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What is Automation Testing? Ultimate Guide & Best Practices

Software is literally carrying our modern world. They are so deeply entrenched in our life that a single bug is enough to cause rippling damage. I mean, who can possibly forget the unprecedented 8.5 million blue-screens-of-death around the globe in Jul 2024 that caused a loss of $10 billion? That's the power of a bug. Crowdstrike blue screen of death event in New York airport Jul 2024
That’s when software testing, and more specifically automation testing, comes to the rescue. If software testing is simply checking bugs then automation testing is checking-bugs-on-steroid. It significantly speeds up testing while freeing up bandwidth for testers to focus on strategic tasks.

Want to learn more about automation testing? This article’s got you covered!

What is Automation Testing?

Automation testing is the practice of using scripts and specialized tools to automate the execution of tests to check for issues in the system and ensure that it is working as expected. Those automation scripts and tools directly command the Application Under Test (AUT) to perform all actions on behalf of the tester.

Thanks to automation testing, testers don’t have to manually interact with the system over and over, which is a time-consuming process. All they have to do is click the “Run” button, sit back, and let the script do the work.

automation-testing-meme-r-programmerhumour

Source: r/ProgrammerHumour

Is automation worth it? Yes, if the specific test case you are automating is highly repetitive. You’d be better off spending 1 hour scripting for a test that can then be automatically run hundreds of times than manually executing it hundreds of times all by yourself.

Benefits of Automation Testing

Automation testing is the best way to enhance effectiveness, broaden test coverage, and improve execution speed. Here are some of the obvious benefits you can get from automation testing:

1. Improved Accuracy

Automation testing eliminates human error by following exact, predefined steps every time, ensuring consistent execution without missed steps.

2. Increased Speed

Automated tests run 24/7 without breaks and can be executed in parallel, allowing dozens or hundreds of tests to run simultaneously, significantly reducing testing time.

3. Cost Savings

Although there’s an initial investment in creating and maintaining test scripts, the long-term benefits in speed, accuracy, and consistency lead to substantial savings, especially for complex projects.

4. Enhanced Test Coverage

Automated tests can be reused across multiple browsers, devices, and operating systems. Cloud environments make it easy to test on older versions as well.

5. Improved Test Reusability

Once automated tests are created, they can be reused in future test cycles. There's no need to recreate them—just run the existing scripts as needed.

6. Continuous Testing

Automated tests can be integrated into the development process, running automatically whenever new changes are made, ensuring ongoing quality checks throughout the pipeline.

If you're a software business or an individual working in the digital industry, investing in automation testing will surely bring immense benefits to your product development process.

Learn More: Benefits of Automation Testing You Should Know

Which Test Cases To Automate?

Yes, automation testing is awesome, but not all tests can be automated. It’s all about “automation feasibility”.

So, what makes a test case feasible for automation? There are several:

Tests that need to be run frequently and repeatedly
Tests that require large datasets and many iterations
Tests that take too long or just tedious when done manually
Tests requiring execution on multiple hardware and software platforms

Before starting automation, make sure to go through this step. Striking a nice balance between manual tests for ad-hoc, non-repetitive test cases and automated tests for time-consuming, repetitive test cases is how you maximize test coverage.

With that in mind, here are the types of tests that should be automated:

Smoke Tests – Basic checks to ensure core functionality works.
Regression Tests – Verify that new changes don’t break existing features.
Data-Driven Tests – Run the same test with different data sets.
Unit Tests – Check individual components or functions.
Cross-Browser Tests – Ensure the app works across different browsers and devices.

How To Do Automation Testing?

Software Testing Life Cycle by Katalon

Testing, in general, follows the Software Testing Life Cycle, which consists of 6 stages:

Requirement analysis
Test planning
Test case development
Environment setup
Test execution
Test cycle closure

No matter if you’re doing manual testing or automation testing, these steps are always followed in one way or another. What sets automation testing apart is at the Test case development stage.

For manual testing, you list down the test steps and then manually execute it step-by-step. For automation testing, you go the extra mile of writing the test script, but only have to click the “Run” button to execute.

Of course, there are so many more nuances in-between of this process, so let’s dive in to understand it in more detail!

