Role of a DevQAOps in Automated Testing Setup

These days, companies tend to give particular attention to test automation in conjunction with DevOps since it allows maximizing the efficiency of the QA process and, thus, optimizing and improving CI/CD. Let’s take a look at the automated testing specifics, the role of DevOps for QA engineers, and where to find the right DevQAOps expert for your company.

Automated QA Testing and Why Companies Need It

According to the MarketsAndMarkets research, the global automation testing market is projected to double in size from $12.6 billion in 2019 to $28.8 billion by 2024, which proves the high demand for test automation. But what is automated testing at its core?

Automated testing uses software to automate manual product reviewing, assessing, and validating processes. Nowadays, the majority of companies with DevOps recommendations and agile methodology implemented include test automation from the beginning of a project.

Automated tests allow decreasing the amount of human involvement in the testing process, thus, mitigating human errors. This requires the use of the relevant frameworks and tools to write automated testing scripts that review and verify the functionality of software and apps.

While an automated testing script is executed with the help of specialized software, and the whole QA testing automation relies on such tools to conduct tests and deliver results, manual testing is fully conducted by people. Manual testers follow a pre-defined testing plan and communicate the discovered defects to the development department. 

It’s important to note that test automation is not a replacement for manual tests, as each method suits best for a specific area, and both automated and manual testing can be used in conjunction to ensure the best results.

Manual tests work great for accessing UX and the “feel” of the app, which only a human can evaluate. They are widely used for newly-created test cases, as well as for test cases with fast-changing specifics on demand. On the other hand, automated testing web and app is more suitable for large-scale projects to ensure higher accuracy and faster time to execute, especially when regression testing can be tedious for manual QA specialists.

Thanks to the fact that automation test scripts are reusable and can be utilized for repeating tests, these tests can be run 24/7 without the need for human intervention. Manual tests, although they can’t be recorded, are ideal for cross-checking results.

An automated QA engineer should have extensive knowledge in test automation tools and the app functionality and CI/CD processes in general. Such an expert should be able to collaborate with the Dev and Ops team to ensure the correct test script development and maximum test coverage, which, in turn, will contribute to the quality and performance of the product.

DevQAOps may significantly contribute to the quality of your project. Provide us with your requirements, and we will find expert DevQAOps for your business!

How Does QA Automated Testing Work?

Let’s take a look at the main stages of the QA automated testing. It is important to note that some processes can run in parallel, which allows optimizing the time spent on testing: 

1. Define the goal and the scope.

It is essential to identify the results and data you are looking for. With the scope in mind, decide what tests can be automated and which ones should remain manual. Based on this, you can decide on the resources needed. 

2. Choose the automation software.

It is important to go with the automation tool that fully meets the needs of the current testing process and the technology or app specifics you are about to test. When choosing automation software, pay attention to its functionality, intuitiveness, customizability, and cost.

3. Create a test automation plan.

Come up with a test plan with the defined goal and testing approach and the chosen testing framework to use. The framework should be compatible with the selected testing tools, have common practices, and standards to follow.

4. Set up the environment.

The right environment will contribute to successful and fast testing by maximizing test coverage across various scenarios. The environment setup includes installing hardware and software, as well as developing test bed scripts.

5. Write the scripts.

Now, it is time to write actual scripts for performing tests based on the defined requirement and corresponding scripting standards. Automated test scripts should be well-structured and easy to understand for a third person, and they can be reused when needed.

6. Performs the tests.

Automated tests can be divided into GUI (graphical user interface) testing and API testing. GUI allows imitating the user experience with software or applications by running the same flow several times or testing different features in each test. API testing is executed to assess the application programming interface, both in-house and third party, with emphasis on testing end-to-end transactions and data transmission.

7. Analyze the data and reports.

After completing tests, automation tools generate reports to show the defects and bugs detected and valuable data to review. As mentioned by New York Times Open Team, reports delivered with behavior-driven development are usually much easier to read and gain actionable insights from; however, it is important to go with the tools that match the needs of the testing best at the moment.

What Software Automated Testing Is Used?

