The Most Common Myths About Automated Testing

Automated testing comes with numerous benefits that make it an essential component of the QA fabric of IT service businesses all over the world.

However, its success lies in using it effectively, for which we need to understand its application, its role, and scope within the bigger picture. This is why it is important to rid yourself of misconceptions and myths surrounding test automation.

Here, we take a look at some of the most common misconceptions associated with test automation:

Automated Testing Trumps Manual Testing Every Time

Automated testing is a more efficient and accurate means of carrying out certain types of tests. Repetitive tasks involving checking on facts are where automated testing of utmost value.

However, some types of testing involve investigation and forming opinionated results, where manual testing will always trump automated testing. This is why testing can never become 100 % automated.

Manual and automated testing are, in essence, not competing but complementary methods designed to provide a comprehensive insight into the testing of the application when used in conjunction with one another.

Automated Testing Is More Expensive Than Manual Testing

This is a common misconception because the initial cost of investment in automated testing can be high. Costs include hiring testers and developers, purchasing the software, giving the required training, developing a test automation strategy, etc.

However, this is an investment that pays off big time in the long-run.

Not only do automated tests save manual testers a lot of time, better spent elsewhere in the product development, but they also help reduce product development time, and detect bugs early thereby reducing development costs.

All of this makes automated testing a much more cost-effective option than its manual counterpart.

Automation Guarantees Success

There is this belief that machines and technology will always deliver accurate results and lead to success.

However, the automated software is but a component of the entire automation process. It still needs specialized skills to have scripts written, troubleshooting done, and to be run effectively. And the software can still deliver false positives, run into glitches, and occasionally fail to detect bugs.

Clearly, something with its own points of vulnerability cannot be the guarantor of success for your QA all alone. However, it can increase your likelihood of success and, used in conjunction with other relevant practices, can provide a more comprehensive picture of the application under test.

Only Developers Engage in Automated Testing

Automation testing has been traditionally associated with developers and the general perception is that it is developers who engage in and lead the automated testing process due to their expertise in coding and programming.

However, the status quo has changed. Automation engineers are fast coming to the forefront of driving automation in the workplace.

Trained testers who have the specialized skills and training to deal with various automated processes, can easily write the script tests. This makes them a better, more effective choice to engage in test automation.

Only Professional Experts Can Do Automated Testing

Typically, developers, engineers and architects have been known to write test scripts.

Many people, therefore, believe that considerable coding experience and expertise is a prerequisite for automated testing.

However, these days, there are many software tools that can enable the layman to automate the common tasks by themselves, needing little to no expertise.

A Single Universally Applicable Automation Tool Exists

Does a single test automation tool exist? This is perhaps more the wish of any business, but it is not the case.

Designing a universally applicable tool, which is supported by all the operating systems and compatible with all the browsers, would be a time-taking, complex process, which would prove to be almost prohibitively costly.

These are some of the most common misconceptions about automated testing.

Being able to know the facts about automated testing’s role, applicability, and vulnerability will help you to implement automation to your testing processes more effectively and in the right balance with manual testing and other best practices of the QA department.