The QA Tester’s

Guide to Thriving
in an Automated
Testing World
by Eran Kinsbruner,
Chief Software Evangelist
The QA Tester’s Guide to Thriving
in an Automated Testing World
The world is advancing more and more towards automation. With artificial In this new era of automation, how can a QA tester not just bring value
intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) evolving, getting stronger, to their teams, but thrive in an automated testing world and adapt along
and growing increasingly more reliable, it should come as no surprise with technological advancements?
that these technologies are changing the way DevOps teams work.
The answer is BDD and codeless testing. Keep reading to learn how BDD
But what does that mean for a QA tester like yourself? Automation and codeless testing will change the testing process and learn how QA
and AI/ML aren’t going anywhere. These solutions are already starting testers can utilize these latest advancements to their benefit.
to infiltrate repetitive, manual tasks. But the reality is that there’s always
going to be a need for the human touch in testing, no matter how
advanced these capabilities become.

TEST-FEATURE FILES

Pre define steps Logical steps created

by Perfecto by customers

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The Game-Changers
BBD & CODELESS TESTING

At the forefront of change are two technologies helping QA testers stay Similarly, QA testers need not worry about technical skill sets with the latest
relevant in an automated world: BDD and codeless testing. generation of codeless testing. New solutions,such as Perfecto Codeless,
allow noncoding QA testers to create tests on their own, without a single line
With BDD testing, such as with Quantum or Cucumber, QA testers need of code.
to make sure that the tests work in a functional manner. But they also need
to think of it in a problem-solving way by contextualizing the behaviors and In an age of automation, these technologies are critical to QA testers
scenario that the test is meant to address. remaining relevant, adding value to their DevOps teams, and thriving in
their testing careers.
Because the application behavior is written in plain English, QA testers
can add value to their team and partake in test creation. Plus, BDD reduces
communication gaps and misunderstandings between team members that
can arise between coding and non-coding members.
This Changes Everything
A CLOSER LOOK AT CODELESS TESTING

The market is already in the process of adopting codeless

test automation tools that leverage machine-learning and
AI capabilities. There are two key reasons why organizations
seek such solutions:
• The skill sets needed to develop and maintain
reliable code-based test automation using Selenium
or Appium frameworks.

• The time it takes to create a code-based test scenarios

compared to codeless creation.

Adopting a codeless solution can be an amazing boost to

quality, productivity, and the personal career growth of QA
testers. However, in most organizations, such test suites will
have to be merged into existing and robust code-based test
scripts. To succeed in such transition, developers, testers,
and management ought to consider the following aspects
and differences between the two approaches:

• Differences in test creation.

• Test maintenance.
• Test execution and orchestration.
• Testing types and apps that are supported by these tools.
• Tool maturity.

In an age of automation, these technologies are critical to

QA testers remaining relevant, adding value to their DevOps
teams, and thriving in their testing careers.

The QA Tester’s Guide to Thriving in an Automated Testing World perfecto.io

Test Creation Test Maintenance
This is the most important aspect for QA testers. Now, test creation no Here, QA testers can bring a fresh and new approach to test
longer remains in the hands of developers. All members of the team maintenance. With codeless testing, self-healing scripts learn all
can partake in the test creation phase, making this differ drastically objects of the pages and apps. This means that when something
from the standard coding of test scripts. changes, it will be seamless for the test and won’t break ongoing
test executions.
With codeless testing, the tester will use a record and playback smart
solution that is backed by AI/ML algorithms to make the test creation While again, this is an impressive advancement, such tests are not
easy, fast, and reliable — all without coding skills. code-based. Hence, they are not maintained in GIT source control
management or similar tool. Therefore, teams need to have a process
While this is a huge step forward for DevOps teams, they also need and structure in place to manage, maintain, and update the codeless
to realize how to sync these tests within the entire suite so the mix scripts as the product evolves and matures.
of codeless and code-based is valuable, does not overlap each other,
and can be executed together within CI or other triggers that exists This is yet another area in the DevOps pipeline where a QA tester can
in the development pipeline. benefit from codeless testing and add value in unique ways.

The QA Tester’s Guide to Thriving in an Automated Testing World perfecto.io

Test Execution Testing Types
and Orchestration and Supported Apps
QA testers utilizing codeless testing can fit right into the existing test Web and mobile app test frameworks that are code-based, such as Selenium
execution procedures on a DevOps team, as this phase will not be impacted and Appium, have a longer history and work fine on mobile native apps and
by moving to codeless. Codeless plays along with the existing code-based web apps. However, codeless tools are relatively young and still emerging.
tests and run from within the CI on the relevant mobile or web platforms. The level of support for web and mobile is growing slowly, with codeless web
In non-CI testing cycles, the codeless UI can provide its built-in execution testing abilities advancing faster. This should be taken into consideration
management capability and will then complement the execution done from when making the switch or adding such tool into your organization’s portfolio.
the code-based tools, such as TestNG.
Bear in mind that the codeless testing tools available today provide great
Also, it is important to mention that merging test results from both codeless value for QA testers and DevOps teams, and being an early adapter can
and code-based test types results in a “single pane of glass” of visibility into certainly be an advantage for individual professionals and organizations alike.
quality, which is ideal for any decision makers in an organization.

The QA Tester’s Guide to Thriving in an Automated Testing World perfecto.io

Tools Maturity
Another consideration that is important to keep in mind is the
maturity of the tools. For code-based tools, there are code samples
in GIT, best practices and books, documentation, integrations with
ALM, defect management tools, and more available.

For codeless testing, fewer best practices exist for working within a
continuous testing/DevOps pipeline. Such will need to be built and
evolved as the market grows with the tools — and as more QA testers
evolve to utilize this emerging technology.

Bottom Line
2019 is set to be a year that will fundamentally change testing practices,
with BDD and innovative, next-gen codeless testing tools available for
QA testers. Backed by smart abilities, these tools will invade the ecosystem
of DevOps and continuous testing abilities.

And if they’re willing to evolve their role and adapt to the changing technology,
QA testers will be set not just to stay relevant, but to thrive in an automated
testing world.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CODELESS TESTING

WITH PERFECTO CODELESS AND QUANTUM,
PERFECTO’S BDD FRAMEWORK.

The QA Tester’s Guide to Thriving in an Automated Testing World perfecto.io

ABOUT PERFECTO ABOUT ERAN KINSBRUNER
Perfecto is a Perforce company. We enable exceptional digital ex- Eran Kinsbruner is the chief software evangelist at
periences and help you strengthen every interaction with a qual- Perfecto (a Perforce Company), the leading cloud-based
ity-first approach for web and native apps through a cloud-based mobile application testing and automation company.
test environment called the Continuous Quality Lab. The CQ Lab is He is also the author of “The Digital Quality Handbook”
comprised of real devices and real end-user conditions, giving you and “Continuous Testing for DevOps Professionals.”
the truest test environment available.
You can find Eran on Twitter @ek121268, LinkedIn, and
More than 1,500 customers, including 50 percent of the Fortune his professional blog, mobiletestingblog.com. Eran also
500 companies across banking, insurance, retail, telecommunica- writes for the Perfecto Mobile blog and speaks on a regular
tions, and media rely on Perfecto to deliver optimal mobile app basis at events such as HP Discover, QUEST, and AppsWorld
functionality and end-user experiences, ensuring their brand’s repu- StarEast and StarWest.
tation, establishing loyal customers, and continually attracting new
users. For more information about Perfecto, visit www.perfecto.io,
join our community and follow us on Twitter at @PerfectoMobile.