How can you keep your web testing automation scripts maintainable?

1 Use a framework

A framework is a set of guidelines, tools, and libraries that help you structure and organize your automation scripts. A framework can provide benefits such as code reuse, modularity, readability, and scalability. There are different types of frameworks, such as data-driven, keyword-driven, hybrid, or behavior-driven development (BDD), that suit different testing scenarios and objectives. You should choose a framework that matches your project requirements, team skills, and testing goals.

2 Follow coding standards

Coding standards are a set of rules and conventions that define how you write, format, and document your code. Coding standards can improve the quality, consistency, and readability of your automation scripts. They can also help you avoid common errors, bugs, and security issues. Some coding standards that you should follow are: use meaningful and consistent names for variables, functions, and classes; use comments and docstrings to explain the purpose and logic of your code; use indentation, spaces, and brackets to structure your code; and use a code editor or a tool that can check and enforce your coding standards.

5 Refactor your code

Refactoring is the process of improving the design and structure of your code without changing its functionality. Refactoring can help you keep your web testing automation scripts maintainable by removing unnecessary or redundant code, simplifying complex or long methods, extracting common or repeated code into functions or classes, and renaming or reorganizing your code. You should refactor your code regularly and incrementally, and use automated tools, such as PyCharm, Eclipse, or Visual Studio Code, that can assist you with refactoring.

6 Review and test your code

Reviewing and testing your code is an essential part of web testing automation. Reviewing and testing your code can help you keep your web testing automation scripts maintainable by detecting and fixing errors, bugs, and performance issues, ensuring that your code meets the requirements and expectations, and improving the quality and reliability of your code. You should review and test your code before committing or merging it to the main branch, and use tools, such as code review platforms, code analyzers, and unit testing frameworks, that can facilitate and automate your review and testing process.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?