Regression Testing in Agile: Concept, Challenges and Strategies

With the inclusion of regression testing in agile, new functionality is concentrated upon by development teams, so that with every new product increment, stability is maintained. Agile teams use regression testing to make sure that the software that is being tested continues to perform after every modification. Regression testing can prove to be really effective if it is implemented strategically. In this article, you will get to know about the concept, challenges and strategies pertaining to implementing regression testing in an agile environment.

Regression testing in agile: Concept:

In an agile context, with each sprint, testing needs to be developed and testers must make sure that the existing functionalities of the application do not get affected by the new changes or modifications that have been done to the code. Whether there is a small or big change made to the software, regression testing needs to be employed.

In an agile environment, there are continuous changes and frequent build cycles that are being added to the application. This in turn makes regression testing an essential activity in an agile environment. In order to perform regression testing in agile successfully, a regression suite needs to be built by the testing team right from the beginning of product development. The building of the regression suite by the team should be continued alongside the development of sprints.

The significance of regression testing in agile development:

In an agile development scenario, the planned functionality for the sprint is focused and worked upon by the team. A particular area of a product can be worked upon by the team, but, they cannot work upon the risks that have been caused because of the changes they have made to the system or application. In this scenario, regression testing will provide a correct consensus, on the affected areas of the product that has happened because of the changes made by the team across the codebase.

Regression testing is performed after changes to the code have been made by the team. This can be done by automating regression tests and thus running them as a part of the build process.

Following are the five strategies that need to be considered for implementing regression testing in an agile environment:

1. The value of smoke and sanity testing: These testing methods are performed before regression testing and are important to the point of consideration. Before the updated version is being tested, the basic functionality of the older version is thoroughly tested. Through this, the features are validated and work according to the plan.

2. Error-prone areas need to be scrutinized: Those test cases that are failing often are considered in this phase. Those areas of the software are identified that are prone to errors. For example, even though a little bit of modification has been done, still, the test cases fail. Such type of test cases needs to be taken into consideration.

3. Prioritizing test cases: Test case prioritization is assigned to the testing teams. After modification in the software, the most affected test cases are selected by the team. High priority test cases are executed first. Test case prioritization helps in reducing maintenance time and test suite and also helps in scaling up the speed of regression testing process.

4. Prepare an in-depth error report: Error tracking tools should be integrated with testing tools, which is in fact considered to be a good idea. During regression testing, analysis can be done to ascertain the kind of data that is affected and how the rest of the code is impacted by it. Bug identification becomes easy with error tracking tools and it also helps in effective debugging.

5. The significance of communication: The changes required by customers are monitored by the teams in this phase. Modifications are figured out continuously by team communication. In turn, customers communicate with teams to know and understand about the iterations that are being done.

Regression testing challenges in an agile environment:

1. Ineffective communication: The major pillars of agile teams are communication and collaboration. An effective communication channel should be planned out between the stakeholders, developers, analysts and testing team.

2. Lack of specific testing skills: As the project is moved on to the further phases of development, specific talents and testing skills are needed. A testing team that has a set of specific testing skills will be really helpful to carry on with the project in a productive manner.

3. Changes being made frequently: There might be frequent changes taking place as proposed by managers and customers. Due to this the iterations being done can be affected and thus make the testing process even riskier.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing regression testing for your specific project, then do get connected with a professionally acclaimed software testing services company that will provide you with a tactful testing strategy that is precisely in line with your project specific requirements.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market savvy technologies.