How to Overcome the Disadvantages and Limitations of Automation Testing

Whether you are preparing for a product release or want to keep track of your existing project performance, testing is the universal decision. Among all types of software testing, quality assurance (QA) teams highlight the efficacy and usefulness of automation testing.

Before you choose to conduct platform testing with pre-written test scripts, you must know the limitations of automation testing and how to tackle them.

What Is Automation Testing?

Automation testing is a type of software testing method that is performed with the help of testing tools. It requires minimum human impact and can be applied to large test cases. Along with test execution, automated testing includes entering testing data into the system, comparing desired results with the actual ones, and providing reports.

Why Automation Testing Is Required

Before investing in automated testing, many companies approach this decision with caution. To learn more about why this software-checking technique is worth it, read the points below.

• It saves you from failure. With every new update or change in the code, the whole structure changes. And while you hope for a smooth experience, in most cases, bugs occur. Then why risk your reputation and make your customers wait for the fix when they have been using the platform?
• It saves you time in the long run. The fact that while designing automated test cases, quality assurance specialists should dedicate a lot of time and resources is undeniable. But once the set of cases is designed, you can run them repeatedly. Thus, with every new change, you get the software into testing and rest assured you are on the right track.
• It offers the ability to measure code quality precisely. With automated testing tools, you can estimate code reliability and measure its quality using metrics like extensibility, maintainability, clarity, efficiency, etc. The tests co-exist with the code and, therefore, can measure the quality of the code. This opportunity is not given when testing software manually.

Automation Testing Challenges

There is no perfect testing technique, and the limitations of automation testing bring a lot of challenges to testers. Let’s look at some of them.The first is communication between developers, the QA team, stakeholders, and other parties. Collaboration in automation testing is crucial, while in manual testing, this factor is not decisive. When deciding which test cases to prioritize, identifying objectives, and setting goals, there should be a clear understanding of the company’s strategy, which is impossible without other team members. The second limitation relates to choosing a suitable automation testing framework and tools. In most cases, test executors prefer those tools that are promoted on the market. But choosing the wrong ones not only will not bring any benefits but can be damaging.

Another imperfection of automation testing is that for accurate results, real user conditions are needed. But usually, testers use machines like simulators to conduct tests. However, they don’t show all the scenarios users might go through, and thus, are limited. Running a check-up on real devices adds to the complexity of testing. It requires setting up a laboratory, which is quite expensive and time-consuming.

Among the disadvantages of automation testing, you can find stability issues. As devices, especially mobile ones, are going through many updates, the device laboratory also has to update according to the changes.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Automation Testing?

As with every type of testing, automation has advantages and disadvantages. To consider whether to invest in it or not, let’s discover what possibilities it offers for companies.

Automation Testing Advantages

Experts in testing identify the following profits businesses can gain by implementing automation testing techniques.

• Better test coverage. When the tests are automated, it is possible to check different units simultaneously. Also, the outcome of the procedure is more thorough and deep. Automation testing can cover length tests without having to control them. And they can be run on devices with different configurations simultaneously.
• Reusability. The same tests can be changed when needed. It is way easier to implement changes to a pre-built script. So, the whole process will be accelerated.
• Saved time. Automated tests can be run without human control. Once the test scripts are developed, they can be active 24/7, repeatedly checking the platform’s quality. Also, automation testing resolves the problem of regression testing, which would take a lot of time for QA specialists to cover them manually after every code change.

Automation Testing Disadvantages

The following are the disadvantages of automation testing

• Not suitable for all software testing types. Automated tests can be perfect for units, regression, security, and performance testing. But for investigation, a user interface (UI) or exploratory checking with a human eye is needed.
• It is expensive. In the initial stage. Automation testing will require a lot of investment. You will have to buy testing software and develop the tests. Also, maintenance costs are not lower.
• It requires a high level of developer expertise. To design a test suite of automated tests, a tester should be skilled in code writing. And if there are errors in the test, they can produce false positives and negatives.

The Limitations of Automation Testing

Automation testing is profitable because it doesn’t require so much manual effort. But still, the limitations of automation testing don’t make it easy to choose it for a company. This testing type works perfectly with simple tasks. However, when complex tasks are given, it might not be as accurate. Automated tests usually fail if there are backend issues. Every little change that has been implemented on the platform requires a change in the test case. Automation checking is scripted for specific scenarios and can leave unnoticed bugs that occur in other scenarios. For mobile devices, it causes challenges, and sometimes, the development of apps can be more expensive than their testing.

Benefits of Automation Testing

Even though the disadvantages of automation testing might represent it from a bad point of view, there are situations when automated tests can add a lot of value.

If you build a lengthy lifespan application, the time and money invested in automated testing will pay off. Especially if your product is complex, manual checking might not be enough to cover the scope of work.

Automated tests are also a great fit for predictable platforms: those that don’t include real-time interactions, image or video recognition, or other uncertain events. A good environment for automation is stability. Thus, it is recommended to implement it in the final stages of software development.

How to Overcome Challenges in Automation Testing

The limitations of automation testing can be tackled. Before getting into details, there should be an agreement on the budget for investment. It is better to plan for a larger one, as the changes and constant updates might add up to the final sum.

The crucial point in overcoming automated testing disadvantages is to choose the right framework and tools. When analyzing the instruments, pay attention to their ease of implementation and usage, efforts to maintain them, and ability to scale and integrate with other products. It is better to choose a cloud-based tool that allows real device testing.

What also matters is the team of professionals who will set up the test cases. There should be experienced testers among the QA team who understand coding, as fixing the code smell is a usual procedure in automation testing.

Final Words

Automation testing offers a great range of possibilities. However, it also has limitations that testers face at different stages. With automation testing, a large budget and deep expertise are required since creating the test cases is the QA professionals’ responsibility. Many other pitfalls are hidden in the automated testing procedure, but they can be overcome and handled.