Parallel run selenium tests in a good way

Parallel Run Selenium Tests
in a Good Way
Anton Semenchenko

Anton Semenchenko
Creator of communities www.COMAQA.BY and
www.CoreHard.by, founder of company
www.DPI.Solutions, «tricky» manager at EPAM
Systems. Almost 15 years of experience in IT, main
specialization: Automation, С++ and lower
development, management, sales.
Anton Semenchenko
EPAM Systems, Software Testing Manager

Why do we need run tests in parallel?

Challenge
Challenge
• How to invest min amount of time money to run tests in parallel
• How to maximize QA Automation ROI
• ROI >> 0

Solution
Let’s define Algorithm “How to run tests in parallel efficiently”

Algorithm
Define Tests properly Tests attributes
Define All shared entities
Select proper Selenium WebDriver Wrapper
Select proper Architecture
Test Parallel approach or combination
Some standard Test Runner
Build instruments
Several Processes
Selenium Grid
OS Language specific multithreading

Why do we need run tests in parallel?
2 types of reasons:
• Process related reasons
• Project specific reasons
• Risk based reasons
Meaning:
• Test == Feedback Mechanism
• Test Value == Feedback Value

Feedback’s in Scrum example
Methodology – as a predictable way of risk management for some context
• Pre planning grooming – run-time feedback from customer side
• Planning poker during Iteration planning – run-time feedback from team side mostly +
customer side too
• Daily Stand up – daily feedback, Team side
• Iteration Demo – per iteration feedback, customer side
• Iteration Retrospective - per iteration feedback, Team side
• Pair programming (as an example) – run-time technical feedback
• Unit Tests + CI – close to run-time technical feedback
• QA Automation Tests + CI + Report + Report Analyses – daily feedback mechanism
• And so on

Feedback’s in Scrum example
Methodology – as a predictable way of risk management for some context

Goals
1. Decrease QA Automation “Window”
2. Decrease Test results analysis “Window”
3. Increase Regression frequency
4. Decrease Optimize hardware utilization
1. Electricity
2. Hardware costs (buy or rent)
5. Increase QA Automation ROI >> 0

Algorithm – The best way
Test attributes
Atomic tests without
dependencies
Some
dependency
resolver
Add specific annotation plus
add new feature to existing
standard test-runner
Develop your own test-
runner with integrated
dependency resolver

How to choose – ROI calculator as a solution
Atomic tests without
dependencies
Some
dependency
resolver
Decreased time to runDecreased test debug time
Lower hardware costs + electricityDecreased test update/support time
No time spent on dependency definition
No time spent on dependency resolver
Lower entry barrier for newcomers
Less documentation

In most cases – no dependencies:
• More expensive specialists
• Higher hardware and electricity costs

o Define All shared entities
o Improve Architecture
o For example:
• Pre-steps using DB
• DB Layer:
 Singleton
 Thread-safe
 Optimize (use profiler)
 Migrate to Singleton-Bus (instance per thread, in a thread-safe way)
 Solution: in an iteration-based way, start from the simplest singleton

o For example:
• Logger
• Tracer
• Report Engine:
 +1 more reason to integrate Test Runner and
Report Engine, knows how to run in parallel and
integrate reports pieces into one document

o For example:
• Data-provider
• Any other orthogonal entity:
 Define
 Isolate
 Remember

o Select proper Selenium WebDriver Wrapper
• Mature
• Thread-safe
• Easy-to-use “downcast”
• Examples:
 Selenide – easy to use
 JDI evolution
 Serenity – more complicated to use

o Select proper Architecture
• Stateless architecture
• Static Page Object
• Isolate all orthogonal shared entities
• Use “From Conditional to Patterns and
reverse” Refactoring as a metric + ROI to prof

o Select proper Architecture
• Convert to Stateful architecture
• Dynamic Page Object
• Update all isolated orthogonal shared
entities
• Re-calculate ROI and reuse “From
Conditional to Patterns and reverse” in
a systematical way

