In a nutshell: QA testing is essential for ensuring software quality. This guide covers: What is CFTL?, Overall, automated testing tools are underestimated, The no-code automated testing tool for an accelerated testing process.
QA testing is essential for ensuring software quality.
However, these processes can often be time-consuming, forcing development teams to devote significant resources in terms of time and effort—which is why automated testing is so important!
In this article, we will explore the results of the 2023 survey conducted by the CFTL (French Software Testing Committee) and highlight the importance of an optimal test automation strategy for improving efficiency and mitigating risks.
What is the CFTL?
Renowned technical experts in the field of software testing came together in 2004 to found the association: the French Software Testing Committee (CFTL).
Acting as the sole representative ofthe ISTQB® (International Software Qualifications Board) in France and in all French-speaking countries that do not have a local committee, the CFTL:
- Develops and oversees the administration of exams.
- Accredits trainers and training organizations, and participates in the activities of ISTQB®, IREB® (International Requirement Engineering Board), and IQBBA® (International Qualification Board for Business Analysis).
The CFTL's primary mission is to certify the technical and methodological knowledge of software testers through objective certification exams that are designed independently.
The 2023 CFTL Survey—A Revealing Snapshot of Testing Practices
This CFTL survey provides a unique opportunity to conduct a regular assessment of the current situation and track changes in testing over the past 10 years.
It provides an overview of current testing practices among professionals in the sector.
Thanks to the anonymized responses, we can identify areas where automation is underestimated in order to make the development process as efficient and time-saving as possible.
Overall, automated testing tools are underestimated
According to the survey, the majority of testers do not automate their tests, which shows that manual testing is still widely used.
Why automate test execution?
Although automated testing does not completely replace manual testing, its main purpose is to reduce the amount of manual effort required to execute test cases, thereby allowing repetitive tasks to be delegated to robots.
Automated testing remains the most effective technique for improving test coverage and execution speed.
The main reasons:
- Manually testing each scenario—taking into account the various combinations of languages and browsers—takes time and resources.
- Allows you to benefit from continuous 24-hour monitoring.
- Allows tests to be run more quickly through parallel testing.
- And, as a result, to cover more tests.
Continuous integration—an area where automation enables greater agility
Continuous integration (CI) involves automating the integration of code changes from multiple contributors into a single software project.
This is an essential DevOps practice that allows developers to frequently merge code changes into a central repository, where builds and tests are then run.
However, out of 382 responses, 113 (29.58%) of the testers do not implement test automation in continuous integration environments.
Why is test automation in continuous integration so important?
Without automating tests in a continuous integration (CI) environment, developers cannot verify as early as possible that the changes they have made do not cause regressions, starting from the integration phase (shift-left testing).
This can therefore result in lower-quality code with a higher failure rate, since automated tests could only be run on the acceptance testing platform.
These risks increase exponentially as the team and the size of the code grow.
The introduction of automated testing into continuous integration allows developers to verify more efficiently and quickly that their code is ready for deployment to production.
In addition to the “unit tests” performed by developers, having a development platform to verify the interface as early as possible and in an automated manner makes perfect sense.
Security and accessibility testing are not very automated
Compared to other types of testing, accessibility and security testing are relatively rarely automated.
However, automated testing offers many benefits in these areas.
Why Automate Security Testing?
The consequences of a data breach can be devastating, ranging from the loss of your customers' trust to legal sanctions.
Implementing a testing tool that can detect security vulnerabilities in your applications early on is therefore essential to block hacker attacks on your network and thus prevent damage.
In addition to the essential monitoring of your platforms, security testing is a major challenge in today's internet landscape.
Why Automate Accessibility Testing?
In addition to complying with government legislation (the Law of February 11, 2005, on Equal Rights and Opportunities, and Decree No. 2019-768 of July 24, 2019) and meeting the needs of people with disabilities, an accessible website offers several less obvious benefits, such as:
- SEO Improvements
- A higher-quality codebase
- More environmentally friendly
- Better brand image
However, many accessibility issues stem from back-end development practices, which makes it difficult—and, above all, very time-consuming—to detect all accessibility issues by manually browsing the site.
For example, automated accessibility testing allows you to reliably detect broken links, the presence of alternative text, basic color contrast, and the presence of form labels—almost instantly—whereas doing so manually would have taken several hours.
The no-code automated testing tool for an accelerated testing process
No-code automated testing tools like Mr Suricate proving to be valuable allies when it comes to eliminating time-consuming tasks that are prone to human error.
By offering features that speed up test development, intuitive dashboards, and precise alerts in the event of anomalies, testing tools such as Mr Suricate enable QA teams to become more efficient.
In addition, a no-code testing tool allows non-technical users to run tests with confidence.
Mr Suricate France's leading provider of no-code automated testing
At Mr Suricate, our mission is to protect our clients’ brand image and increase their revenue while ensuring a smooth user experience by detecting bugs before and after deployment.