What is the Difference Between Manual Testing and Automated Testing

The main difference between manual testing and automated testing is that the manual testing requires a human tester to execute the test cases while the automated testing requires automation tools to execute test cases.  

Software testing is the process of verifying and validating that the software product is working as expected. There are two methods to perform software testing: manually or by using an automation tool. An experienced software tester performs manual testing. However, automation tools such as Selenium and Appium also help to perform automated testing. In brief, automated testing is faster and accurate than manual testing.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is Manual Testing
      – Definition, Functionality
2. What is Automated Testing
     – Definition, Functionality
3. What is the Difference Between Manual Testing and Automated Testing
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Automated Testing, Manual Testing, Software Testing

What is Manual Testing

Manual testing is testing a software manually by quality assurance analysts. It helps to identify the defects in the software under development. The tester checks all the essential features of the software. Then, he prepares a testing report that includes test scenario, test case, pre-conditions, test steps, test data, expected results and actual results.

Test scenario – The main functionality that the tester test

Test case – A specific activity in the test scenario

Preconditions – The tasks that should be completed before testing the test case

Test steps – The procedure to follow

Test data – The data used to test the test case

Expected results – The expected outcomes

Actual results – The real outcome of executing the test case

An example is as follows.

Figure 1: A Testing Report

The above example tests the response to the valid username and password to the test scenario “Login Functionality”. There are no preconditions. The first test step is to launch the application. Then, the tester should enter the username, password and finally, he should press the login button. For instance, assume that “abc” and “pqr” are correct username and password. Hence, the tester can enter them as test data. The expected outcome of this test case is to login successful. The tester can check this test case and enter the actual result in the final column.

Furthermore, in manual testing, a tester tests all the test cases related to all test scenarios manually without using any help of an automation testing tool. Usually, experience software testers perform manual testing.

What is Automated Testing

In automated testing, a tester writes test scripts to automate test execution. The tester uses automation tools to develop test scripts and to validate the software. Moreover, this testing depends on pre-scripted tests that execute automatically to compare the actual result with the executed result. In brief, it helps to figure out whether the software is working as expected or not. Some common automated testing tools are Selenium, Appium and Test Studio.

Furthermore, the tester can execute the same set of tasks again and again in automation testing. Even though all processes are automatic in automated testing, it requires some manual effort to create initial testing scripts.  Overall, automated test execution is easier and requires minimum time when compared to manual testing.

Difference Between Manual Testing and Automated Testing

Definition

Manual testing is the process of manually testing software for defects. Conversely, automated testing is the process of testing a software program using a special software to control the execution of tests and to compare the actual outcomes with predicted outcomes. Hence, the main difference between manual testing and automated testing is contained in these definitions.

Required Time

Moreover, a notable difference between manual testing and automated testing is that the manual testing requires more time than the automated testing.

Accuracy

Accuracy is another difference between manual testing and automated testing. Manual testing is not accurate as there can be human errors, but automated testing is more accurate as it uses tools and scripts to execute test cases. 

Programming Knowledge

Furthermore, manual testing does not require programming knowledge whereas automated testing requires programming knowledge.

Speed

Also, speed is a major difference between manual testing and automated testing. Automated testing is significantly faster than manual testing.

Applications

Considering the applications, the automated testing is suitable for a complex and large project than manual testing. However, manual testing is suitable for small to medium scale projects.

Conclusion

Software testing can be generally performed manually or using an automation tool. The main difference between manual testing and automated testing is that the manual testing requires a human tester to execute the test cases while the automated testing requires automation tools to execute test cases. 

Reference:

1. “Manual Testing.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Oct. 2018, Available here.
2. “Test Automation.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Aug. 2018, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “13394” (CC0) via Pixabay