Manual Testing vs Automation Testing

Manual Testing does not require knowledge of any testing tool.
100% Automation is not possible.This makes Manual Testing imperative.
The goal of Manual Testing is to ensure that the application is error free and it is working
in conformance to the specified functional requirements.
Software Testing Types:
1.Acceptance Testing
2.Black Box
3.White Box
4.Unit Testing 
5.System Testing
6.Integration Testing

Goal of Automation is to reduce number of test cases to be run manually and not eliminate
manual testing all together.
Automated Testing saves time and manpower,increases test coverage and speed of test execution.

Which Test Cases to Automate?
1.High Risk- Business Critical test cases
2.Test cases that are executed repeatedly
3.Test Cases that are very tedious or difficult to perform manually
4.Test Cases which are time consuming

The following category of test cases are not suitable for automation:
1.Test Cases that are newly designed and not executed manually at least once
2.Test Cases for which the requirements are changing frequently
3.Test Cases which are executed on ad-hoc basis



Test Tool selection
Test tool selection largerly depends on the technology the Application Under Test is built on.
Automation Best Practices:
To get maximum ROI of automation,observe the following
*Scope of Automation needs to be determined in detail before the start of the project.
*Select the right automation tool:A tool must fit to the automation requirements
*Choose appropriate framework
*Scripting Standars-
           Create uniform scripts,comments and indentation of the code
           Adequate Exception handling-How error is handled on system failure or unexpected behavior of the application
           User defined messages should be coded or standardized for Error Logging for testers to understand
*Measure metrics

How to Choose an Automation Tool?
*Environment Support
*Ease of use
*Testing of Database
*Object identification
*Image Testing 
*Error Recovery Testing
*Object Mapping
*Scripting Language Used
*Support for various types of test-including functional,test management,mobile
*Support for multiple testing frameworks
*Easy to debug the automation software scripts
*Ability to recognize objects in any environment
*Extensive test reports and results
*Minimize training cost of selected tools

Following are the most popular test tools:
QTP:HP's Quick Test Profession(now known as HP Functional Test) is the market leader in Functional Testing Tool.
QTP does not support Infromatica.
QTP can be used in conjunction with Quality Center which is a comprehensive Test Management Tool know is light
tool which can be recommended for web or client/server applications.

Rational Robot: It is an IBM tool used to automate regression,functional and configuration tests for client server,
e-commerce as well as ERP applications.

Selenium: It is an open source web automation tool. It supports all types of web browsers. Despite being open source
it is actively developed and supported.

Framework in Automation
A framework is set of automation guidelines which help in 
1)Maintaining consistency of Testing
2)Improves test structuring
3)Minimum usage of code
4)Less Maintenance of code
5)Improve re-usability
6)Non Technical testers can be involved in code
7)Training period of using the tool can be reduced
8)Involves Data wherever appropriate

There are four types of framework used in software automation testing:
1.Data Driven Automation Framework
2.Keyword Driven Automation Framework
3.Modular Automation Framework
4.Hybrid Automation Framework

Automation Process
1)Test Tool Selection
2)Define scope of Automation
3)Planning,Design and Development
4)Test Execution
5)Maintenance