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Best Practices for an Automation Testing project: A Case

Author: Siva Kumar Avadhanam, Lead QA Overview: The aim of this document is to equip the Test Automation engineers with the required knowledge and best practices which need to be followed for a smoother Deliver in an Automation !ro"ect# $ost of the widel followed and %ndustr accepted set of guidelines have been highlighted in this document# The automation teams need to align themselves as per their !ro"ect and &lient needs# The same set of guidelines can be followed b 'unctional testing teams with some modifications# Introduction: %n toda (s Testing $arket, )eed for automation testing has been significantl increasing and there is a huge demand for automation resources# As most of the companies are planning to reduce their manual efforts b utili*ing the Automation Testing services# Automation testing has been predominant in the areas like +eb Applications, $obile +eb and , brid Apps, +indows -ased applications to name a few# Best Practices : Scope and Initial Evaluation: .# Anal *e the 'unctional test cases/0equirements and identif the 1aps in them 2# !rovide the %nScope/3ut3fScope test cases from the Automation perspective 4# %dentif the ke Actions in the Application5e6ample7 8ntering te6t, &licking on an element, Logout, )avigation to ,ome page to name a few9 :# &reate a set of 0eusable functions which can be used across an module in the Application ;# 0eport the issues to the Lead/$anager immediatel 5867 <navailabilit of the application due to crash, %n=appropriate behavior of the application etc9 ># Setting up of 'ramework has to be done diligentl keeping the future needs in mind# ,ere, we need to understand the below areas7 ,ow often the Automation suites need to be e6ecuted +hat are the different builds/applications which will be using these automation suites An plans for &ontinuous %ntegration? %f @es, what are the &% Tools that are available and that can fit with our framework +hich are the Devices to be used for testing 5%f its a $obile App9

A# 0esources7 The automation resources need to be equipped with enough Tool specific training

which will help them to perform their duties effectivel and ensures that Deliverables with Bero defects are produced C# Automation team needs to be active in various Technolog 'orums which would help them in completing their unresolved queries if an # D# Team should make sure that the Ke Learnings are shared with the peers, Leads in a common forum# %ts advantages are two=fold# 'irst would be, the will get a chance to showcase their communication skills in a group and the second, their guidelines can be followed b other teams in resolving their issues .E# Team should feel free in adopting the &lient specific process guidelines, methodologies and implement them in their current pro"ects# Tool Evaluation: .# $ake sure that the team invests qualit time in researching the various industr accepted Automated tools, their !ros/cons and come up with an anal sis spreadsheet# This would help the $anagement to take the decision on 03%, <sabilit etc areas 2# Support of the Automated tools is another important point which needs to be kept in mind while assessing its performance/effectiveness 4# %f the Tool is an 3penSource, team needs to be aware of the various Technolog 'orums which would help in resolving their da to da queries Communication/Reporting: .# Automation team needs to provide the clear status to the QA Lead/$anager on a regular basis 5)o# of Test cases completed, )o#of 0eusable components completed, )o# of Test &ases passed, )o# of Test &ases failed, %ssues/0isks, Dependencies from other teams, !lan for the ne6t week and an other items9 2# Team needs to educate themselves in the preparation of !rocess 0elated documents, 0A&% &hart, 0A%D Logs etc, which will help them to reach their ne6t !rofessional Levels 4# Domain Specific trainings need to be facilitated and attended b the individual team members :# Team needs to be given enough Training on F8ffective Gerbal and +ritten &ommunicationH as communication is the ke to do one(s dut in an efficient and effective manner, its also one of the ke factors which decide the &S% 5&ustomer Satisfaction %nde69 ;# Team should adhere to certain principles while communicating through emails I 86ample7 Keeping the relevant Sub"ect Line, %ncluding 3)L@ the required person instead of whole world, Keeping the 'ocused areas in -old/<nderline and finall Keep %t Short and Simple Test ata !anagement: %n an 'ast !aced %T Services compan , Test Data $anagement pla s a ke role as the need to cater the various Test Data needs across the !ro"ects# Test Data team needs to pull the Data b running Queries from the backend Database and running batch "obs Test Data 0equirements spreadsheet has to be prepared ideall with the columns J 86ample is given below7 S# )o 0equirement K T pe of Test Data )o# of Test Data $odules/'unctionalities &overed required5Quantit 9 with this test data

%n an ideal scenario, if there are ; simultaneous releases happening for an application and Automation suites need to be used for 0egression/Sniff# Test Data $anagement team ma or ma not support for all these ; releases# 1iven this scenario, Automation and TD$ teams need to work closel and identif the ke areas which require 0egression/Sniff &ertification elivera"les: Deliverables need to be produced to the %nternal $anagement and &lient with utmost care# Lead/$anager should own this activit # The need to delegate this responsibilit to an critical resource who takes the required precautions in making sure that Deliverable is of ,igh Qualit # Some of the ke deliverables are listed below7 S# )o &ompleted Automation Scripts 0eview Log 5+hich should have detailed information ## sample template is given below9 $odule/'eature Automation 0eview )ame TestScript %D &omment Dail and +eekl Status 0eports Defects Summar 0A%D Log 53nce in a fortnight9 Test 86ecution 0esults Log 'iles Severit 'i6ed &omments Date

%f the team is undergoing an KT 5Knowledge Transfer9 sessions with in the team or with &lient, the need to provide the below deliverables to the &lient/0equired stake holders7 Deliverable I KT !hase7 Quer Logs 5After reading the 0equirements Documents, team needs to come up with valid and logicall strong queries9 3ne!age Documents5After each KT session is completed, Team needs to submit their <nderstanding documents9 0everse KT Assignments/86ercises 5%f an 9 1ood amount of time has to be spent for !lanning activit b setting the +eekl $ilestones, Anticipate the 0isk, $itigate them, !roviding work arounds for an unforeseen issues, !reparation of required 8stimates50esources/Time, -udget whichever is applicable9 etc#