"Enterprises planning to build efficient websites or applications should know the right balance of automated testing and manual testing. This is an essential requirement as it helps them to develop bug-free applications, quality-assured, have to ability to fulfill the needs of every user, and help in saving the business expenses. Hence, to achieve these complete sets of advantages, it is important for the QA teams to understand what manual testing and automation testing is and when they are essential for the teams."

When planning to perform software testing, the common discussions that arise among the QA teams is about manual and automated testing. Both the testing types are having significant importance and as well as hold different views among the teams.

When comparing these two methods, automation testing can ensure to provide the most benefits than manual testing. However, it doesn’t mean automation testing is the only requirement for testing software. Manual testing and automation testing are effectively needed for achieving a quality-assured software.

But, there are a few differences that should be known by every team member, as being aware of them will help in understanding when to use the right methodology to achieve the complete benefits.

What is Automation Testing?

Automation Testing is the process of running pre-scripted tests automatically. With the help of automation tools, automation testing compares the actual and expected results. This way of comparing the results helps in validating whether the developed application has met the required standards or not. This testing practice has the ability to execute repetitive tasks, and run regression tests to validate if the software is performing well even after changes made.

Benefits with Automation Testing:

The benefits that can be achieved with automation testing are:

• Helps to save time and cost
• Wider test coverage
• Assures to find defects at the early stage
• Effectively helps in reducing the business expenses
• Assures reusability of test coverage
• Helps in providing reliable results

What is Manual Testing?

Manual testing is the type of software testing where QA teams perform testing manually. In this testing approach, the QA teams validate the performance of the application by writing test cases. In comparison to automation testing, manual testing is time taking and it cannot perform all the important testing practices. However, despite these disadvantages, manual testing still has a need while performing software testing. Also, it works effectively on several elements.

Manual Testing work effectively on:

• User Acceptance
• Functionalities
• User Experience (UX)
• Website/App behavior
• User Interface (UI)
• Features

When QA teams need Automation Testing?

• Functional Testing: Functional testing is majorly performed to maintain security, accuracy, compliance, compatibility, etc. By considering automated testing, it helps the teams in identifying the actual performance of an application and assures in succeeding the required functionalities.

• Unit Testing: Unit testing is performed to test the units or the discrete parts of the software application. This testing process is explicitly receiving the most benefit from automated testing.

• Graphical User Interface (GUI) Testing: GUI testing is performed to validate whether the software interfaces are meeting the GUI requirements or not.

• Regression Testing: Regression testing is performed to check whether the software is performing correctly even after modification in the software. This testing practices effectively achieve the most benefits with automated testing tools.

When QA teams need Manual Testing?

• User Interface Testing: With User interface testing, the properties and interface elements are validated. And, by preferring manual testing QA teams are able to match the interface design elements with the final layout elements.

• Ad Hoc testing: This is practiced in order to check the test cases that are executed without preparation. And, by performing manual testing, it is easy for the QA teams to check the system functionality, and find the flaws.

• For Short-term Projects: Though automated testing helps in saving time and limits the testers' responsibilities, due to the time is taken consumption and the need for resources to design and maintain moves the interest of QA teams for manual testing. This type of preference is mainly for small or short-term projects.

• Exploratory testing – In this testing practice, the QA teams rely on their personal experiences and then design the test cases. For this method, teams effectively plan for manual testing as it requires testing the application with personal experiences and this cannot be achieved with automated testing.

Conclusion:

Manual testing and automated testing have significant benefits and disadvantages in software testing. However, the best of these test practices can be achieved when the teams are able to automate and perform manual testing in the right part. Leverage software testing services from QA testing services providers to enhance the testing practices.

About the Author:

I am a technical writer, interested in writing articles on the latest IT topics. In this article, I tried to share my views on automation testing and manual testing.