Automation and Agile- do they mix?

Each one is great by itself

I can't praise the Agile development methodology enough. I think it's fantastic. It is flexible, dynamic, and very much compatible to our rapidly changing demands. Agile is iterative approach, which helps minimize risks, and quickly adjust to changes. Furthermore, with 'Scrum', all team members don't have so many meetings to go to (except the daily), like in the 'Waterfall' approach. Finally, you can get some work done.

While Agile methodology's advantages may be arguable by some people, the benefits of automation are indisputable. When performed correctly, automation can save time & money, while noticeably increasing the quality of the product.

. . . Put them together . . .

Let's talk about the people joining the daily meetings ('Stand-Ups') for a moment. Who are those people? What are their roles? Leaving the 'chickens' and 'pigs' stuff out of this for a moment, whom do we see each morning?
So, we have a few developers, product owner/manager, QA person, project manager (if he/she feels like showing up.. ;)), and one of these guys is also the scrum master... more or less.

Hold it for one second, what about automation? We had automation teams, back in the Waterfall methodology, what should we do with automation developers now? The Scrum system promoters must have said: "Let's just add the automation person into the dish of the daily, and it would be fine. We know that every role has its representation in the scrum team, one more functional member would surely match the pattern, and it would be OK"... Would it really?


On every sprint, which is a period of 2-4 weeks, the scrum team works to realize the user-stories discussed on the sprint planning. There are few software companies that each peer on the team is equal to the others, and takes from the tasks board whichever task that needs to be worked on, whether it's a development task, automation, or QA task. Everybody does everything. But most companies have designated roles for each purpose. Developers are skilled to take dev. tasks. and they also are divided by expertise (UI, DB, client/server side, and so on). The QA person in the scrum team, is trained to check the outcome of the developers work, and the automation guy should automate the manual tests, and add more to them, with a goal to cover regression & bugs found on the system. The general idea is that all development / QA / automation tasks are to be completed by the end of the sprint.

For each development task, there should be a parallel QA task as well. There are some tasks which their execution is a head of schedule, and others might take longer than predicted. Few days before the sprint ends, there's a "code freeze", which means that development is halted, and no new code is to be merged into this sprint's delivery. This is done for reasons of leaving time for testing, bug fixing, and preparation for the next sprint.

Automation in Scrum

Many automation tools have 'Record' and 'Play' features, which almost anyone can activate, maybe make some modifications, and save it as a new test. This could only be used as the first phase of creating automated tests. I would lie if I said that I didn't activate these features at all. On the few times that I did (back in my QTP days), it was only to check the object recognition, or maybe as a beginner- to see the generated code from the recording.
Actual tests are written from scratch (both in 'Waterfall' and 'Agile'), after carefully planning and designing the infrastructure. The testing framework is built in a way that implements code reuse, while the test writer has full control over the test flows. The use of this kind of framework, enables composing tests in a relatively quick manner, basically by using the infrastructure's building blocks.

There are basically two possible states for automation, in scrum methodology. The first is when a team is starting a new project from scratch, and the automation code, like every other element in a new project- doesn't exit. On this state, the application code is just starting to be formed, there are no tests steps outlined for the manual tester, and there's no automation infrastructure (and of course- no tests). The other state regards to working in a routine, continuous manner, sprint after sprint. Most of us are on this working state much of our time, when some of the testing framework is ready, and the automation tasks involve both composing new test flows, and adding to the automation infrastructure.

So far so good, so what's the problem?

I mentioned some of the development procedure above, because getting to the point that you have your automation framework ready, takes time. It takes more than one or two sprints (and it could even take much longer). How can an automation developer catch up with the sprint's tasks, if he needs to close a gap of a few sprints of development?

If we take the first state, as mentioned above, a new project requires the development to lay down the foundation of the application. Of course this initial code could be tested (I'm not referring to unit tests), but normally the first sprints don't have so much development content in them, hence the automation is not so desperately needed at this phase. Initial development period of time, is also characterized by a lot of frequent changes both in the design and on the code, which would require lots of modifications to the automation framework as well. Every automation developer would agree that the power of automated tests is seen best when the tested application has a certain degree of stability. New applications are just not there yet.

And what about the on-going development state (second situation mentioned)? One would assume that while in the middle of development process, automation has much of what it needs from it's framework, and reliable tests could be composed relatively fast. At this stage most of the automated tests infrastructure, is already built, and there shouldn't be any significant hurdle in creating and executing automated tests.

