Today, there is a rather extensive discussion among programmers: someone says that manual testing has already outlived its usefulness and soon no one will use it, while others, on the contrary, are sure that this type of testing is indispensable. Today we want to determine which of them is right and the advantages of manual tests.
Table of Contents
What are manual and automated testing?
Automated testing is a particular type of testing that occurs through various tools. The main task of such tests is to check your project’s performance, security level, and functionality. The cost of such a service is relatively high since the tester must use various paid programs and spend a lot of time writing an individual script.
Manual testing is a type of testing that does not involve the use of various tools. The specialist proofreads the code and checks the interface and functionality in this case. The cost of this service is relatively low. It applies to both large projects and small startups.
The ideal solution would be to use both manual and automatic testing types at the same time. In this case, you can identify as many errors as possible, which means you can correct them in time. However, if funding is limited, it is enough to limit yourself to manual testing for small projects.
Advantages and disadvantages of manual testing
Manual testing has many advantages. Among the most important ones you can turn off:
- Primary report. Allows you to understand at a glance how the product meets the set initially goals;
- UI check. It helps to know how convenient it will be for a potential user to use your product;
- Often this type of testing is used in small projects with minimal funding.
- Checks the potential of the project in atypical situations.
In addition, the importance of retesting must be taken into account. After you have run all the tests, you need to make changes to fix possible errors. After you do this, you need to run repeated tests to check whether the corrections were completed successfully and whether this led to new mistakes. You can do this with manual testing.
However, this type of testing has several disadvantages:
- Human factor. Since a living person does the tests, he or she may make mistakes;
- Large labor costs and high duration. Automatic testing is as simple and fast as possible;
- Does not allow modeling of large loads.
Of course, manual testing can’t catch every possible bug, but it can determine how user-friendly your application is and whether it can perform all the necessary functions.
Why can’t manual testing be abandoned?
Many today say that shortly specialists will be able to abandon manual testing completely. Nevertheless, let’s consider the fundamental basics of web testing. It becomes clear that rejecting this testing type can lead to more low-quality products appearing on the market.
The problem is that automated tests cannot detect errors in the user interface. The main task of the tester is to understand how convenient it will be for potential buyers. There should not be too many ads here; all buttons are visible, nice font and color, and much more. It considers all the factors that can affect the slightest discomfort in using your application.
So, the tester must understand how convenient the registration process will be, how simple the interface is, whether all the necessary buttons and links work, and how well all functions are performed. For example, if your product must calculate the caloric content of dishes, then the specialist must double-check whether the calculations are correct.
Thus, not doing manual testing may result in customers not using your software, as it would be inconvenient and not serve the primary purposes.
Why can’t we limit ourselves to manual testing only?
Although manual testing has many advantages, limiting yourself to only these tests is wrong, especially for large projects. It cannot test the performance of the application (how many people can use it simultaneously), its resistance to risks, and the level of security.
Of course, if you have a small startup that does not involve large loads, you can limit yourself to manual testing. But, if the project turns out to be successful, you will have to develop and scale it, add new features, and here you can’t do without automated tests.
Conclusion
QA teams at this stage can not refuse manual testing since only with the help of this can they calculate how convenient and beneficial your product will be for the user. This type of test is relatively inexpensive and does not take as much time as it might seem.
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