Developers perform different test types while creating a software solution. Depending on the requirements, they check how single or multiple product components work. After creating the app, it’s time to test the entire system.
System testing is an imperative component of ensuring your software works flawlessly. Depending on the requirements, some checks can be done manually. Thanks to test automation, you can speed up analyzing large chunks of data while improving result reliability. Unlike manual testing which requires human participation and takes a lot of time, automated testing allows to reduce the time and get reliable results with the help of prewritten scripts.
This guide focuses on revealing more details about automated system testing. Here’s what you should know about the process!
What is System Testing?
System testing focuses on checking how the entire system performs. That means you don’t single out a software segment but check the entire app. As usual, the purpose of these tests is to determine whether the app complies with the desired requirements.
You have four types of automated tests:
- Unit. It focuses on checking a single component of the application.
- Integrate. You combine multiple subunits or modules with seeing how they work together.
- System. It’s the step where you can test the entire system.
- Acceptance. It serves to check if the software meets users’ requirements.
System tests come into play after the integration checks but before the acceptance part. They can be manual or automatic. A human performs manual testing, and the goal is to look for potential issues in the area defined before the process. Manual tests require human workforce, demand time and effort, and come with a risk of error. If you want to free up your staff for other tasks, you should consider automating the testing process.
Which Types of System Testing You Can Automate?
Depending on software requirements, you can conduct dozens of different system tests. These include anything from recoverability and interoperability to migration, stress, and security testing.
Unfortunately, you can’t automate all system tests. Automation is possible for the following categories:
- Smoke tests. It’s a collection of tests with the goal of checking the software’s core functionality. If you make any code or backend adjustments, this is a great way to check if it led to any major issues.
- Regression testing. Here’s another great test to see how the new code fits the application. In addition, you can test if it triggered any old bugs.
- Functional testing. For example, the user enters their email address and password to access their profile. Does the page load as it should, and can they see all relevant account information? Functional tests answer questions regarding a system function working in line with the requirements.
Why You Should Perform System Testing
Automated testing helps to accelerate the process, but what about the benefits of system tests? These can be important from a developer’s perspective, and here’s why:
- It is End-to-End testing. E2E ensures you test the software’s entire lifecycle to ensure it has the expected flow.
- Prepare for going live. You can iron out and identify at least some bugs before launching the application. The odds are going live will go smoother if you perform system tests first.
- Test different app versions. Here’s when automatic testing comes into play. You can perform the same test with various app versions to identify potential issues early. In addition, it minimizes the risk of big fails occurring later down the road.
- It helps to optimize the app for the user. These tests specify how the app should behave and whether it’s working correctly for the user.
- Have more faith in the final product. Positive results from system tests boost your confidence in the final app version.
How the System Testing Process Looks
It all starts with the preparation phase. That means you’ll need to devise a test plan. What do you expect to achieve with the test? Are there specific areas you need to focus on?
Test automation requires identifying a determinant that clearly decides the outcome. Based on that determinant, the computer checks the app and reports whether the test came with a positive or negative result. There’s no room for assumptions when creating a test case. Make sure to include all steps of the desired testing process.
Now, you will need an optimal system testing automation tool. It depends on the budget and the app requirements. The good news is a single tool can serve as multiple software solutions to maximize value for money.
Once you have the tool, it’s time to convert test cases into it. It might be necessary to prepare a script. The test should work in any aspect you want to test. If you are checking how a web-based app works on different browsers, check if the test works with every program.
The final step is to run the test. It could take seconds or hours, depending on the results you want to collect. Once you have the results, you can analyze them to search for potential bugs.
Final Thoughts – Adopting Automated System Tests
The right automation tool should be user-friendly. While each testing solution has a learning curve, if you have never used it before, it should be minimal. Additionally, the best-automated system testing software should guarantee flexibility and ease of analysis.
It’ll take some effort to create system testing automation. But once you create the test, you can run it repeatedly and gather valuable data from a computer-performed analysis. The only thing to consider later is the minor adjustments in the app that could require tweaking the tests.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
