by, Colin Armitage, CEO of Original Software

For the past 15-plus years, organisations have turned to test automation as a way to improve efficiency in the Software Development Life Cycle. Yet despite heavy investment, software testing is still often the bottleneck in the delivery cycle. In a recent survey of CIOs, Original Software found that only 6% were totally happy with their automation. The scary thing is that this is tolerated - It’s the norm!

“Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example.”

John Doe (Kevin Spacey) in Se7en

Undoubtedly Test Automation has failed to achieve for the masses. But why is this the case? In this article I take a light-hearted look at Dante’s Divine Comedy to uncover some home truths about software test automation…

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), wrote three epic poems (known collectively as the Divine Comedy) titled Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In his book Inferno, Dante recounts the visions he has in a dream in which he enters and descends into hell. The sinners that Dante encounters in the Inferno are each punished in accordance with which of the seven deadly sins they were most guilty of while they were alive.

Now, I can’t help but to liken this to our very own industry –

As Dante journeys through the Inferno he encounters sinners condemned to eternal damnation because of their actions or in some cases inaction while on earth.

As I myself journey from prospect to prospect I often encounter the ‘sinners’ of test automation, whose projects are condemned to eternal damnation because of their actions, or, in many cases, the inaction that we un-earth.

One can gain a deeper understanding of Dante’s Inferno by studying the seven deadly sins which brought these souls to this miserable place.

In this article I will explore each of the seven deadly sins as they relate to software test automation, instances we come across time and time again, and traps clients have often fallen into because of their earthly vices.

Welcome to the Seven Deadly Sins of Software Test Automation.

Pride / Vanity – Usually considered the worst of the sins, this is a feeling of superiority and an excessive belief in a person's own abilities; A desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self. This sin often manifests itself in the wanton squandering of money and time on themselves without caring about others.

Picture the scene: The wool has been pulled over the eyes of Brimstone Business Application Co’s CIO. He did a deal with a big IT supplier to have their quality-centred products added to his order. At the time it seemed like a good idea – he saved the company money and had a nice round of golf rolled-in to boot. He’d fallen into the superiority trap of believing that the most expensive or most prevalent solution would always be the best, but now was beginning to realise that this particular technology was not actually compatible with his company’s needs. He’d brought this solution in, so his pride was unable to take failure. Instead he persevered until it was too late and placed unrealistic goals on his QA team, who were then forced

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