The Pros and Cons of Automation Testing

Testing apps and APIs as they are developed and implemented is important, yet it can also be labor-intensive if this is handled manually.

That is where automation testing comes into play, with a growing number of tools allowing for a variety of processes to be carried out automatically.

There are positive and negative aspects to every new innovation, so here is a look at these as they relate to automated software testing.

Cost benefits

The right automation testing tool should be able to reduce the costs involved in putting software through its paces, since it will reduce staffing requirements and also improve the speed with which the testing can be completed.

This has the knock-on effect of allowing projects to be completed more quickly, which in turn allows for savings to be made compared with traditional methods.

There are of course costs to bear when adopting test automation, but those in favor of this strategy argue that they can easily be justified given the reductions that are achieved elsewhere, generating value in the long term.

Accuracy & repeatability

Human testers are prone to making errors, overlooking bugs and generally being fallible, even if they have a lot of experience and knowledge to fall back on. Conversely, once an automated testing tool is up and running, it should be able to carry out its work consistently and accurately time after time.

Furthermore, because many automated systems make use of AI and machine learning, their effectiveness will only improve over time, and they will not be subject to issues like fatigue and forgetfulness, unlike flesh and blood team members.

Adaptability

One area in which automation testing is not necessarily ideal is that of being as adaptable and flexible as manual testing methods. While automation can be ideal for searching for pre-determined problems, it lacks the agility to adapt and improvise which is of course innate to human testers.

Likewise it is worth noting that plenty of bugs are pinpointed by chance, or as a result of a mistake made by a user. Such situations are unlikely to arise in the precisely automated ecosystem from which all manual testing has been eliminated, so certain conundrums may not come to light until after launch as a result.

Reliability

Another point of contention is that while automated testing can perform consistently on an almost indefinite basis, it is also possible for the testing tools themselves to have issues and bugs that deliver suboptimal results, and may even create false positives when looking for certain issues.

This is where it pays to invest a lot of effort in the development and tuning of these tools, which will increase upfront costs. Ongoing maintenance is also necessary to ensure that they are functioning as intended. If you want reliability in your automation testing, then choosing the Testrigor software testing tool is the first thing that you should be doing. You need a way to test automation that’s smooth and streamlined, and Testrigor can help you to do exactly that. Reliability is so important and testing software is a must. The correct software testing can make a massive difference to your business, and the best tools are needed for that to work.

Ultimately a combination of manual and automated testing methods will be needed for the foreseeable future, with the strengths of each outweighing the weaknesses of the other in a mutually beneficial relationship which will catalyze the development process.