The complexities of software development are growing. Cloud-nativity and the expectations for Continuous Integration / Continuous Development (CI/CD) must now be factored into development. DevOps teams place a greater emphasis on efficiency than effort.
Most DevOps teams utilise agile approaches, which need testing to be included throughout the development cycle. Agile Test Automation approaches are being integrated into software testing methodologies and tools to keep up with these expectations.
This post will explain what agile testing is and how it is carried out. You’ll also learn about five KPIs that can help you guarantee your testing processes are as agile as possible.
Agile testing is a software development methodology that relies on short development cycles and frequent feedback from clients. Agile testing is therefore used in conjunction with test driven development, where the tests are written before the actual functionality of the application.
Agile software development involves several iterative steps, called sprints or iterations. In each iteration, a set of features is developed and delivered to the client for review.
The 3 Ways to identify if you are really doing Agile Test Automation:
Depending on your objectives, you can choose from a wide range of metrics to measure when testing your software. The three listed below are a solid place to start.
1. Defect Type: The defect category counts the number of defects divided by the overall number of defects. Usability, functionality, performance, compatibility, and security are some of the categories. Using this metric necessitates a clear definition of defect categories. It is also necessary to keep track of these categories as faults are reported.
This measure can help you identify faults in coding processes or tests. It’s a red flag if you see the same category over and over. When that component of your feature is specified, it signals that you require greater clarity. If you have 0 flaws from a category, it may suggest that you are not successfully finding defects.
2. Pass Rate for Test Cases: The test case pass rate is calculated by dividing the total number of passed test cases by the total number of performed cases. You can use it to improve your understanding of product quality and ensure that your team is fixing faults.
The pass rate of your test cases should rise during the course of your project. If it does not, it means that the problems were either not successfully fixed or were reintroduced. When employing this statistic, take in mind that if your tests are flawed, this metric is useless.
3. Automated Test Coverage: Automated test coverage is calculated by dividing the amount of testing done with automated tests by the overall amount of testing. It can calculate testing amounts based on the number of code lines covered, specific tests run, or test functions executed. You can utilise automated test coverage to assess the effectiveness of your testing.
If you discover that you have limited coverage, it may be time to reconsider which tests you’re automating. Although not all tests can or should be automated, many can and should be in order to improve efficiency and speed. This measure should be used in conjunction with the fault category and the MTTD. This combination can assist you in determining which tests to automate for the maximum ROI.
Conclusion: Agile is based on iterative product and process improvement. You cannot gain agility if you are unable to retrieve or use input from your processes. Metrics enable you to retrieve objective input while also providing a standard against which to assess subjective feedback.