As the name implies, testers do not typically perform test automation manually. This offers the advantage of saving resources, time, and money while also allowing for the early exclusion of errors brought on by human tasks, including typos. This enables many tests to be run in the least amount of time and with the highest quality possible when compared to manual testing.

When is test automation beneficial, and when does it result in pointless overhead?

These are the same questions that we will address in the scenarios that follow:

1. Regression Test:

Regression testing is a procedure of running test cases after a software change has been implemented. You check to see if any damage has been done to the functions that already exist. This is crucial when processes are interconnected or built upon one another.

Automation makes sense in this situation if the fundamental features of the product remain unchanged, preventing the need to continually write new regression test cases. Predefined functional tests in particular can significantly reduce the specialist department's workload.

The number of regression tests as well as how frequently they are executed should be taken into account if test automation is being considered. Here, it would be wise to perform a cost-benefit analysis. In general, test automation saves time more frequently a test case must be run. Automation, however, makes less sense if the software doesn't yet have a fundamental design because it would need too much work to adjust the test cases.

1. When setting up technical infrastructure:

Technical resources might already be available when a project is getting started, but implementation has not yet happened. This can be the case if the needs are not fully understood yet. In this situation, it seems sensible to build a technical infrastructure using free resources. Test automation is a part of this. Our personal experience has shown that a straightforward unit test automation may be written in as little as one month, greatly reducing future testing efforts.

The system structure should include a well-defined input and output layer that can be managed by an automation framework in addition to the availability aspect.

1. Test-driven development Approach:

An implementation project that uses test-driven development is a typical example of a situation in which test automation not only makes sense but also demands itself. The tests must already be planned out (and written) before the real implementation process can begin, according to this development methodology. Only after that are predefined tests executed after each iteration of development. Here, there may be several iterations, particularly with difficult issues. An automation framework helps prevent the test efforts from taking off.

1. Complicated system:

Test automation might not be appropriate if there is a complex system in place.

A system that utilises numerous data stores that update often would serve as an example of this. As a result, it would be necessary to frequently adjust the framework and make adjustments to the input and output layers. Given that the framework itself must be tested whenever alterations are made, this could result in a time loss.