Manual Testing (Vs) Automation Testing

As the world is moving toward a new era in Technology and business with respect to Testing, we will just have a walkthrough on Manual Testing and Automation testing.

1. Manual Testing is Boring
• No one wants to keep filling the same forms
• There is nothing new to learn when one tests manually
• People tend to neglect running manual tests
• No one maintains a list of the tests required to be run if they are manual tests

Automated tests on the other hand are Code
• They are fun and challenging to write
• One has to carefully think of design for reusability and coverage
• They require analytical and reasoning skills
• They represent contribution that is usable in the future

2. Manual Testing is not reusable
• The effort required is the same each time
• One cannot reuse a Manual Test

Automated Test are completely reusable
• Once written the Automated Tests form a part of the codebase
• They can be reused without any additional effort for the lifetime of the Project

3. Manual Testing has a high risk of missing out on something
• Each time a developer runs manual tests it is likely he will miss out on an important test case
• New developers may have no clue about the battery of tests to be run
Automated Tests have zero risk of missing out a pre-decided test
• Once a Test becomes a part of Continuous Integration – it will run without someone having to remember to run it

4. Manual Tests do not provide a safety-net
• Manual tests are run post-facto and hence only drive bug-patching
Automated Tests provide a safety-net for refactoring / additions
• Even New developers who have never touched the code can be confident about making changes

5. Manual Tests have no training value
• Manual Test are a mechanical process and does not have defined training values
Automated Tests act as documentation
• Reading a set of Unit Tests clarifies the purpose of a codebase
• They provide a clear contract and define the requirement
• They provide visibility into different use cases and expected results
• A new developer can understand a piece of code much more by looking at Unit Tests than by looking at the code
• Unit Tests define the expected behavior of the code

Read More: About Manual & Automation Testing