o Some standard test-runner
• The lowest layer
• Standard (or some specialized), stable, efficient,
simple, most of instruments use it as a basement

o Build instruments
• Use parameters to configure test run
• Use Test Runner as a basement
• Some kind of Test Runner wrapper
• + 1 layer => less stable, less efficient, sometimes
easier to use
• Anyway, doesn’t work without Test Runner
• Maven example: Thread Count and param: Test
Method, Test Class, both

o Several processes
• Using CI
• Team City (Job Configuration)
• Jenkins (Job Configuration)
• Extensive way

o Selenium Grid
• Infrastructure
• Could be used for indirect test run, but this is not
primary purpose
• Could be combined with all other solutions

o Language / OS specific mechanisms
• Language, focusing on multithreading
• Java
 Process
 Thread / Fork
 JVM (Java property config or command line
arguments)

Out of scope
OS and Language related questions of multi-threading

Reasons
Transition complexity
With proper architecture (plus mature, not self-developed, WebDriver wrapper, like Selenide) ->
0, just 3-5-10 places in a solution, QA Automation Architect or Developer should invest several
hours
With improper architecture (without any wrapper or with a self-developed WebDriver wrapper) -
> complicated question
Invest days or weeks to Update Architecture and wrapper (better, to use, mature one)
Invest weeks or months to update tons of source code places
Without any architecture -> nightmare
Invest weeks to redesign tests using proper Architecture and mature wrapper
Invest months or even years just to update tests
ROI as a metric

Architecture related questions
Static or Dynamic; stateless or statefull: Architecture related questions?

Architecture related questions
1. Static: transform to parallel run
2. Dynamic: transform to parallel run
3. Static <=> Dynamic: transformation criteria
4. Transformation example
5. Detailed information about transformation
6. Static or Dynamic – as an architecture basement

Leak of stateless examples
Leak of stateless examples in standard Selenium documentation
IMHO: due to Selenium development process
A tiny group of extra professionals developers
No processes
No backlog
No priorities
No сcommittee for backlog and backlog items prioritization
No “iterations”
How to add new feature
Just to implement and then add for review

1. Let’s compare:
Photo
Share – looks like parallelism (easy parallelism).
Video
Share – looks like parallelism (not trivial parallelism).
State-less or state-full solution?

1. How easy transform solution from “single” to “multi” threading (to decrease “QA
Automation Windows”)
State-less – like share a photo
Just 5 minutes of work.
State-full – like share a video
Not trivial task, could be a night mare.
2. Summary
prefer state-less solutions to state-full solutions in mooooost cases;
before start implementation a state-full solution, please, take a break for a minute, and re-thing
everything again, possibly you can find a proper state-less solution.
State-less or state-full solution?

1. Static class
could be implemented as a state-less solution easily
2. Object
State-full solution in 99,99% cases
3. Summary
prefer static class based solutions (state-less) to object based (state-full) in mooooost cases;
before start implementation based on objects, please, take a break for a minute, and re-thing everything
again, possibly you can find a proper solution based on static classes.
Object or static class State-full or state-less solution?

“Replace Conditional with Polymorphism refactoring” as a Static <=> Dynamic:
transformation criteria
Replace Conditional with Polymorphism as criteria

1. You have a conditional that chooses different behavior depending on the type of an
object.
2. Move each leg of the conditional to an overriding method in a subclass. Make the
original method abstract.
3. And vice versa
4. Example
Replace Conditional with Polymorphism and vice versa

1. Replace Conditional Dispatcher with Command Design Pattern
Create a Command for each action. Store the Commands in a collection and
replace the conditional logic with code to fetch and execute Commands.
2. Replace Conditional Logic with Strategy Design Pattern
Create a Strategy for each variant and make the method
delegate the “calculation” to a Strategy instance.
3. Replace Conditional Logic with State Design Pattern
Create a State for each variant as a part of “State Machine” and make the method
delegate tricky “calculation” to the “State Machine”.
Replace Conditional with … more sophisticated options

