The Joy of Record and Playback in Test Automation - Louise Gibbs

13th January 2023
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Louise Gibbs's profile
Louise Gibbs

Senior Automation Tester

The Joy of Record and Playback in Test Automation - Louise Gibbs image
Talk Description
Record and playback features are a really useful tool for automated test development. They allow code required to run automated tests to be generated quickly. However, there is an unfortunate misconception that it is only used by those with poor programming skills. 
 
I do not believe this is the case, as even those with excellent programming skills may choose to use record and playback as an initial code generator. 
 
I also believe that some may feel excluded from test automation because of their lack of programming skills. Record and playback features are an excellent way to introduce people to automated test development. 
 
Record and playback features do have their limits. There are some actions that cannot be recorded so need to be coded instead. Tests made up entirely of recordings can be awkward to maintain, and have difficulty recovering from failures. Therefore, any code generated from recordings needs to be changed to improve the maintainability and robustness of the tests. In this talk I will demonstrate how recordings and the code generated from recordings can be adapted when developing automated test cases. 
 

Takeaways:

  • The benefits of record and playback for mixed skill test teams
  • The benefits of record and playback as an initial code generator
  • The limitations of record and playback features and why they should not be relied upon as the sole method for developing automated tests. 
  • How to adapt code generated using record and playback to develop automated test cases that are useful and more maintainable. 
What you’ll learn

By the end of this talk, you'll be able to:

  • TBA
Louise Gibbs's profile'

Louise Gibbs

Senior Automation Tester

Louise is a Senior Automation Tester at PebblePad. Her main job is to review and maintain the automated tests that are run overnight, and investigate the causes of any failures. She has also worked for companies in the e-commerce, scientific research and automotive industries, and runs a personal blog at louisegibbstest.wordpress.com, where she talks about her experiences as a software tester. She enjoys improving her testing skills and her main method for achieving this is by speaking to other Testers and discussing ideas.
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Tags

  • testing-tools
  • ui-automation
  • automation