Test Automation

Test automation provides automated support for the process of managing and executing tests, especially for repeating past tests. All the tests developed for the system should be collected into a test suite. Whenever the system changes, the suite of tests that correspond to the changes or those that represent a set of regression tests can be run again to see if the software behaves as expected. Test drivers or suite drivers support executing test suites. Test drivers basically help in setup, execution, assertion, and teardown for each of the tests. In addition to driving test execution, test automation requires some automated mechanisms to generate test inputs and validate test results. The nature of test data generation and test results validation largely depends on the software under test and on the testing intentions of particular tests.

In addition to test automation development, stubs or scaffolding development is also required. Test scaffolding provides some of the infrastructure needed in order to test efficiently. White box testing mostly requires some software development to support executing particular tests. This software establishes an environment around the test, including states and values for data structures, runtime error injection, and acts as stubs for some external components. Much of what scaffolding is for depends on the software under test. However, as a best practice, it is preferable to separate the test data inputs from the code that delivers them, typically by putting inputs in one or more separate data files. This simplifies test maintenance and allows for reuse of test code. The members of the testing team are responsible for test automation and supporting software development. Typically, a member of the test team is dedicated to the development effort.