Testing your app before you deploy it is one of the most important things that you can do. However, what type of testing should you be doing? The answer to that is agile regression tests. In this blog, we will go through Introduction To Agile Regression Testing And How To Do It.
You may have heard about Agile software development, and maybe you have even worked on a project using an Agile methodology — for example, Scrum or Kanban. But have you heard about Agile regression testing and how to use it?
What Is Regression Testing?
Regression testing is a software testing technique that is used to confirm that new or changed code has not affected existing, previously developed, and tested functionalities.
Regression testing is an important part of the software development process. It helps to ensure that any changes made during the development of a product do not affect existing features or functionality. Regression testing can be performed manually by an individual or automated using test scripts.
Regression tests should be created prior to making any code changes, as well as after code changes are made. These tests can be run again after the software has been released to ensure that any future changes have not caused regressions (i.e., broken existing features or functionality).
1. Manual Regression Testing
In manual regression testing, testers manually execute tests before any code change takes place. This type of testing is labor-intensive and can be time-consuming due to the amount of work involved in manually checking every test case before each build. Manual regression testing is typically used when there are only a few bugs with each build or when there are fewer than 100 test cases per build. It can be difficult to keep up with this level of manual checking when there are several builds per day or week.
2. Automated Regression Testing
Automated regression testing is a form of automated software testing where tests are executed automatically by an automated system without human intervention once they’ve been defined by a programmer (or group of programmers). Formalized automated testing was first introduced as a concept in 1959 by H. Wainer at IBM.
Agile Regression Testing
Agile testing is a methodology that involves shortening the testing phase of software development. It has gained popularity because it helps to manage risks and reduce costs. It also improves communication between various departments of a company.
Agile is a process-driven approach that focuses on delivering working software over documentation, following best practices, and iterative development. The main goal of agile regression test cases is to ensure that the product features work properly as per the requirements and specifications. This can be done by performing manual or automated testing at different stages of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).
Benefits Of Agile Regression Testing
There are many benefits associated with agile regression testing:
1. Ensure That All Defects Are Fixed
It ensures that all defects found during development have been fixed before the release date. This reduces the risk of releasing faulty software into production, which could lead to loss of revenue, customer dissatisfaction, and even legal action against your company if there’s a breach in data protection regulations (such as GDPR).
2. Ensure That New Features Are Tested
It ensures that all new features added since the last release have been tested properly and work as expected with existing features.
3. Ensures That New Features Do Not Break Old Features
This is perhaps one of the most obvious benefits of agile regression testing. It ensures that when new features are added to an application, they do not break old features or cause unintended consequences. This includes both functional and non-functional tests.
4. Helps Reduce Technical Debt
When new features are added to an application, they often come with bugs and issues that need fixing. These bugs can be difficult to fix because they’re already in production, where they may have been around for some time. By performing agile regression tests before adding these new features, developers can identify these issues early on and fix them before they cause problems later down the line. This helps reduce technical debt, which improves software quality over time and makes future changes easier to make.
5. Helps To Automate Regression Tests
It helps you to automate your regression tests so that you don’t have to repeat them, again and again, every time there is a new release of the application or a change in the code base.
Agile Testing Framework
A framework for agile testing, which supports test automation and test case design, development, and maintenance. The goal of the framework is to provide an overview of the agile testing techniques and approaches that provide a foundation for effective and efficient software testing in agile projects.
The Agile Testing Framework consists of five core pillars: Agile Testing Principles, Agile Test Case Design, Agile Test Automation, Agile Test Execution, and Agile Test Reporting.
The five core pillars are supported by three supporting pillars: Agile Software Development Concepts (Agile Requirements Management), Product Quality Assurance Processes (Quality Assurance), and Project Management Methodologies (Project Management).
The following are some key points that should be considered while performing Agile Regression Testing:
1. Test Strategy
The test strategy should clearly define which tests need to be performed, how they will be performed, and what parameters will be used for comparison between successful and failed tests.
2. Test Cases
Test cases should include all the testing needs, such as functional testing, performance testing, security testing, etc. so that there is no missing link in your application and hence can improve the quality of your application significantly.
3. Test Data
Test data should include both positive and negative situations as well as data from different sources like production data, historical data, expected results, etc., so that you can get an idea about how your application will perform after release when it comes under pressure from real-time scenarios or when there are various kinds of unexpected changes in the environment or when there are different types of users using your application simultaneously or at different times, etc.
4. Test Plan
It is a document describing what, why and how much work needs to be done. A good test plan should include the following information:
- What will be tested (functionalities, scenarios, features, etc.)
- Why will it be tested (what business risks are involved if we skip this testing activity)
- How much testing will be performed (how many testers, how many hours will be needed, etc.)
- When will it be tested (what is the expected timeline for this testing activity)
- Who will do this testing work (role of each tester within the team and their responsibilities while performing this task)?
5. Testing Environment
Since it’s an Agile method, we cannot predict where the defects will occur, so we have to create multiple environments where we will execute our test cases and run them on different operating systems and browsers. We can create different environments by using virtual machines or Docker containers in order to replicate real-world conditions.
How Is Agile Regression Testing Done?
Regression testing can be done manually or automatically. Manual regression tests are done by testers who use manual scripts to execute tests on specific areas of the application. Automated regression tests are performed by automated tools that scan an application looking for bugs, which they then report back to developers so they can be fixed.
Testing is done in short cycles called iterations. These iterations can be of any length – a week, a month, three months, or even more. The objective is to develop the product with the least amount of rework and bugs. As more and more iterations are completed, the system becomes more stable as well as more complete.
The following activities are performed during each iteration:
1. Planning
This is done at the start of every iteration. In this stage, you define what needs to be tested, who will do it, and how long it will take. You also decide on how much time should be spent on regression testing during each iteration.
2. Execution
Once planning is done, you execute your test cases against your product. You write down all defects that occur during execution and then fix them before moving to the next step in your agile process cycle (i.e., analysis). You can also use automated tools for this purpose. However, manual testing is still considered better because it gives you a better understanding of what really happened when something went wrong with your application or website, etc.!
3. Testing
Exploratory testing of the application as it changes over time in order to ensure that new features do not break existing functionality and that existing functionality is not broken by new features (parallel testing). Regression testing of previously covered areas when new features are added (sequential testing).
Conclusion
By now, you should know if the benefits of agile development work for you and your organization. However, if you are considering agile, one thing to note is that clear communication and effective collaboration between development and testing is an absolute must. It’s great to collect requirements early on in the process, but don’t let that pin anyone down.
During each iteration, discuss testing with the development team members so that testers can prepare for what to expect from the developers and so that both parties know exactly what they need from each other.
Generally, at least one full day of testing should be scheduled during each iteration. To make effective use of this time, estimation is necessary. In some companies that practice agile development, developers do the estimation for the time required to fix bugs—this way, it’s a collaborative effort. Of course, it doesn’t have to be this formalized at home.
Again, as long as expectations are clear and testing always happens as an integral part of iteration cycles during agile projects, everyone will benefit.
