QA Automation: from zero to hero

In today's world, the importance of test automation in software development is undeniable. The benefits are numerous, such as increased efficiency, coverage, reproducibility, and enhancement of the CI/CD process. Test automation also reduces costs and enables continuous feedback. Additionally, it's typically associated with a significant reduction in effort in manual testing and an increase in problem detection in the early stages of projects. While these concepts are correct, it's essential to highlight two themes before proceeding: automation doesn't replace manual testing; it complements it, and it only detects problems (in the early stages) if it's well-designed and incorporated into the development process.

Although these two concepts may seem basic, the truth is they're not so simple to achieve. Starting an automation project is relatively easy, as we have increasingly more tools available for it. However, designing an automation framework tailored to our project's needs and making the most of it is the real challenge.

As in everything, planning is key. It's easy to scatter and want to tackle everything at once, but take it easy and make sure you complete these 6 steps before even writing your first line of code:

1. Define the Strategy: This phase is essential, and it's where you should be able to answer some questions, such as: Why do I need automated tests? What problem am I trying to solve? What is the cost versus return of this project? How many people will I need? What budget do I have for this project? All these questions are important to clearly identify the need, the resources available, and the impact this tool will have on a day-to-day basis.
2. Identification of Requirements: Requirement identification is fundamental in any project. A common mistake is wanting to automate everything. I know it may seem tempting, however, it's important to stay focused on priorities. Do a survey of your use cases, prioritize them, and make sure that, at least in a first phase, you focus on those that will bring the greatest return, i.e., those scenarios that consume more time and resources when performed manually, repeatedly.
3. Involve the Stakeholders: Stakeholder involvement is equally important. Make sure to present your requirement survey to various stakeholders and ensure they share your vision and prioritization. This will be a tool that will benefit everyone (not just the QA team directly), so make sure you involve multiple stakeholders in the ideation process.
4. Select the Ideal Tool: Tool selection is a fundamental step. You should conduct careful research to understand which of the tools available in the market best suits your needs. Don't just follow the trend; really research the tools that best meet your needs. Also consider some important factors such as support, community, documentation, and maintenance.
5. Test Environment: No eggs, no omelets, right? Before starting any automation project, it's important that you have development environments at your disposal and know how to work with them in case you need to customize and adapt them to your needs. If the product you intend to test has any particularities, you should also consider this from the outset. If you need to use mockups to simulate some component or interact with third parties, take this into consideration from the embryonic stages of the project.
6. Code Structure: With the framework chosen, it's time to think about the automation structure. The structure is directly related to the type of tests you want to automate, however, selecting a pattern is important and can also be strongly linked to the goals you want to achieve. You can choose to use Page Objects or ScreenPlay Patterns, for example. Do some research before you start, as this will have a big impact when your test repository starts to grow. Always think of maintenance as something you will need to do, so the way you organize the code is extremely important.

Now that the first part is completed, and you have planned and structured what you really want to do, it's time to start putting it into practice. For that, it's essential to focus on some essential components in all automation tools:

1. Test Data Management: Managing data used by an automation tool can have different approaches. You can choose to create the necessary data for testing through your own automation or preload the data you need into the test environment (via SQL or even API). Both approaches are valid, but keep in mind that creating the necessary data during execution can significantly increase runtime.
2. Configuration Management: Having the ability to run your tests in different environments can be very advantageous. To make this possible smoothly, ensure that your tool is prepared to run in different environments without any extra effort.
3. Reusable and Maintainable Code: Reusable and easily maintainable code should be something you consider from the first line of code. Create libraries with common methods and functions and reuse them as much as possible. Also, ensure that you always implement code that is easy to maintain. Platforms change rapidly, and automation needs to keep up. Therefore, it's essential to implement code that is easy to maintain.
4. Integration with CI/CD: Integration with CI/CD platforms should also be considered a basic requirement. You will get much more out of your tool if you integrate it into continuous validation cycles for different environments. Integrating it from day one is essential.
5. Error Handling: As with any code project, don't forget to implement good error handling. This way, you will be able to deal with exceptions and errors to prevent disruptions.
6. Parallel Execution: Running tests in parallel will allow you to save time and get much faster feedback, improving the efficiency of your executions.
7. Reporting and Logging: Clear and understandable reporting is essential not only for you to analyze the results but also to easily share them with all your stakeholders. Incorporating logging will also help in identifying and analyzing the results.
8. Version Control: Don't forget to use version control tools to manage your code and keep multiple versions of it organized.

And last but not least:

Measuring Success: Measuring the success of your application is imperative. Only by doing so can you understand if it is meeting the objectives you set initially. Success can be measured through various KPIs, including the number of bugs detected through automation, the number of hours reduced in manual testing, etc. Look at your initial goals and analyze if your tool is helping you achieve them or not. If not, analyze what might be missing and adjust accordingly.

Monitoring: Monitor your tool, gather metrics, and use these metrics for continuous improvement. You can monitor your results, understand the flakiness rate, identify patterns, and take preventive actions. Flaky tests are just one example; there are many other aspects to consider. Learning from mistakes is an excellent way to learn and improve.

Creating an automation framework from scratch is challenging and should not be taken lightly. Many projects fail prematurely because essential steps, especially in planning, are skipped. Automation must be designed to bring benefits to the entire team, not just to tick a box. What's the point of having a high level of coverage if your tests are not detecting faults? Or if the use cases you've designed are not even used by the client?

Although following all these steps may seem tedious, keep in mind that the time you invest now will save you time in the future! So go ahead, fearlessly!