Building a Successful Regression Testing Strategy in 2023

In order to deliver a great customer experience, today’s businesses require high-quality software that meets user requirements. To mitigate this risk, businesses should incorporate end-to-end regression testing into both agile and DevOps adoption processes to ensure proper software functionality even after frequent code changes. In addition, businesses should implement an effective regression testing strategy to ensure the delivery of high-quality software to customers.

Regression testing plays a critical role in reducing the risk of releasing software with bugs. However, when it comes to automating regression testing, there are various approaches to consider. With so many options available, it can be challenging to determine the best approach for your QA team.

What is Regression testing?

Regression testing is a vital component of software testing, as it helps mitigate the risk of releasing software with bugs. It involves repeated testing of existing features to ensure that new upgrades do not adversely affect them. Quality analysts perform regression testing to verify that both functional and non-functional aspects of an application’s existing features are working correctly and that no new bugs or errors have been introduced.

Regression testing goes beyond merely rerunning previous test cases; it confirms that new functionality is compatible with existing features without causing any issues now or in the future. Often, changing or upgrading one code module may affect another module due to interdependencies.

A regression testing approach is necessary to evaluate an application’s overall performance after recent changes.

Why do we need regression testing?

Regression testing is crucial to prevent software regression, which refers to defects that arise after a particular event, such as a software patch or upgrade. Change is the primary driver of regression testing, and these changes usually fall into four broad categories:

1. New functionality: This is the most common reason for regression testing. When developers introduce new code, they must ensure compatibility with the existing code. Regression testing finds any issues that may arise.

2. Functionality revision: Occasionally, developers modify the current functionality by eliminating or modifying certain features. Regression testing guarantees that any alterations made to the feature do not have an impact on the remaining functionality.

3. Integration: Regression testing assures that the software product performs optimally after integration with another product.

4. Bug fixes: Fixing bugs in software requires changing the source code, which calls for re-testing and regression testing. Surprisingly, bug fixes can lead to more bugs, which regression testing can help identify.

Strategy for regression testing

A strategy or outline of steps is essential to successful software testing, and this is where a regression testing strategy comes into play. This strategy encompasses various details such as test objectives, testing time, resources, methods, testing environment, how to integrate regression testing into the overall vision, details about the release process, checkpoints, definitions, automated testing procedures, RACI, recommended tools, and more.

However, careful planning and selecting appropriate software testing techniques are crucial to preparing an effective regression testing strategy. This ensures that the regression testing process proceeds in the right direction to yield significant results.

How can regression testing risks be mitigated and prevented from affecting product release schedules?

To avoid the negative impact of regression risks on the product release schedule, it’s important to take a proactive approach. Here are some suggestions:

• Conduct a thorough analysis of regression risks before beginning the testing process. This will enable you to prioritize and allocate resources to the most critical areas.

• Implement risk reduction strategies to minimize the impact of identified risks. For instance, creating backups can help mitigate the risk of data loss.

• To effectively manage regression risks, it’s important to adopt a structured approach, such as creating a risk registry or a risk management plan. This approach ensures that all potential risks are identified, assessed, and monitored throughout the software development lifecycle.

• Keep stakeholders informed about any potential impacts of regression risks. This will enable them to make informed decisions about the release schedule.

By implementing these steps, you can manage regression risks effectively and ensure that they do not impact the product release schedule.

Factors to consider before automating regression tests

Regression testing is a vital aspect of software development, but it can also be costly and time-consuming. Automating regression tests can reduce time and cost while ensuring high coverage. However, before deciding whether to automate regression tests, the following factors should be considered:

• The nature of the application being tested: Not all applications are suitable for automated regression testing. For instance, if the application has a complex user interface, automating UI-based tests may be challenging.

• Frequency of changes: Frequent changes to an application may justify the use of automated regression tests as they can save time in the long run.

• Automating regression testing demands a substantial initial investment of resources and time. When the project budget is constrained, it may not be viable to automate every regression test. Therefore, resource availability may restrict the extent of automated regression testing.

• Desired coverage: Automated regression tests can provide high coverage if designed appropriately. However, manual testing may still be necessary to supplement automated tests and achieve 100% coverage.

By considering these factors, one can determine whether to automate regression testing and how to maximize its benefits while minimizing its drawbacks.

What is the process for conducting regression testing on software products or applications?

In general, the following steps are involved in performing regression testing:

1. Prepare for testing: This step involves gathering the necessary tools and resources, such as test data, test cases, test scripts, and more. Both manual and automated tests may be used in regression testing.

