Test automation has been an acknowledged software engineering best practice for years. However, the topic involves more than the repeated execution of test cases that often comes first to mind. Simply running test cases using a unit testing framework is no longer enough for test automation to keep up with the ever-shorter release cycles driven by continuous deployment and technological innovations such as microservices and DevOps pipelines. Now test automation needs to rise to the next level by going beyond mere test execution. The NEXTA workshop will explore how to advance test automation to further contribute to software quality in the context of tomorrow's rapid release cycles. Take-aways for industry practitioners and academic researchers will encompass test case generation, automated test result analysis, test suite assessment and maintenance, and infrastructure for the future of test automation.
The NEXTA workshop will be organised in a fully virtual setting. Nevertheless, we want to stay as close as possible to the spirit of the workshop (i.e. encourage discussions, active on social media). But what implications does this have for you?
(1) Live but virtual.
We ask authors to give a real
virtual presentation, instead of playing a pre-recorded
video. However, if you feel uncomfortable about giving a
virtual presentation, contact the organizers and we will
gladly accommodate.
(2) Full time slots.
We will keep the time-slots as
originally planned. (Full presentation = 20 minute + 10
minutes questions; Short presentation = 15 minutes + 5
minutes questions). The keynote will be dropped however. We
are fine-tuning the time-schedule right now and get back to
you shortly.
(3) Date and Time zone.
The workshop itself will be
held on Saturday, October 24th. We will stay in the
time-zone of the conference which is (GMT+01:00) Greenwich Mean Time : Lisbon.
This implies that for most of us, the actual times will differ by
1 hour. (Note that Europe switches to daylight savings time
on Sunday, so watch your respective clocks)
(4) Platform.
The platform for the virtual event will most likely be zoom.
Precise details will be supplied a few days before the
event.
(5) Active Q&A.
Despite the virtual nature we will do our best to emulate
the spirit of a live workshop. Each presenter will be asked
to serve as a discussant for another paper in the same
session. A discussant will read the paper beforehand and
prepare a series of questions to initiate the discussion. If
you are uncomfortable about serving as a discussant, contact
the organisers.
(6) Awards.
NEXTA has a tradition of handing out awards to encourage
interaction.
- Most Viral Tweet Award [#nexta2020]
Was awarded to Maaret Pyhäjärvi.
- Best Questions Award
Was awarded to (yes a double award) Maaret Pyhäjärvi.
- Best Presentation Award
Was awarded to Felix Dobslaw.
Participants will be asked to participate in voting for
these awards.
All times in (GMT+01:00) Greenwich Mean Time : Lisbon
Registration for the workshop should be done via ICST2020. Please refer to the following link: https://icst2020.info/
Due to the Corona pandemic, NEXTA 2020 will be organised as a fully virtual event.
NEXTA solicits contributions targeting all aspects of test automation, from initial test design to automated verdict analysis. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
NEXTA accepts the following types of original papers:
University of Antwerp, Belgium
General Chair
Mälardalen University (MDH), Sweden
Program Co-Chair
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sweden
Program Co-Chair
Ericsson AB, Sweden
Program Co-Chair
Program Committee (tentative)