Step 1. Choose your approach

To do automation testing, you have 2 approaches:

Use a test automation framework
Use a test automation tool

What’s the pros and cons of each? Here is a comparison table for you:

Aspect	Test Automation Tool	Test Automation Framework
Level of Abstraction	Offers a higher level of abstraction, allowing users to automate tests without extensive programming knowledge.	Requires a certain level of programming expertise and understanding of coding principles.
Learning Curve	Typically has a lower learning curve, making it accessible to individuals with limited programming skills.	May have a steeper learning curve, as it requires a deeper understanding of automation principles and programming concepts.
Customization	Provides limited customization options, as users are bound by the features provided by the tool. However, many tools do offer Scripting mode along with low-code mode to increase customization level	Offers extensive customization and flexibility, allowing users to tailor the framework to specific project needs.
Ease of Initial Setup	Generally easier to set up, with user-friendly interfaces and wizards guiding users through the configuration process.	May involve a more complex initial setup, requiring expertise in designing and structuring the framework.
Resource Efficiency	Tends to be more resource-efficient, making it suitable for smaller projects with limited resources.	May be resource-intensive, requiring time, effort, and expertise.
Maintenance	Easier to maintain, as updates and changes are typically managed by the tool provider.	Requires regular maintenance
Integration with CI/CD	Often provides built-in integration capabilities with Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) systems.	Facilitates seamless integration with CI/CD systems but may require additional configurations and setup.
Community Support	Depending on the popularity of the tool, there may be a supportive community providing resources and assistance.	Frameworks usually have a robust community, offering resources, forums, and support for users.

In other words:

To best utilize a framework, you must have extensive coding knowledge yourself, and the effort to maintain test scripts is significant, but you can freely customize the framework to fit your specific testing needs
A testing tool doesn’t require coding so you can easily create tests much faster. You can switch to coding mode whenever you want (if the tool offers coding mode). Test maintenance is usually taken care of, which reduces the workload. However, you are bound by the features offered by the tool, so it is recommended to list out the features you want from a tool to select the one that best fits your demands.

Step 2. Perform exploratory testing

If this is the first time you do automation testing for a certain system, you should first perform some exploratory testing to understand its features, so that you know what and where to test.

There is really no rule to exploratory testing. It all depends on your intuition, domain knowledge, and experience. Target high-risk areas such as complex features with intricate workflows, recently modified code, integration points, etc.

Ask yourself:

What are the boundaries of this system? What happens when we push those boundaries? For example, what occurs if you input a username that is 10,000 characters long?
What are the error messages? A system can work correctly in one way but fail in hundreds of ways. Focusing on these scenarios can uncover many unexpected bugs.
What confusions have you encountered? If a certain area of the product seems confusing, is there something wrong with it?

Let’s Game It Out is a let’s play YouTube channel by a guy named Josh with chaotic evil energy. He embodies the exploratory testing spirit. Josh sets out to push every game he plays to its absolute limit and breaks the system. If you’re doing exploratory testing, do it like Josh.

Here's a fun video of how he breaks the game:

Once you have understood the system, you can start defining where to automate.

Step 3. Write the tests

Here comes the fun part (yay).

Selenium and Cypress are two of the most popular automation testing frameworks out there. They support a wide variety of languages, so you can write in the one you feel the most comfortable with. Here’s a simple Selenium script written in Python to launch a browser, navigate to a website, click a button, and check if a certain result appear.

from selenium import webdriver
# Set up WebDriver (e.g., Chrome)
driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='path_to_chromedriver')

# Navigate to a website
driver.get("https://testwebsite.com")

# Interact with elements (find a button and click it)
button = driver.find_element_by_id("myButton")
button.click()

# Check the result
assert "Expected Result" in driver.page_source

# Close the browser
driver.quit()

To familiarize with the commands, simply go through their documentation.

With automation testing tools, you usually get a host of features to support your test creation activity. For example, in Katalon Studio, you can leverage the Record-and-playback feature to record on-screen actions and turn them into an automation test script.

You can also use the Built-in keywords from the Keyword Library. These keywords are basically just pre-written code snippets to automate specific actions. String these keywords together and you should have a full test script ready to be executed across any environment.

built-in keyword driven framework in Katalon Studio

For example, for the same test script above, you can piece these keywords together:

Open Browser (Chrome)
NavigateToURL (https://testwebsite.com)
Click (Element ID: myButton)
VerifyElement (driver.page_source)
CloseBrowser

Start Automation Testing With Katalon For Free

Step 4. Prepare test environment

There will be clear hardware-software specifications for any testing projects, and that includes requirements on servers, databases, OS, browsers, and any third-party tools needed to perform the test.

For example, if you want to test a Login page, you need to prepare the browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge), devices in a wide variety of versions (desktop, tablet, laptop, mobile), Operating system with suitable versions, and even suitable network conditions.

