Just Enough Software Test Automation

Conclusion

Maintaining a suite of automated test procedures can become a full-time job in itself. This is true because even simple module/interface testing can require hundreds of test scripts. We recently tested an error routine using a driver module that presented a dialog box with a severity icon, an error message, and several different sets of command. Testing this small routine took just under a hundred test scripts.

Test suite maintenance begins far in advance of the actual testing. It is always advisable to start designing and constructing test scripts and test cases as soon as you have enough information to begin. The problem that you will encounter is that the test scripts and test cases must be revised each time the developers change ...