Since the time DevOps became popular as a new development approach across companies, “test automation” almost became a buzzword. Well, the tools and technologies used to make the job testing easier and effortless will continue to remain important and crucial for the app developers across the niches, but we need to be aware of the two different types of automation that are used for testing apps.

In the context of continuous testing which is a key concept pertaining to agile development, the automation can be segregated into two different types, respectively, automated testing and test automation. Though these two terms seem to be a lot closer and mutually related, the difference between them is significant from the perspective of developers.

Let’s explain the differences between these two approaches and corresponding factors.

Test Automation is Different from Automation Testing

While both test automation and automated testing serve the objective of making a software product better, there are some crucial differences as well.

Automation testing is basically not detecting the bugs in the modern development context but it is more about preventing the bugs and errors to derail the objective of an app project. Automation testing is also about improving the software product by addressing the issues and fulfilling the shortcomings as per the objective of the app project. This requires writing the right testing script to evaluate these shortcomings and loopholes in the respective software product.

Test automation, on the other hand, is basically the automatic and effortless execution of the predefined tests. The objective of test automation is to give proof of the fulfillment of the testing process. It is mainly carried out to ensure optimum accuracy and precision of the testing report.

Who needs test automation?

In the agile development, process testing takes place much earlier in the app development cycle. This ensures throughout testing and evaluation as the development continues. The developers need to work alongside testers for building and utilizing effective test automation frameworks.

Test automation requires fitting to the needs of various team members involved in the development process. They include manual testers, automation engineers and developers. These are the people who get involved in automation testing.

Types of Automation Testing

Now that we have explained the basics about automation testing and how it works, let’s explain in brief 3 types of automation testing.

The Reasons Why Test Automation Plays A Critical Role for Continuous Testing

The importance of automation testing can be best understood and explained in connection with the continuous testing process. Continuous testing has emerged as a concept to facilitate throughout testing in a development process and thus ensure quality output.

For traditional development environments, testing used to be carried out only at the very end of a development cycle. But with the emergence of DevOps and agile development methodology that embraces a continuous delivery model as a key event to their process, testing is required to be taken care of throughout the project life span instead of the project completion. This has been particularly important to ensure quality at every development stage.

Besides ensuring quality at all stages during development, a continuous testing approach also ensures optimum speed in the process. The pipeline delay can be avoided which was common in the traditional development process. The new releases of updates and versions become more streamlined and faster thanks to the continuous development approach.

Automated Testing and Test Automation: The Cumulative Approach

In spite of the differences, the automated testing and test automation both mutually play a huge role in adding value to the development process and make things easier. Since the scope of testing is no longer just limited to bug fixing but also improving a product from all perspectives. As continuous testing has become popular, both of these testing approaches are gaining importance.

While automated testing takes care of the entire software testing process and methodologies, test automation, on the other hand, takes care of the facilitates the seamless continuous testing process with appropriate tools and cumulative inputs of developers and testers.

Conclusion

Automated testing and test automation far ago have ceased to remain options or choices for the development projects. Now as the DevOps and Agile approach getting huge traction across projects of all types and lengths, automation seems to have the key development methodologies.