Thanks to complete regression testing in Agile methodology, they can catch critical bugs that significantly influence the performance much earlier. In the article below, we are going to review the importance of regression testing and how to run it in Agile teams, highlight the regression testing lifecycle, showcase benefits, and introduce the best software regression testing practices.

What is Regression Testing?

As a type of testing, regression testing allows development and testing teams to make sure that newly introduced updates in the codebase don’t break or change the existing application functionality. For example, these code changes could include adding new features, fixing bugs, updating a current feature, or incorporating changes in the test environment. In other words, during regression testing, they re-execute test cases that have been cleared in the past against the new version to make sure that the app functionality continues to function well after modifications. Furthermore, regression testing is a series of tests, not a single one, performed whenever you add new code.

Smoke and Sanity Testing: What Are They?

However, when teams perform regression tests, it is important to mention the smoke and sanity ones.

Smoke Tests. In the QA process, smoke tests are the first line of defense, which are run early in the SDLC to catch major issues while development is still in progress. These initial tests pinpoint any major bugs, which have been discovered during development. Only after these checks are passed does sanity testing begin.

Sanity Tests. Performed on stable builds with recent code changes, this type is used to confirm that recent updates haven’t disrupted key functionality and that the build is ready for more extensive regression testing.
When smoke, sanity, and regression are used together, they create a more stable and secure release process. While smoke testing verifies functionality in isolation, skipping sanity and regression means that teams might miss larger problems, which often appear only when different components of the software interact.

On the other hand, depending only on sanity or regression testing can result in inefficient cycles of tests. Teams might waste valuable time validating recent features and re-verifying old ones, and lack the quick effectiveness that smoke testing offers at the start. Knowing that, QAs should combine all three methods to carry out a faster QA process and provide more certainty with each new release.

Regression Testing in Agile: How It Works

Agile is a flexible approach which can be applied in the management and organization of tasks. When you use it for QA activities, you should consider all the requirements and new changes throughout the process. With regression testing in Agile process, you can break down big, complex tasks into smaller and more manageable ones. Thanks to this dominant feature of this approach, all functionalities work under the given requirements in an agile environment. Regression testing in Agile development is made up of the following parts:

1. Preparation. Teams get together to create Agile test plans, which include automated and manual regression testing strategies, and discuss the scope of features that need to be implemented and tested.
2. Daily Scrum meeting. Teams communicate daily to track the progress of testing, draw reports, and provide re-estimation of all the tasks due to possible problems, changes, or improvements.
3. Review. Teams analyse the progress of the software testing process and compare expected results with the real outcome.
4. Release Readiness. Teams decide which features are ready for customers or end users and which ones are not.
5. Impact Analysis. Teams find areas which can be improved. They discuss their overall performance and the tools used to find actions they can take to make the QA process more effective in future iterations.

It is important to mention that to conduct effective regression testing in agile, teams should build a regression test suite right from the initial stages of software development and then keep building it with each coming sprint. Before creating a plan for regression testing, a few things to consider the following:

• Deciding which regression test cases need to be run.
• Determining which test-case enhancements need to be made.
• Deciding when regression testing should be done.
• Describing what and how the regression test plan needs to be automated.
• Examining the regression test results.

Based on experience, the Agile approach for testing takes much time on planning, but this upfront investment prevents team members from bigger problems down the line and reduces the need for extensive bug fixes and task revisions.

Benefits of Regression Testing in Agile

Below, you can read about essential advantages that impact the finished product. Here are some benefits you need to know.

Early Bugs Identification

With the constant release of new features, Agile regression testing helps teams identify the improvements or error-prone areas earlier and target them. When teams detect new bugs early in the development cycle, Agile regression testing can help them reduce excessive rework and release the product on time.

Quicker Turnaround

While there are a lot of testing tools available, regression tests can be automated. So that Agile development teams can get quicker feedback, accomplish more rapid cycles, and make releases more confident and quick.

