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Manual testing is that trusted checkpoint in your Salesforce environment, helping ensure configurations are on point and data stays pristine. As noted in Chapter 4: Manual Testing Overview, it plays a critical role in identifying edge cases and validating configurations. But as your Salesforce implementations grow more complex, manual testing can feel like catching raindrops in a sieve. It’s time-consuming, a little too prone to human-error and, let’s be honest, far from efficient.
Enter automated testing –– the upgrade your DevOps team has been waiting for. With automation, testing becomes faster, more accurate and way less of a grind. Now, you can make sure your Salesforce updates, integrations and customizations flow smoothly, without the nagging worry that something critical might break when you need it most.
In this chapter, we’ll dig into why automated testing is essential for reliable, scalable deployments that stick to Salesforce best practices (without requiring a caffeine-fueled testing marathon). It’s time to set your testing on autopilot, so your team can focus on what really drives value.
Automated testing isn’t just about finding bugs. Wait… what? Isn’t that the entire purpose of testing? Well, yes… but with automation, it’s also about speed, precision and catching issues before they snowball into bigger problems. Automated tests don’t need coffee breaks, and they don’t get tired. They provide quick, con
sistent feedback on whether the application is performing as it should, often in mere minutes instead of days.
Speaking of bug fixes… who’s responsible for fixing defects? The developer. And who tells them what needs fixing? Testers. The back-and-forth between the two can often get, well, a little testy. Why? Developers might argue that the bug reports are either inaccurate (“No way the code is wrong!”), lack helpful information for debugging or––even better––that it’s been so long since they worked on that part of the code (or that the original developer is long gone), they can’t remember what, why or how to fix.
Testers, meanwhile, might claim the code is the problem. And in the end, everyone might complain that the requirements were too vague in the first place.
This is where automated testing shines. With clear, reliable defect reports, and the ability to create tests early––based on well-defined requirements––the “he said, she said, they said, we said” game finally gets a timeout.
As detailed in Chapter 3: Testing Fun-damentals, clear communication between testers and developers is key to a smooth workflow. Automation complements this dynamic by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks.
Automated tests also bring clarity to defect reporting and reduce the back-and-forth, allowing teams to focus on fixes, not finger-pointing.
Automated testing brings several advantages to the table:
Learn more about the benefits of DevOps to see how automation can improve quality, speed and reliability across your releases.
Ready to see what types of tests are a must-have in the automation toolkit? Let’s find out.
In simplest terms, Salesforce automated tests are those that don’t require a human to run through tests to make sure everything works as expected. A good rule of thumb? If you’ve had to run the same test more than once, it’s time to automate it. After all, why spend valuable time repeating the same task when automation can handle it?
We’ve gone over the basics of test purpose, type, level and method in Testing Fun-damentals, so here’s a quick overview of some common Salesforce automated tests.
Functional testing is meant to test business processes and workflows, such as lead creation and assignment or case creation.
Imagine you're baking a batch of cookies. Functional testing in this scenario would mean more than just following the recipe step-by-step. It’s about checking that each cookie comes out exactly right.
Golden brown. Chewy on the inside. Exactly how you want them.
Functional testing ensures your baking creation meets your delicious expectations! Mmmm, cookies.
Regression testing involves testing changes made after an update or release to make sure that no unintended behaviors have slipped through the cracks. It’s one of the most critical components of testing –– but it’s also the most time-consuming. This is why automated regression testing makes a lot of sense.
Imagine you're a seasoned gamer who just downloaded an update for your favorite game. Regression testing in this case would be like going back to your favorite level to make sure all the cool moves and power-ups you mastered before still work flawlessly after the update. It's about preserving the fun and excitement of the game, without any unexpected glitches or surprises to spoil the experience!
Tools that simulate user behavior on a browser help validate that the system is working as expected. UI testing, or User Interface testing, is all about making sure that the visual elements––like buttons, menus and forms––work as they should.
It’s about more than just functionality. It’s about checking that everything looks good and responds correctly when a user interacts with it.
Essentially, UI testing guarantees a smooth, pleasant experience for users navigating the app.
Real end-to-end functionality hinges on multiple systems working together in harmony. Integration testing makes sure business processes involving multiple systems are firing on all cylinders.
Imagine a symphony where every instrument must play in perfect harmony. Integration testing is the conductor, ensuring all parts of your business processes, which involve multiple systems, perform flawlessly together. This testing ensures that everything is working seamlessly, keeping your end-to-end functionality pitch-perfect.
Integration testing is like making sure all the parts of your favorite gadget work together smoothly. It involves testing how different modules or services of an application interact to ensure they function correctly as a whole. By doing this, we catch any issues that arise from combining these components, making sure everything runs seamlessly.
