The Complete Guide to Different Types of Testing

What is test automation and why is it critical to DevOps today? The digital transformation of the last era led to the rise of new software development techniques and methodologies including Agile and DevOps.

As a result, software testing also evolved to match these new paradigms of development. Test automation was born out of the necessity to keep pace with the speed of today’s software development lifecycle. Test automation involves the use of specialized tools to execute software and application quality tests. Learn more about test automation including the full definition, the benefits of test automation, and how to know when it’s time to automate.

What is continuous testing? Continuous testing is the process of reviewing and addressing software issues and risks at every stage of the development cycle. The goal of continuous testing is to test early and often to minimize business risk and maximize the quality of application released to end users. There are several steps to achieving continuous testing including achieving stable automation, full coverage, and scalability. Learn more about the path to continuous testing.

What is regression testing? Regression testing is a staple across different types of software testing. Through regression testing, businesses can confirm that updates and changes to code do not have a negative impact on software features. Today, regression testing is essential as applications and software are developed almost daily. This means code is changed regularly and testing must be performed just as consistently. Learn more about regression testing and best practices for regression testing in Agile and DevOps.

There are several types of software testing. Manual testing is the most hands-on type of testing and is employed by every team at some point. Of course, in today’s fast-paced software development lifecycle, manual testing is tough to scale. Automated testing and continuous testing are types of testing that go beyond the time-constraints of manual testing.

Automated testing uses test scripts and specialized tools to automate the process of software testing. Continuous testing goes even further, applying the principles of automated testing in a scaled, continuous manner to achieve the most reliable test coverage for an enterprise. Keep reading to learn more about the differences between automated testing vs. manual testing and how continuous testing fits in.

Performance testing in Agile has changed dramatically in the last decade. The evolution of the software development lifecycle has elevated performance testing to more complex heights. Performance testing can be divided into two practices: multi-user load testing and single user performance testing.

Single user performance testing encompasses all the factors impacting the end-user experience. Multi-user load testing involves parallel execution of real devices on real networks to measure an authentic experience. Learn more about exactly how the practice of performance testing has shifted, and how to continually evolve your performance testing with the pace of digital transformation.

Test automation takes time, resources, and advanced tools to implement, but the benefits of automation are worth the effort. Test automation helps small businesses to large enterprises improve the software and applications they release. With scaled test automation, releases can occur much more quickly so teams can stay ahead of the rapidly changing technology landscape. There are many advantages of test automation, and in the blog post below we dive into the three most prominent test automation benefits.