Automated Software Testing A Perspective Article by Kerry

Automated Software Testing A Perspective Article by Kerry Zallar of testingstuff. com Presentation by Michael Miller

Automated Testing What is automated testing? Why automate? When and when not to. Important facts about automation. Training. Questions?

What is automated testing? Human tasks performed automatically Types Performance Data Integrity Functional

How? Automated Test Suites IBM Rational Test (SQABASIC) Mercury. Soft Win. Runner/Quicktest (C) Other programmable testing environments (Perl, Shell, etc) Automate throughout the lifecycle

Capture/Playback Pushbutton Click, “Text=OK”, ””

Example Server must report both bad passwords, bad usernames, and the absence of either or both, and allow entry for valid credentials This gives a number of test cases, all of which can be automated, and run quickly

Automated Script ‘Test for bad login credentials Edit. Box Click, ”Text=UID”, ”” Input. Keys “My. Bad. Login. Name Pushbutton Click, ”Text=login”, ”” Browser New. Page, ”” Verify. Table. Cell (“Text=Login Failed”, “Row=2; Col=2”) ‘Test for valid login Pushbutton Click, ”Return” Browser New. Page, ”” Edit. Box Click, ”Text=UID”, ”” Input. Keys “Testuser 23” Edit. Box Click, ”Text=Password”, ”” Input. Enc. Keys ” 13 ad 4 c 93 d 1 f” Pushbutton Click, ”Text=login”, ”” Browser New. Page, ”” Verify. Table. Cell (“Text=Welcome Test. User 23”, ”Row=2; Col=3”)

Result This test is: Fast Computer types faster than a person It doesn’t make typos Re-runnable any number of times.

Why? FAST Shorter development cycle The computer seldom makes mistakes (But users sure do)

When a test is performed frequently When precision is a must When the machine can perform much faster than the tester

When Not To When human vision is required When the test does not answer a Yes/No question When a test is too complex

Important Facts Automation does not replace manual testing Automating only at the end of development will not work Automation must be planned like the software itself Automation must be modularized

Important Facts Test cases and test automation are created by different people Analysts vs. QA Engineers Automation is an investment IBM Rational Robot = $3954

Training Must know or learn a language, such as BASIC, or C Must learn the fundamentals of automated testing Must learn how to use a particular automation tool