11/29/2016

7FactorsAffectingTestEstimationofSeleniumAutomationProjectSeleniumTutorial#32

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50MostPopularlyAskedSeleniumInterviewQuestionsandAnswersSeleniumTutorial#33

7FactorsAffectingTestEstimationofSelenium
AutomationProjectSeleniumTutorial#32
PostedIn|SeleniumTutorials|LastUpdated:"August25,2016"
InlastcoupleofSeleniumtutorialswelearned
aboutautomationtestingusingCucumberand
Seleniumtool.Wealsodiscussedaboutintegration
ofseleniumWebDriverwithCucumber.
Inthistutorialwewilldiscussaboutdifferent
factorsaffectingeffortestimationofSelenium
automation.
Planningandestimationaretwomostimportant
aspectofasoftwaredevelopmentlifecycle.
Ipersonallyfeelthatinsoftwareindustry,thereare
nobulletproofmethodsofdoinganything.Since
everyprojectisexclusiveandhavedifferentsetsof
complexityandenvironmentalfactors,
implementingtheestimationandplanningstrategy
shouldbeacollaborativeeffortoftheindividualteamswithproperinterventionsofseniorsand
managementsupport.

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Beforeyoubeginwithestimatinganyproject,itisimperialtounderstandeachandeveryphasethatyour
projectwillbegoingthrough,sothatyoucangiveacorrectandajustifiedestimation.
Estimationcannotonlybedoneforthemanualtestingprocess,butinthiseraofautomation,estimation
techniquesareappliedtotestautomationaswell.NowSeleniumgainingamomentumandpopularityin
themarket,Iamtryingtowriteaboutsomefactorswhichshouldbetakenintoconsiderationwhile
estimatingaSeleniumproject.
LetsStart!!
IamassumingthatwearestartingtheAutomationinitiativefromthescratchandthatwehavenoready
madeframeworkavailable.

Factorsaffectingestimationofseleniumautomation
ThevariousfactorswhicheffectandwhichyoushouldconsiderforestimationofSeleniumspecific
projectareexplainedbelow:

#1Scopeoftheproject
Scopetypicallymeansidentifyingthecorrecttestcasesforautomation.ApplyDivide&rulestrategy
toaccomplishit.Breakyourapplicationinsmallchunksormodulesandanalyzeeachofthemtocome
upwiththeappropriatetestcasesforautomation.
Thestepsinvolvedare:
1. Identifythevariousfactorswhichwillformthebasisofidentifyingthecandidatetestcases.
2. Breaktheapplicationintosmallermodules
3. Analyzeeachmoduletoidentifythecandidatetestcases
4. CalculateROI
Formoredetailsofhowtoidentifythecorrecttestcase,pleaseseemypreviouspaper:Selectionof
correcttestcasesforAutomation
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#2Complexityoftheapplication
Stepsinvolvedhereare:
1. DeterminetheSizetheapplicationbasedonthenumberoftestcasesthatneedstobeautomated.
2. SizecomplexitythroughFibonacciseries.
3. Identifytheverificationpointandcheckpointofeachtestcase
Herewehavetoestablishthedefinitionofbig/mediumandsmallsizedapplication.Thisdefinition
differsfromanindividual/groupperspective.Howyouclassifyyourapplication,dependscanalsobe
dependentuponthenumberoftestcases.
Forexample:
Ifyourapplicationhas300500testcasestoautomate,youcanconsideritassmallsizedapplication.If
thetestcasesareover1500,itcanbeclassifiedascomplex.Thisfactorcanbedifferentfordifferent
application.Forsome,1500testcasestoautomatecanbeconsideredassmall/mediumscaled.Soonce
youhaveidentifiedtheexactnumberoftestcases,scaleittosmall/mediumorlarge.Yourstrategy
towardsestimatingtheeffortwillhugelydependentonthesecriteria.
Youhavetoalsoconsiderthedifferentcheckpointsandverificationpointsforyourtestcase.Atestcase
canhavemorethan1checkpointbutwillhaveonly1verificationpoint.Incaseyouhavemorethan1
verificationpoint,itisrecommendedtobifurcateintoseparatetestcases.Thiswillalsoeaseyour
maintenanceandenhancementofyourtestsuite.

