Topic: Test tobe automated

Message

   When Should a Test Be Automated?

Summary

I want to automate as many tests as I can. Iâ€™m not comfortable
running a test only once.What if a programmer then changes the code and
introduces a bug? What if I donâ€™t catch that bug because I didnâ€™t
rerun the test after the change? Wouldnâ€™t I feel horrible?

Well, yes, but Iâ€™m not paid to feel comfortable rather than
horrible. Iâ€™m paid to be costeffective. It took me a long time, but I
finally realized that I was over-automating, that only some of the
tests I created should be automated. Some of the tests I was automating
not only did not find bugs when they were rerun, they had no
significant prospect of doing so. Automating them was not a rational
decision.

The question, then, is how to make a rational decision. When I
take a job as a contract tester, I typically design a series of tests
for some product feature. For each of them, I need to decide whether
that particular test should be automated. This paper describes how I
think about the tradeoffs.

Author	Message
sudha Newbie Joined: 04Apr2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Topic: Test tobe automated Posted: 04Apr2007 at 4:14am
	When Should a Test Be Automated? Summary I want to automate as many tests as I can. Iâ€™m not comfortable running a test only once.What if a programmer then changes the code and introduces a bug? What if I donâ€™t catch that bug because I didnâ€™t rerun the test after the change? Wouldnâ€™t I feel horrible? Well, yes, but Iâ€™m not paid to feel comfortable rather than horrible. Iâ€™m paid to be costeffective. It took me a long time, but I finally realized that I was over-automating, that only some of the tests I created should be automated. Some of the tests I was automating not only did not find bugs when they were rerun, they had no significant prospect of doing so. Automating them was not a rational decision. The question, then, is how to make a rational decision. When I take a job as a contract tester, I typically design a series of tests for some product feature. For each of them, I need to decide whether that particular test should be automated. This paper describes how I think about the tradeoffs. Post Resume: Click here to Upload your Resume & Apply for Jobs

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