2. Identify impacted areas: The next step is to identify which areas of the application are impacted by changes or upgrades. This will help you focus your testing efforts on the affected areas.

3. Conduct tests: Finally, use manual and automated tests to validate that the changes or upgrades have not adversely affected the impacted areas. Regression testing may include testing common functionalities such as login, search, and checkout.

It’s essential to prioritize regression testing to ensure that the software product or application remains functional even after updates or changes. By following these steps, you can conduct comprehensive regression testing and ensure that the software product or application remains reliable and efficient.

What are some regression testing tools available for software testing, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

Several regression testing tools are available for software testing, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Here are some of the most commonly used tools:

• Selenium WebDriver: It’s a popular open-source tool for web application regression testing. It is used to automate tests against both web and mobile applications. It’s a versatile option for regression testing and supports various browsers and operating systems. However, it requires some programming skills to use effectively.

• JUnit: It’s a popular open-source unit testing framework for Java development. It can also be used for regression testing by creating test cases that exercise the functionality of an application. It’s easy to use and integrates with various development tools, making it a good option for regression testing.

• TestNG: It’s another popular open-source testing framework that supports regression testing and has good integration with various development tools.

• Cucumber: It’s a popular tool for behavior-driven development (BDD). It can be used for regression testing by creating test scenarios that exercise the functionality of an application. Its readable syntax makes it easy to build regression tests that both developers and non-technical stakeholders understand.

• Watir: It’s a tool for regression testing of web applications. It is used for automating tests against web applications using the Ruby programming language. Due to its compatibility with a range of development tools, it is an excellent choice for regression testing.

Choosing the right tool depends on the specific needs of your software testing project.

Setting up a framework for automated regression testing

When opting for automated regression testing, the testing team must define a test automation framework to provide structure to the test cases. There are different methods of setting up a framework, including:

• Selecting an automation testing tool preferred by the designated QA professional

• Defining a suitable structure for regression testing that includes test cases and test suites

• Developing a basic testing script that is scalable and can accommodate new test cases

• Completing integration tasks before developing a test automation framework to ensure that the team can focus solely on running the regression testing script.

Types of Tests that can be used in Regression testing

A regression testing framework can incorporate several types of tests, such as:

• Re-execution of previous test cases to compare the results with earlier outputs and check the application’s consistency after code modification.

• Conducting regression testing on a portion of the test suite that could be affected by the code change.

• A prioritized approach to regression testing in which higher-priority test cases are run before lower-priority ones. The prioritization can be based on the upgraded/subsequent version of the application or the current version.

• A hybrid test selection approach that combines the previous two techniques to run regression testing on a portion of the test suite based on its priority.

Risk Analysis for Regression testing

Incorporating risk analysis into your regression testing automation strategy is important, but it should also be a part of your overall test automation strategy.

The analysis involves listing the identifiable risks along with the following details:

• Description and relevant metadata
• Severity: What would be the impact on the project if the risk materializes?
• Probability: What is the chance of the risk occurring?
• Mitigation: What measures can be taken to minimize the risk?
• Cost estimate: What would be the cost of mitigating the risk, and what would be the cost of not addressing it?

Limitations of Regression testing

• High costs
• Difficulty in optimization and maintenance
• Time-consuming

A cloud-based infrastructure can help mitigate these challenges. For instance, LambdaTest is a digital experience testing platform that offers a cloud-scalable infrastructure comprising over 3000+ actual browsers, devices, and OS combinations. By using this platform, you can easily execute thousands of parallel tests, which take less time and provide faster feedback on code modifications. Additionally, using an online Selenium Grid in LambdaTest can help reduce the time needed for test execution.

Conclusion

To effectively manage regression testing, it’s important to develop an appropriate testing strategy that includes the following three key elements:

• Testing Methods: The strategy should include a proper balance of manual and automated regression testing methods to ensure comprehensive testing coverage while minimizing time and effort.

• Regression Testing Approach: The approach should define the distribution of full and partial regression testing across the product delivery process, taking into account the specifics of the product and stakeholder needs.
• Quality Regression Testing Suite: The suite should cover both functional and non-functional test cases that correspond to the features changed during each stage of the product delivery process.

Choosing the right regression testing strategy depends on the specifics of the product and the needs of stakeholders, as well as the product’s scale. A well-designed regression testing strategy can reduce testing time and effort while improving product quality and meeting customer requirements.