Ongoing Functionality Monitoring

Since Agile regression testing usually takes into consideration various aspects of the business functions, it can cover the entire system by running a series of similar tests repeatedly over a period of time, in which the results should remain stable. For each sprint, this helps test new functionality and makes sure that the entire system continues to work correctly and the business functionality continues down the line.

Confidence Booster

Adding new features to an application can be slow due to the many factors involved. However, the Agile approach simplifies this by promoting incremental changes and improving this method with regression tests, which confirm that the new functionalities haven’t unintentionally disrupted or “broken” and verify that the new features haven’t negatively impacted existing ones.

Isolated Changes Support

Development teams can make changes without fear, no matter how big or small, thanks to Agile regression testing. With the assurance that regression tests will identify any areas of the codebase impacted by their recent changes, teams can focus on the new functionality scheduled for a sprint.

Minimized Errors

The emphasis on quick release cycles in an Agile development environment naturally reduces the window for mistakes. Every step of the release process includes a series of regression tests to ensure the product stays stable and free of bugs. This greatly improves the software stability and its quality.

User Satisfaction

With regression testing in an Agile environment, teams make sure that changes won’t unexpectedly disrupt service and that updates improve the application without introducing new problems. Thus, they can deliver a functional and user-friendly software product which achieves a positive user experience and enhances user satisfaction.

Challenges of Agile Regression Testing

Below, you can review common challenges which demand careful and strategic solutions:

Too Many Changes

In the course of developing software, stakeholders frequently ask for changes or alterations to the requirements. These changes have the potential to introduce instability, which can, in turn, have a negative impact on the success of the test automation strategy. To prevent the need to recreate test scripts halfway through a project, execution within CI/CD pipelines is required, so that no features break.

Expansion Of Test Suites

With each sprint, the scale of regression tests increases. In the case of large projects, it is really difficult to manage tests. Knowing that, QA teams should automate and review tests on a continual basis, because ineffective tests must be removed or optimized. To simplify the process, they can use a test case management system like Testomat.io.

Poor communication

There should be an effective communication channel and proper strategic communication taking place between the QA teams, developers, business analysts, and business stakeholders, which will ensure that the Agile regression testing process is streamlined. Through effective communication, specific features, which have to undergo regression tests, can be correctly determined.

Time-Intensive Maintenance Process

It takes a lot of time to maintain and update the test suites when software evolves, because test cases need continual updates to stay relevant with current application functionality. That’s why you need to conduct regular reviews to keep the test suite relevant, to use modular test design, and implement version control for test scripts to track modifications to test scripts as well as maintain a clear history of changes.

When Teams Need to Perform Regression Testing in Agile

For early issue detection and consistent stability, you need to incorporate regression tests throughout the critical steps of the Agile cycle:

• End of each sprint. Teams conduct a sprint review and retrospective to validate that new features haven’t broken existing functionality. For example, your online banking portal currently requires users to log in only via a username and password. A new feature would be the implementation of two-factor authentication via SMS.
• Before the sprint demo. Before the sprint’s work is shown off in a demo or review, the team runs tests to make sure the product is stable and still meets all the requirements for both the new features and everything that was already there.
• After bug fixes. Teams confirm the fix to make sure that related areas remain unaffected. For example, when a tester finds a login button that isn’t working, it should be retested after developers have implemented a fix. It is important to mention that tests are also performed on all related login features to make sure they continue to work correctly.
• Before release or deployment. Teams conduct tests to verify that the product is prepared for the production environment and to prevent new issues after it goes live.
• After code integration or merges. Teams test for regressions or unexpected behaviors, which the new code changes might have caused. For example, when a CRM system is connected with an email marketing platform to automatically sync contact lists.
• After major UI or backend changes. Teams make sure that workflows and user experience remain intact.
• Parallel with development. Regression tests are often run in parallel with ongoing development activities in order to uncover and fix bugs promptly, maintain a balance between development speed and software quality.

