Best Ways To Apply Regression Testing In Agile Environment 

In-house teams and QA testing organisations are challenged more than ever today because most businesses are seeking ways to reduce the time it takes for their products to reach the market. The necessity for QA specialists to create a strong continuous testing strategy that could keep up with requirement changes and quick system updates is present.

Agile regression testing is what can enable teams to concentrate on new functionality while simultaneously maintaining stability throughout the whole product increment and upgrade process. Regression testing is unquestionably important in software engineering. However, there is still a huge knowledge gap on how to implement regression testing in an agile environment while also adding genuine value during each testing cycle.

This article will concentrate on the use of regression testing in agile software development, potential difficulties, and advice that can assist agile teams in achieving the high velocity and quality they aim for. There are various examples of agile projects where Regression testing can be applied.

Understanding Regression Testing

Developers update the software with the necessary fixes whenever they receive test reports. New bugs may appear out of nowhere when adding any changes to the system. Regression testing enters the picture at that point. Regression testing, when done correctly, can assist raise the product’s overall quality.

The following are the two main scenarios in which regression testing is employed:

When the code was upgraded because a new feature was added, requirements changed, or business processes changed, the product now needs quality assurance to ensure that the modifications made have no unintended consequences.

Functional regression testing is based on that. Visual regression testing is another term used to ensure that no unintended consequences result from changes made to the software’s visual design. Visual regression testing is as crucial for making sure the software functions as well as it looks.

Regression Testing In Agile Methodology: Basic Concepts

In agile teams, testing must change with each sprint to ensure that prior changes don’t disrupt the functionality already in place.

Automation is essential for providing high-quality regression testing. Regression testing by hand can be time-consuming. This kind of testing is typically a strong candidate for automation because it necessitates regular repetition.

How can I create a successful automated regression testing plan? Understanding that agile project management and development entail continual changes is crucial for developing a strong approach. All regression test sessions should therefore adapt to the changing environment in order to provide the greatest advantage. It is advisable to create the regression suite with an emphasis on strong coverage, reliable test scenarios, and to assure its ongoing high value.

Regression Automation: Things To Keep In Mind

The main advantage of automation over manual regression testing in agile is that it frees up QA engineers to concentrate on integrating difficult scenarios and testing diverse settings. When developing a plan for automating your regression suite, keep the following in mind:

Don’t aim for complete coverage

Regression test coverage of 100% can be challenging to obtain. Therefore, concentrate on passing 70–90% of manual tests.

Start with the manual testing you have performed.

It is important to do automated regression testing after at least one round of manual testing for it to be effective.

Think about whether automation is the best option for the scale of your project.

Automation works best when used on medium- and large-scale projects  Otherwise, it may not bring a sufficient return on investment.

Biggest Challenges Of Regression Automation

Your team needs to be aware of the following two main challenges:

• False positives: Sometimes the results of automated regression testing can be inconsistent (i.e. report failures when there are no issues) because of outdated test cases, scheduling problems, or poorly written tests.
• Maintenance: Because agile projects have a reputation for changing quickly, automation regression test suites must be continually updated to reflect all project changes and prevent test cases from becoming obsolete.

Regression Testing In Agile: Best Practices And Tips

You can be provided with a thorough list of recommendations for using regression testing in an agile setting after carefully examining all the data and trends in software testing described above:

• False positives: The outcomes of automated regression testing occasionally can be inconsistent (i.e. report failu1) due to out-of-date test cases, scheduling problems, or poorly written tests. Maintain your regression suites regularly to make sure they can keep up with the environment’s ongoing change.
• Depending on your objectives, time constraints, scope, and platform coverage, distinguish full regression testing cycles from sprint-level selective regression tests.
• Avoid becoming obsolete and make sure you only maintain the most important and valuable test cases.
• Regression suits should typically be fully automated. Therefore, be careful not to put anything in your suit that would be difficult to scale or automate.
• As your agile environment changes, make sure you have a methodology in place that allows you to adapt test code.
• Prioritise jobs by evaluating your test scenarios inside the suites.
• To be able to measure and improve it, make sure you have complete visibility of the findings from the regression suite.

Conclusion

 It is important to understand Regression testing in an agile environment because it will do a lot of good in impacting the future of agile.