Salesforce Test Automation is the process of automating testing of your Salesforce CRM to eliminate repetitive, error-prone manual testing activities. It involves writing and maintaining test scripts with the help of software. This software can be an automated testing framework, a visual programming language, or a combination of both. The Salesforce Test Automation process can help you to:
Salesforce testing automation is a very effective way to test software while it is being developed, as well as when it is up and running. The ability to automate your testing has been a blessing for the dev teams who are responsible for testing Salesforce. They can now perform repetitive manual tasks, saving time and effort that they can put towards more important tasks.
Also Read: Salesforce Managed Services - Why your company needs it?
There are three main reasons why automated testing for Salesforce is important:
Salesforce Testing Automation can be divided into 3 categories namely unit testing, integration testing, and functional testing.
Unit Testing: Unit testing is done at the code level to check whether individual components are working properly or not. Each component of Salesforce code like triggers, classes, and so on is tested independently for any defects or errors. This type of testing ensures that each unit performs its task independently without affecting other units.
Integration Testing: It is performed after unit testing to test if all units work together properly or not. It involves the integration of several units and checks whether they interact with each other properly or not.
Functional Testing: Functional Testing is done to check if the functionality of your Salesforce CRM is working fine or not. This type of testing should be performed in parallel with integration testing because both types of tests help to find out bugs in an application early in the development cycle.
Salesforce is a powerful CRM platform that allows business owners to manage customer relationships and data. But there are thousands of functions, making it difficult to test each one individually. With all the functionality comes complexity. This can be problematic for businesses that want to automate their testing processes, as Salesforce tests are difficult to automate. Here's why. Salesforce testing is difficult to automate for a few reasons-
HTTP requests are used to send data back and forth between the client and the server, which makes it hard to automate. Salesforce has taken steps to make it easier to automate by providing a service called Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) that allows you to create simple queries against your organization. But there are still limitations, like the inability to run SOQL queries on specific fields. This means that if you want to query a specific field, you have to do it on all fields at once, which wouldn't be efficient.
Salesforce tests are difficult to automate because of the nature of Salesforce itself. The platform has many different objects, and it is constantly evolving. Further, its general UI is not built for easy testing automation (one example is that fields can be in different places depending on how they're used). As a result, Salesforce testing automation is complex and time-consuming.
Tests are also difficult to write because there are so many different fields and ways to interact with each object. It's very easy to spend hours writing tests for one object when you could have just written the same tests in minutes by hand. This makes Salesforce testing automation seem like a much less viable option than it actually is.
Lastly, Salesforce test automation can be complicated because of the sheer amount of integration points between other systems, such as email services, external databases, and more. Additionally, due to the nature of Salesforce, its constant evolution, and the fact that it's a cloud-based app, you need to test your code against various versions of the application (using a tool like Sauce Labs). Salesforce testing automation requires you to invest time in learning about the platform — not just about specific features but about how the entire system works together — which makes it more difficult for developers.
Tests must be repeatable in order for automation to take place, but many Salesforce tests aren't repeatable as they rely on change data capture (CDC). Many tests are run using a snapshot, which means that the data can be out of date when you retrieve the test results. The way tests execute and the data used will vary from environment to environment, which makes it hard for automated processes to run smoothly.
Salesforce's test automation tool can be used to create test cases, which can then be automated using a framework such as Selenium, HP UFT, or SoapUI Pro. It integrates with Git (source control) and JIRA (bug tracking) to store data related to the testing process, such as test case results and bug reports.
There are a number of different types of Salesforce test automation tools available in the market that can help you achieve your test goals in a more effective manner. Each tool is unique and has its own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, some tools are good for automating functional tests, but may not be suitable for load and performance testing.
Before choosing the right Salesforce test automation tools for your organization, you need to understand your business needs and the various factors to be considered while choosing the right testing suite for your needs.
While working on various Salesforce Testing projects, we came across a number of Salesforce Test Automation best practices. Here are some of them:
AppShark's Salesforce Managed services include a detailed analysis of your Salesforce requirement where Salesforce Testing plays a vital role. We have designed Managed services to help businesses run and manage their Salesforce platforms. As part of the services our certified Salesforce consultants help businesses with test automation strategies and processes. If you are freshly implementing Salesforce CRM, upgrading or customizing it, and need expert Salesforce services, please feel free to contact us, or mail us at sales@appshark.com.