Maximize Returns & Minimizing Risks: The Power of Impactful Investment in Software Development through CI and Regression Automation Testing

In software development, maintaining code stability is crucial. Continuous Integration (CI) and Automated Regression Testing, a powerful duo, transform how we ensure stable code, reshaping its foundations. Their combined impact on efficiency, reliability, and overall software quality directly enhances ROI, making them essential for organizations maximizing returns in their software endeavors.

Continuous Integration(CI)

Definition: Continuous Integration is a software development practice that involves the regular merging of code changes from multiple developers into a shared repository. This collaborative process enables early detection of integration issues and contributes to maintaining code stability throughout the entire development process.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment(CI/CD) enables a seamless and automated software delivery pipeline, fostering rapid, reliable, and continuous deployment of code changes from development to production.

Benefits of Continuous Integration in Code Stability

• Continuous Integration delivers significant business value by ensuring that builds are constantly integrating and enabling faster feedback.
• Identifies and resolves conflicts or compatibility issues early on, reducing the risk of bugs or errors in the final product.
• Fosters teamwork and collaboration among developers, keeping the codebase up-to-date and in sync.
• Streamlines development process and ensures software quality and reliability.

Regression Automation Testing

What is Automation Testing?

Automation Testing?refers to the practice of using software tools and scripts to automate the execution of tests in software development and quality assurance processes. Within this framework, Functional Testing seeks to establish whether each application feature works as per the software requirements. Automated Functional Testing enhances accuracy, allows for swift execution of test cases, and is particularly valuable for regression testing, ensuring the efficiency of the testing process.

How does automated testing work?

The automated testing process generally follows this series of steps:

1. Select a testing tool.?This depends on the type of testing being done and if the tool in question supports the?platform?on which the software is being developed.
2. Define the scope of automation.?This means how much of the software testing is automated.
3. Plan, design and develop.?This step includes planning the automation strategy and developing test scripts.
4. Execute the test.?Software is tested using automation scripts. The testing tool should also collect data and provide detailed test reports.
5. Maintenance.?Automated test scripts are modified and updated as needed with newer versions of a software?build.

Tests that are normally automated include the following:

• Acceptance tests
• API tests
• Integration tests
• Regression tests
• Smoke tests
• System tests
• Unit tests
• User interface (UI) tests

An organization uses test automation in a framework with common practices and testing tools like Selenium, Robotium, Katalon Studio and Cypress. Among above discussed testing types, regression testing is an important component of the software development lifecycle, particularly in relation to Continuous Integration (CI) and other testing types.

What is Regression Testing?

Regression testing is defined as a type of software testing technique that re-runs functional and non-functional tests to ensure that a software application works as intended after any code changes, updates, revisions, improvements, or optimizations.

Generally, regression testing is used in the following circumstances:

• A new requirement is added to the existing product feature
• A whole new functionality or feature is added to the product
• Optimized codebase to improve performance
• Adding patch fixes
• Configuration changes

Regression Testing Techniques

• Retest everything - This method applies regression testing across every existing test suite when multiple updates or changes are made to a software application’s primary or root code
• Selection of regression tests - Categorize the concept of test selection for regression testing into two broad categories:?Identify the affected parts of the program
• Prioritization of test cases - Process of prioritizing test cases in a test suite on the basis of different factors which could be anything ranging from code coverage, and functionality to risk/critical modules, features, etc.
• Hybrid strategy- This regression testing approach combines the principles of the previous two techniques: test case prioritization and regression test selection.

Automation Testing in Regression Testing

Automated testing is best for regression testing since in manual test efforts requires more time and resources, limits continuous testing, heightens chances of redundancies and human errors, and limits test coverage. As a result, most companies depend on automated regression testing to improve the overall testing lifecycle.

Top Automation Regression Testing Tools

• Selenium- Selenium is a popular testing tool that provides testing application features. Developers can use the environment to test workflows for their functional, acceptance, and performance aspects.
• Katalon Studio - Katalon Studio is built on the foundations of Selenium. According to a March 2020 report by Gartner Peer Insights, this tool was recognized as the popular customer choice for software test automation tools.
• TestComplete - TestComplete allows enterprises to automate regression tests using a user-friendly interface. It is a GUI testing tool that uses?AI to test applications over mobiles, web, and desktops.
• Sahi Pro - Sahi Pro is an automated tool for regression testing aimed toward large web applications with minimum maintenance efforts.
• Webpack - Webpack is a tool that lets you take all the code that you need for your web app and convert it to one production-ready bundle.

ROI through regression automation testing

• Increase ROI: Automated tests play major role in maintaining a solid and dependable code foundation by quickly detecting issues. This safeguards your investment by reducing the risk of bugs during development.
• Maximize ROI through reduced Manual Effort: Automation cuts manual testing, saving developer time, reducing errors, and boosting overall productivity.
• Cost-Efficiency: Automated testing reduces manual testing resources and costs over the software development lifecycle.
• ROI Improved Test Coverage: Automated testing enables comprehensive coverage of test scenarios, identifying potential issues and enhancing software reliability.

Conclusion

Prioritizing Continuous Integration (CI) and Regression Automation Testing is essential for developers to mitigate code instability risks. These practices, supported by version control and automated builds, enhance collaboration, detect issues early, and trim time-to-market. This results in robust, high-quality software that significantly impacts Return on Investment (ROI) and ensures functional testing excellence. Embrace CI and Regression Automation Testing for a resilient and quality-driven development process.

Author: ARYA P R | #AssociateSoftwareEngineer | #TechnopaletteSolutions