Agile Regression Testing: Process

Generally, the Agile regression testing process often comprises the following stages:

1. Identify critical functionality. To get started, teams should choose core workflows of changes, new features that have been implemented, or high-risk areas for quality assurance.
2. Select tests for automated regression testing. You need to choose test scenarios for automation. However, not every test case should be automated. You need to focus on test case prioritization using mind maps to visually see which tests are important and which ones can be delayed if necessary, to decide which test scenario will benefit most from automation.
3. Select the right test automation tool. The type of product you’re developing and the needs of your team will determine which of the many options available to you for automating regression testing is best. When selecting a tool, consider the technical expertise of your team, whether you’re running tests on a desktop, mobile, or web application, and how well the tool will integrate with your current development environment.
4. Use CI/CD tools. Integrating automated regression tests into your Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline is crucial if you want to fully reap its benefits. This will cause automated tests to launch automatically each time a new build is released or new code is added to the repository. This ensures that every modification is thoroughly tested before going live. Automating these test runs as part of your build process is made easier by tools like TravisCI, CircleCI, and Jenkins.
5. Run tests regularly. You need to schedule regular runs of your automated regression suite to run overnight or during off-hours to save valuable sprint time and trigger them after every code change or sprint to maintain stability.
6. Monitor and Refactor. You need to continuously refine test cases to align with product changes. As sprint cycles demand quick turnarounds, you need to make sure test cases evolve to avoid inefficiencies in quality assurance flows. Without periodic refactoring, test suites can become overloaded with outdated or flaky tests, which contribute to increased execution time, higher maintenance costs, and reduced confidence in testing outcomes.

Best Practices for Maintaining Regression Testing in Agile

We have gathered 9 quick wins to better maintain regression testing in Agile and make sure you are getting the most out of it.

1⃣ Start Small

To scale strategically, you need to start with smoke tests that cover your absolute must-work scenarios. Once these are solid and running reliably, you should increase test suites for core features and shouldn’t test everything at once. It’s an ideal initial point for regression tests in mature and long-standing projects.

2⃣Regular Regression

When your team fixes one bug, it might create another one. In other words, after changes, there are features that were previously working but are now broken. This means that even minor updates or changes can introduce “hidden defects.” To avoid these defects in production and keep them fixed before release, teams should focus on running daily regression tests before every release to decrease the need for emergency fixes.

3⃣Shift-left and Continuous Testing

Shift left testing is about checking your software early in development, especially in Agile projects, checking smaller components with less complexity. In the shift-left testing approach, QA teams can catch the defects early, and development teams can rectify those at the component level. When shift-left testing is a part of the continuous test strategy, it allows testers to generate more comprehensive tests with functional data. The combination of shift-left and continuous testing ensures that it is leveraged early on and during the product development pipeline.

4⃣Test Automation is a Priority

If you aim to maintain efficiency and comprehensive coverage, you need to focus on automating regression tests, which are faster than manual testing. As new features are developed, automated tests should be created for the core functionalities and any bug fixes to be aware that the most critical and fragile areas of the application are continuously tested throughout the development process.

5⃣Risk-based Test Selection

When opting for risk-based testing, you can assess and prioritize tests based on potential risks associated with different features or functionalities. Thus, you can focus QA activities on areas with higher risk exposure and optimize resources for comprehensive regression testing.

6⃣Modular and Reusable Test Design

With a modular test design method, you can create automated test suites that provide full functional test coverage using individual functional modules. Testers design new test cases by dividing an application into functional areas with modules based on complexity. Modular test design builds reusable test case modules that are understandable and enhance productivity and ease of maintenance. This saves time and effort as well as accelerates the test creation process to guarantee that any modifications to the test data are reflected in all related tests.

7⃣Mind Mapping

With the mind map testing technique, teams can get an overview of the whole product and use it as a roadmap for the testing journey. Mind maps allow testers to visually organize and represent test scenarios and relationships between components. They cover all of the use cases and scenarios and draw connections in a way that is challenging to represent in a list. Being the source of truth for the team and stakeholders, mind maps establish an integrated perspective on testing to let testers strategize, plan, and execute tests more effectively.