#3Useofsupportingtools/technologies
Stepsinvolvedhereare:
1. Identifytheframeworkandautomationneeds
2. Basedontheneeds,analyzeandidentifythetoolstobeused.
3. Identifythedependencies/implicationsofusingthetool.
Seleniumaloneisnotsufficienttobuildaframeworkorcompletetheautomation.Selenium(Webdriver)
willonlyscriptthetestcase,butthereareothertasksaswell,likereportingtheresult,trackingthelogs,
takingscreenshotsetc.
Toachievetheseyouneedseparatetoolsthatwillbeintegratedwithyourframework.Soitisimportant
heretoidentifythesesupportingentitieswhichwillbestsuiteyourrequirementandwillhelptogeta
positiveROI

#4ImplementingtheFramework
HerecomesthetrickypartJthestepsinvolvedare!!
1. Identifytheinput(patterninwhichdataisfedintoscript)andoutput(reports/testresults)ofyour
automationsuite.
2. Designyourinputfiles.Thismayrangefromasimpletextfiletocomplexexcelfile.Itisbasically
thefilewhichwillhaveyourtestdata.
3. Designthefolderstructurebasedonyourinputparametersand
4. Implementthereportingfeature(eitherinsomeexcelfileorusinganytoollikeReportNG)
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5. Determine/implementloggerinyourframework
6. Implementthebuildtoolinyourframework
7. Implementtheunittestframework(JunitorTestNG)
TherearemanyotherrequirementsapartfromjustscriptingintestautomationwithSelenium,like
readingthedatafromafile,reporting/trackingthetestresults,trackinglogs,triggerthescriptsbasedon
theinputconditionsandenvironmentetc.Soweneedastructurethatwilltakecareofallthesescripts.
ThisstructureisnothingbutyourFramework.
Webapplicationsarecomplexbynaturebecauseitinvolveslotsofsupportingtoolsandtechnologyto
implement.Inasimilarway,implementingframeworkinSeleniumisalsotricky(Iwillnotsaycomplex)
asitinvolvesothertoolstointegrate.SinceweknowSeleniumisNOTatoolbutactuallyacollection/
groupofjarfiles,itisconfiguredandnotInstalled,Seleniumitselfisnotstrongenoughtobuilda
complexframework.Itrequiresalistofthirdpartytoolsforbuildingaframework.
WehavetorememberherethatthereisnothingReadymadeinSelenium.Foreverything,wehaveto
code,soprovisionsinestimationshouldbethereforgooglingtheerrorsandtroubleshooting.
HerewehavetounderstandthatthatFrameworkbuildingisthemostimportantaspectofyour
Automationeffort.Ifyourframeworkisrocksolid,maintenanceandenhancementbecomeseasier
speciallyintheeraofAgile,ifyourframeworkisgood,youcanintegrateyourtestsinallthesprints
easily.
IwontbewrongifIsaythatthisparticularfactorofdesigningtheFrameworkshouldbethemost
importantaspectofestimation.Ifneeded(likeincomplexapplication)thisfactorshouldbeagainbroken
downintoaseparateWBSandestimationshouldbedone.

#5Learning&Training
LearningSeleniumisabitdifferentthanlearninganyotherautomationtool.Itbasicallyinvolves
learningaprogramminglanguagethanjustascriptinglanguage(thoughscriptlanguagehelpswhile
buildingaframework,likeyouwanttowriteascriptthatwouldinvokeyourautomatedscriptsafter
doingtheenvironmentsettingchanges).
IncasewearecombiningWebDriverwithjava,Iwouldsaythatifoneiswellversedwithcorejava,they
areinaverygoodshapetostartwithseleniumautomation.
Alongwithlearningjava,provisionsshouldbetheretolearnothertechnologieslikeANT/Maven(for
building),TestNG/jUnit(unittestframework),Log4J(forLogging),reporting(forreporting)etc.this
listmaygrowbasedonthelevelofframework.Themorethislistgrows,themoretimeitwouldtake.

