What are the challenges of regression testing in agile?

Knowing what is the scope of regression testing, in my experience, I have always seen the scope of release stories is not always the scope of regression. When start writing the test cases in automation always focus on the scenarios which are the best regression candidates. Maintaining the test cases is crucial with updates in application. communication with the stakeholders to understand the deliverables and impact is vital when It comes to designing regression suites.

- Knowing what to test for: in growing complexity of modern enterprise IT, it's harder to be confident that you know all the different ways things can go wrong. Relationship between third-party services and your central system, or between cloud apps and on-premise applications, can introduce unforeseen complications. -Updates can break test scripts (even code-free ones) - Updating test library can be painful: if your software changes so significantly that your tests breaks, then you need to set up new tests. - It's not just about functionality: it makes sense that regression testing purely focus on functionality, however, but there are other important factors, such as images appearance and sizes, text spelling, system performance, etc.

In agile environments, regression testing faces challenges related to the scope and frequency of testing. With frequent iterations and changes, determining what needs to be tested in each iteration becomes complex. The scope of regression testing must be carefully managed to ensure that critical functionalities are covered without overburdening the process with unnecessary tests. Additionally, the frequency of regression testing needs to align with the pace of development to provide timely feedback without slowing down the iteration cycles.

Scope and frequency of regression tests can also have a major effect on the testers and their feeling of burnout. If possible, these tests should be distributed among a team.

I use the phrase "shotgun testing" to describe regression tests. I want to hit the user story features and verify functionality, but I also want to hit around the target. Once automation comes into play you can execute both and expect a high degree of coverage

Automation is essential for efficiently conducting regression testing in agile environments. However, maintaining automated test scripts in line with evolving requirements and code changes can be challenging. Test scripts require continuous updates to remain effective, and maintaining a balance between the effort invested in automation and the time saved by automated testing is crucial. Additionally, ensuring the reliability and scalability of automated tests across various platforms and environments adds another layer of complexity.

When considering which test cases to automate for regression testing, prioritize the critical functionalities of the system. These are pivotal areas where any failure could significantly impact both user experience and business objectives. Functional testing, often conducted in the initial development phase, assists in identifying these core features. Choose to automate these test cases, as they typically remain stable and undergo infrequent changes.

Share with the team what quality is and why we test. Decentralise testing to the whole team as opposed to a single QA. For example: Encourage the BA to add acceptance criteria in Gherkin Syntax. Ask the Dev team to document any testing they conduct and share for peer review. The QA can add in demos on how to run test cases, defect sessions with the team etc. Everyone can help with quality and we communicate together to ensure that.

Effective communication and collaboration are vital for successful regression testing in agile teams. Testers need to closely collaborate with developers, product owners, and other stakeholders to understand changes, prioritize tests, and ensure adequate coverage. Clear communication channels and transparent documentation help streamline this collaboration and prevent misunderstandings that can lead to gaps in testing coverage or redundant efforts.

Continuous collaboration and communication are crucial for an optimal software development process. Therefore, to develop an excellent digital product, the entire team must be unified and collaborative. Having a talented team is necessary, but it won't yield the expected final results without effective collaboration. Team collaboration is when all members work together toward a common goal. Well-coordinated teams innovate more quickly, find the best solutions, and make minimal mistakes. Collaboration and communication are essential for successful digital initiatives.

Obtaining timely feedback and fostering a culture of learning are essential for improving regression testing practices in agile environments. Test results need to be promptly communicated to the relevant stakeholders, enabling quick resolution of issues and continuous improvement of the testing process. Additionally, teams should reflect on past testing experiences to identify areas for enhancement and incorporate lessons learned into future iterations.

Imagine an agile team developing an e-commerce application. During an iteration, the team receives user feedback about slow loading times for certain app pages. Upon analyzing this feedback, the team identifies that the root cause is related to the performance of the database management system. Applying this feedback in a timely manner leads the team to make significant improvements in the database performance. This not only resolves the issue of perceived slowness by users but also demonstrates the effectiveness of feedback in guiding concrete improvement actions. Therefore, this example highlights how precise feedback and timely learning can lead to concrete improvements and prevent potential software quality issues.

It is important for agile teams to embrace change and view it as an opportunity for growth. Encourage your team to be flexible and adapt to new requirements or unexpected circumstances that may arise during the project. Embracing change is essential in Agile, designed to accommodate shifts in requirements, so be open to adjusting plans and priorities as needed. This flexibility is crucial, especially in the context of regression testing, where adapting to evolving project needs ensures effective testing and quality assurance throughout the development lifecycle.

Providers Feedback and Maintaining Tests: In many organizations, Agile sprints typically last for 3 weeks, leaving a limited window of 1.5 weeks at most to execute tests. Consequently, validating new and existing features within this timeframe becomes impractical. Moreover, regression testing must be performed with each build, and without automation, providing timely feedback becomes challenging. Additionally, maintaining regression test suites becomes crucial as features evolve, ensuring that test cases remain relevant and usable despite changes.

Agile regression testing requires teams to continuously adapt and innovate in response to changing requirements, technologies, and market dynamics. Flexibility is key to adjusting testing strategies, tools, and techniques to suit the evolving needs of the project. Embracing innovation in testing approaches, such as exploratory testing or shift-left testing practices, can help teams stay ahead of the curve and deliver high-quality software iteratively.