8⃣Reusable Test Data Source

Preparing data for testing can be very time-consuming and requires a lot of a tester’s time, which is spent on searching, maintaining, and generating data. Instead of writing a new test for each piece of data, you can use a test data management tool so that test data can be managed in a repeatable way. Furthermore, when test data becomes more complex, this tool will help you better deal with data aging and data masking.

9⃣Collaboration Between Developers and Testers

Effective communication is crucial for quality assurance engineers. They must clearly explain issues so both product owners and developers understand them. Beyond that, it’s vital to encourage b communication within the QA team to ensure everyone is aligned and working together smoothly.

How Test Management System Helps in Agile Regression Testing

One of the biggest benefits of regression-testing in an agile context is the ability to get fast feedback about how your latest build impacts existing features. The best way to get this feedback is to use a test case management system as Testomat.io, which allows you to:

• Store all test cases, plans, and results in one place and guarantee that everyone on the team has access to the most current and relevant information about tests.
• Monitor the progress of their test cycles, get information on the test status to make timely decisions.
• Link test cases directly to user stories and defects to see exactly which tests cover it and what its current status is.
• Get reports with latest test runs, defect rate, and defects clustering, and filter them.
• Send notification about finished test regression runs with test results and share instant access to results in real time.

Bottom Line

In Agile software development, you can move fast, iterate quickly, and fix faster to ensure new changes do not break existing application functionality. Teams are keen on it because it lets them launch features faster and respond to changes without delays. However, every time you move fast, there’s a risk you’ll break something.

With Agile regression testing, teams can avoid shipping critical bugs to production by confirming the most important parts of an app are still working every time new code is pushed. If you aim to learn more about the impact Agile regression testing can bring to your software applications, do not hesitate to drop us a line.

The post Agile Regression Testing Explained: Process & Best Practices appeared first on testomat.io.

Definitely, it is not a good thing when external customers find bugs before your team does. Is it right?

With regression tests at hand, the team can ensure that new code modifications do not disrupt the existing functionalities of your software products. In this article, we will help you understand what regression testing is across the different testing types, why you need a regression test plan and how to write regression test cases.

Regression Testing: What It Is And When We Need It

Regression testing, as a quality assurance practice, a type of software testing is designed for software and testing teams to re-run types of tests to catch bugs in a software app after code changes, updates, or upgrades have been implemented. However, it is more than just rerunning previous test cases. Teams conduct regression testing generally before the application goes to production, aiming to make sure that newly implemented functions are correct, without new bugs or errors and do not cause them in existing system functionality.

As a rule, the testing teams carry out regression testing in the next situations:

• When the team develops a new feature for the software product
• When the team adds a whole new functionality or feature to the software product
• When the team adds patch fixes or implements changes in the configuration
• When the team releases a new version of the software product – mobile or web application
• When the team optimizes the codebase to improve performance

You should note that even minor changes in the code may lead to costly mistakes for the company if they won’t be properly tested. By applying regression testing, testing teams can maintain software quality and avoid the return of previously identified issues. You can find more information about regression testing in our article here.

Regression Test Plan

Before your teams write regression test cases, they should create their regression testing plan in advance. It is a document with a clearly defined strategy, goals, or scope for the regression testing process. Ideally, this plan should include a list of the features or functions the team has to test, the testing methodology (e.g. align to Agile methodology), the testing approach, the necessary resources, and the planned testing result.

Assumptions and Dependencies

The team needs to consider assumptions and dependencies when they design a regression test plan, because they may affect the success of your plan. So, it is important to take into account the following:

Whether the app’s version is stable and no major architectural changes have been implemented.
Whether the test environment is ready to mimic a real-world setup with all required dependencies and resources.
Whether test cases and data are easy to access for each team member.
Whether the test plan documents all the dependencies and assumptions for other teams, because they also need to collaborate and work on the product.

