionality with multiple datasets. 
  

Know Some of the Risks Associated with Not Automating Your Test Cases

If you plan not to automate your functional test cases, you have a conventional go-to method for short-term GUI-oriented projects demanding minor changes. But, you will exceed time and human efforts for the project delivery.

Suppose your company still decides to go with the traditional testing method. Then, you may consider that it will be less reliable than automation testing. Humans perform traditional testing, and consequently, it will always be more prone to errors and mistakes. Also, traditional testing may often end up being more expensive than automation testing tools in the long run.

However, the trend persists to attain universal adoption where 86% of organizations surveyed by PractiTest & Tea Time with Testers have already adopted automation in their testing processes.

The Time and Money Factors with Automation in the Long Run

Automated tests are computerized programs operated by high-end computers. With the help of various automation tools available in the market, you can evaluate test cases precisely and efficiently. This method is much cheaper than leading a team of employees hired for manual testing chores.

Furthermore, utilizing automated testing tools enables your organization to achieve test execution in less time, even with limited resources. It has a much faster turnaround time (TAT) to market products, significantly reducing the downtime for the product development stage. You can easily support test coverage by writing new scripts and adding them to the test suite environment, saving time.

Final Words

The time needed to write long test scripts and expenses spent on manual testing techniques are the primary obstacles testers face. If you are one of these testers, the tools and techniques that come with automated testing will help you improve your overall testing process.

FAQs

Q1. Explain the difference between a release and a build.

A1.  A build is an executable file developers send to the testers to check for bugs and glitches. If the build fails to meet requirements, the testers reject it. There can be several builds during software development.

The release is the final product. It is when the application no longer needs testing, and the organization sends it to the client. However, a release can have many builds.

Q2. What is Data-driven testing?

A2. Data-driven testing involves executing test scripts for input and output values using data sources like CSV files, Excel spreadsheets, SQL databases, XML files, and CSV files.

Q3. What do you understand by Volume testing?

A3. Volume testing involves testing an app's performance by increasing users and placing massive data loads in an app under test to verify its server throughput and response time.

Q4. What is Boundary Value Analysis?

A4. Boundary value analysis tests valid and invalid partitions' boundaries (maximum and minimum values). Boundaries are areas where testing will help identify errors since behavior at the end of an equivalence partition is more likely to be wrong.