Codeless Automated Testing in 2024: Benefits & Challenges

Research shows that +23%¹ percent of an organization’s annual IT budget is allocated for QA and testing. Codeless automated testing is a complementary approach to test automation that can benefit businesses by:

• Decreasing spending on extra programming resources, 
• Reducing the need for extensive code writing,
• Facilitating the maintenance of automated tests,
• Providing efficiency to quality assurance (QA).

In this article, we’ll explore what codeless automated testing is, how it works, its benefits, and when to use it.

What is codeless automated testing?

Codeless automated testing, or no-code testing, initiates automated software tests without needing to code. It is a software development approach that combines minimal coding and a graphical user interface (GUI).

Contrary to code-based tools, which are dependent on scripts, codeless automation works through the UI of the tool. Thus, it doesn’t require users to have programming knowledge.  

What is the importance of codeless automated testing?

The codeless testing market is gaining prevalence. The demand for codeless testing for remote operational applications has increased due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is one of the reasons why the market for codeless testing is expected to grow. 

Automated testing, the backbone of QA, and codeless testing are one of the practices that gained prevalence with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is because AI and Machine Learning (ML) are used widely in QA and all aspects of test automation.

How does codeless automated testing work?

Figure 1: Simplified process of codeless automation

Codeless automated testing does not require code manipulation or advanced expertise in the programming language. It has a record and playback approach to testing automation: The tester records the test while pre-installed tools of codeless test automation work in the background to do the actual job. Codeless test automation provides automation with reusable functions so that there is no need to create new tests each time, cutting down costs and giving efficiency to QA.  

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Testifi offers CAST, a low-code test automation tool that provides flexibility. It helps businesses deliver software without any errors via a test-first approach.

Top 6 benefits of codeless automated testing

Figure 2. Reasons for using codeless development 

Source: Applied Sciences²

Eliminating delayed development. By enabling non-programmers and non-technical personnel to participate in the development process, codeless automated testing aims to reduce the effects of the shortage of professional developers, one of the causes³ of delayed development.

Rapid response to business requirements. Codeless automated testing platforms allow for the rapid translation of business requirements and development into applications. Survey shows that codeless development platforms accelerate development 5 to 10 times⁴.

Shorter development cycle. Codeless automated testing can reduce development costs due to reduced time spent on the development cycle.

Involvement of business profiles. Since no technical programming knowledge is required for codeless automated testing, final users of such tools can be the ones who have extensive knowledge of the business needs. Research shows that 44%⁵ of codeless development platform users are business users in collaboration with IT.

Supporting digital transformation. Based on the survey answered by more than 3,300 IT professionals, 66%⁶chose codeless platforms to accelerate digital transformation and increase responsiveness to business needs.

Reducing dependency. Based on the same survey above, 45% of the surveyed IT professionals pointed out that codeless platforms lessen the reliance on hard-to-hire technical skills. 

Challenges, and when to use codeless automated testing

While codeless automated testing brings several benefits, there are also some limitations of it:

• Testing can’t be customized via coding, so it is less flexible.
• Not suitable for large-scale projects or mission-critical enterprise applications because codeless platforms are usually aimed at small applications, web apps, and websites.
• Codeless test automation tools are not universal; different codeless development paradigms can be useful for each business. 

Due to these limitations, codeless automated testing is a better fit for more agile and less involved testing scenarios. Businesses can balance code-based and codeless test automation for a more efficient and effective QA, especially considering the growing variety of codeless automated tools in the market.

If you want to explore specific software, feel free to check our data-driven list of testing tools. If you have other questions, we can help:

External Links

• 1. Statista. Proportion of budget allocated to quality assurance and testing as a percentage of IT spend from 2012 to 2019.https://www.statista.com/statistics/500641/worldwide-qa-budget-allocation-as-percent-it-spend
• 2. Sanchis, Raquel, Óscar García-Perales, Francisco Fraile, and Raul Poler. 2020. “Low-Code as Enabler of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Industry” Applied Sciences 10, no. 1: 12. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/1/12
• 3. Sanchis, Raquel, Óscar García-Perales, Francisco Fraile, and Raul Poler. 2020. “Low-Code as Enabler of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Industry” Applied Sciences 10, no. 1: 12 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-16947-2_1
• 4. Forrester. Vendor Landscape: The Fractured, Fertile Terrain Of Low-Code Application Platforms https://informationsecurity.report/Resources/Whitepapers/0eb07c59-b01c-4399-9022-dfc297487060_Forrester%20Vendor%20Landscape%20The%20Fractured,%20Fertile%20Terrain.pdf
• 5. Sanchis, Raquel, Óscar García-Perales, Francisco Fraile, and Raul Poler. 2020. “Low-Code as Enabler of Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Industry” Applied Sciences 10, no. 1: 12.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/1/12
• 6. Outsystems. The State of Application Development. https://www.outsystems.com/local-gov/-/media/053D5BCC32364C2993C8D0BAFA880DB1.ashx