Implementing automated testing for Salesforce can reduce manual workload and improve efficiency. Explore more about Salesforce automated testing for insights into setting up reliable, scalable test scripts.
Now that we know the most common types of automated tests, how do you choose which ones to start with?
Automate everything, of course!
Not quite.
That wouldn’t be wise. In the context of Salesforce, there are two main ways to decide what tests to automate first.
Focus on the workflows that are critical to business operations –– like creating a sales order. These are essential and if they fail, well, that’s a big no-no. Imagine a critical process going down during a peak sales period. A nightmare, right?
Next, automate the areas prone to failure. Core functionalities that are easy to break, like frequently updated Salesforce objects, are prime candidates. Automation here adds stability and reduces the risk of repeated disruptions.
Consider a quote management process, which is directly tied to revenue. Ensuring this process provides accurate pricing, product details and minimizes errors is crucial –– not only for the user but also for customer experience. A full Configure Price Quote (CPQ) test often involves other applications both within and outside of Salesforce, making it essential to validate that the entire business process works smoothly.
At the highest level, quote management is a process with several make-or-break steps:
Now, imagine a defect sneaks into any of these. How harmful would it be to the business? Spoiler: very. That’s why automating Quote Management testing isn’t just a nice-to-have –– it’s essential.
Lucky for us, we’ve got expert advice. Copado teamed up with Salesforce and the one and only CPQ black belt, Gilles Muys, to tackle this exact topic. In a recent webinar, Muys put it simply: testing isn’t an afterthought. It starts on day one, moving through iterative builds and UAT like clockwork. His method boils down to six clear steps:
What’s an example of all the above, you ask?
Let’s take a look.
User Story
Title: Enhance Discount Approval Process in Salesforce CPQ
Who: Sales Representative
What: As a Sales Representative, I want the system to automatically send discount requests for approval when the discount exceeds 20% so that I can ensure compliance with company pricing policies.
Why: This ensures that all high-discount deals are reviewed and approved, maintaining profit margins and adhering to company policies.
Acceptance Criteria
A range of automated testing tools are available to ensure the quality and reliability of applications built on the Lightning platform. These tools cater to various aspects of the development and testing life cycle, from unit testing to comprehensive end-to-end testing. Here's a look at some of key automated testing tools for Salesforce:
Salesforce DX is developer-friendly and comes with a suite of tools. With Salesforce DX, you can spin up scratch orgs — temporary environments perfect for development and testing. The CLI (Command Line Interface) adds flexibility by allowing you to script and automate tasks, making it easy to integrate with version control systems like Git.
Salesforce DX is an excellent choice for agile teams and CI/CD workflows. It's especially great for projects needing isolated environments for feature development and testing. However, keep in mind that a bit of familiarity with command-line tools and version control systems is needed.
If your team has a strong DevOps culture, Salesforce DX is the way to go.
The Apex Testing Framework is all about unit testing. It lets developers write and execute tests specifically for Apex code, ensuring that individual components function correctly. Using the @isTest annotation, and can create test classes and methods and even generate consistent test data within these methods.
This framework is indispensable for validating custom Apex logic and triggers. It's particularly well-suited for projects with significant custom Apex development, although it's limited to unit tests –– it won’t cover UI or integration. But for keeping your codebase rock-solid and regression-free, the Apex Testing Framework is a must-have.
If you're working with Lightning components, the Lightning Testing Service (LTS) is a dedicated tool worth considering. Designed specifically for testing Lightning components and applications, LTS integrates seamlessly with popular JavaScript testing frameworks like Jasmine and Mocha.
LTS is ideal for projects heavily utilizing Lightning components and the Lightning Experience. It lets you test the UI/UX aspects of your applications, ensuring everything works as expected. However, to get the most out of LTS, you'll need some knowledge of JavaScript and frontend testing practices.
When it comes to testing beyond Salesforce’s native tools, organizations typically fall under one of these categories:
There are plenty of open-source frameworks available, like Selenium or Robot Framework. While these tools come with zero upfront licensing fees, there’s still a cost –– building, creating and maintaining them requires resources.
Selenium is an open-source solution that’s popular among technical testers. It’s powerful, flexible and customizable for web-based testing. It integrates well with different testing frameworks and tools and supports multiple programming languages. Sounds perfect, right? Well, it comes with a steep learning curve.
Before you can even start writing Selenium code, you have to install language bindings for your language of choice, the browser you want to use and the driver for that browser. And if you want reporting, parallel testing or advanced capabilities like record and playback, drag-and-drop or headless execution? Yep, you’ll have to configure those manually.
