Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type of testing. When is each type of testing appropriate? Are there situations that preclude the use of a particular type of testing?

Automated Testing

Automated tests are good to use when the project is large, there are many users of the system or when completing forms.

Advantages

Run tests quickly and effectively

While initial setup of automated test cases may take some time, once you have automated your tests, you are ready to begin. You can reuse the tests, which is good news for those of you who run regressions on constantly changing codes. You will not have to continually complete the same information or remember to run certain tests. Everything is done for you automatically.

It can be profitable

though computerization tools can be expensive in the short term, they save you money in the long term. Not only do they do more than a human can do in a given period of time, but they also find defects faster. This allows your team to react faster, saving you both time and money.

More interesting

Filling out the same forms over and over can be frustrating, and not to mention boring. Test automation solves this problem. The process of configuring test cases requires coding and thinking, which keeps their best technical minds involved and committed to the process.

Disadvantages

Tools can be expensive

Automation tools can be an expensive purchase. As a result, it is important to use only those that provide full coverage or as close to full coverage as you can find.

Tools still take time

While the automation process reduces the time it takes to test everything by hand, automated testing is still a time-consuming process. A considerable amount of time is needed to develop the automated tests and let them run. For example, a large client of ours had problems when his daily execution of automatic tests exceeded the 24-hour mark.

Manual Testing

Manual tests are suitable for smaller projects, as well as for companies without significant financial resources.

Advantages

Short-term cost is lower

Purchasing software computerization tools is expensive. Through physical testing, you won't have to put the same up-front costs into the software.

More likely to find real user issues

Computerized assessments are just that - automatic. They're robotic and don't necessarily act as a real user would. Physical analysis, on the other hand, allows the developing program to be used as it would be upon launch. A little errors that may pop up when a user handles the program in a certain way are more likely to be caught with manual testing.

Manual testing is flexible

As soon as one of those excellent opinions comes to you, something that could change the course of the project, you want to be able to work on it immediately. With automated testing this is difficult. In this case it is necessary that you have to set up test cases, program it into the automated tool, and then run the tests. By the way of manual testing, you can just quickly test and see the results. Programmed assessments take extra time to set up, which doesn't allow you to test ideas rapidly and straightforwardly.

Disadvantages

Certain tasks are difficult to do manually

Some actions that are difficult to do manually. For example? Low level interface regression test. This type of test is extremely difficult to perform manually and, as a result, is prone to errors and supervision when performed by hand. Automated tests, once configured, are much better equipped to find errors in this type of tests.

Not stimulating

Manual tests can be repetitive and boring: nobody wants to continue filling out the same forms over and over again. As a result, many testers have difficulty staying involved in this process, and errors are more likely to occur.

Manual tests cannot be reused

With automated tests, if you add something to the program, you can rerun all the required tests instantly: the tests are already configured. This is not the case with manual tests. If there is any change in the software, you must run the tests again by hand. This is a valuable wasted time.

There are advantages and disadvantages of automatic and manual tests. While many say that common sense is supposed to guide you in deciding which one to use, common sense will not guide you unless you have all the information. Be sure to take into account your time, your resources and the size of your project, as well as the quality of the automated tools you will use and the knowledge of your test equipment. Once you consider these things, you are more likely to do what is best for you. Always remember that combining both is an option. In fact, combining the two can be optimal to cancel the disadvantages of others and develop the best possible software.