1.對從自動化中獲益的時機重新設定管理期望值
We all agreed that when GUI-level regression automation is developed in Release N of the software, most of the benefits are realized during the testing and development of Release N+1. I think that we were surprised to realize that we all shared this conclusion, because we are so used to hearing about (if not experiencing) the oh-so-fast time to payback for an investment in test automation.
當GUI級回歸自動化測試在軟件的發行版N中被開發后，我們都認為在發行版N+1的測試和開發中會有很多收益。我想我們會驚奇地發現所有人都贊成該結論，因為我們總是聽說(并沒有實際經歷)對自動化測試的投入會有快速的回報。
Some benefits are realized in release N. For example:
以下例子體現了發行版N中的一些收益：
o There’s a big payoff in automating a suite of acceptance-into-testing (also called "smoke") tests. You might run these 50 or 100 times during development of Release N. Even if it takes 10x as long to develop each test as to execute each test by hand, and another 10x cost for maintenance, this still creates a time saving equivalent to 30-80 manual executions of each test case.
對一套用于測試目的的測試(也叫“煙霧測試”)進行自動化可以獲得很大的收益。在開發第N版時，你或許會運行它們50次或100次。即使開發每一個測試是手動執行測試時間的10倍，且在可維護性方面的成本也會是10倍，但仍然對每個測試用例節省了相當于30至80倍的手動執行時間。
o You can save time, reduce human error, and obtain good tracking of what was done by automating configuration and compatibility testing. In these cases, you are running the same tests against many devices or under many environments. If you test the program’s compatibility with 30 printers, you might recover the cost of automating this test in less than a week.
你能通過自動化配置和兼容性測試節省時間，減少人為錯誤，并獲得對已完成工作的良好跟蹤。在這樣的情況下，你會對很多設備或在很多環境下運行相同的測試。如果你要測試兼容30個打印機的程序，那么你可以在不到一周的時間里收回自動化該測試的成本。
o Regression automation facilitates performance benchmarking across operating systems and across different development versions of the same program.
回歸自動化有助于性能基準跨越不同的操作系統以及同一程序的不同開發版本。
Take advantage of opportunities for near-term payback from automation, but be cautious when automating with the goal of short-term gains. Cost-justify each additional test case, or group of test cases.
雖然可以利用自動化近期回報的優點，但是在進行目的是短期收效的自動化時，需要注意對每個額外測試用例或測試用例組進行成本驗證。
If you are looking for longer term gains, across releases of the software, then you should seriously thinking about setting your goals for Version N as:
如果要尋找更長期的收效，跨越軟件的不同發行版，那么你就應該為第N版認真地考慮設置如下目標：
o providing efficient regression testing for Version N in a few specific areas (such as smoke tests and compatibility tests);
文章來源于領測軟件測試網 http://www.anti-gravitydesign.com/
