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Re: Web application testing

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From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Aug 5, 2016 8:08AM

I would recommend looking at automated testing tools which have primary goal of reducing the number of "false positives" reported.

The more false positives reported, the less the developers will trust the tool and the more time they will need to spend determining if the reports are valid. The value of automated testing is that it provides quick feedback that can be acted upon quickly.

It isn't that developers should never learn anything about manual testing, but automated testing can take care of many key issues more quickly and more consistently. It can actually make some of the manual testing a bit easier to conduct since you have already eliminated some potential culprits for defects.

Here is another way to look at it.

I can use my screen reader to manually test 10 pages to ensure that controls have labels and names. However, in the same amount of time, I could use an automated test to find those defects and be already fixing them.

This isn't a cure all. Automated testing won't find all the important problems. But it can help with finding some defects faster and fixing them more quickly which can save a project time.