Is it possible to test without code?

Blog originally published on Testkit.

Testing is one of the most important subdisciplines in the field of software engineering. Every component of a project must be tested to ensure full functionality of the software, avoid potential bugs, and confirm all components communicate correctly.

Due to the extensive amount of testing required, it has become one of the most time-consuming and resource-intensive tasks of the development process. Oftentimes, testing takes up over a quarter of the overall project timeline. These resources required for testing only increase with the number of tests that don’t go your way.

Effective testing also incorporates far more than just checking the specific piece of software runs properly. It also requires integration testing, understanding test failures, system testing, and even maintaining test automation.

With this amount of time and resources required for effective testing, testing without code can reduce overall development time by reducing bottlenecks. But, is it even possible to test without code? It's time to find out!

The bottlenecks of coding tests

Developing and executing tests have become relatively easy with modern testing frameworks. The frameworks offer a great deal of flexibility so they can be applied to different testing requirements.

Because of this flexibility, it is possible for there to be several vulnerabilities, which can make the process of writing and managing tests laborious and susceptible to errors. It all depends on how the individual test is created.

After all, what is more frustrating than finding out your issue is with the test you set up, not the program itself after you've run it too many times to count?

A bottleneck refers to a situation in which a specific portion of a larger task or project significantly slows down the overall project. Bottlenecks can be caused by a variety of issues such as equipment restrictions or poor coding.

When a bottleneck is found in software, it is usually the result of poor code design and inadequate testing. Adequate testing should find any potential bottlenecks of software so developers can create a resolution to the bottlenecks.

On top of software having bottlenecks, testing processes also have bottlenecks. When bottlenecks for testing occur, tests can get rushed resulting in lower quality overall work. Three types of bottlenecks and common errors in testing include:

1. Flakiness

Flakiness issues in testing cause a wide dispersion of testing results, but the issues do not necessarily stem from the tests themselves.

Tests are considered flaky when the results of a test are not repeatable. This causes unreliable test results making it difficult to find any meaningful insights into the robustness of a piece of software.

To remedy flaky tests, testers must find the pieces of code that cause the changes in the results, then adjust those pieces of code accordingly to produce reliable results.

2. Maintenance

It is not always simple to perform maintenance. The practice of mending tests to keep them current with modifications to the code is referred to as test maintenance.

It's essential to keep the infrastructure of any software system current and relevant, especially if any changes are made to the applications or third-party frameworks that the firm employs. A clear example of test maintenance would be running tests on up-to-date operating systems.

Maintaining test environments can cause bottlenecks for larger updates to third-party systems.

Changes to the source code may often occur in agile organizations—sometimes even several instances daily. Thus, maintaining the tests properly is essential if the company intends to keep up with the updates made to the code.

Maintaining an awareness of these changes is another significant component of test maintenance. This requires effective communication between all team members working on a project.

3. Regression testing

The software development process now includes the practice of regression testing. Regression testing is typically automated to cut down on the amount of time spent on tests that must be repeated and are more laborious when performed manually.

In most cases, an automated regression testing toolkit will include a substantial variety of tests, all of which will need to be maintained to guarantee that the program gets evaluated appropriately.

The challenging aspect of this is that it could be hard to strike a balance between the duration of time spent on test maintenance and the amount of time spent on developing and running a significant number of high-quality tests in each process phase.

What is codeless testing?

The method of performing automated tests without generating even a single line of programming is called codeless automated testing. Irrespective of the team member's degree of expertise, codeless automation makes it possible to simplify the method of creating test scripts.

Developers, company executives, quality assurance engineers, and manual testers make up a growing portion of today's modern developers and designers. These teams also increasingly comprise a mix of various jobs.

The creation of tests gets sped up by tools that need little to no coding, have a low learning curve, or are codeless. These tools also help decrease the required maintenance and include administrative and reporting capabilities. They assist in distributing the work of generating, executing, and managing tests beyond individuals with expertise with a particular coding language or platform.

The concepts of no code and codeless testing tools are virtually synonymous. These tools are designed to make UI testing more straightforward by providing functionality that would not call for the user to enter some code.

A good number of these technologies utilize the recording and replay concept. The user or a bot first records a situation, then, to finish the test, they modify it using an editor. They run the test, investigate any mistakes that occur, and make any modifications as necessary up until the point where the test achieves the desired results.

Importance of codeless testing

No, low, or codeless solutions are simpler to use in comparison to test automation frameworks that need coding. As a result, more people in the organization can participate, reducing testing bottlenecks stemming from a lack of engineers with coding expertise.

In addition, codeless platforms free testers and developers from the laborious coding that is often necessary to automate tests. Incorporating codeless testing into the business testing responsibilities is turning out to be a terrific alternative that may help them speed up the design of their tests and enhance the accuracy of their testing.

Also, codeless automation means more time for both testers and developers, allowing them to concentrate more on product creation and innovation. This innovation is accomplished by minimizing the hours spent coding during manual testing.

Why use codeless testing?

In a nutshell, technologies that need minimal, little, or no coding lower the required skill level for UI testing. They speed up the process of creating tests and include built-in capabilities that aid with managing and administering the tests.

Some companies even employ AI to reduce the times the tests need to be updated whenever the underlying application is modified. With these capabilities, teams can continually test the code without relying on developers to set aside time for testing. This speeds up the time it takes for a team to deploy updates.

Results of codeless testing reported in the 2020 Continuous Testing Report

The Continuous Testing Report 2020 indicates that implementing ongoing testing into practice is not a simple initiative. The success of continuous testing is determined by how well it can meet the business's objectives and the end users' requirements.

Test environments continue to be one of the single most significant obstacles in continuous testing and flexible execution. Today, artificial intelligence adoption gets seen greatly in many firms, with respondents indicating that they will utilize it for data analytics 42% of the time.

Even though 55% of respondents have previously implemented an ongoing testing strategy, culture, operational, and technology obstacles continue to stand in the way of achievement. 68% of people who took the survey agreed or strongly agreed that it is difficult or very difficult to build effective test cases that align with end users' demands.

The preceding are just a couple of the suggestions included in the Continuous Testing Report from 2020. These findings show that the effectiveness of continuous testing is determined by its capacity to satisfy the requirements set forth by the end users and the objectives of the business.

Here are a few tips from the Continuous Testing Report you can use for more effective testing:

It is imperative to take a fresh approach that emphasizes increased engagement among all relevant disciplines, such as software engineers, quality assurance testers, information security professionals, and businesspeople.
The entire software development lifecycle needs to get organized carefully so you can produce a single source of information.
The transition from viewing quality as a step in the application software lifecycle to viewing quality as a concept for everyone, from the design phase to production, is responsible.

Conclusion

Codeless testing technologies perform an excellent job of minimizing the required level of coding expertise, which makes it easier to write and manage tests. On the other side, codeless solutions frequently fail to address challenging use cases, which raises the bar for future test management.

Coded frameworks provide additional flexibility. However, they also demand specialized skills, require extra time and effort to develop tests and attain coverage, and continue to have significant costs associated with their maintenance and upkeep.

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