Manual testing has been around for a long time and is still widely used in software development. In this post, we’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of manual testing. This will help you decide if it’s the right approach for your project.
Table of Contents
- Why is Manual Testing necessary?
- What are the main benefits of manual testing?
- Manual Testing Steps
- Manual Testing Types
- What exactly is automated testing, and what are its advantages?
- How can you combine manual and automated testing?
- When should manual or automated testing be used?
- The benefits of manual testing over automated testing
- The drawbacks of using manual testing
- Overview of manual testing’s advantages and disadvantages
Why is Manual Testing necessary?
Increasing numbers of software professionals favor automated testing as a result of shifting market trends, but manual testing is still necessary for a variety of reasons.
People’s Perspective
Only humans can view and assess the application’s fundamental usability and look and feel. Since the program was created only for humans, only they can validate it more effectively from the viewpoint of the user experience.
A broader viewpoint and different System workflows
A larger view of the entire application is always provided by manual verification. Since the human mind will never be a coding system that repeats the same steps repeatedly, it will always be exploring. As a result, it will offer wider coverage for system validation.
The price of automation
We usually favor rapid manual validation over automated testing because there are situations when prolonged efforts for automation are not acceptable given the dates or scope of the project.
What are the main benefits of manual testing?
In a few sentences, we can say that dedicated manual testers have a better understanding of how a software product feels to its users. This is because they have spent many hours using the product. This ability gives them an advantage when it comes to performing tests on the usability of a software application.
This proposition is correct, or at the very least true. Especially for the traditional automated testing frameworks that are used by many developers and quality assurance professionals. Some modern test automation tools are focusing more and more on a user’s behavior and journey. Especially for the traditional automated testing frameworks that are used by many developers and quality assurance professionals. Some modern test automation tools are focusing more and more on a user’s behavior and journey.
Also, manual testers can detect coding issues that might be missed by an automated test. Over time, defects have become increasingly complex, requiring human intervention to detect and resolve them.
Manual Testing Steps
- Examine the manuals and documentation for the software project;
- Study the Application Under Test (AUT)
- Create test cases that address all the specifications specified in the documentation.
- Together with the client and team leader, evaluate and establish the test cases.
- Apply the test cases to the application that is being tested.
- Report the discovered bugs
- Run the failed test cases once more once issues have been addressed to ensure they pass.
Manual Testing Types
Manual testing can be carried out in a variety of ways, but it can be broadly divided into three types:
Black Box Testing
By manually giving the various test cases, the test examines the functionality of the specific module, specific method, orthodox, or occasionally the entire program.
Here, the tester will provide the application’s input and manually test it.
If it produces the desired outcome, the tester will move on to another set of inputs and inform the team of all the findings. The user will notify the development team of the problem if the manually entered data is unsuccessful during testing.
White Box Testing
This method involves the system’s internal workings of the system, such as design and coding.
Here, the development team will go through every line of code to make sure it is written correctly.
He or she will correct or fix any faults in the coding or designs if they are discovered to be inconsistent or in error.
Gray Box Testing
This method combines both black-box testing and white-box testing.
In this case, the tester has a partial understanding of the internal organization of the application.
The tester will manually examine the application’s core architecture and functionality. He or she will manually examine the provide many test cases while also revising the coding and testing the application.
The tester will alter the coding portion if the input fails at some point.
What exactly is automated testing, and what are its advantages?
The procedure of using a computer program to automatically test the functions and features of a piece of software to discover errors is known as automated testing.
The main advantage of automation is that it will allow your team to save time. By doing so, they can focus on more strategic and creative tasks.
Another advantage is that automated tests enable regression testing after modifications to a software’s code have been formed. This is saving time and money as the product progresses through its stages of development.
How can you combine manual and automated testing?
Automated tests are great at helping ensure the functional performance and capability of an app. Still, there are certain aspects of the software that can only be accurately captured via manual testing.
Most of the test automation is still limited by the code. It means that, if a system failure occurred in a server of an application, the code-based automated test suite would miss it.
A manual tester, however, can easily detect such errors y manually testing server response time.
