Navigating Common Misconceptions of Transitioning from Manual to Automation

Summary

In this discussion, the speakers reflect on the early challenges and misconceptions of automation in the late 1990s. They emphasize how skepticism about its value, the assumption that automation could solve everything, and the belief that automation was a one-time effort were common. They share insights on proving the financial benefits of automation, learning to write maintainable and reusable scripts, and understanding that ongoing human oversight is crucial for successful automation. The conversation highlights the evolving understanding and strategic approach to automation over time.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Early automation efforts faced skepticism, with doubts about its value compared to manual testing.
• ⏳ One major concern was the time investment required for automation, which many believed wouldn't pay off in the long run.
• 📊 Proving the financial benefits of automation was crucial in gaining buy-in from management, showing significant time and cost savings.
• 🧩 A key lesson learned was that automation isn't a one-size-fits-all solution; not everything should or can be automated effectively.
• 🔍 Early misconceptions included the belief that automation could replace all manual testing, which proved to be overly optimistic.
• 🛠 Developing a strategy for automation was essential, particularly in creating smaller, reusable test scripts to ease maintenance.
• ⚙️ Maintaining automation scripts is an ongoing effort; changes in the application can require frequent updates to the automation code.
• 🚦 It’s important to have a dedicated testing environment for automation to avoid interference from other ongoing testing activities.
• 💡 Waiting to automate areas of an application that are still undergoing frequent changes can prevent unnecessary rework and maintenance.
• 🔄 Automation requires ongoing human oversight, particularly in maintaining and updating scripts as the application evolves.

Q & A

What was one of the main fears expressed by the speakers when they started with automation in the late 90s?

One of the main fears was that automation would take too much time initially, and the upfront work required would not be worth the effort on the back end.

How did the speaker demonstrate the value of automation to their company?

The speaker demonstrated the value by showing that automation reduced the time needed for a quarterly release from a week to three days, which also decreased the cost significantly.

What misconception did people have about automation that the speaker had to overcome?

People believed that automation would not provide any real value and that the initial effort to automate was not worth the time and effort.

How did the speaker prove to their company that automation was worth the investment?

The speaker showed that by automating a significant portion of a large Excel spreadsheet, they were able to reduce the time and manpower required for a quarterly release, proving the financial benefits of automation.

What was the initial approach to writing automated tests according to the speakers?

Initially, the speakers created large tests with many conditions, which made it difficult to identify which part of the application was failing when tests did not pass.

What did the speakers learn about test strategy as they began to automate?

They learned that each automated test should result in one outcome for one functionality, leading to the adoption of atomic tests and a more strategic approach to test automation.

Why did the speakers emphasize the importance of having a separate environment for automation?

Having a separate environment ensured that tests were not broken by changes made by others in the shared testing environment, which was crucial for maintaining the reliability of automated tests.

What was a key lesson the speakers learned about the maintenance aspect of automation?

They learned that automation scripts need to be written in a way that allows for easy maintenance, such as creating reusable test chunks that can be updated in one place rather than in multiple tests.

What misconception did the speakers address regarding the ability to automate everything?

They addressed the misconception that automation can replace all manual testing, learning that it's more about having a strategic approach to what should be automated and what should remain manual.

How did the speakers approach the issue of changes in the application affecting automated tests?

They learned to create smaller, more focused tests and to wait to automate areas of the code that were likely to change, reducing the need for constant script maintenance.

What advice would the speakers give to someone new to automation based on their experiences?

They would advise focusing on strategic test automation, maintaining separate environments for testing, and writing maintainable scripts with reusable components to handle changes in the application.