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Ifthemanagementhasdecidedtogowithselenium,theselearningactivitiescanbedoneparallelwith
theplanningactivity.Becausethereisnolimittolearnthesetechnologies,itissuggestedtohavea
definiteplan(syllabus)readyfortheteamsothattheycaninitiatedtheirlearningprocessinadefinite
directionandeverybodyisinthesamepage.
Practicallyspeaking,wetestersdonothaveaverymuchkeeninlearningafullfledgedprogramming
languageandwefeelthisisdeveloperspieceofcake.Butnowwehavetochangethismentalityand
shouldconsiderlearningtheprogramminglanguagetobeequallyimportantaslearningnewtesting
process.Thiswillnotonlyincreasetestersknowledgeaboutthelanguageandautomationbutalsowill
giveachancetounderstandhowtheapplicationworksinternallywhichmayincreasetheirscopetofind
newbugs.

#6Environmentsetup
Environmentsetupdealswith(notlimitedto):
Settingupthecodeinthetestenvironment
Settingupcodeinproductionenvironment
Writingscriptsfortriggeringtheautomatedtests.
Developingthelogicforreporting
Establishingthefrequencyofrunningthescriptsanddevelopinglogicforitsimplementation
Creatingtext/excelfilesforenteringthetestdataandtestcases
Creatingpropertyfilesfortrackingtheenvironmentsandcredentials

#7Coding/scriptingandreview
Beforeyouactuallystartwritingyourtests,thereare2prerequisites:
1. Candidatetestcasesshouldbehandy
2. Frameworkisready
Identifydifferentactionsthatyourwebapplicationdoes.Itcanbesimpleactionslikenavigation,
clicking,enteringtextoracomplexactionlikeconnecttodatabase,handleflashorAjax.Takeonetest
caseatatime,andidentifywhatallactionthatparticulartestcasedoesandestimatehoursaccordingly
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forpertestcase.Thesumofallthehoursfortheentiretestsuitewillgiveyoutheexactnumber.
ProvisionshouldbethereforReviewaswell.Thereviewsaresimplethecodereviewwhichcanbedone
eitherbypeeroradeveloper.Pairprogrammingisthebestoptionwhichisquick,butifitisnotpossible,
basedontheavailableresourcesororganizationsreviewstrategy,hoursshouldbeallocatedforit.
Moredetailsabouteachfactoraffectingestimation:
Factor#1:Scope
Meaning:IdentifyingthecandidatetestcasesforautomationthroughtheROI
StepsInvolved:
1. Identifythevariousfactorswhichwillformthebasisofidentifyingthecandidatetestcases.
2. Breaktheapplicationintosmallermodules
3. Analyzeeachmoduletoidentifythecandidatetestcases
4. CalculatetheROI
Deliverable:Listoftestcasesthatneedstoautomated.
Remarks:Itisimportanttofreezeyourscopeonceyougoaheadwithotherstepsofestimation.
Factor#2:Complexity
Meaning:Establishthedefinitionofbig/mediumandsmallsizedapplication.
StepsInvolved:
1. Sizetheapplicationbasedonthenumberoftestcasesthatneedstobeautomated.
2. SizecomplexitythroughFibonacciseries.
3. Identifytheverificationpointandcheckpointofeachtestcase.
Deliverable:SizeoftheapplicationSmall,mediumorBig.
Numberoftestcasesandtheircorrespondingcheckpointandverificationpoint.
Remarks:RecommendedAtestcasecanhavemultiplecheckpointbutonly1verificationpoint.Ifa
testcasehasmorethan1verificationpoint,itshouldbebifurcatedintoaseparatetestcase.
Factor#3:Supportingtools
Meaning:Seleniumitselfisnotstrongenoughtobuildacomplexframework.Itrequiresalistofthird
partytoolsforbuildingaframework.
StepsInvolved:
1. FinalizedIDE
2. Finalizedunittesttool
3. Finalizedlogger
4. Finalizedreportingtool
5. Finalizedbuildtool
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Deliverable:Listoftoolsneededtocreatetheframework.
Remarks:
Examples:
Eclipse/RADasIDE
Ant/MavenAsbuildtool
jUnit/TestNGasunittestframework
Log4jasLogger
ReportiNGasreportingtool
Textfilesfortrackingtheenvironments/credentials
Excelfilesfortrackingthetestdata
Perl/Pythonforsettingupenvironmentandtriggeringthetestscripts.
Factor#4:ImplementingFramework
Meaning:Creationofstructure
StepsInvolved:
1. Designyourinputfiles.
2. Designthefolderstructure
3. Determine/implementloggerinyourframework
4. Implementthebuildtoolinyourframework
5. Implementtheunittestframework
Deliverable:
FrameworkandfolderstructurecreatedintheIDE.
Excelsheetscontainingyourinputdata
Propertyfilescontainingenvironmentrelateddataandcredentials.
Remarks:Thisisthemostcrucialstep.Itisadvisabletoincludesomebuffertimewhileestimating
becausesometimetroubleshootingtakemoretimethanexpected.
Factor#5:Environmentsetup
Meaning:Dealswithcodesetupanddownloading/preparingforthecodedeployment
StepsInvolved:
1. Preparetheinputfileandreporting
2. Createthetriggeringscript
Deliverable:Environmentready
Remarks:Weshouldtrytobuildourframeworkinsuchawaythatwithleasthassle,ourcodeis
deployedintothesaidenvironment/box.
IshouldnotbewrongifIsaythatwithminimalentriesintoourtextfiles(whichhavetheurland
credentials)ourcodeshouldbereadytorunandROCK!
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Factor#6:Learning&training
Meaning:Learningaprogramminglanguageandothersupportingtechnologies
StepsInvolved:Prepareaplanasperyourautomationneedsandshareitwiththeteamandencourage
themtolearnandproceedasperthesyllabus.
Deliverable:TrainingPlananditstrackerwhichwilltracktheprogressoftheteam.
Remarks:Emphasisshouldbeonbuildinglogicsratherlearningsyntax.
Factor#7:Coding/scriptingandReview
Meaning:Writingtheactualtestscriptsandreviewingthem
StepsInvolved:
1. Testcasesandframeworkisready.
2. Take/dividethetestcasesandconvertitintoautomatedscriptsandtrackyourprogress
Deliverable:Automatedtestscripts
Remarks:Wholeteamshouldparticipateinwritingthetestscriptsusingtheimplementedframework.
Sowhileestimating,effortsfromthewholeteamshouldbetakenintoconsideration.