Key Elements of Regression Test Plan

Source

• Test Cases. You need to define every test for regression testing and check whether they carefully validate all system functionalities based on the test scenarios and requirements.
• Test Environment. Here, teams need to specify the hardware and software configuration (app version/OS/database/dependencies) for regression tests.
• Test Data. Teams need to provide accurate and complete test data. This allows them to cover all possible scenarios for the test cases they are going to use.
• Test Execution. Teams need to organize the test runs with the schedule, timeline, and necessary resources such as team composition, hardware, and software tools.
• Risk Analysis. Here, teams need to think of an effective mitigation strategy that will help them to prevent or maybe avoid possible regression testing risks.
• Defect Management. If the team implements defect management into their workflow, it allows them to report, track, and fix bugs that have been found during software testing activities.
• Test Sign-off. Here, teams should set clear criteria and metrics that will help them complete and approve regression tests. Also, it allows them to reveal if the regression testing process is successful or unsuccessful.
• Documentation. In the well-conducted documentation, the team should keep detailed records of test cases, testing data, results of test runs, and defect logs for future review.

Now, you have a comprehensive test plan at hand and can overview the process of how to write regression test cases below.

How To Write Regression Tests: A Step-By-Step Guide

When the teams are going to write test cases for regression testing, they may face some challenges. We hope that this step-by-step guide will make the process easier. Here are some important steps you need to follow when creating a regression test suite:

#1: Identify Test Scenarios For Better Testing Process Organization

In regression testing, you should understand what changes have been made and what new features have been released or implemented. Only by learning the feature requirements and scope can teams consider all potential scenarios. It will help teams define appropriate test scenarios to repeat the validation of existing ones and create new test cases for regression. Based on these scenarios, you can define how the software will perform under specific conditions (such as responding to user actions, protecting sensitive data, and so on) and assess how tested software processes user inputs and handles different data types, etc. With clear and well-defined test scenarios, QA professionals make sure that the regression testing suite effectively achieves its goals.

#2: Specify Test Cases 

At this step, you need to define test scenarios that allow you to move to a detailed test case design. However, you need to remember that the regression test format sometimes differs for tests that have been written with classical or BDD approaches. In most cases, regression tests are not designed from scratch. Teams often use reusable test cases created before or write test cases for new features on their basis. Furthermore, regression tests are often automated but require detailed cases for tests that adhere to specific standards, for instance, BDD regresion test cases in Gherkin’s plain language. These cases for tests will outline the prerequisites, test steps, test data, expected/actual results, status, and notes.

In addition to that, your tests should be easy and simple so that anyone on the testing team can understand what the goal of the test is. With attachments, screenshots, or recordings added, you can make tests easy to understand.

Below you can find a Test Case Example:

If you are testing login functionality, your tests should clearly state the steps, the credentials to use, and the expected outcome, such as successful login.

#3: Prioritize Tests To Understand What To Test First

At this step, after designing tests, it is imperative to focus on test case prioritization based on their risk and impact, critical features for the smoke tests, and the right time to automate and validate them. Just because you need to identify defects that need immediate attention. You can consider modifications that have an impact on core features, or those that significantly change how the application works, which should always be the top priority. You should take into account the following:

• Scope of code change implemented
• Frequency of use
• Historical number of defects
• Interdependency (a situation where one test case depends on the outcome of another one)
• User feedback
• Pain Points

However, the best way to deal with it is to prioritize the tests according to critical and frequently used software functionalities. When you prioritize the tests based on priority, you can make the regression test suite shorter and save time by executing fast and frequent regression tests.

For example, in a banking application, a test that verifies key functionality like account login or transferring funds should be prioritized over a test case that checks the form style.

#4: Use Automation Testing Tools To Speed Up Testing

With test automation tools, you can enhance regression testing. You can avoid the need for manual testing by creating an automated regression test suite. It becomes possible to rerun tests whenever there are changes in the developed software.

Also, you can integrate them with the test case management system like testomat.io with access to a real-time testing dashboard for monitoring the test execution progress and viewing the test results. It will also work as a central place where every team member can be in the know about managing, organizing, and keeping all tests on track.

