DevOps (Developer and IT Operations) is now an integral component of the release cycle. The reason behind this is that the release cycle has reduced by a substantial amount because today’s buyers have plenty of options to choose from. It’s all about bringing high-quality products for sale at a speedy time.
But, speedier Time to Market (TTM) also implies that there should not be any compromise to the quality of the product. Timely delivery and quality could be achieved by maximizing the benefits of constant testing as well as the DevOps pipeline. One of the methods to improve the effectiveness and effectiveness of the system is adding automated testing to the pipeline.
DevOps automation tools assists in ensuring that automated tests are activated when any changes are made to your source code. This ultimately leads to fewer bugs that occur in stages of Stage release (before an extensively tested release gets to its Prod).
What is the secret to making the most out of DevOps or Automated Testing? We wish that it was in the following blog post, we explore the following areas in the context of automation throughout the DevOps lifecycle:
- Advantages to automated testing when it comes to DevOps
- Selecting those test cases that will require automation
- Finding the most appropriate framework for testing automation (or tool) to complete the task
Let’s start by launching the blog…
Benefits of Automation Testing in DevOps
No matter the scale, size, or the complexity of the project DevOps has become a mandatory requirement in the software development as well as testing cycle. This is due to the fact that testing as part in the DevOps pipeline speed up code release from development to the production environments.
Agile and DevOps are inextricably linked. In general, DevOps has a significant impact on testing of software and QA activities. It is not a surprise that automatizing testing could be an best way to speed up the quality of software delivery. Jenkins, Circle CI, Azure Pipelines, Bamboo, etc. are a few of the most widely employed DevOps (or the CI/CD) tools available on the market.
Let us have a look on some major benefits of Automation testing :
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Enhanced Results
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Swifter Feedback system
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Cost-effective
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Efficiency Testing
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Detailed Testing
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Reusability
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Time to market
Here are the top advantages of using automated testing into the framework of the DevOps process:
DevOps could be described as one of the core foundations that underpin Agile along with CI/CD. Automated testing in the DevOps pipeline can help identify potential release bottlenecks, identify bugs quicker, and speed the release of software.
It’s a well-known fact that testing manually is required for scenarios that cannot be automated. Conducting all tests manually can seriously delay the release process. Automated testing within the DevOps pipeline can help enhance the quality of software at the fastest rate possible.
Automated regression tests component in the DevOps pipeline help to identify side-effects of latest software on functionality that already software.
Because automation testing is important, it is suggested to work with an automation services firm if you wish to maximize the benefits the automation process and DevOps.
How to choose scenarios for test automation?
As we mentioned in previous article, not every one of testing scenarios can automated with tools for automation testing. Here are a few actions to look through when selecting scenarios to be included in the DevOps pipeline:
Choose the steps that must be included in the cycle of release. A few of the phases in the DevOps pipeline include testing, development, build deploy, operate and observe.
Determine the threshold at where the automated tests in the pipeline are deemed to be passed or failed.
In-depth look at the way that this feedback system will be included into the pipeline. A lot of automation testing tools allow integration with communication tools. The identified issues can be assigned the team members involved.
The right automation flow and selecting the right framework for testing (or instrument) is crucial to reap the benefits of automation as well as DevOps.
The most important issue to be answered is “How to strategize the DevOps automation testing strategy”? Let’s explore it…
- Making a huge-bang automation test outline may not be the most ideal right from the beginning in the process.
Find testing scenarios that are crucial to new product to ensure they are an integral part of the automation process. Scenarios that are routine and simple to automate are ideal candidates for automation.
- The complexity of test scenarios may increase as the development of the project. As new features are created, it becomes important to create the appropriate test scenarios.
Therefore, there should be a focused attention on the maintenance and reusability of test tests. Utilizing reusable elements (or packages) reduces the time spent in the development of tests.
- There are guidelines to be observed when designing scenarios for testing. The most important ones include – not sleeping calls by blocking them, using the same naming conventions, and using independent test case design as well as other.
In short it is essential that conscious effort be put into accelerating test case execution, making use of every benefit provided by the CI/CD pipeline and following the most effective methods for test case design and development.
How do you choose the most suitable automated testing framework (or tool) to accomplish the task?
This is the last part of this blog – Selecting the right framework to meet the requirements of your testing. First, you need choosing the test automation framework that has APIs with which you can build test scenarios. For instance, Selenium, Cypress, Playwright and Puppeteer are among the most well-known test automation tools for UI automation of tests.
However you can think about Postman, Hopscotch, etc. are all suitable to automate APIs. In the same vein there are freemium and open-source and open-source frameworks to support various other forms of automated testing (i.e. load testing, stress testing, etc.).
Before deciding on the best testing tool it’s essential to select test automation framework that compatible with needs your team.
Once you’ve selected framework it is time to select the tool (or infrastructure) which will be used to run tests.
Cloud-based infrastructure for testing is a preferred choice for several automation testing companies because it can reduce infrastructure expenses by a significant margin. Additionally it is important to consider whether the automation tool allows integration with the tools for CI/CD you are considering.
Majority of cloud-based tests automation software integrate with well-known tools for CI/CD like Jenkins, CircleCI, Azure Pipelines, among other. Cloud-based test automation platforms and the most popular CI/CD tool can help you reap the most benefits from this combo.
It’s a Wrap
Automated testing and DevOps have become essential for releasing high-quality products at a quicker speed. Since the majority of scenarios for testing can’t be automated, it is vital to determine the test scenarios that can be automated with popular tools and frameworks for testing.
When you considering automation tools for testing take close review offered by the tool and the knowledge available from team.
Working with an experienced and knowledgeable testing automation firm will help in making the most use of the automation and DevOps tools that will work best for your specific project.