Humans vs. Bot. What to use in data oriented Testing?

Testing software and data is one of the most crucial steps in any lifecycle of data oriented projects as well as of application development projects. We often hear words such as black-box testing, white-box testing, beta testing, and many others but at the heart of testing, this is not the main concern. In 2020, the major debate is not over these different types of testing but over the major distinction among how they are performed; either manual or automated.

Essentially, both are aimed to assure the quality how data gets created, processed and analyzed. In laymen terms, it checks if all the system components are performing the correct, and expected outcomes – also under high usage load.

Let’s dig deeper into this debate of humans vs. bots.

Data and Software engineers are continuously working together with test engineers to deliver error-free programs. And for that, software testing is vital. Testing is the process of checking, verifying and validating the quality and results of the program. Companies need to dedicate outsourced or in-house teams to meet industry standards. This cannot be ignored anymore.

What is manual testing and how it works?

It is one of the old-school techniques, and is the simplest type of testing techniques. This is the first testing, programmers often self-perform, intentionally or unintentionally. Test cases are mentally thought-out and program flows are checked against expected outcomes. It is often random or based on the experience of the QA tester.  In manual testing, as the name suggests, no software is used to aid the testing procedures. Its basic types are functional testing and integration testing.

Pros of Manual Testing:

  • As humans perform this, there is a factor of human observation and common sense involved.
  • It better judges user-friendliness from a users point of view as usability is often neglected by test automation software.
  • It is economical and easier to setup.
  • It is the best way to judge the user experience.
  • It is easy to handle small changes in the code as test cases are easier to edit rather than editing entire test scripts.

Cons of Manual Testing:

  • The process is slower compared to automated testing.
  • With every project interation there are more and more test cases. Performing them manually over and over again is costly or leads to insufficient testing.
  • Only experienced QA testers can produce reliable results who are equipped with specialized knowledge and eye-to-detail
  • It cannot batch similar test scenarios with one script.
  • It is not suitable for stress testing.
Growing amount of testcases in an agile project

What is automated testing and how it works?

This is the newest form of software and data testing according to current IT Industry standards. So to speak bot testing. Specialized software is used to test code and data. There are various testing solutions available. Each is specialized in a specific subject matter area. BiG EVAL helps its customers in data testing with its “Data Test Automation” software edition.

Nowadays, companies cannot rely on manual testing due to the delicate intricacies of the program flow and various aspects such as back-end and front-end accuracy. This is quick, efficient, and a must-have for enterprises. Its basic types are regression testing and software scripts.

Pros of Automated Testing:

  • It is reliable and no worry about human error.
  • The process is faster compared to manual testing.
  • It gives an accurate percentage and clear results.
  • It is the best way to deduce the performance of the tool. (performance testing)
  • There is great scope in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • It can perform repetitive tasks endlessly and frees developers and testers from doing that manually.
  • By setting your own scenario, the process can be used optimally and resources can be saved

Cons of Automated Testing:

  • In automated testing, human observation and common sense are not involved.
  • Initial investments are needed.
  • It cannot perform random tests.
  • Automated testing software cannot be used to check user-friendliness of a system.

From small to big enterprises, it is important that testing within a development project is given importance. It is not enough to initially communicate all requirements to the developers. It is also important to run a testing strategy that ensures that each and every system component gets checked and approved. Not even experienced individuals are important but also an efficient test automation software that frees developer resources by performing tests continuously.

Overall, bot testing works best when the concern is of regression, performance, load testing, or when the same tests need to run over and over again. On the other hand, for exploratory, usability and Ad-hoc testing manual testing stays the best option.

The best tip is to mix and match both types according to industry and project demands.

Keeping this need of the hour in mind, BiG EVAL provides a highly efficient data testing software that automates all testing tasks. This includes an easy test case definition user interface with flexible automation features as well as comprehensive test outcome insights to fix errors immediately.

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  • HS says:

    Well written