{"id":13475,"date":"2019-01-10T18:43:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T13:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging02.cigniti.com\/blog\/?p=13475"},"modified":"2022-07-19T17:10:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T11:40:28","slug":"role-of-test-automation-in-functional-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cigniti.com\/blog\/role-of-test-automation-in-functional-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Role of Test Automation in Functional Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Per the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Software Test Automation: \u201cCloud and digital business demand a shift toward continuous quality. Application leaders must support their teams in integrating and effectively utilizing test automation tools in their DevOps toolchain, to enable continuous delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an age of feverish go-to-market requirements that demands continuous deployments, test automation comes as a boon for performing and supporting continuous testing and delivery – especially functional testing, that requires testing to be performed continuously in conditions similar to the clients\u2019 software development environment.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a quick look at what is Functional Testing.<\/h4>\n

Functional Testing helps ensure keeping the product aligned to the specifications by testing the functionality of software. It also ensures that test scenarios including boundary cases and failure paths are accounted for. It tests in detail what an application \u2018does\u2019. In functional testing, developers need to set benchmarks that are developer-independent so that they can identify what they have not achieved. As users shall ultimately be running the application on a system along with other applications and the application must endure different user loads, developers need to ensure that every function of the application is crash resistant.<\/p>\n

To provide such a wide coverage of software testing, manual testing requires physical time and the repetitive nature of testing may become monotonous. Thus, to work in a fast, agile environment, organizations must focus on implementing test automation<\/a> practices.<\/p>\n

Implementing Test Automation practices<\/h4>\n

Implementing test automation practices in an organization requires using software that can control test execution and compare the actual outcomes with the predicted outcomes. The process helps to automate tasks that though critical to the workflow, are repetitive in nature. Additionally, test automation can be used to tackle testing that would be otherwise difficult to perform manually.<\/p>\n

Test automation is perfect for large projects or projects that require testing the same areas over and over or projects that have already been through an initial manual testing process. Test automation enables performing comprehensive, end-to-end functional tests that lead to the development of a robust product. As 100% automation is practically impossible to achieve, it is important to choose the right test cases for automation with an aim to automate the critical functionality. Businesses should ensure that testing automation should not be done as an afterthought. Within the context of functional testing, test automation is an integral part of its strategy.<\/p>\n

Role of Test Automation<\/h4>\n

Test automation makes it easier to perform end-to-end, comprehensive functional tests that help develop a robust product, ensuring that software is free of any errors. However, careful and high-level planning and strategizing is required to ensure that the test automation implementation is successful for the organization.
\nHere are a few key aspects that must be considered for adopting test automation for enhancing your Functional Testing practices.<\/p>\n