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Test automation management tools are specific tools that provide a collaborative environment that is intended to make test automation efficient, traceable and clear for stakeholders. Test automation is becoming a cross-discipline (i.e. a mix of both testing and development practices.)
Test automation systems usually need more reporting, analysis and meaningful information about project status. Test management systems target manual effort and do not give all the required information. [1]
Test automation management systems leverage automation efforts towards efficient and continuous processes of delivering test execution and new working tests by:
Test automation management tools fit Agile Systems Development Life Cycle methodologies. In most cases, test automation covers continuous changes to minimize manual regression testing. Changes are usually noted by monitoring test log diffs. For example, differences in the number of failures signal probable changes either in AUT or in test code (broken test code base, instabilities) or in both. Quick notice of changes and unified workflow of results analysis reduces testing costs and increases project quality.
Test-driven development utilizes test automation as the primary driver to rapid and high-quality software production. Concepts of green line and thoughtful design are supported with tests before actual coding, assuming there are special tools to track and analyze within TDD process.
Another test automation practice [2] is continuous integration, which explicitly supposes automated test suites as a final stage upon building, deployment and distributing new versions of software. Based on acceptance of test results, a build is declared either as qualified for further testing or rejected. [3] Dashboards provide relevant information on all stages of software development including test results. However, dashboards do not support comprehensive operations and views for an automation engineer. This is another reason for dedicated management tools that can supply high-level data to other project management tools such as test management, issue management and change management.
Software testing is the act of checking whether software satisfies expectations.
In software testing, test automation is the use of software separate from the software being tested to control the execution of tests and the comparison of actual outcomes with predicted outcomes. Test automation can automate some repetitive but necessary tasks in a formalized testing process already in place, or perform additional testing that would be difficult to do manually. Test automation is critical for continuous delivery and continuous testing.
Continuous integration (CI) is the practice of integrating source code changes frequently and ensuring that the integrated codebase is in a workable state.
Requirements management is the process of documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing and agreeing on requirements and then controlling change and communicating to relevant stakeholders. It is a continuous process throughout a project. A requirement is a capability to which a project outcome should conform.
Keyword-driven testing, also known as action word based testing, is a software testing methodology suitable for both manual and automated testing. This method separates the documentation of test cases – including both the data and functionality to use – from the prescription of the way the test cases are executed. As a result, it separates the test creation process into two distinct stages: a design and development stage, and an execution stage. The design substage covers the requirement analysis and assessment and the data analysis, definition, and population.
Build automation is the practice of building software systems in a relatively unattended fashion. The build is configured to run with minimized or no software developer interaction and without using a developer's personal computer. Build automation encompasses the act of configuring the build system as well the resulting system itself.
Quality engineering is the discipline of engineering concerned with the principles and practice of product and service quality assurance and control. In software development, it is the management, development, operation and maintenance of IT systems and enterprise architectures with high quality standard.
Azure DevOps Server, formerly known as Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team System (VSTS), is a Microsoft product that provides version control, reporting, requirements management, project management, automated builds, testing and release management capabilities. It covers the entire application lifecycle and enables DevOps capabilities. Azure DevOps can be used as a back-end to numerous integrated development environments (IDEs) but is tailored for Microsoft Visual Studio and Eclipse on all platforms.
AnthillPro is a software tool originally developed and released as one of the first continuous integration servers. AnthillPro automates the process of building code into software projects and testing it to verify that project quality has been maintained. Software developers are able to identify bugs and errors earlier by using AnthillPro to track, collate, and test changes in real time to a collectively maintained body of computer code.
Parasoft is an independent software vendor specializing in automated software testing and application security with headquarters in Monrovia, California. It was founded in 1987 by four graduates of the California Institute of Technology who planned to commercialize the parallel computing software tools they had been working on for the Caltech Cosmic Cube, which was the first working hypercube computer built.
Business process management (BPM) is the discipline in which people use various methods to discover, model, analyze, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes. Any combination of methods used to manage a company's business processes is BPM. Processes can be structured and repeatable or unstructured and variable. Though not required, enabling technologies are often used with BPM.
Test management tools are used to store information on how testing is to be done, plan testing activities and report the status of quality assurance activities. The tools have different approaches to testing and thus have different sets of features. Generally they are used to maintain and plan manual testing, run or gather execution data from automated tests, manage multiple environments and to enter information about found defects. Test management tools offer the prospect of streamlining the testing process and allow quick access to data analysis, collaborative tools and easy communication across multiple project teams. Many test management tools incorporate requirements management capabilities to streamline test case design from the requirements. Tracking of defects and project tasks are done within one application to further simplify the testing.
OpenText ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) is a comprehensive solution designed to support and enhance the entire lifecycle of application development and management. It provides robust tools for planning, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance, ensuring that software projects are delivered efficiently and effectively.
Continuous testing is the process of executing automated tests as part of the software delivery pipeline to obtain immediate feedback on the business risks associated with a software release candidate. Continuous testing was originally proposed as a way of reducing waiting time for feedback to developers by introducing development environment-triggered tests as well as more traditional developer/tester-triggered tests.
Continuous delivery (CD) is a software engineering approach in which teams produce software in short cycles, ensuring that the software can be reliably released at any time. It aims at building, testing, and releasing software with greater speed and frequency. The approach helps reduce the cost, time, and risk of delivering changes by allowing for more incremental updates to applications in production. A straightforward and repeatable deployment process is important for continuous delivery.
Development testing is a software development process that involves synchronized application of a broad spectrum of defect prevention and detection strategies in order to reduce software development risks, time, and costs.
Infrastructure as code (IaC) is the process of managing and provisioning computer data center resources through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools. The IT infrastructure managed by this process comprises both physical equipment, such as bare-metal servers, as well as virtual machines, and associated configuration resources. The definitions may be in a version control system, rather than maintaining the code through manual processes. The code in the definition files may use either scripts or declarative definitions, but IaC more often employs declarative approaches.
A DevOps toolchain is a set or combination of tools that aid in the delivery, development, and management of software applications throughout the systems development life cycle, as coordinated by an organisation that uses DevOps practices.
The cTuning Foundation is a global non-profit organization developing a common methodology and open-source tools to support sustainable, collaborative and reproducible research in Computer science and organize and automate artifact evaluation and reproducibility inititiaves at machine learning and systems conferences and journals.
TestOps refers to the discipline of managing the operational aspects of testing within the software delivery lifecycle.