I have a feeling that anything deemed a "test automation project" is doomed to failure. Test automation is simply a part of good software development, the same way testing is an integral part of software development. These aren't separate phases and they don't generally work well done by separate teams.
If a development team (including the testers on that team) commit to automating their regression checks, and the same programmers who write the production code also write the automation code, and all of that is part of delivering the software, it's all going to get done.
If we continue to take the view that automation is a special project, teams will continue to fail with it. The many case studies in Gojko's new book are teams that made automation part of their software development - using executable specifications to drive coding.
Yeah, I know, I'm off on a tangent and a rant here. But really, we need to change how we talk about test automation. If we'd all start talking about it as an integral part of producing software, people might start understanding that concept. If we keep making it sound like some special separate activity to be done by someone other than the development team, teams will keep accumulating technical debt and lacking time for useful exploratory testing.
-- Lisa
I wonder if the failure rate is any higher or lower than software development projects in general? How would you define a failed test automation project? One that only achieved partial coverage? One that got outright cancelled?
JoelOn Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 12:22 PM, Ulrich Freyer-Hirtz <u.f.h@gmx.de> wrote:
Hi,
I've seen a lot of failed test automation projects :-) ...but don't know about an official study.
By the way, what kind of automation do you mean? Unit, Modul, Interface, Services, Load/Performance or GUI tests? If you think about GUI test automation you might find this link (http://www.agilerecord.com/agilerecord_01.pdf @see Page 16) useful.
All of you a happy and agile new year!
Cheers
uli
-------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:59:18 +0100
> Von: "Markus Gärtner" <mgaertne@googlemail.com>
> An: "agile-testing@yahoogroups.com" <agile-testing@yahoogroups.com>
> Betreff: Re: [agile-testing] Failed test automation studies> ------------------------------------
> Hi Frank,
>
> not studies, but Gojko Adzic has the same claim in both, Specification by
> Example and Bridging the Communication Gap. Elfriede Dustin also had
> similar experiences, but Indon't remember the references.
>
> Best Markus
>
> --
> Dipl.-Inform. Markus Gärtner
>
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>
> On 24.12.2011, at 08:11, Frank Cohen <frank@pushtotest.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi Agileistas!
> >
> > Has anyone done a study of failed test automation projects? I am
> searching for such a study to understand the results and help me make my case. In
> my experience the organizations I sered that choose a tool without a test
> methodology were more likely to fail. Anyone know of a study like this?
> >
> > -Frank
> >
> > ---
> > Frank Cohen
> > PushToTest, the Open Source Test (OST) Company
> > fcohen@pushtotest.com
> > http://www.pushtotest.com
> > Phone: (408) 364-5508
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
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Lisa Crispin
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