October 16, 2024 
9 Min 
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In today’s fast-paced software development environment, ensuring the quality and reliability of applications is more critical than ever. As companies strive to deliver high-quality products faster, automation in software testing plays a vital role. Among the many testing methodologies, functional automation testing stands out as a key approach to verify that an application performs according to its specified requirements. But what exactly is functional automation testing, and why is it so important in the software development lifecycle? In this blog, we’ll explore the concept of functional automation testing and its importance, especially for students and professionals looking to enhance their knowledge at TestSure Academy.
Understanding Functional Automation
Automated Functional Testing is a process of specialized software tools used in executing tests against other software in order to verify that the application under test meets the specified requirements in regard to its functionality. Unlike manual testing, where tests are executed manually by a quality assurance (QA) professional, automation testing involves writing scripts and using software to control the execution of tests, compare the actual outcomes with predicted outcomes, and report the results. The focus of this type of testing is to ensure that the software behaves as expected, adhering to the functional requirements specified by the stakeholders or the development team.
In functional testing, the core focus is to ensure that the software responds accurately to inputs and outputs according to the given requirements. Functional automation testing can be applied to various levels of software development, including unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing.
6 Types of Functional Testing
1.Unit Testing: This is the deepest level of testing the functionalities of a program. It mainly involves testing the smallest testable parts of the application, normally individual functions or methods, to make sure that each of them is functioning correctly.
2.Integration Testing: This is a test that looks at how different interfaced modules or elements of an application within a system, aiming to find defects at the interfaces and interaction points between integrated components.
3.System Testing: This is a test carried out on the integrated whole system with the aim of verifying the system’s capability of conforming to specified requirements. It should also check software applications for full functionality.
4.Sanity Testing: A subset of regression testing, it means it is a quick, non-exhaustive run through the functionalities to make sure that major features work and no major bugs exist after making minor changes.
5.Smoke Testing: Most of the time, smoke testing is the first set of test cases to run after receiving the new build. The basic application functionalities are checked to see if they work fine and if the build is stable enough for other further rounds of testing; it’s cursory and a very shallow level of testing.
6.Regression Testing: Regression testing which is applied every time when a change or changes are brought within the application. It is meant to establish that no new code change shows any adverse effect on the pre-existing software functionalities.
Key Concept in Functional Automation Testing
1.Test Automation Tools: Automation tools, such as Selenium, QTP (Quick Test Professional), Test Complete, and others, are utilized to create and execute test cases automatically. These tools mimic user actions and validate the outcomes without requiring manual intervention.
2.Predifined Test Cases: Test cases are written based on the software’s functional requirements. They define the steps to be followed, the input data, and the expected results.
3.Regression Testing: One of the primary uses of functional automation is regression testing, where previously tested functionalities are re-tested to ensure they still work after code changes or updates.
4.Test Scripts: In automation testing, test scripts are written in programming languages (e.g., Java, Python, or scripting languages provided by the testing tool) to automate the execution of test cases.
5.Execution: The automation tool runs the test scripts, feeding in inputs and comparing the actual results with the expected ones to identify any discrepancies.
Tools For Automated Functional Testing: All of these different categories of functional testing hold a different role in the software development lifecycle, all designed to make sure that each module of the application’s functionality is designed to standard and works harmoniously with each other. Automated functional testing in the industry is supported by several leaders specifically equipped with unique features and capabilities to help fulfil different testing requirements. Some of the popularly used tools in the industry are as follows:
Selenium-Open Source: Written in support of many programming languages, Selenium is open-source software for web application testing. The testing tool supports all kinds of browsers and operating systems, with the capability of developing complex test scripts for multi-browser execution.
TestComplete: Provides a complete solution for testing web, desktop, and mobile applications. TestComplete is a tool whose core features include support for a wide range of scripting languages and powerful recording and playback that can be used by even entry-level testers.
QTP/UFT (Unified Functional Testing): From Micro Focus, UFT is a commercial tool that comes with many types of applications. It is characterized by an enormous set of advanced features, very intuitive GUIs, recording and playback features, along with a large number of integrations with other testing tools.