1. Problem:
You have a conditional that performs various actions depending on object type or properties.
2. Solution:
Create subclasses matching the branches of the conditional.
In them, create a shared method and move code from the corresponding branch of the conditional to it.
Replace the conditional with the relevant method call.
The result is that the proper implementation will be attained via polymorphism depending on the object
class.
Replace Conditional with Polymorphism – detailed description

1. Transformation example
2. Detailed information about transformation
3. Static or Dynamic – as an architecture basement
Example plus some details

Custom Test Runner: General scheme
Out of scope
Parallel Run Selenium Tests in a Bad Way #1
• It starts Wed 12/14/2016
• Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM GMT+3

Risks based “good” examples of customized Test Runners
Out of scope
• Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM GMT+3

“Bad” examples of customized Test Runners
Out of scope
• Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM GMT+3

“Take away” points
Algorithm
1. Define Tests properly Tests attributes
2. Define All shared entities
3. Select proper Selenium WebDriver Wrapper
4. Select proper Architecture
5. Test Parallel approach or combination
1. Some standard Test Runner
2. Build instruments
3. Several Processes
4. Selenium Grid
5. OS Language specific multithreading

Summary
Step by step summary
1. Algorithm
2. Static or Dynamic; stateless or statefull: Architecture related questions
3. Metrics definition
4. Custom Test Runner: General scheme
1. Risks based “good” examples of customized Test Runners
2. “Bad” examples of customized Test Runners

What’s next?
• Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM GMT+3

1. “Refactoring is a controlled technique for improving the design of an existing code
base.”
2. “Its essence is applying a series of small behavior-preserving transformations, each of
which "too small to be worth doing".”
3. “The cumulative effect of each of these transformations is quite significant.”
4. “By doing Refactoring in small steps you reduce the risk of introducing errors. You
also avoid having the system broken while you are carrying out the restructuring -
which allows you to gradually refactor a system over an extended period of time.”
Refactoring by Martin Fowler

1. Ask yourself "how can I hide some details from the rest of the software?“
2. What is encapsulation?
hide variability
hide complexity
Details
"conflict of interests“
“tech” discussions
3. Example of public member or private member + setter/getter
What is really hidden?
Where is simplicity?
Encapsulation – the most important OOP principle

1. “There is a close relationship between refactoring and patterns.”
2. “Often the best way to use patterns is to gradually refactor your code to use the
pattern once you realize it’s needed.”
3. “Joshua Kerievsky’s Refactoring to Patterns explores this topic, making this a great
topic to learn about once you’ve got the basic refactoring's under your belt.”
4. “From Refactoring To Design Pattern” path – from pure design to adequate design
5. “From ~Design Patterns To Refactoring” path – from over design to adequate design
Refactoring and Design Patterns by Martin Fowler

1. “Refactoring to Patterns is the marriage of refactoring - the process of improving the
design of existing code - with patterns, the classic solutions to recurring design
problems.”
2. “Refactoring to Patterns suggests that using patterns to improve an existing design is
better than using patterns early in a new design. This is true whether code is years old
or minutes old.”
3. “We improve designs with patterns by applying sequences of low-level design
transformations, known as refactoring's.”
4. And vice versa
Refactoring and Design Patterns by Joshua Kerievsky

1. There are more then 90 types of refactoring
2. Refactoring types that relate to a particular field is called a ”Refactoring Language”
3. ”Refactoring Language” gives a common terminology for discussing the situations
specialists are faced with:
“The elements of this language are entities called Refactoring types”;
“Each type of Refactoring describes a problem that occurs over and over again in our environment”;
“Each type of Refactoring describes the core of the solution to that “~low level” problem, in such a way
that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice!”
Refactoring Catalog / Language

