"Our test suite passed," the developer announced. The business analyst looked at the console output - pages of cryptic assertions, stack traces, and technical jargon. "Great," she replied. "But what did it actually test?" The developer scrolled through the logs, searching for something human-readable. Nothing.
The thesis that "manual testing will be a cheaper and more effective method than automation" continues to appear in testing discussions, webinars, and publications. This perspective represents a widespread but oversimplified view of software quality economics. While manual testing offers lower hourly rates and immediate deployment, this perspective fails to account for the complexities of scale, the many scenarios where automation isn't merely preferable but essential, and most importantly the evolution of testing technologies.
We've all seen it happen. The developers on the team excitedly discuss the latest framework they're implementing, while the test automation engineers quietly stick to the same Selenium scripts they've been maintaining for years. It's a strange disconnect – the very people who should be at the forefront of technological validation often trail behind when it comes to evolving their own toolset.
Test code often plays second fiddle to production code. Yet, the quality of our tests directly affects the reliability and maintainability of our entire codebase. In a previous article, we explored the importance of code quality and the aspect of designing and establishing a clean, reusable architecture. Now, we turn our attention to an equally critical aspect: monitoring test code quality, especially when working with less experienced teams.
CenterTest's role-based testing accelerates InsuranceSuite development by using superuser for functional testing and then using those same tests to verify permissions - a feature missing in Guidewire’s GT framework.
In software development projects, we often encounter challenges related to code quality. While most teams focus on production code, it's crucial to recognize that test automation code deserves equal attention. This perspective was highlighted in an insightful article by Kim Filiatrault, who wrote about the often-overlooked distinction between production code and test code. During the #Testμ conference, Paul Grizzaffi emphasized we should treat test automation as software and prioritize its quality. Test code quality goes beyond code review and static analysis using tools like SonarCloud; it encompasses the entire architecture design.
Exavalu's Guidewire QA delivery, business analysis, project management, and architecture expertise joins CenterTest test automation, so carriers get custom automation solutions staffed to each engagement.
MutualCore's executive-level leadership perspective, IT transformation experience, and consultative advisory join CenterTest test automation for Canadian property and casualty carriers
Kimputing is attending Guidewire Connections 2026 in Las Vegas, October 26 to 29. Book time with the CenterTest team before the event.
Guidewire test automation,
