When to automate vs manual test in Testing Fundamentals - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

When is automation testing preferred over manual testing?

Choose the best scenario where automation testing is more suitable than manual testing.

A Testing a feature that requires repetitive execution with stable requirements.

B Testing a new feature with frequently changing requirements.

C Exploratory testing to find unexpected bugs.

D Usability testing that requires human judgment.

💡 Hint

Think about when repeating the same steps many times is needed.

Automation is best for repetitive tests with stable requirements because it saves time and reduces human error. Manual testing is better for exploratory or usability tests where human insight is needed.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Why might manual testing be chosen over automation?

Identify the reason manual testing is preferred in some cases.

A When tests need to be run thousands of times quickly.

B When the test is fully scripted and stable.

C When the test requires human intuition and visual feedback.

D When the test is part of a continuous integration pipeline.

💡 Hint

Consider tests that need human feelings or opinions.

Manual testing is preferred when human intuition, judgment, or visual feedback is necessary, such as in usability or exploratory testing.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

What is the output of this test automation decision code?

Given the following Python code that decides whether to automate or manually test a feature, what will be printed?

Testing Fundamentals

def decide_test_type(repetitive: bool, stable_requirements: bool, needs_human_judgment: bool) -> str:
    if repetitive and stable_requirements and not needs_human_judgment:
        return "Automate"
    elif needs_human_judgment:
        return "Manual"
    else:
        return "Manual"

print(decide_test_type(repetitive=True, stable_requirements=False, needs_human_judgment=False))

A Automate

B Manual

C SyntaxError

D TypeError

💡 Hint

Check the conditions carefully and see which branch matches the input.

The function returns "Automate" only if repetitive and stable_requirements are True and needs_human_judgment is False. Here, stable_requirements is False, so it returns "Manual".

❓ assertion

advanced

Which assertion correctly verifies automation suitability?

You have a function should_automate(repetitive, stable_requirements, needs_human_judgment) that returns True if automation is suitable. Which assertion correctly tests that automation is chosen for repetitive and stable tests without human judgment?

Testing Fundamentals

def should_automate(repetitive, stable_requirements, needs_human_judgment):
    return repetitive and stable_requirements and not needs_human_judgment

A assert should_automate(True, True, False) == True

B assert should_automate(True, False, False) == True

C assert should_automate(False, True, False) == True

D assert should_automate(True, True, True) == True

💡 Hint

Check when the function returns True based on the logic.

The function returns True only if repetitive and stable_requirements are True and needs_human_judgment is False. Only option A matches this.

❓ framework

expert

Which test case is best suited for automation in a CI/CD pipeline?

In a continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline, which test case below is best suited for automation?

A A test that requires manual approval from a product owner before proceeding.

B A test that requires a tester to evaluate the look and feel of a new UI design.

C A test that involves exploratory steps to find new bugs in a new feature.

D A test that checks if the login page loads correctly every time code is pushed.

💡 Hint

Think about tests that can run automatically without human input in CI/CD.

Tests that verify stable, repeatable functionality like page loading are ideal for automation in CI/CD pipelines. Manual or exploratory tests are not suitable for automation in this context.