1. This refactoring technique can help if your code contains operators performing
various tasks that vary based on:
Class of the object or interface that it implements
Value of an object's field
Result of calling one of an object's methods
2. If a new object property or type appears, you will need to search for and add code in all
similar conditionals. Thus the benefit of this technique is multiplied if there are
multiple conditionals scattered throughout all of an object's methods.
Why refactor

1. This technique adheres to the Tell-Don't-Ask principle: instead of asking an object
about its state and then performing actions based on this, it is much easier to simply
tell the object what it needs to do and let it decide for itself how to do that.
2. Removes duplicate code. You get rid of many almost identical conditionals.
3. If you need to add a new execution variant, all you need to do is add a new subclass
without touching the existing code (Open/Closed Principle).
Benefits

1. For this refactoring technique, you should have a ready hierarchy of classes that will
contain alternative behaviors. If you do not have a hierarchy like this, create one. Other
techniques will help to make this happen:
2. Replace Type Code with Subclasses. Subclasses will be created for all values of a
particular object property. This approach is simple but less flexible since you cannot
create subclasses for the other properties of the object.
3. Replace Type Code with State/Strategy. A class will be dedicated for a particular object
property and subclasses will be created from it for each value of the property. The
current class will contain references to the objects of this type and delegate execution
to them.
4. The following steps assume that you have already created the hierarchy.
Preparing to Refactor

1. If the conditional is in a method that performs other actions as well, perform Extract
Method.
2. For each hierarchy subclass, redefine the method that contains the conditional and
copy the code of the corresponding conditional branch to that location.
3. Delete this branch from the conditional.
4. Repeat replacement until the conditional is empty. Then delete the conditional and
declare the method abstract.
Refactoring Steps

Regression frequency (RF)
Definition
• Regression Frequency (RF) = How frequent does automated regression
run?
«Meaning»
• The value of product use is better as higher it is. That is ok for automated
tests, if automation test runs are frequent, their importance for customer
is bigger. Because of that that metric is one of the key metrics while
valuing ROI.

Boundaries
• Widespread boundaries / recommendations:
smoke – every night
full-regression – every weekend
Where do we get info from
• Automation reports
• Continuous Integration (CI)

Examples:
• RF and Economical expediency of АТ(ROI);
• Facebook and Bamboo
• HeadHunter
• Kanban: RF and WarGaming experience
• Contra example «Absolute» «recommendations»
• Contra example «Commit window»

Visualization
• Not less than one a week – green color
• Not less than once in two weeks – yellow color
• Less than one a month - red color
• More frequent than once a day - red color
Connection between other metrics
• Automation testing window (ATW);
• Test results analysis window (TRAW);
• Economical expediency of АТ (ROI)
• “Commit window“
Category:
• Quality
• Automated testing

АТ «Window»
Definition
• Automated testing «Window» – how much physical time does Automated
test run take (full run or subset)
• Automated testing «Window» – how much system «lab» time does
Automated test run take (full run or subset)

АТ «Window»
«Meaning»
• Time, that is required to be calculated while estimating economical
expediency of AUT while analyzing ROI in comparison with manual
testing. Metric is required as for making decision about introduction of
Automation and as for valuing current state of implemented automation
with the aim of looking for narrow places.

АТ «Window»
Boundaries
• Depends on the size of the project, might take from couple of hours to
many hours. In general, Smoke after commit should be not longer than
one hour, full Regression not more than two days (weekend).
• Test Reports

АТ «Window»
Examples:
• Social networks (Facebook, Bamboo), CMS, CMS templates – before
automation tools for vizual testing automated test cases percent was not
big;
• HeadHunter example
• Counterexample – physical time
• Counterexample – machine time (Cloud)
• Technical details: Stateless and Statefull Automation, parallel run
• Technical details: Effective waiters
• Technical details: Premature optimization

АТ «Window»
Visualization
• Smoke <= 1 hour, Full Regression <= 12 hours (night) – green color
• Smoke <= 2 hours, Full Regression <= 2 days (weekend) – yellow color
• Smoke > 2 hours, Full Regression > 2 days(weekend) – red color

АТ «Window»
• Automation progress (AP)
• Automated tests coverage percentage
• Regression Frequency (RF)
• Automated tests stability (ATS)
• Economical expediency of АТ (ROI)
Category:
• Cost / Time

Test results analysis “Window” (TRAW)
Definition
• Analyzing «Window» of automation test results = How much time does it
take to analyze received data?
«Meaning»
• Metric shows how exhaustive and readable are reports, how stabile AT
and AUT. When the window is too big, less time would be devoted to
tests development, or analysis will be performed not thoroughly enough,
which will decrease Automation value.