#5: Analyze Results and Report For Informed Decision-Making

The last step is an in-depth analysis, where you can get important insights for future test runs. With comprehensive analytics generated from testing results, QA managers and other key stakeholders can quantify testing efficiency, assess resource utilization, and measure the effectiveness of the testing process. Testing reports can reveal weak points in the application for in-time adjustments for the software development team.

If your teams start using tips on how to write regression test cases, they can do it effective manner and may:

• Avoid unexpected results from new code changes or modifications.
• Reduce the risk of post-release issues while also making new releases more stable and reliable.
• Produce software with greater quality by detecting and fixing defects very early.
• Keep software stable and reduce the chances of errors.
• Avoid bugs and keep user experience as smooth as possible
• Fix bugs faster and avoid expensive problems related to production.
• Eliminate the need for manual tests, saving valuable time as well as human resources.

Best Practices: How to Write Regression Test Cases Better

A deep understanding of how to write regression test cases is essential for the entire success of your testing process. Here we are going to explore the five transformative steps that help you reap the benefits:

#1: You Need Organize Tests Into Suites

Organizing a solid test suite helps guarantee effective test coverage. If your tests are well-structured, QA teams can find defects targeted to the app’s core functions. Additionally, it helps them speed up test execution and support defect identification. With detailed test suites, testers may focus on relevant and helpful execution of tests rather than wasting a lot of time deciding what to test, where, when, and how. Well-designed test suites allow quality assurance teams to execute tests that generate results. Also, they can identify defects to make sure that the application meets quality standards and customer expectations. The better the organization of the test suites, the faster tests can be executed and results analyzed.

#2: You Need To Apply Version Control

Implementing version control for your test scripts and cases is essential. You may not only monitor changes but also keep consistency. Version control allows you to see who made the modifications, what changes were done, and when. You can also rollback to previous versions if necessary. Furthermore, you can isolate the source of the problem by identifying what update triggered an issue, as well as improve teamwork by making sure that everyone has access to the most recent tests and the history of changes.

#3: You Need To Work together with Software Engineers

The QA engineers perform a series of tests to identify bugs, glitches, and other issues that may affect the performance and functionality of the product. On the other hand, software engineers create the code and implement new features based on project requirements. When working together, they can tackle quality-related challenges and deliver a successful software product. As a result, they can streamline the agile development process, minimize errors, and improve overall product quality.

#4: You Need to Utilize Automation

The QA team runs regression testing as a part of every release – after developers add new features or handle bug fixes. They should re-execute numerous tests after every code change. While code iterations might be frequent and the functionality is large, regression automation may solve this problem. With the development of automated regression testing tool and frameworks, the regression testing process has become more efficient and reliable.
With test case management integration, the QA team, developers, and stakeholders can monitor and analyze test coverage and execution progress as well as discover which areas of the application have been tested, highlight gaps in test coverage, and show the status of test execution (e.g., passed, failed, blocked).

#5: You Need To Make Regular Updates

Here, with ongoing reviews, you can adapt the regression suite to new changes in the software. They will help you identify obsolete test cases, add new tests, and improve existing ones. It can be done by:

• Discussing comments and planning updates on regular meetings
• Carrying out post-release retrospectives in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the test suite
• Track testing results systematically in a test case management system to discover any blockers or opportunities for further improvements.

These tips help you make sure that the regression test suite remains effective, up-to-date, and aligned with the evolving needs of your software.

Ready to write regression test cases with ease?

Even tiny modifications to the code may result in unexpected bugs in the software and lead to problems you were not prepared for. With regression testing and well-designed regression test cases, you can accelerate the testing process, save resources, and keep the product as stable as possible. If you start incorporating tips and best practices from the article, you can not only streamline your test case creation process but adjust them accordingly to fit your specific requirements. Drop us a line if you have any questions about regression tests.

The post How to Write Regression Test Cases? appeared first on testomat.io.