Appium: An open-source mobile application testing tool that supports automation for native and hybrid mobile web applications running on both iOS and Android platforms with standard API interfaces. This enables scripting tests to run in a wide range of programming languages.
Cypress: New in the modern web development framework domain, it proposes a new approach to application testing by running its tests right in the same run-loop with the application, thus giving live real-time feedback and making it super easy for debugging.
JUnit and TestNG: Aside from the fact that JUnit (for Java) is a leading unit test framework, JUnit takes up quite a large space for its deployment with functional testing in the source code base. TestNG is more capable than JUnit; it also offers extra features and is hence more powerful and often an adopted choice. They both offer annotative features for categorizing the tests and for setup and tear-down methods.
Robot Framework: A keyword-driven test automation framework developed either in Python or Java programming language for test-driven development (TDD) acceptance testing in web and mobile applications. Every kind of tool caters to the need and testing environment—be it web and mobile applications or desktop software.
Why is Automated Functional Testing Important?
1.Increase Testing Efficiency and Speed: Manual testing can be time-consuming and prone to human error, especially when dealing with large, complex applications. Automation drastically speeds up the testing process by running repetitive test cases in a fraction of the time it would take manually.
2.Higher Test Coverage: Automation allows testers to cover a broader range of functionalities in less time, leading to more comprehensive testing. It can execute thousands of test cases across different scenarios and configurations, ensuring that even the smallest components are tested thoroughly.
3.Imroved Accuracy: Human testers may overlook certain scenarios or make errors during the execution of repetitive tests. Functional automation testing eliminates these risks by executing the same steps accurately every time.
4.Cost effective in the Long Run: Although the initial setup of functional automation testing requires investment in tools, time, and resources, it pays off in the long run.
5.Faster Feedback Loop: Functional automation testing provides immediate feedback to developers when issues arise, allowing them to address bugs early in the development cycle.
6.Facilitates Continues Testing: In modern software development practices like Agile and DevOps, continuous testing is a fundamental principle. Functional automation testing is indispensable in this context because it allows for continuous validation of the software as it evolves.
7.Support Cross-Browser and Cross-Platforms Testing: Automation tools like Selenium make it possible to run the same tests on multiple browsers (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Safari) and platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux), ensuring consistent behavior across the board.
Benefits of Automated Functional Testing:
1.Enhanced Accuracy: Automation reduces the risk of human errors, thus increasing the accuracy of test execution.
2.Efficiency Increased: The automated tests can be done automatically, mostly at some crazy hours not within the usual working hours.
3.Better Coverage: It allows the running of a massive number of tests, which improves the coverage of application features and functionalities.
Challanges in implementing automated functional testing
1.Intial Setup Cost: Setting up an automation testing environment can be expensive due to the cost of tools and training.
2.Skill Requirement: Writing effective automation scripts requires a certain level of technical expertise.
3.Maintenance of Test Scripts: As applications evolve, test scripts need regular updates, which can be time-consuming.
In Depth About Automated Functional Testing in Agile Development
Automation testing in agile development plays an important role in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) processes. It ensures that new features are tested thoroughly and quickly, facilitating frequent and reliable software releases.
Best Practices in Automated Functional Testing:
1.Develop Comprehensive Test Cases: Ensure that test cases cover all aspects of the application’s functionality.
2.Ensure Extensive Test Coverage: Strive for maximum test coverage to enhance the application’s reliability.
3.Maintain Test Scripts Regularly: Update test scripts to align with changes in the application.
Conclusion
It is an active ingredient in modern software development evolution. It ensures the speed and quality of development, maintaining full guarantee in technology-driven functionality of development in today’s world. At TestSure Academy, mastering this essential testing methodology gives you the knowledge and tools to excel in the fast-paced world of automation testing. From increasing testing speed and accuracy to improving test coverage and providing faster feedback, functional automation testing plays a pivotal role in modern software development. From the vision, it is clear that TestSure Academy purports to offer far better user experience, with the primary focus on functional testing, better product reliability and helping give its customers a competitive advantage in the industry. Let’s get connected today