Steven Vore, Telerik
Software is complex, and complex software doubly so. Our testing teams, comprised of fallible humans, are challenged with finding the tiniest of errors in a seemingly infinite domain. Once we’re satisfied with a version we start all over again. It’s no wonder that teams are looking to automation in hopes of easing their workload.
Company after company, testing team after testing team is asking, “How do we get started with test automation?” The wrong answer for our testing teams is to buy a product or download a framework and start coding against it. This paper and presentation focus on key questions to ask and discussions to have before pulling out the checkbook, keyboard, or mouse.
We will begin with assessing team skills; determining the level of technical skills and interest amongst the testers and developers. I will discuss the need for finding allies and for getting management buy-in before starting – or forgiveness after getting underway. You’ll learn methods for identifying the areas of your project that would be good starting points for automation, and the importance of determining a course of action.
Wise testing team managers should remember to “look before you leap” into automation. Just as a development team would be mistaken in choosing a programming language or database tool before understanding a new project, we should be asking the important up-front questions before diving in.