There are 3 types of environment you can go with:

Run tests locally with your device being the environment itself
Run tests remotely leveraging services like Selenium Grid or virtual machines
Run tests on-cloud leveraging platforms like AWS DeviceFarm

execute test cases in Katalon Studio

Step 5. Manage the tests

Test management is the glue that ties all testing activities together. It provides the much-needed structure and visibility to ensure a successful testing process.

It is about building a Testing Center of Excellence. This center is the central governing body that manages a shared pool of testing resources. For example, you can leverage Katalon TestOps to plan tests, schedule test runs, organize test suites, manage test data/artifacts/objects, and centralize test reporting.

manage your automation tests in Katalon TestOps

Thanks to this unification, stakeholders from QA teams, devs, and PMs can gain a shared visibility on the testing process, which improves overall efficiency.

Step 6. Execute tests & analyze results

With all that ready, you can start test execution and gather results.

Katalon vs Selenium smart test reporting built-in

Read more: Steps To Build A Good Automation Test Report

Challenges of Automation Testing

Of course, automation testing is not without its challenges. There is usually some compromise to be made when you want to increase testing speed. What’s important is whether that compromise is worth it or not.

According to the State of Quality Report 2024, the most prevalent challenge to automation testing is the team's lack of skills and experience in test automation, with up to 45% of respondents agreeing, followed by 38% thinking that requirements change too often, and another 26% claiming that test maintenance is costly.

challenges of applying automation testing

→ Download the State of Quality Report 2024 to get the latest industry insights

Automation Testing Best Practices

1. Start with High-Priority Tests

Begin by automating your regression and smoke tests. These are the most important, run frequently, and cover critical features that don’t change often. Automating them first saves time, reduces risks, and provides fast feedback on core functions.

2. Use Data-Driven Testing

Avoid hardcoding test data into scripts. Instead, separate test data from test logic. This makes your tests more flexible and reusable. Think of it like swapping outfits—you keep the core test and just change the data to run multiple scenarios easily.

3. Build Modular, Reusable Scripts

Write reusable scripts to avoid repetitive work. For example, if you have a login script, make it a module. Then, whenever a test requires login, reuse that module. This saves time, simplifies updates, and keeps your scripts cleaner and easier to maintain.

Read More: Top 6 Types of Test Frameworks

4. Regularly Review and Update Tests

Automation isn’t a “set it and forget it” process. Software changes, so your tests must evolve too. Review and update tests regularly to keep them accurate, reliable, and relevant. It’s easier to fix small issues early than deal with major problems later.

5. Integrate with CI/CD Pipelines

Connect your tests to CI/CD pipelines to automate the whole process. Every time a developer pushes new code, tests run automatically and give quick feedback. Fast feedback leads to quicker fixes, smoother releases, and happier users.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, automation testing is a critical component of any software development process. With the right tools and approach, organizations can improve the speed and accuracy of their testing, catch bugs earlier in the development cycle, and ultimately deliver better products to their customers.

If you don't know which test cases to start with, here’s a list of popular test cases for you. They should give you a good foundation of how to approach a system as a tester.

FAQs On Automation Testing

1. What are the skills required for automation testing?

Automation testers need:

Programming skills (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript)
Knowledge of automation tools (Selenium, Cypress, Appium)
Understanding of test frameworks, CI/CD integration
Problem-solving abilities
Familiarity with version control and test management tools

2. What tool is used for automation testing?

Popular tools include:

Selenium (for web applications)
Cypress (modern web apps)
Appium (mobile apps)
Postman (API testing)
Katalon (all-in-one automation testing solution)
Jenkins (CI/CD)
TestNG or JUnit (test management).

Each tool has their own pros and cons. Make sure to choose a tool based on your project needs.

3. How do you automate testing?

Automating testing involves:

Choosing a tool that fits your application
Writing scripts in a supported language (e.g., Java, Python).
Integrating with CI/CD pipelines for continuous testing.
Running tests and analyzing reports to identify issues.

4. Is automation testing a good career?

Yes, automation testing is a highly in-demand career with strong growth prospects. Companies are moving towards DevOps and Agile methodologies, making automation essential for faster, reliable testing. Automation testers are well-paid and have opportunities to work across various industries.

5. Does automation testing have a future?

Absolutely! Automation testing is the future of QA as it enables faster software delivery with higher accuracy. It’s evolving with AI/ML-based testing, self-healing tests, and cloud testing, ensuring long-term demand in the tech industry.