A tool like UIlicious – which focuses on the user journey rather than the product’s code – could be described as a middle ground. Perhaps, especially if your primary focus is to facilitate your QA team on cases related to user behavior.
When should manual or automated testing be used?
Automated and manual testing should be used at different times.
Automated testing is ideal for detecting specification-based issues, which makes it the perfect tool for regression testing. Automate your regression tests to run regularly. Preferably after each new release or during integration time to catch any issues early on.
Most automated test frameworks can help you check the basic features of an application and its functions,
UIlicious is an exceptional tool that will let you conduct automated tests of your web so that they focus on how the app works from the user’s perspective.
The benefits of manual testing over automated testing
Works based on human intelligence
Manual testing allows testers to use their brains instead of relying on particular tools or scripts. This lets them use their innate higher cognitive abilities to write better test cases,
When it comes to finding more bugs, you can be sure that they can detect more issues with human perception than automated systems.
This is also the reason you will always require a human to evaluate the tests generated by automated testing tools.
Let the testers focus on complicated functions and features
It can be time-consuming to use automated tests to simulate every single scenario associated with a feature. Manual testing allows testers to focus less on emulating every different type of user path and concentrate more on thinking about special cases for complicated features and functions.
However, you can use datasets to reuse the same automated test scripts without needing to re-write every single line of code.
Identify the tester’s understanding of the product
By investing more time in familiarizing themselves with a product’s characteristics and functions, manual testing enables testers to observe its quality during its development cycle.
This allows them to keep information about the project, which will be beneficial if problems occur after modifications to the code have been produced.
This is one of the purposes we always advise manually testing a scenario before considering automating it.
Identifying errors in other areas of the software
Manual testing entails looking for bugs that do not affect the code, such as server response time. Most classic automated test tools, on the other hand, are restricted to what they can find inside the product’s code.
Providing accurate and objective emulation of user experience
Manual testing allows testers to utilize their knowledge and experience to mimic the user experience. On the other hand, automated tests risk failing to simulate various kinds of user perceptions due to numerous factors in real-world scenarios.
It contributes to the maintenance of a testable system.
Because automated tests cannot test the system in which they are embedded, manual testing can assist testers in identifying bugs that could render an application untestable.
The drawbacks of using manual testing
It takes longer than automated testing
Manual testing necessitates additional hours spent manually testing each feature and function of the application. This takes longer than running automated tests, which take only a fraction of the time. Automated tests can also run without guidance overnight.
It is susceptible to human mistakes.
Automated tests are significantly less likely to make mistakes than manual ones because their creators no longer need to focus on the tedious task of finding and fixing each bug.
Maintaining test cases it takes time
It ta more time to document all manual defects found in an application, which makes it more difficult to maintain track of modifications made later. This can be accomplished more efficiently by sustaining automated tests, which only need to be updated when new features or functions are incorporated.
In addition, testers have to know about product details
Before they can use the product effectively, manual testers must have a deep understanding of it. This assists them in identifying any mistakes that automated tests may overlook if their knowledge is incomplete. Testers are not required to be accustomed to all of the features and functions of automated tests.
It is costly to continue hiring manual testers
Because automated tests only have to be written once and run many times per day, they are a less expensive option than manual testing.
Overview of manual testing’s advantages and disadvantages
Automation is most appropriate for functions and features that necessitate the same input every time. On the other hand, manual testing is well adapted to discovering bugs caused by a variety of inputs, such as user experience.
Manual testing is the best ideal for projects with steady, consistent code, whereas automated testing is best suitable for tasks with fast-changing code.
Manual testing is best suited for situations where no turnaround time is required. Automated tests, on the other hand, are designed for faster response. This is why they are required in the majority of today’s software development life cycle,
There are both advantages and disadvantages to manual testing. The main advantage is that it is a very thorough way to test software since every possible input and output can be tested. The main disadvantage is that it is very time-consuming and expensive, especially if the software is large and complex. In the end, it is up to the software development team to decide which method of testing is best for their needs.
Read about “Manual QA tester certifications – 6 QA tester certifications” too