Well, it is all correct, but the full picture is that many times, the delivered product is not working as expected. In these cases the development is using the sprint's time, up to the last minute, leaving very narrow window of time for QA and automation guys, to do their job. Bugs are found during the sprint, some of them are critical, or at least with a high severity level. These bugs force the development in the scrum, to shift it's resources and put some attention to bug fixing, while there's no final build to work on (for QA and automation). The manual QA tester has a very limited time frame, at the end of the sprint, to check the user stories final implementation, so you can only imagine the challenges that the automation developer is facing. He needs to develop automatic procedures and check-ups, parallel to the ones of the manual tester scenarios, and add some more tests, which couldn't be performed by human testers (like API tests). And it all needs to be completed on a time schedule identical to the manual QA tester's, which is at the end of the sprint.


One sprint ends and a new one immediately begins. There are scrum teams, that the only representative of the QA in them, is the automation developer. And since there are no manual testers on these scrums, we, as automation developers, are sometimes the "last line of defense" before the build goes out to alpha, or even to production. This is why no compromises should be made on the quality of the delivery. We need to provide automated tests for the user stories, end to end, some integration tests of the layers/components of the application, and also bugs scenarios. This must be done by automation, and all that is required to complete a full regression, in order to provide an adequate tests package, with high level of commitment to its quality. The time frames, and the working methodology of scrum, makes it very "challenging" for the automation developer, to say the least.

it's not all bad

There are some extenuating circumstances for mixing automation and Agile though. First, Since we're in a scrum, there are times that we work with a tight schedule (tighter than usual, I mean), and all team members join in helping out to the QA and automation effort, at the end of the sprint. The first week or two of every sprint, is relatively 'quiet', and no deliveries are made then, since the developers are still working on the sprint's stories. This time is best used to prepare the automation building blocks, towards composing the actual tests.

Every few sprints there's a release, and the day to day work made us realize that there should be some preparations in automation, before actually writing the tests. This infrastructure is needed to make the tests reliable and robust. We (in my software company) came to the recognition that at least by the time of the release, automated tests are to be ready, and the sprints would be the time that automated framework would be prepared. More lightly that in the final stages of the release, the tested application would be more stable, hence, some real flows could be executed at this time.

Epilogue

Automation developers are an integral part of scrum teams all over the Agile development world. Like it or not- it's the actual, day-to day reality. There are some serious problems that goes along with it. However, the fact that it's our ongoing routine, doesn't mean that this mix is ideal.

Automation is part of the testing domain, and is partially in charge of the quality of the product. Tests need an application to be executed on. The released product is available for tests, only at the end of the release time, and user stories are ready for testing, only at the end of each sprint, leaving very limited & narrow time windows for testing.

The fact of the matter is that nobody would make any alleviations for us, the automation developers. It is what it is, and we have to deal with it and as mentioned, we can find solutions (or at least leverage the 'extenuating circumstances'), and still deliver quality test flows.

The connection between Agile and Automation can definitely work, but is it a natural connection or an ideal mix?? Well, the answer to that is . . . 'No'.




Related Links :

deadly sins of automated software testing

How to start applying software automation tests in your company?

Test automation sounds "sexy" and attractive to any group/team leader, or to any QA engineer who wants to make an improvement in his testing capabilities. But taking the wrong approach could lead to making some fatal mistakes, which eventually might cause unnecessary waste of resources to the organization, and frustration to all involved. To avoid this, simple rules must be followed, and relevant (truthful) information should be presented to the decision makers. The purpose is to successfully adopt automation tests, and make them an integral part of the development process.

It's Overwhelming !

Implementing software automation testing, might seem a little bombastic to any newbie. The wide range of concerns starting with 'where to begin?', right to the parts of 'what to automate?', 'whether' and 'how to automate setup and configuration procedures?', 'how to check the results on each milestone?', 'logging the tests', and notification issues, such as 'the form of the reports', are all a great deal to handle when you start from scratch.

Not to worry, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither did any of the greatest existing automation solutions. Don't let the huge amount of issues and tasks, deviate you from your main objective, which is to give a reliable picture of the current status of the tested application. You have to start somewhere, and better sooner than later, since the development is waiting for no one, and new features are piling up all the time.

The Big Question

An important thing before we start diving into the solution, is that it all comes down to one significant question: "What do you want?" Or in other words what is our ideal state that we want to be in (...testing wise)? Surely I'm not going to leave this one open. My answer is: "everything!", I want it all. I want the setup, the configuration, tests execution, checkups, and reports, all fully automated.
As soon as a new build is ready, or even after every commit/check-in (new Dev. code merged into the application), full scale testing procedure should be executed, including sending results notifications. All of these, in my ideal world, would be done without any human touch. This is what we should see (or aspire for) at the end of the road.

Know Your Resources

Sorry for asking this, but what makes you think that manual testing skills, would be adequate for automation system implementation?
Moving to automation would definitely require from you, as a leader/manager, to re-evaluate seriously the capacity and abilities of the resources at your disposal. Automation is a different concept than manual testing execution. It involves different tools and frameworks, and it surely requires different skills than just being capable of doing manual tests (no disrespect for all you, manual testers out there).
If you're going to use your current staff, there's a learning curve you should be aware of. If it's outsource people, or new skilled automation developers you are going to hire, then there's another learning curve to take into advise- the curve of knowing the application under test. As capable and talented your new workers are, they couldn't write automated tests to a system they know nothing about.