As noted on hackr.io, there are different types of software automated testing equipment available. Choosing the right tools is crucial for test automation, and the selection mainly depends on the application tested and the development methods used. Let’s take a look at the seven most widely used software tests:

  • Unit tests (for individual components, or units, to make sure each component performs as expected; great for identifying bugs precisely; allow for easy debugging);
  • Integration tests (for the performance of multiple components at once to see them in work; concentrate on interfaces and data flow between modules; usually come after unit tests);
  • Functional tests (to see how the software performs a set of functions per correct input according to the documentation; utilizes black-box testing that doesn’t involve checking the code during tests);
  • Smoke tests (or build verification tests; to assess if the software’s main functions perform correctly and the stability of the software build);
  • End-to-end tests (to assess if the entire product performs as intended from the beginning to end and all integrated parts run correctly; simulates real user scenarios to monitor the aspects that can’t be assessed with smaller tests);
  • Performance tests (non-functional testing for assessing the speed, reliability, and stability of the software under specific workload to simulate a number of people using the product at the same time; allows identifying performance issues and fix performance-related bottlenecks);
  • Regression tests (for checking if the recent code changes have affected the software’s existing functionality adversely; this implies running functional and non-functional tests once again as a final check before the product launch).

DevQAOps: Roles and Responsibilities

Although Quality Assurance plays an important part in DevOps and software performance, it wasn’t talked about enough until recent times. DevOps emphasizes QA with a remark that quality should not be a QA problem but everyone’s concern and aim to achieve. 

In DevOps, testing is important not only because it allows finding issues but also preventing them. Thus, only continuous testing can make continuous integration and continuous deployment a real thing, as all three processes contribute value to the customers and the organization’s success. 

The role of DevQAOps lies in building effective bridges between Dev and Ops and QA to ensure fruitful cooperation and productivity. DevQAOps should implement the automation of processes in software development and testing where possible to achieve the speed and agility needed.

The responsibilities of DevQAOps include but are not limited to:

  • Planning, testing, and development of software, applications, and infrastructure;
  • Maintaining CI/CD pipelines;
  • Automating processes where possible, including QA testing;
  • Using test cases to identify and prevent software issues within the shortest time possible;
  • Utilizing automated testing tools to assess applications and minimize human errors;
  • Simplifying testing processes that execute test cases many times;
  • Increasing reliability and stability of the developed products.

Here are the pros of having a DevQAOps in your development team:

  • Continuous integration and continuous delivery to ensure that software is released faster, updates are pushed timely without issues, and the performance of the application is monitored;
  • Improved stability, flexibility, reliability, and security of applications;
  • Improved communication between different departments involved in product development, including Dev, Ops, and QA.

And here are the cons to consider:

  • If the company hasn’t gone through DevOps transformation and hurries with changing all processes at once without a strategy, a DevQAOps won’t be a solution to all problems;
  • Requires time and additional resources to set up new collaboration processes and optimized flows;
  • Requires time and resources to communicate the value of test automation and DevQAOps approaches to existing employees. 

What Specialized Software Is Used by DevQAOps?

Let’s take a look at the specialized test automation software used by DevQAOps:

  • Jenkins automated testing (comes with JUnit test framework that allows running each test method in an isolated environment, simplifying the creation of jibs and security realms, using declarative annotations for specifying the test environment, getting direct access to the Jenkins object model, and HtmlUnit support for simpler web UI tests and other HTTP calls);
  • Selenium automated testing (automated testing Selenium is used for simulating web browser behavior, such as button clicks and typing into input fields to test how the app will perform in real user cases; can simulate Google Chrome, Firefox, IE, etc.; test codes can be written in Python, C# or Java);
  • Postman automated testing (used for automated API testing; can automate unit tests, functional tests, regression tests, and more; allows reusing test suites for building CI/CD pipelines and testing them at every step; can be integrated with Jenkins and added to the existing pipeline as a build step).

DevQAOps and Programming Languages Used

Depending on the project’s needs and requirements, the following programming languages can be used for software & web services automated testing:

  • JavaScript automated testing

Can be used with Selenium WebDriver software and specific JavaScript testing frameworks, such as WebdriverIO, Cypress, etc.

