What is a Test Harness and Why Is It Important?
A test harness in software testing is the collection of stubs, drivers, automation tools, test cases, test data, and much more to perform software automation testing. The group consists of everything you require as a tester, from designing and running the test plans to monitoring and reporting the outcome. A test harness is an indispensable part of software testing. It assists QA engineers in checking the features/functions of an application properly with the right tools. The accurate gathering and monitoring of the reports help developers analyze the application for any bugs and resolve them quickly.
An example of a test harness for cross-browser testing would include a testing tool like Testsigma that supports compatibility testing, test data, test cases, bug-tracking tools, CI/CD software, and collaboration platforms.
Significance of Test Harness in Software Testing
One of the major significances of the test harness in software testing is supporting the automation efforts with all the necessary documents, tools, and means. Some other significances of test harnesses are:
- Assists developers in assessing the code coverage in the early stages of development.
- QA engineers can automate the testing by using a test harness with ease without spending time collecting all the important components for testing themselves.
- Helps testers to choose the right data, right testing tool Testsigma, and approach for testing.
- Makes stubs and drivers available for testing when other modules are under development or not yet ready for the testing phase.
- Able to manage difficult conditions and complicated scenarios, such as communication with libraries.
- Helps to debug multiple test cases simultaneously.
