How to Transition from Manual to Automation Testing?

As in today’s world technology is advancing day by day, many companies are adopting agile methodologies to shorten the development cycle and speed up time to market (TTM). As effective testing is the key to any successful project. Manual testing seems to be old-fashioned but it’s quite important to let you understand the basics of testing. Manual testing is prone to human errors as well as is time-consuming and repetitive. However, the importance of manual testing in the field of software testing will never fade away. But to catch up with the fast-paced world we need to move along with it. If you have been a manual tester for a long period and want to have a transition in automation testing to be efficient and explore the vast field of testing then this article might help you with the same.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

Transitioning from manual to automation testing is important for companies adopting agile methodologies to shorten development cycles and speed up time to market.
Manual testing is important for understanding the basics but can be prone to human errors and is time-consuming.
Ways to transition include having a focused mindset, learning programming languages and tools, exploring code-less platforms, choosing the right tool for testing needs, creating a standard test structure, and being curious for learning.
Hurdles in the transition include time and resource usage, test stability and scalability, and communication with the development team.
Advantages of automation testing include speed, reliability, easier regression testing, less prone to human error, requires fewer resources, and provides more test coverage.

How to Shift from manual to automation testing?

Shifting from manual testing towards automation testing can seem to be a very devastating and long process but it’s not if you have decided you are good at your work. Some of the ways which can help you in transition are:

Have a 360 outlook:

In the transition from manual to automation testing you need to have a focused mindset. As some of the aspects of manual testing can become handy in automation testing. There are numerous advantages of automation testing. i.e. Reducing testing time, less prone to human error and regression testing can be made easy with the help of scripts in automation testing.

Learn to Code:

In today’s world coding has become a necessity, at least everyone knows how to code. If you are planning to move into automation testing you need to learn programming languages, as well as the tools, which require a little bit of knowledge to get them going. There are various tools (Selenium, Katalon, etc.) supporting various languages. Thus you need to skill up in any language that seems interesting to you .i.e Python, C, C++, Java, C#, etc. And learning these languages is not a big task as a lot of resources are available for free on the internet and youtube.

Explore Code Less Platforms:

Various tools make automation easier without the need of learning programming languages, it comes in handy when you are a newbie as these tools record the user’s actions step by step on the browsers and convert them into scripts.

Selection of Right Tool:

There are various types of testing such as API testing, Web testing, Mobile testing, etc. Be sure to choose the right tool according to your testing needs for Manual to Automation Testing.

In case you are going for API testing, there are specialized API testing tools i.e. Postman.
For testing, the performance of a product different tools are used such as Apache Jmeter.
For Web Testing, you can go with selenium.

Moreover, nowadays a single tool has almost all the various testing functions such tools are Katalon, TestProject tool.

Once you get hold of a tool, you can prepare for their interviews with the help of different interview questions for Selenium, Katalon Studio and other automation tool.

What is important when shifting to automated testing from manual?

When shifting to automated testing from manual, several key considerations are important:

Proper planning and strategy for automation implementation.
Adequate training and upskilling in programming languages and automation tools.
Selecting the right automation framework and tools based on project requirements.
Identifying suitable test cases for automation and prioritizing them.
Ensuring effective collaboration and communication between testers and developers.
Regular maintenance and updates to automation scripts to keep pace with application changes.

Create a Standard Test Structure:

For doing this follow the below points

Define a naming convention that makes sense to the test you are automating
Include the information about test such as test descriptions
Prerequisites that are necessary for determining test scripts and results.

Be Curious for learning:

Always explore the forums of testing tools to know the tools better.
Try to attend webinars and training on automation tools.
Try to find internships that fit you.

Automation testing is considered a faster and more efficient approach when it comes to handling the problems that are faced during manual testing. Now we will see the hurdles that can appear during the transition from manual to automation testing.

Learn what to automate and what not:- To be a good tester it’s important to know that automation testing does not apply to every testing. As there are several tests in which manual testing provides a better result than automation.e.g.

Exploratory Testing:- Looking from the perspective of the end-user, they try to explore the software rather than looking at scripts.
Accessibility Testing:- This testing helps in the measurement of the accessibility of any application or software and no automation tool can measure the scalability.

Hurdles in transition from manual to automation testing:

Time and resource Usage:- If you are making a transition from manual to automation testing there’s a lot of time and money that are invested in terms of training and learning.

Test Stability and Scalability:- The application under test must be stable enough so that it can go through rigorous and repetitive testing thus improving efficiency and quality.

Communication and collaborators:- It requires more communication with the development team. As an automation tester, you need to be in communication with the developer for any failure in testing. A lot of stakeholders are accountable for automation testing.

Advantages of automation testing over manual testing:

There are several advantages of automation testing over manual testing

Automation Testing is faster and more reliable than manual testing.
It makes regression testing easy.
Less prone to human error
It requires fewer resources than manual testing.
It provides more test coverage.

Can manual tester become automation tester?

Yes, a manual tester can become an automation tester. They can transition by learning programming languages, automation tools, and frameworks. By acquiring the necessary technical skills and understanding automation concepts, a manual tester can effectively shift their focus and expertise towards automation testing.

Can I switch from manual to automation testing?

Yes, it is possible to switch from manual to automation testing. By acquiring the necessary skills in programming languages, automation tools, and frameworks, and gaining a deeper understanding of automation concepts, you can successfully transition and become an automation tester.

Conclusion on Manual to Automation Testing

Making a transition from manual testing towards automation testing could be a long time process but it’s fruitful in the long term. As in today’s world, everything is being automated. Lack of knowledge, skills, and no careful planning prove to be the root in switching over manual to automation. In this article, we have tried to cover all the aspects required for a successful transition.

Ananya Prisha

Ananya Prisha is an enterprise level Agile coach working out of Hyderabad (India) and also founder of High Level PM Consultancy. Her goal has been to keep on learning and at the same time give back to the community that has given her so much.