Software Testing Automation Tips

Quickly access 50 tips for software test engineers using automated methods. The tips point to practices that save time and increase the accuracy and reliability of automated test techniques. Techniques that play well during demos of testing tools often are not the optimal techniques to apply on a running project. This book highlights those differences, helping you apply techniques that are repeatable and callable in professionally run software development projects. Emphasis is placed on creating tests that, while automated, are easily adapted as the software under construction evolves toward its final form. Techniques in the book are arranged into five categories: scripting, testing, the environment, running and logging of tests, and reviewing of the results. Every automation engineer sooner or later will face similar issues to the ones covered in these categories, and you will benefit from the simple and clear answers provided in this book. While the focus of the book is on the use of automated tools, the tips are not specific to any one vendor solution. The tips cover general issues that are faced no matter the specific tool, and are broadly applicable, often even to manual testing efforts. What You'll LearnEmploy best-practices in automated test designWrite test scripts that will easily be understood by othersChoose the proper environment for running automated testsAvoid techniques that demo well, but do not scale in practiceManage tests effectively, including testing of test scripts themselvesKnow when to go beyond automation to employ manual methods insteadWho This Book Is ForSoftware test engineers working with automated testing tools, and for developers working alongside testing teams to create software products. The book will aid test engineers, team leads, project managers, software testers, and developers in producing quality software more easily, and in less time.