Editing Test automation (section)

{{Short description|Use of special software to control test execution and analysis}}
{{Redirect|Automated QA|the company|AutomatedQA}}
{{Software development process}}
{{More footnotes|date=February 2009}}
In [[software testing]], '''test automation''' is the use of  [[software]] separate from the software being tested to control the execution of tests and the comparison of actual outcomes with predicted outcomes.<ref>{{cite book | last = Kolawa | first = Adam |author2=Huizinga, Dorota  | title = Automated Defect Prevention: Best Practices in Software Management | year = 2007 | publisher = Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Press | page=74| isbn = 978-0-470-04212-0 }}</ref> Test automation can automate some repetitive but necessary tasks in a formalized testing process already in place, or perform additional testing that would be difficult to do manually. Test automation is critical for [[continuous delivery]] and [[continuous testing]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=O’Connor|first1=Rory V.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xOcCgAAQBAJ&q=Systems%2C+Software+and+Services+Process+Improvement%3A+27th+European+Conference&pg=PA71|title=Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement: 22nd European Conference, EuroSPI 2015, Ankara, Turkey, September 30 -- October 2, 2015. Proceedings|last2=Akkaya|first2=Mariye Umay|last3=Kemaneci|first3=Kerem|last4=Yilmaz|first4=Murat|last5=Poth|first5=Alexander|last6=Messnarz|first6=Richard|date=2015-10-15|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-24647-5|language=en}}</ref>