What are the benefits of test automation and continuous integration?

Continuous Integration (CI) in Automation Testing: This process comes into play when we have continuous deployment of an application. Each Deployment is then verified by an automated build, which detects problems at the early stage. 
Think of a situation where before testing, you want to get the sources turned into a running system which can often be a complicated process involving data extraction, data compilation, moving files around, loading schemas into databases, and so on. Using CI makes it much easier to handle repetitive tasks and complex processes. It allows developers to automate an entire process—putting all the code together from all the contributing developers. As soon as we get the code, it starts working continuously—merging the codes and building the process—and nobody must wait for anything. You can have defined sets of test suites like Regression, Smoke, Sanity, etc.
By integrating regularly, you can detect and locate errors quickly and fix them more easily to ensure deployment of a bug-free software.

Benefits of Continuous Integration (CI) :

• Immediate bug detection
• Reduced risks
• Reduced repetitive manual processes
• Automated process for test and reports
• Notification for build status
• A deployable system at any given point

CI Project Setup:

• Associate with a version control server – GIT, SVN
• Trigger builds - Polling, Periodic, Building based on other projects
• Execute test shell scripts, bash scripts, Ant targets, and Maven targets
• Publish JUnit test results and other reports
• Email notifications

CI Flow:

Flow: Once the Developers merge their latest code to the Central Code Repository, CI performs check in the Central Repository for any changes. As soon as it gets the information of any latest changes, CI triggers the defined automation suite to test the build pushed to repo. After the execution, reports and build status are shared among different responsible teams. After the subsequent procedures are performed, we will have a complete automation structure and process implementing automation testing to achieve the goal to deliver a bug-free product quicker and more efficiently.

Continuous Integration (CI) Tools :

• Code Repo
• SVN, Git
• Continuous Build Systems
• Jenkins, Bamboo
• Testing Frameworks
• JUnit, Cucumber, TestNG
• Continuous Integration should be a part of any complex project to detect any errors or any signs of failure early in the development process.
• Continuous Integration should be flexible enough to integrate with different plugins, reports, environments, and version controls.

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