Regression automation testing

Regression testing in software engineering is a type of QA testing used to verify if new changes in the codebase didn’t affect the existing functionality of the application.

With every new alteration, bug fix, a system update, or a new feature implementation, the probability of software issues increases. Unless you do regression testing, you can miss the bugs on production. Regression automation testing helps you maintain the quality of every release. It is the “stepchild” of regression testing, critical to enable agile teams to deliver quality software over and over again

Below are a few most common scenarios for regression testing: – Carrying out test cases with frequent defects – Testing user-facing functionality – Verifying core product features – Testing integration test cases

Let’s explain the difference between the three using an example. Imagine you’re building an ecommerce website. You need to do Unit testing to test a large chunk of code or module responsible for inventory management. Integration testing comes into play when you need to add a third-party payment system to your ecommerce website. This testing helps you make sure that integrating two systems doesn’t break anything and the flow is working as intended. At last, you are making regression testing to see if your newly added features such as an inventory management module and a payment system didn’t break anything else on your website. Regression testing is about re-testing the functionality every time you implement changes. Unit testing is done by software developers. Integration testing is done by both developers and testers. And regression testing is performed by testers.

We always recommend automating frequently repeated test cases, especially at large projects. If you have a small application with rapidly-evolving features, manual testing may be your most efficient approach.