Regression Testing
Every software development organization recognizes the value of automating regression tests – at least the most critical ones. An automated regression test unequivocally helps ensure the stability and quality of a release in the most efficient manner.
Automated regression testing empowers Agile teams to run regression tests during every sprint – in full or in parts depending upon the change impact, every sprint. It sets the team up for a quick feedback loop as opposed to waiting for the very last sprint to initiate the regression testing. Any regression issues are thus detected and addressed as part of the development cycle.
BeatBlip provides a powerful feature set to help organizations perform extensive and efficient regression testing without requiring heavy resources. It helps organizations delight their customers through timely and high-quality releases while keeping the testing costs low.
- BeatBlip offers enhanced re-usability to cut down the automation effort. Functional test cases often share many test steps. It allows users to create test suites, test cases, or test step batches that can be re-used i.e. accessed and executed as part of other tests. This can avoid automation script proliferation and keeps the maintenance localized.
- It provides the test feedback (success or failure) both in the file as well as text format that can be consumed at the CI/CD tool level to decide whether to abort the deployment or proceed with it.
- It allows users to test features and functionality as they are added as opposed to waiting for them to be fully done. This ensures that test automation and testing progress in parallel.
- It doesn’t require any complex set up. To integrate with any CI/CD tool, all the user needs to do is provide the authentication information.
- Data driven capability of BeatBlip allows the testers to test the same functionality under multiple conditions without rewriting or duplicating the test cases.
- It gives the option to capture screenshots for all the test steps and to capture the video of the test execution cycle ensuring that the teams have a way to review the unattended test executions.
- Provides easy access to any failed tests and associated failure reasons for quicker analysis and decision making.
- Development teams get quick feedback, from testing, both on new as well as existing functionality.
Even a small tweak to the code, done when a developer is changing or modifying an application, can bring about many unexpected consequences. Regression Testing is a type of testing that is done to verify that a code change has not broken any existing functionality of the application. Its purpose is to detect bugs that may have been accidentally introduced into the new build or release candidate and to ensure that the previously removed bugs continue to stay dead.
Regression testing ensures the overall stability and functionality of existing features. Whenever any new modification is added to the code, regression testing should be applied to guarantee that after each update, the system stays sustainable under continuous improvements. It mitigates risks related to defects, malfunctions, and dependencies so that the previously developed and tested code remains operational even after new changes. Regression testing is usually the last step in the test lifecycle as it verifies a product’s behavior as a whole.
Test automation is an essential element in the modern-day application development practice. Similarly, automation of regression testing is also considered a critical part of the testing lifecycle. It delivers a rapid regression testing process, thereby enabling product teams to receive more informative feedback and respond instantly.
Automated regression testing detects new bugs early in the deployment cycle so that organizations do not have to invest in costs and maintenance efforts to resolve the built-up defects. Sometimes a seemingly small modification can cause a domino effect on an application’s key functions. That’s why developers and testers must not leave any alteration, even the smallest, untested.
While functional tests inspect the behavior of new features and capabilities, they do not check how compatible these new features are with the existing ones. Therefore, without regression testing, it is difficult and time-consuming to investigate the root cause and the architecture of a product. Therefore, if your application undergoes frequent modification, regression testing will be the essential filter to ensure that the quality of the application is improved.
Common use cases of Regression Testing
- A new requirement is added to an existing feature
- A new feature or functionality is added
- The codebase is fixed to solve defects
- The source code is optimized to improve performance
- Patch fixes are added
- Changes in configuration
- Run Tests 24X7: No matter where you are in the world, your tests can be initiated at any time, day or night with the results streaming in constantly.
- Detect Bugs Early: Automated regression testing enables you to find bugs during the early stages of application development, reducing expenses and the working hours that would be wasted in fixing these problems.
- Improve Reliability & Speed: Automation makes regression testing more reliable and way quicker while running repetitive and standardized tests that cannot be skipped, ever, but may cause errors when manually tested.
- Optimization of Resources:Automation removes the need to have a lot of people. Just a few qualified professionals can manage and oversee the regression tests. Automation software can be used to run a test rather than a lot of people testing manually.
- Increase in ROI: Once implemented, in regression testing practice, automation can deliver a high return on investment and save lots of testing time.