What Is the Test Automation Pyramid?

January 11 10:17 2016 by Nataliia Vasylyna Print This Article

In software testing field, there are many tips and secrets which help the specialists to perform their work quickly and effectively. Besides that, there are also visual helpers (diagrams, schemes, images, etc.) which provide the clear understanding of different notions used in IT sphere.

Probably every expert from software testing company knows Mike Cohn and his pyramid. The general view of automated testing is represented by this pyramid. The test automation pyramid contains three elements.

What Are the Layers of Test Pyramid?

Automated unit testing layer
Automated integration testing layer
Automated end-to-end testing layer

In Mike Cohn’s pyramid, unit testing is at the bottom and end-to-end testing – at the top. The upper layer includes user interface tests. Every element of the mentioned pyramid differs in size, as the number of test cases which it contains is not equal.

Additionally, there is a cloud at the top of the pyramid. With the help of this cloud, manual testing is represented. It is not actually the part of the test pyramid.

This is a typical testing pyramid. There are also different variations of this testing structure. It depends on testing type, whether it is mobile or application testing. The layers are different, and even the position of the whole pyramid can be changed. It may be flipped.

Such representation of the testing process simplifies its comprehension and structures the checking procedure.