Conclusion:
Havingsaidaboutallthesepoints,donotforgettoincludeManagementoverheadandsomebuffertime
inyourfinalSeleniumautomationestimation.Thebestandtheprovenwaytodoanyestimationisto
followtheWBS(WorkBreakdownStructure)mechanism.Thisisstraightforwardandservesthe
purposeofimplementingtheautomationestimationneeds.
Thefactorsmentionedabovearetheonesbasedonmyexperience,buttherecanbeotherentitiesaswell
whichmightaffectthestrategy.
ThethumbrulehereisIdentifycertaincriteria,divideyourmodulesortestcaseonthosecriteria
andscaleit.Basedonyourscaledfigureyoucancometoanaccurateestimation.
NextTutorial#33:WewillbeconcludingourmostcomprehensiveSeleniumonlinetrainingfree
tutorialsserieswithlasttutoriali.e.Seleniumtestinginterviewquestionswithanswers.
LetusknowifyouhaveanyothertipsforeffortestimationofSeleniumprojects.

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4comments
#1ChrisLuck
Goodanalysisoftestestimationfactors.DoyouhaveanysamplefortestestimationofSelenium
project?
#2Harsh
HiSir,
Pleaseaddliveprojectsforpractice.
#3Abhishek
HowthisisachievedPerl/Pythonforsettingupenvironmentandtriggeringthetestscripts.
?
#4San
Goodanalysisoftestestimationfactors.DoyouhaveanysamplefortestestimationofSelenium
project?
Pleaseaddliveprojectsforpracticewithjava

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