Testing Pyramid Clarified

Comparison of four types of automated testing in the Testing Pyramid

This article is one of the “IT Terminology Clarified” series.

Many software professionals have heard of the “Testing Pyramid”, and there are many versions.

Image Credit: “Continuous Integration at Facebook” presentation and “The Practical Test Pyramid” article on martinfowler.com

Table of Contents:
· Testing Pyramid (automation)
· Valuable: low => high
· Test Count : large => small
· Execution Speed: fast => slow
· Execution stability : reliable => brittle
· Implementation Challenging : easy => hard
· Beware of ‘Testing Pyramid’ talks by fake agile consultants
· Question: Given Automated UI Testing is so valuable (top of the Pyramid), why it is rarely done in software projects?

Testing Pyramid (automation)

Below is the testing pyramid at Facebook (from this great presentation: “Continuous Integration at Facebook”).

Image Credit: https://zhiminzhan.medium.com/recommend-a-great-ci-presentation-continuous-integration-at-facebook-6369323da084