​​​​No universal testing program exists for automated testing. Every project needs its own unique script which is created based on an extensive expert assessment. Before each new project, an exact calculation must be made of which type of testing is optimal, effective, and more economical. Only after this can automated testing and a testing robot enter the picture.

“Generally speaking, testing automation speeds up the process, that’s evident. And thanks to automation, several different scenarios can be tested, the scope of the tests can be expanded, and each of them can be performed identically because robots perform scenarios absolutely the same way each and every time,” says Tomáš Mertin, an automated testing system developer at Cleverlance. As a result, testing and code writing are essentially simultaneous, and developers can fix any errors or inaccuracies within a short period of time.

“In recent months we’ve witnessed an increase in interest in automated testing, it’s a trend, but everyone’s expecting that it will reduce the number of people involved in development. I don’t think that’s going to happen,“ says Mertin. “Automated testing will definitely speed up development. It also provides us with better knowledge of the state of the application at any given moment. But tests, deployment, operations – someone still has to maintain all that. The human dimension is going to stay,” Mertin explains, adding that he thinks automated testing will not fully replace humans. “But it will save time, which they can then spend on actual development.”

Automated testing frameworks have proven successful in segments where development is constantly underway. Like the banking sector. “We’ve got a big project in which we’re practically building the entire digital banking framework. One phase has to precisely dovetail with the next one. These days agile management is used for things of this size, which makes it all possible,” says Jan Vajsejtl, who is in charge of testing at Komerční banka, one of the largest banks in the Czech Republic.

In the past, large companies like banks used waterfall testing. Testers would receive completed sections while work on development would halt because the developers waited to hear what they needed to fix. If any major intervention was needed, it was followed up with another phase of testing, prolonging the work.

In the past two years, automated testing has been added to conventional, time-tested, and efficient testing methodologies. It’s proven successful wherever development is practically non-stop. The experience with it has been exceptionally good, says Komerční banka’s Jan Vajsejtl.  

These are cases where automated testing makes a substantial difference. “Our experience is exceptionally good. The automated system my colleagues and I fine-tuned for our own needs allows us to test practically all devices and environments, cell phones, websites, and more,” Vajsejtl says.

Although the inside of the system is complicated, its use in practice is surprisingly easy. “I think the main advantage is that it’s essentially very simply written. So just a short, half-day training session is enough to be able to start to use it. You definitely don’t need to know how to program or have some deep technical knowledge.”

“For me it’s a testing success. We’ve put the testing framework to practical use and tried it out; my colleagues at Cleverlance and I tailored it to Komerční banka’s needs and augmented it with additional functionality. Given the amount of development we have, it’s a really efficient thing,” Vajsejtl.