Boundaries
• In dependency of the project can last from some minutes to many hours.
In general, analyzing results of Smoke test after commit – should take
couple of minutes, analyzing results of full Regression – should take
couple of hours, ideally, less than an hour.
• Test Reports
• Task Tracking Systems

Examples:
• Social networks (Facebook, Bamboo), CMS, CMS templates – before
automation tools for vizual testing automated test cases percent was not
big;
• HeadHunter example
• Mature Data Protection Solution, new SQL Denali plug-in, close to 100%;
• Mature Secure VPN (R), technological stack;
• Counterexamples;

Visualization
• Smoke <= 10 minutes, Full Regression <= 2 hours – green color
• Smoke <= 20 minutes, Full Regression <= 4 hours – yellow color
• Smoke > 20 minutes, Full Regression > 4 hours – red color

• Connection between other metrics
• Automation progress (AP)
• Automated tests coverage Percentage (ATC)
• Regression Frequency (RF)
• Automated Tests stability (ATS)
• Category:
• Cost / Time

ROI
Definition
• Economical expedience of AT (ROI) = Manual efforts – (Automation
efforts + Automation investment) / QA investment * 100%
«Meaning»
• Shows does it have sense to implement automation on the current
project in the current time. It might happen, that at some conditions,
automation on the project can be economically inappropriate, because
manual testing, even in long term future can be cheaper.

ROI
Boundaries
• Out of scope
• Test Strategy
• Test Plan
• Test Management Systems (TMS)
• Task Tracking System

ROI
Examples:
• Variety of projects
• Standard «problem» while working with middle+ automation specialists
of «old formation»
• A set of “alternative” ways of ROI usage (out of scope)

ROI (+ additional profit)
Visualization
• Comparing trends
• Manual testing vs Automation
• Whole variant of option of implementing / developing automation
• Different investment options
• Choosing optimal team-trend here and now

ROI
• % of Tests, suitable for AT
• Regression frequency (RF)
• Automated test creation time (ATDT)
• Automated test support time (ATST)
• Automated tests stability (ATS)
• Automation testing window (ATW)
• Test results analysis window (TRAW)
Category:
• Price / time
• Automation testing

CONTACT ME
Anton_Semenchenko@epam.com
semenchenko_anton_v
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www.COMAQA.BY
Community’s audience
Testing specialists (manual and automated)
Automation tools developers
Managers and sales specialists in IT
IT-specialists, thinking about migrating to automation
Students looking for perspective profession.
Community goals
Create unified space for effective communication for all IT-specialists in the context of automated
testing.
Your profit
Ability to listen to reports from leading IT-specialists and share your experience.
Take part in «promo»-versions of top IT-conferences in CIS for free.
Meet regularly, at different forums, community «offices», social networks and messengers.

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Community’s audience
«Harsh» С++ developers & co, IoT, BigData, High Load, Parallel Computing
Automation tools developers
Managers and sales specialists in IT
Students looking for perspective profession.
Community goals
Create unified space for effective communication for all IT-specialists in the context of «harsh»
development.
Your profit
Ability to listen to reports from leading IT-specialists and share your experience.
Take part in «promo»-versions of top IT-conferences in CIS for free.
Meet regularly, at different forums, community «offices», social networks and messengers.

www.CoreHard.by
info@corehard.by
https://www.facebook.com/corehard.by/
+375 33 33 46 120
+375 44 74 00 385

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