Updated March 21, 2023
Difference Between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing
In this article, we will see an outline on Manual Testing vs Automation Testing. Testing is the process of running a set of developed codes through a check to identify bugs and correct them. The purpose is to ensure that the final product has the required functionality and can work without reporting any bugs. It can be done in two ways, manual testing and Automation testing. While the objective remains the same, the approach, cost, results, and benefits differ. Therefore, both are important in the development cycle of the product.
Manual Testing:
Analyzing the features and functionality of an application from the perspective of an end-user is called testing. It is critical to understand the business requirement in order to define a defect and categorize it accordingly.
This is done in four steps:
- Writing Test Cases: In accordance with the business requirements, test cases are written. These test cases are the guidelines for the tester to test functions and scenarios in the product.
- Running the Test: With the test cases in place, the tests are now ready to run. A tracking tool helps register the outcome of these tests for future steps.
- Log Bugs: A detailed bug logged with description, screenshot, recording, reports, replication steps, etc., are a vital input for the development team to understand and fix the bug before the product release.
- Reporting the Results: Testing feedback is critical to the development team. It provides a summary of the tests run, skipped, failed and the errors logged with severity.
Automation Testing:
This is the process to validate the functionality and features against Business requirements before the product release in an automated testing tool that uses a scripted sequence of codes. This is done in order to run a repetitive test analyzing the gap between the expected and actual outcomes. These automated testing tools help run the test, log bugs, compare results, and report the summary. Automation testing is good for testing cases across repetitive processes and continuous delivery, where the execution of processes more quickly and frequently is the focus. It saves time and cost invested in running the tests.
There are 2 common methodologies to do Automation testing:
- GUI Testing: It tests the functionality of the program by automating the user behaviour on the Graphic user interface. This helps predict and analyze the software response to anticipated user clicks and navigations and generates a report. It also compares this outcome to the expected outcome and flags the gaps identified.
- API Testing: This test bypasses the GUI and validates the test conditions’ application behaviour by using a programming interface.
Head to Head Comparison Between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing (Infographics)
Below are the top 9 comparisons between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing:
Key Differences Between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing
Let us discuss some key differences between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing:
- Manual testing is commonly used in the final testing phase before the product release, where a tester is given the test cases and scenario, and he needs to run the tests, log bugs and report them. However, Automation tests are run at the development stage, mostly at the Unit Testing step that runs repetitive tests within the same system structure.
- Manual testing owes a higher manpower cost and effort as the test cases are run manually and logged. While Automated testing saves on the time taken to run the tests, the test cases need development, and it takes adequate time and effort, resulting in a higher cost. Automation tests are beneficial in the long run for continuous delivery.
- Manual tests are ideal for dynamic conditions, while automated tests can fetch better results in non-dynamic test conditions.
- Automation testing is ideal for products that have updates, releases, and a long maintenance life, where the same automation test case can be run, once developed. Apparently, it can also be used in combination with manual testing efforts, while the tester can maintain the test cases and analyze results.
- In an age of increasing popularity of DevOps and Continuous Delivery, Automation tests are utilized to run regression testing and repetitive tasks. However, the GUIs with dynamic changes as per the user preference and requirements cannot be tested with automation test owing to the effort and cost incurred to update and maintain the test cases. Hence, the manual test is the only way to go.
- As a tester conducts the Manual tests, and there could be a large set of codes to be tested, human errors are possible while running the test or reporting the results. An Automation test is run more efficiently and reported accurately, on the other hand. There is no possibility of the error logging and reporting part.
Manual Testing vs Automation Testing Comparison Table
The table below summarizes the comparisons between Manual Testing vs Automation Testing:
|
Manual Testing |
Automation Testing |
| This test is run by a Tester. | This test is conducted by a Developer. |
| The efforts invested cannot be reused. | These tools are reusable and can be updated if necessary. |
| The tester can make dynamic changes in the go. | It has limited and/or defined functional tests as scripted. |
| Efforts and Cost to run the test is higher. | The cost to run the test is very low. |
| Test cases are developed and maintained at a low cost. | Efforts to develop the test cases are higher. |
| Limited resource availability as per the shift or Time zones. | These tests can be run outside the hours too. |
| Reporting cost goes up as the details get deeper. | Reporting can be customized to meet the requirement efficiently. |
| Possibility of Human Errors. | It has little or no error possibilities. |
| Efficient in the Waterfall Model. | Useful in DevOps & Continuous Delivery. |
Conclusion
Manual testing requires the necessary manual efforts and time to run the test cases; it handles the task dynamically while incorporating human intelligence. Automation tests run the scripts as per the set of codes and bring out the actual result and comparison against the expected outcome. When both are used in combination, it brings efficiency and quality to the optimum level. At the same time, the manual efforts are invested in creating test cases and analyzing the reports, the repetitive task of regression testing to done by the automated tests, hence ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and quality out. This overall leads to the perfect product that’s cost-efficient.
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