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  • iOS automated testing

Used with XCUITest and XCTest, a native library with Apple’s Xcode, as well as such tools as Appium and KIF, among others. XCTesta and XCUITest are compatible with Objective-C and Swift.

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  • Android automated testing

UI automated testing can be implemented for spanning a single app with testing frameworks like Espresso or working with multiple apps using UI Automator or other resources.

Android automated testing can significantly improve your product. Get help from Mobilunity! >>>

  • Python automated testing

Usually, PyUnit (Python unit testing framework) and Nose2 (automatic test discovery & plugins for tests and docs) are used. Often, programmers utilize a PyTest, a native Python test library with PyUnit’s features, and some behavior-driven (BDD) test frameworks like Behave or Lettuce compatible with Selenium. 

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Unit testing for C/C++ is available for everyone using Visual Studio, while premium features include Live Unit Testing (with .NET) for running unit tests in the background automatically and graphically displaying test results, as well as IntelliTest for generating unit tests and test data for the managed code automatically. Also, for assessing UI, Coded UI tests (CUITs) are used for applications.

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  • PHP automated testing

PHPUnit is the most widely used testing framework for unit tests for PHP applications. 

Also, programmers often use Codeception for writing unit tests, as well as functional and acceptance ones. PHP works with Selenium for simulating different cases in the most used browsers, including Google Chrome and Safari, and browser compatibility tests.

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Developers use xUnit (a community-focused unit test tool for .NET), NUnit (a unit-testing framework), and MSTest ( a Microsoft test framework that works with both .NET CLI and Visual Studio). Solutions unit tests can be run from the .NET CLI, and there is more functionality available to IDEs, including Live Unit Testing. 

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C# allows programmers to build apps with Visual Studio or .NET platforms and can be used with Selenium software and xUnit and NUnit for .NET and solutions for Visual Studio. 

Contact Mobilunity if you are considering C# automated testing solutions! >>>

  • Automated testing Java

Selenium is widely used for Java UI tests since it allows checking JSP pages without launching them in the browser. JUnit is another popular tool, a testing framework for writing unit tests for the Java code and running them right from the IDEs.

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Azure automated testing plan options include solutions for Pipelines, DevOps, DevTest Labs, and more. Experts can capture rich data during tests to discover issues, test across web and desktop, and get end-to-end traceability with these tools. Automated Selenium tests can also be used in Azure Pipelines.

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Interview Question Examples for DevQAOps to Note

During the hiring process, it is crucial to assess both the hard and soft skills of a DevOps automated testing expert. Here are some automated testing interview questions for DevQAOps to consider:

  • How would you explain continuous delivery and continuous deployment?
  • Is DevOps different from the Agile methodology?
  • What are your favorite DevOps tools, and why?
  • What is the role of QA in DevOps?
  • What tools can be used for test automation?
  • Explain the difference between continuous testing and automation testing.
  • Tell about the time you had to prioritize multiple tasks or projects and how you dealt with it.
  • Describe your approach to ensuring effective communication across different teams/departments.
  • Describe your recent professional achievement using DevOps practices.
  • Describe your ideal working day.

Mobilunity as Your Reliable Automated Testing DevOps Resources Provider

Suppose you are looking for a highly qualified DevQAOps or AQA engineer, with the help of Mobilunity. In that case, you can find the best matching expert to contribute to your company’s productivity and success.

Mobilunity is a well-known Ukrainian outstaffing company that has been working with small to large-scale organizations all over the globe for 10+ years. Our clients note our dedicated approach to sourcing the best candidates with all the job position details and requirements and the high qualification and professionalism of the experts hired with the help of Mobilunity. 

Our Recruitment team monitors the best industry practices and constantly revises our own time-tested methodology for hiring the best candidates for a given business. This helps us deliver the top-class dedicated resources that companies deserve.

Get in touch with Mobilunity representatives, and let us help you find the right specialist with relevant qualifications and experience to fully meet your company’s needs.

Looking for highly qualified DevQaOps with automated QA testing skills? Get in touch with Mobilunity!

All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.

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