Regression testing means re-testing an application after its code has been modified to verify that it still functions correctly. Regression testing consists of re-running existing test cases and checking that code changes did not break any previously working functions, inadvertently introduce errors or cause earlier fixed issues to reappear. These test cases should be run as often as possible with an automated regression testing tool, so that code modifications that damage how the application works can be quickly identified and fixed.

Regression testing starts as soon as there is anything to test at all. The regression test suite grows as the application moves ahead and test engineers add test cases that test new or rewritten code. Soon the suite may extend to thousands of test cases that cover various application functions. Obviously, by this point, automation of regression tests becomes essential because it is humanly impossible to rapidly and reliably repeat all of the test cases and analyze their results. This is where TestComplete is very helpful and provides you with maximum return on your automated testing investment.

TestComplete has all of the features needed to make regression testing fully automated and thus to help you produce high-quality products:

Automate Your Regression Testing

TestComplete lets you perform regression testing by re-running automated functional tests of desktop and web applications as developers add new functionality to the application. Regression tests can be composed of any successful keyword, scripted or low-level functional tests that have earlier verified the desired application functionality and behavior.

Verify Applications with Checkpoints

To verify the tested application’s functionality and behavior, your regression tesing should include checkpoints that compare the application characteristics and outputs against baselines. With TestComplete, you can easily capture, store or update baselines and insert the appropriate comparison instructions into regression tests with a few button clicks.

Manage Your Regression Testing

TestComplete makes it easy to maintain the list of regression test cases included in the regression test suite, select the test or test collections to run and specify their execution order.

Analyze Regression Testing

TestComplete’s test logs clearly identify whether the regression test passed or failed and what went wrong, where the problem is and how it happened. This helps developers easily detect which recent code modifications caused the problems and fix them quickly. Detected issues can automatically be reported to an issue-tracking database during or after the regression test run.

Schedule Regression Tests

You can schedule regression tests to run unattended at a specific time or 24/7 for more thorough regression testing of applications.

Run Your Regression Testing Process with Automated Builds

Regression testing with TestComplete can be run as part of automated builds (for example, nightly builds) to ensure that problems caused by recent code modifications are identified and fixed as soon as possible. TestComplete is integrated with Automated Build Studio and MSBuild and supports command-line and COM integration with any other build tools.

Distributed Regression Testing

You can distribute regression tests among multiple differently-configured machines and run them in parallel to shorten the regression testing cycle.