The reality of Selenium is: if you build it, you’re responsible for maintaining it –– all of it. This is where the biggest drawback comes in. Salesforce’s dynamic UI and frequent updates often break Selenium scripts, leading to a maintenance burden that many teams find overwhelming.
Robot Framework is an open-source test automation and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) framework. Interestingly, some of the original founders of Qentinel––now known as Copado Robotic Testing––were key figures developing Robot Framework. Pekka Klärck, the main developer, helped shape this tool from the ground up.
Originally a thesis aimed at creating generic components for custom automation frameworks, Robot Framework quickly evolved. It was designed to provide a flexible foundation for creating automated solutions across different domains, and it did just that. Its modular, extensible architecture allowed it to become a versatile automation tool, empowering teams to automate testing and other tasks effectively. Today, Robot Framework has garnered widespread adoption, acclaimed for its adaptability and robustness.
Selecting the right automated testing tools for Salesforce is about finding the right balance: consider your project’s complexity, team expertise, testing requirements, integration needs and budget. Yes, it may seem like information overload, and getting started can feel intimidating, but the trick is to focus on your desired outcomes. Here are a few best practices to guide you as you start your test automation journey:
Incorporate Automated Testing into Your Development Lifecycle
Ensure that automated tests are part of your CI/CD pipeline. This helps catch issues early and often, saving time and headaches down the road.
When every release demands rigorous testing, integrating automation with your CI/CD pipeline is essential. Learn more about the advantages of CI/CD in Salesforce and how it can make deployments more seamless, efficient and resilient.
When diving into Salesforce test automation, there are a few common traps teams often fall into. Here’s what to watch out for — and how to steer clear:
Over-Automation
Automating everything might sound like a dream, but it can actually backfire. Focus on automating only the most critical and high-impact test cases. Remember: just because you can automate it, doesn’t mean you should.
Neglecting Manual Testing
Automation is powerful, but it doesn’t replace the need for some manual testing. There’s still a need for hands-on testing, especially for exploratory and usability checks. A bit of manual testing ensures your application isn’t just functional but user-friendly, too.
Test Maintenance Challenges
Salesforce is always evolving, and so are automated tests. Planning for regular updates is essential to keep your tests relevant as your Salesforce instance grows. Treat test maintenance like a routine check-up — it keeps everything running smoothly.
In a world where labor is free, you’d set up automated tests for every new feature –– and, unfortunately, every feature that’s ever been released. But even for best-in-class companies, achieving 100% test coverage is a pipe dream. Unrealistic and, honestly, unnecessary. So, don’t panic.
How do you know if an automated test is worth the effort? Sure, it’s often cheaper to run an automated regression test than a manual one. But tests come with both an initial development cost and a maintenance cost.
Wait –– maintenance? Like changing the oil in a car? Why can’t I just write it once and forget it?
The benefit of automated tests––your ROI––comes from the savings generated each time an automated test replaces a manual one. Over time, as you run tests repeatedly, this benefit accumulates, yielding a return on investment.
Several factors influence the cost of automation:
A well-defined environment strategy is critical for consistent test outcomes. Check out Salesforce environment strategy for guidance on managing multiple environments effectively.
Just as certain factors drive costs, others enhance the benefits:
By carefully balancing these cost and benefit factors, organizations can optimize their testing strategies. Consider each element thoughtfully, and you’ll maximize the advantages that automated testing can bring.
The classic speed-versus-quality dilemma: you want to move fast, but you need a rock-solid foundation. And manual testing alone? It just can’t keep up. The journey from Chapter 1 to Chapter 4 has shown how combining manual and automated approaches creates a testing strategy built for today’s challenges. For Salesforce delivery, this is especially true.
Trying to go full speed with a manual testing strategy is like running a marathon in flip-flops. Sure, you’ll get there eventually, but not without a lot of stumbling. Automated testing, though, is the turbo boost you need! It lets you keep pace with innovation while confidently maintaining quality –– no need to sacrifice one for the other.
In this chapter, we dove into the world of automated testing, discovering how it can work around the clock to catch bugs, reduce manual labor and bring a whole new level of speed and accuracy to testing. Although it may seem daunting, automation is a step in the right direction if you want to mature as an organization.
With our trusty robots handling repetitive tasks, we’re free to focus on what truly matters: designing test cases that drive real value.
Now, let’s look at how to craft smart, effective test cases that work hand-in-hand with automation to make testing as robust as possible. Ready to level up your test case design skills? Let’s go!
With the right platform, Salesforce DevOps becomes simpler and more efficient. Learn about Copado’s Salesforce DevOps platform and how it supports automation, compliance and collaboration across teams.
Level up your Salesforce DevOps skills with our resource library.
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