Imagine this: You’ve just rolled out a small update to your application, but suddenly a core feature stops working. Sound familiar? That’s where automated regression testing comes to the rescue. It's like having a diligent, tireless assistant that constantly checks your software for unintended side effects every time you make a change.
Let’s dive into how automated regression testing can transform your software development process, saving you time, money, and sleepless nights.
Automated regression testing utilizes specialized tools to automatically verify that recent changes to the codebase—such as bug fixes, feature updates, or performance enhancements—haven’t introduced new defects or broken any existing functionality in the application. It ensures that older, stable features continue to perform as expected, even after modifications are made.
In other words, automated regression testing acts like a safeguard, continuously checking that your software's core functionalities remain intact and unaffected by the latest updates. It saves time, increases test coverage, and ensures that new code integrates seamlessly without compromising the reliability of the system.
Automation gives you instant feedback on new changes, helping you detect and fix bugs before they become bigger issues. Instead of waiting for manual testers to sift through test cases, automated tests run swiftly after each code update. This means problems are identified early, reducing the back-and-forth between developers and testers, and ultimately speeding up your development cycles.
Manual testing is not only repetitive but also time-consuming and expensive. By automating regression tests, you drastically cut down on the hours spent manually re-running the same tests. Think of it as an upfront investment that pays off with faster releases and more efficient use of your team’s time. No more tedious manual work—just set it up, and let the tests run themselves.
Some may counter this point with the argument that automation is costly. Indeed, it requires resources to set up, but automated regression testing saves significant time and effort in the long run.
Automated regression testing allows you to cover more ground, running thousands of test cases in the time it would take a manual tester to complete just a few. This means you can test more scenarios, edge cases, and environments without overwhelming your team, ensuring that every part of your software is thoroughly checked after each update.
Unlike humans, automated tests don’t get tired or overlook things. They run the same tests, in the same way, every single time. This level of consistency means you can trust the results and catch any regressions reliably, no matter how complex the environment. Whether you're testing on different browsers, operating systems, or devices, automation ensures that your software performs as expected across the board.
Start by identifying which parts of the application are most vulnerable to breakage. These are usually the areas that have been around for a while, have undergone multiple changes, or are used frequently by users. Ask yourself:
These are the areas that need regression testing the most. If your software is complex, prioritization becomes even more important. Start with the most critical functionalities that users depend on daily. For example, in an e-commerce application, the checkout process is non-negotiable—it must be thoroughly tested each time.
From a technical standpoint, the process of evaluating your regression testing needs begins by auditing the existing test coverage. Use code coverage tools to identify which parts of your codebase have been tested and which haven't. However, don’t rely on code coverage alone; it’s not always a perfect indicator of quality. Instead, analyze historical defect data to pinpoint areas where bugs have historically emerged.
Regression testing is typically performed in the following scenarios:
We know what tests to run. However, not all tests should be automated. 100% automation testing is a myth (at least for now).
Some test cases are just not suitable for automation since they are too complex or too dynamic to automate efficiently. Focus on stable, repetitive test cases that yield consistent results across multiple runs. For example, test scenarios like form submissions, login processes, and backend calculations are typically stable and ideal for automation.
Learn More: Top Test Cases For Login Page To Consider
Of course, there are certain scenarios where human intuition, creativity, and judgment are irreplaceable. Exploratory testing is a good example. Only after doing exploratory testing can you start test automation.
When it comes to automation testing in general (not just automated regression testing), you have 2 approaches to choose from:
There’s no right or wrong answer, really. It all depends on your team’s needs and anticipated growth rate.
Here’s a table summarizing the pros and cons of using a test automation framework vs. a test automation tool:
Criteria | Test Automation Framework | Test Automation Tool |
Flexibility | Highly customizable and integrable with different tools and languages | Limited customization, dependent on the vendor’s features |
Cost | Often free or low-cost with open-source options | Typically requires expensive licensing fees |
Ease of Setup | Complex setup; requires technical expertise | Easy setup with minimal configuration |
Maintenance | High maintenance overhead; you manage updates and troubleshooting | Vendor handles updates, bug fixes, and troubleshooting |
Learning Curve | Steeper learning curve; more technical skills required | User-friendly with minimal coding knowledge needed |
Support | Community-based support, which can be inconsistent | Dedicated vendor support with regular updates |
Scalability | Can scale and evolve with your project needs | May not scale well for larger or highly customized projects |
Vendor Lock-in | No lock-in, you control the framework | Locked into the vendor’s ecosystem, limiting flexibility |
Control | Full control over test design, execution, and reporting, but requires technical expertise to develop | Limited control; restricted by the tool’s features, but |
Let’s see how you can write automated regression tests in Katalon Studio:
With your test cases ready, it’s time for execution!
With automated regression testing, there are several execution strategies:
Read More: How To Build a Good Regression Test Suite?
So we know what to execute and how to execute. Now we need to figure out where to execute:
Category | Options |
Browsers | - Chrome - Firefox - Safari - Edge - Chromium - IE (for Windows only) |
TestCloud | - Cloud-based environment in Katalon Platform - Available for executing test suite and test suite collection |
Headless Browsers (execute with GUI to save resources) | - Chrome (headless) - Firefox (headless) |
Remote | With this option, you can select a remote environment to run tests. |
Mobile Devices | - Android - iOS |
The challenge here is that you may want to test on so many environments, but the company resources may not be able to accommodate all of that. Usually QA teams have 2 options when it comes to configuring test environments:
Read More: Emulator vs Simulator vs Real Device: A Comparison
One of the most challenging parts of automation testing is test maintenance. The codebase continuously evolves, and testers need to continuously update their automated test scripts to reflect those changes too.
Test maintenance is what makes some people wary of automation. Why add extra work to an already high workload? But then at the end of the day testers gotta do what they gotta do.
To combat this in automated regression testing, you’d need self-healing. Self-healing is an intelligent software testing solution used to prevent test issues from arising due to changes in application’s UI or web elements.
Put simply, an automated test relies on “locator” to identify which web element to interact with. During test execution, if the original locator is changed (or broken), the self-healing algorithm automatically seeks for an alternative locator.
Once the broken object is self-healed, the alternative locator that successfully located the object will be used for the remainder of the test execution. This optimizes execution time by preventing repeated self-healing attempts on the same broken object.
Here's a quick webinar to show you Self-healing can solve your test maintenance challenges:
It’s called regression testing because it checks for regressions, meaning it ensures new code changes don’t break existing features. It's like making sure you don’t accidentally go backward after fixing something or adding new functionality.
To automate, choose an automation tool like Selenium or Katalon Studio, and identify key test cases. Write automated scripts, integrate them into a CI/CD pipeline, and the tests will run automatically after each code update, ensuring the app stays bug-free.
You can reduce time by prioritizing critical test cases, running tests in parallel, automating repetitive tests, and removing redundant test cases. This helps streamline the process without sacrificing quality.
Retesting focuses on checking whether specific bug fixes worked, while regression testing checks that the new code didn’t break anything else in the system.
It depends on the project size, but it can take hours or days. Automation speeds up the process, ideally fitting into your development cycle without causing delays. The faster, the better!