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Importance of Manual Testing

  • Swetha Y
  • Jul 2, 2019
  • 0 comment(s)
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IMPORTANCE OF MANUAL TESTING

 

INTRODUCTION:

Manual Testing is a type of Software Testing where Testers manually execute test cases without using any automation tools. Manual Testing is the most primitive of all testing types and helps find bugs in the software system.

Any new application must be manually tested before its testing can be automated. Manual Testing requires more effort but is necessary to check automation feasibility.

A few years ago, manual testing jobs were in high demand in the job market. At that time, there were not many mobiles devices and mobile applications available in the world of tech, and more and more companies were beginning to realize that having a testing team is as important as having a development team. So what did these companies do? They hired many manual testers, some coming from other IT professions (business analysts, developers, helpdesk engineers), as well as many from non-IT professions. Becoming a manual tester was not very difficult, as there was no formal education available. And without formal education, all the skills needed to become a manual tester were non-IT skills such as:

 

  • good cognitive skills
  • attention to details
  • willingness to learn new things
  • good verbal and written communication
  • a questioning mind
  • creativity

 

During those years, testers were not at all technical when compared to developers. Things were good for manual testers for a few years, but since then, things have changed. Most companies began to enter the world of mobile, with mobile sites and apps. In addition, technology and testing advanced with Selenium, cloud computing, test automation, and virtualization gaining importance.

 

So where is manual testing today? I occasionally speak to local recruiters and I ask them this question: One recruiter's the answer was that there are very few "pure" manual testing opportunities available. When one of these opportunities is available, the competition is fierce with 40-50 people competing for it. At the same time, there are more and more opportunities for testers with test automation skills, as many companies either have test automation frameworks that need to be maintained and improved or want to start their own frameworks.

 

Another recruiter's answer was that most of the testing roles seem to be hybrids. This means that the tester must be cross-functional and know both manual testing, a programming language, and a test automation framework. For this type of job opportunity, the competition is low. Many times, the recruiters cannot find people qualified and positions stay open for a long time.

 

Will this trend continue? I believe that it will. Testers that invest in their own career, know a programming language and have other technical skills will have the first chance of getting most of the job interviews going forward. These testers will continue to get closer and closer to software developers in their daily job requirements and skills.

 

5 Reasons Why Manual Testing Is Still Very Important

 

1. Manually Testing Tests From a Human Perspective

Human testers can quickly identify when something looks “off.” Automated test scripts don’t pick up these visual issues. When a tester interacts with software as a user would, they’re able to discover usability issues and user interface glitches. Automated test scripts can’t test for these things.

2. Exploratory Testing Can Only Be Done Manually

Automated tests only perform the actions that you tell them to. They require planning and preparation to write, which restricts the test to certain boundaries. These boundaries mean there isn’t any room to stray from the written test to truly “explore” the application. Exploratory testing (or ad hoc testing) gives us the opportunity to answer questions like, “what happens if I do this?” It enables us to carve our own path throughout the test with little to no boundaries.

3. Automated Tests Can Contain Errors and Holes

Just like code can have bugs, automated test scripts can also have bugs. This means that automated testing has the potential to report false positives and false negatives. By including a human touch throughout the testing process, these errors are avoided.

4. Some Scenarios Are Not Technically Feasible to Automate or Cost Too Much

Let’s take, for example, an iPad app that relies heavily on tap gestures. Automating the “tap” can not only be costly but also may not be the most accurate test compared to a human’s finger touching the user interface. It often makes more sense to manually test certain features. By the time you find a resource to write an automated test, a manual test could be completed with bugs already fixed. Sometimes, it makes more sense to just go the “manual” route.

5. Manual Testing Helps Us Understand the Whole Problem

Over time, automated testing can save time. It is great for getting quick results on a broad level, but manual testing allows us to understand the problem on a conceptual and emotional level. It connects us with the end-user and introduces us to a level of empathy automated testing doesn’t provide.

 

ADVANTAGES:-

  • Manual testing is eyeball testing
  • Applications with short life cycles.
  • Applications that have GUI’s which constantly changes
  • It requires less time and the expense to begin productive manual testing.
  • Automation cannot replace human intuition, inference, and inductive reasoning.
  • Automation testing cannot change course in the middle of a test run to examine something that had not been previously considered.
  • Manual QA testing can be used in both small and big projects.
  • Easily we can update our test case according to project movement.
  • It is covered in limited cost.
  • Easy to learn for new people who are entered into testing.
  • Manual QA testing is more reliable than automation (in many cases automation will not cover all cases).

 

DISADVANTAGES:-

  • GUI objects size difference and color combination etc. is not easy to find out in manual testing.
  • Load testing and performance testing is not possible in manual testing.
  • Running test manually is a very time-consuming job.
  • Regression Test cases are time-consuming if it is manual testing.

 

USAGES:-

1. There’s a whole bunch of testing that simply must be manual.

2. Automated testing empowers human testers.

3. Bugs are found where you least expect them.

4. Humans are creative and analytical.

5. Automation is too expensive for small projects.

 

CONCLUSION:-

Today, testing has a very important part to play in software development. No software can remain the same. Performing the appropriate checks on your software updates is a benefit to the developer and the end user. Software testers can use test-ready tools like TestLodge to get the best result of their product.

Certified testing sites and quality assurance teams are a gateway to your products stability. There are benefits to manual testing and automated testing. It’s important to consider both testing approaches as you design your QA strategy. No matter how much-automated testing evolves, there will always be a place for manual testing in software.

 

References:

 https://www.guru99.com/manual-testing.html 

http://jobsandnewstoday.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-are-dis-advantages-of-manual-testing.html

Author: Bharani GR

About the Author: Bharani, A progressive Corporate trainer is known for mixing the latest training techniques with methods that have strong track records. Apart from training and workshops, Bharani has hands-on experience in Software field where she has worked on JAVA, Python, HTML and CSS and tools like Selenium, Appium, Cucumber, Android Studio, ADB, Appium studio, etc.

She was awarded as the Best Trainer for Selenium from Lignite Technologies Ltd. Bharani G R, Automation lead of SkillRary has been supporting and motivating students for the placement and excel towards their career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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