Development
Testing is a crucial phase in the software development life cycle, and there's no question about the importance of testing a product before it goes live. However, sometimes you may wonder what the best testing approach is: manual or automated. Why not both? Talking from experience, using a combination of manual and automated testing has shown to be the most comprehensive and effective form of quality assurance.
Keep reading to learn more about this powerful duo and how to make the most out of both.
When we think about manual testing, the first thing that comes to mind is browsing the app and navigating through its features. However, manual testing plays a much more significant role in software quality.
It brings a unique set of skills, intuition, and adaptability into a project that automated tools may struggle to replicate. It brings a human touch to the quality assurance process. Most importantly, without thorough manual testing and resolving all reported bugs, you can’t even begin with automated testing.
The most common types of manual testing are:
Of course, there are many more types of testing that you can use, depending on the app and situation. In certain cases, what appears logical to automation tools may not align with the human perspective. That’s why it’s important to be creative and think outside the box in manual testing.
As apps grow in size and complexity, manual testing becomes more challenging, extensive, and time-consuming. Given these factors, there’s a higher chance of encountering errors that could potentially lead to the release of a production version with bugs. This is when automated testing comes into play. By incorporating automated testing into your project, you can ensure that any previously developed features are tested daily and work properly.
The most common types of automated testing are:
Nowadays, there are plenty of frameworks used for automated testing. For example, Playwright and Cypress are the most popular ones for web apps. For mobile apps, however, it’s Appium and Maestro.
In the end, you can't go wrong with whatever decision you make. The beginning might be a bit challenging, but there are plenty of online resources to provide you the initial support, so there's no need to stress over it.
Every project will require different testing demands. So, before starting a project, make sure to define everything with the team: What type of app are you testing? Is it a web or mobile app? Which devices need to be covered?
It’s important to note that testing is very context-dependent. Depending on the application type, you might use a different approach, methodologies, techniques, and types of testing. For example, when working on a banking app, the QA engineer will have to think about all the crucial testing types that will be needed in the banking sector. In this scenario, it's crucial to test aspects like security, authentication, and error handling in great detail.
On the other hand, there are apps that don’t store as much personal data, like a weather app, which then leads to a different testing approach. Here, it’s crucial to test UI, location, and offline functionality.
Right now, you might be wondering: How do I know which approach to choose? No worries, after an initial kick-off workshop with your project team, the QA engineer will provide you a bigger picture of the QA process. They’ll guide you through the best approach to enhance your app's quality, integrating both automated and manual testing. This approach offers several benefits, such as:
To sum up, both manual and automated testing are essential for achieving the highest standards in software quality assurance. While manual testing offers a unique set of skills, intuition, and a human touch, automated testing provides efficiency and precision in the QA process, especially when the app’s complexity grows.
Embracing both methodologies ensures a comprehensive approach to testing, mitigating the risks associated with human limitations, increasing productivity, satisfaction of end users, and better utilization of the QA budget. By recognizing the complementary strengths of manual and automated testing, you set the stage for projects to succeed in the dynamic software development environment.
Filip is a QA Engineer. Apart from testing, he enjoys mentoring and keeping up with the latest technology trends. In his free time, he likes to cook and work on his squash techniques.