Test ideas that come from test automation
I know it's not fashionable to like GUI-level test automation any longer. But whatever, I still like it. I'm unfashionable in more ways than one. I still like GUI-level automation for reproducing bugs, automated acceptance testing, and to support my performance and exploratory testing. I also like non-GUI tests, but I've never disliked GUI automation.
One reason I still write GUI-level test automation is because it helps me learn about the product. I'm still amazed at how many times I say "Wow, really?" when I'm writing my tests. Because I'm always picking at the GUI with tools like FireBug and Web Developer while I'm testing, I'm seeing things I don't normally see when I'm just clicking around.
For example, today I noticed:
- One of the applications I'm testing doesn't remove fields from the screen when they aren't active, it just hides them. I had never noticed until I counted on it not being there in my code.
- One of the applications I'm testing sometimes shows a parent child relationship using icons, and sometime doesn't. I had never noticed until I coded a rule expecting it to always be there.
- One of the applications I'm testing appears to have a relationship between fields that I wouldn't have expected. I discovered this based on field naming conventions.
All of these give me new test ideas completely unrelated to my automated tests. Anytime I'm surprised, I use that as an indicator that I have more tests to run. When I automate at the GUI-level, I often get surprised. I rarely get surprised when I'm automating against an API.
December 30th, 2009 - 13:47
>> I know it’s not fashionable to like GUI-level test automation any longer.
And, really, since when it became not fashionable?
Since it became more successful and widely used? Since security testing became a must? Or since we’ve moved into fat client apps that often allow performance testing only through GUI level?
I’m always wondering when and why knowing how to use technical tools and knowing even a little of programming became a shame for testers??
December 30th, 2009 - 14:04
When you speak of GUI-level tests, are you mostly talking about tests against the web browser? Do you still like GUI automation when going against desktop applications like .NET?
December 30th, 2009 - 14:13
Skim, most of my tests these days are for web applications, but I would be willing to do desktop automation for some apps if the need was there. I’m more cautious about that type of testing, just as I’m more cautious about testing with a browser level instead of a service/unit test.