In many cases though, some of the manual testers show interest in making their life easier. They may start with scripts to automate their preparation and configuration tasks, but they are the ones that usually open the door for other automation tasks to be accomplished. Encouraging these guys, and giving them all they need to fulfill their curiosity and potential (time, guidance, compensation etc.), would be a big step toward achieving your automation goals.

These were some insights regarding the human resource aspect of starting to automate. But what about the time resource? I have already mentioned the learning curves, but even if you have a very talented new team of experienced automation programmers, that know all there is to know about automation, and all there's to know about the tested application, even then, if automation is done correctly, testing infrastructure must be built. It should be assembled after careful & thorough design, and after proper brain storming. This takes time. In fact, sometimes weeks, or even months will pass from the time one starts writing automation, until he actually sees his first test-flow execution.

Choose Your Tool Wisely

This is critical !!
If you don't want to write automated tests over and over, and change frameworks every month, this must be done properly. Characterize the application which is under test, and analyze the tests procedures. Examine all interfacing angles of the application being tested, and list the tools you currently use to check them. This could include the UI of the end user, admin console interface, the application's APIs, and more.
The chosen automated tests framework must be able to support all (or most) of the listed interfaces, including the future outlook and vision of all interfaces to be used. If all tests are done using WEB browsers, than 'Selenium Web-Driver' might be the best tool to use. If the system under test has some windows apps that are to be tested, then almost certain that 'QTP' is your tool. There are many more options, but these ones I personally worked with.

Sometimes it's good to know (and acknowledge) that you don't know. It would be wise to ask the counseling of experts, especially in this matter. The required knowledge won't be in the organization, since you have just started automating. The automation development framework/tool that you choose, will be used for a long time, and would be the base ground for all test flows developed in the future, so it must be chosen after a serious consideration & research.

One principle to follow, is to set one 'marshaling' language/program/script, from start to end. Meaning it would be best to have a single point of management interface, where all actions and all references of a test flow, will start from, and return to. Same script/language code, which would start the setup procedure, will execute the test, and would also send the report at the end. One, single 'Main'-like  code, which would make a coherent, organized marshaling point, through which all test related actions could be controlled from.

Another issue to consider when choosing development framework, is the R&D background and knowledge. This has extra importance for teams new to automation and code development in general. If R&D is using Java, than Selenium Web-Driver over Java would be preferable. If it's .NET, than you might consider using C# platform. The support system of the application developers is important, not only when you're stuck and need advice (for this, online professional forums would do the work), but also for code & design reviews.

Just to set things straight-changing of code is done all the time. Refactoring and re-designing are done continuously. So no one says that once you set the automation framework design, then that's it. But it would be extremely beneficial to all, if before writing the first line of automation code, one would think it through, consult, and do some research, in order to minimize design mistakes, which might cost dearly.

Prioritize & Focus 

So, after exhausting so many clichés, you should divide your overall execution into segments. Basically, full test flow, end to end, has the following parts (roughly):

• Setup of the testing environment (including DB preparation)
• Application configuration
• Execution
• Checking actual outcome (response) in comparison  to the expected results
• Reports

First thing you need to know is that you must adhere to the current way you test today. As mentioned before, with so much to do in order to achieve a reliable automation system, a focus and prioritization is desperately needed. Furthermore, many times quick results are to be presented (to a stressful management), to justify the efforts and the resources allocation. Generally speaking, all automated tests include two combined elements: simulating a scenario (execution), and checking the results (the response of the application under test). So, from the five segments mentioned above, there is no doubt that the core two, are the scenario 'execution', and 'checking the actual outcome'. If you want to start somewhere, start there.

Some Principles To Live By

Whether it's automation tests for any kind of GUI application, or for other SW component, always strive to generate robust and scalable automation code for maximum control in the future, and in order to keep your independence and flexibility.
For starters, keep the following rules:

• Design the automation framework in a way that utilities are written once for common use
• Design the framework so that object repositories are shared and maintained in one place (per version)
• Plan before writing each test
• Have design & code reviews to be part of the automation development process- for constant improvement
• Keep the automation knowledge in-house (not in the hands of out-source people), and share it
• Use parameters to support multiple configuration & setups execution of single code
• Make your tests resilient to app changes, by robust object identification (RegEx and other techniques), and object synchronization.

Good Luck !


It's only fair to mention the following sources (there are many more), that each expressed it's own take on the same issue:
Good Practices For Automating Functional Tests
10 Tips you should read before automating your testing work
6 Tips to Get Started with Automated Testing
Getting started with automation testing