AUTOMATION BEFORE AUTOMATION (ABA): An Intermediate Phase in Modern Software Testing

Automation Before Automation (ABA) is introduced as a distinct intermediate phase in modern software testing, positioned between manual exploration and traditional regression automation. This whitepaper defines ABA as the automated generation and execution of exploratory, validation, robustness, and protocol‑level tests performed before long‑term automated test suites are created. It explains why ABA is increasingly relevant in teams using fuzzing, mutation tools, schema‑driven generators, and AI‑assisted testing, outlines its key characteristics, differentiates it from conventional automation, and presents a real‑world case study demonstrating its practical value for rapid defect discovery.