Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What are Automation Testing Tools
- Tools used for Automation Testing
- Conclusion
Introduction
Automation testing tools have made a significant contribution towards software testing by effectively testing all complex functionalities of applications thereby delivering high quality products in a short span of time. These tools help to automate repetitive test scenarios, allow early bug detection and reduce the human efforts. With the passage of time the client requirements changes frequently and as a result automation tools becomes necessary to meet the clients changing needs and requirements.
What are Automation Testing Tools
- Automation testing tools are the tools used for automation testing of software applications so that the application works as per the client requirements and expectations.
- These testing tools reduces human efforts by running more test scripts in short period of time and covering more complex functionalities of applications which were not covered in manual testing.
- They improve effectiveness and accuracy of testing and remove all errors.
- Automation testing tools support various browsers,programming languages, operating systems and continuous integration by automating repetitive functionalities thus providing quick feedback for developers and testers.
- Since it reduces the manual testing efforts ,developers and testers can put more efforts on developing new features.
Parameters for choosing Automation Testing tools
Choosing the correct Automation testing tools involves variety of factors such that the tool meets the needs and requirements of the projects. The various parameters on which selection of automation tools depends are as follows.
Project Requirements
Before selecting the Automation tools it is necessary to thoroughly understand the aims and objectives of the project. The Automation tools to be selected should be based on the type of application like web based,mobile based and desktop application to be tested and kind of testing to be performed like Functional,Performance and Web Security Testing. The tool selection should also be based on the type of Operating systems like windows,Linux etc.
Ease to use
The tool should have a proper User Interface such that it will be easier to use and learn for developers and testers thus reducing the learning curve for software development team. Tool selected should be easily understandable by non technical persons.
Support for Programming Languages and Operating System
The tool selected for automation testing should support various programming languages like Java, Python,NodeJs etc. as well as different operating systems like windows,linux macOS etc. This functionality of tool ensure that the application behaves consistently across different browsers and operating systems.
Integration Capabilities
The automation testing tool should be capable to integrate itself with CI/CD pipeline tools like Jenkins and version control tools like Github thus streamlining the workflows. With the help of CI/CD tools it will become easier to run test scripts in the pipeline.
Community Support
The Automation tool selected should have high community support resulting in knowledge sharing and problem solving.The vast Community can also help towards troubleshooting the issues associated with the tool.
Scalability
As the software development team grows and application gets updated frequently,
the tool chosen should meet the testing needs and expectations. The testing tool chosen should contribute towards ensuring software quality and meeting the organization requirements.
Cost
The tool should be chosen on the basis of the total cost of the project which includes initial cost,license and maintenance cost. There are various open source and commercial testing tools each processing its own cost benefit ratio. The cost of the tool chosen should not be beyond the budget of the project team.
Test Reports
The automation tool should generate a detailed and comprehensive test report containing total test scripts execution, number of test cases passed and failed and the time duration of each test execution. Testing tools can either have inbuild report functionality or it can be seamlessly integrated with external tools like TestNG,allure for generating reports.
Longevity
The testing tools selected should be capable of lasting for a longer duration of time so that it can be used for testing software applications with complex functionalities. Longevity ensures that the tool is compatible with updated versions of different browsers and operating systems thus eliminating the need for change of automation tool.
Tools used for Automation Testing
Following are the tools which are used for performing automation testing
Selenium
Selenium is the most widely used freely available open source automation tool used for automation testing. It was created by Jason Huggins in the year 2004. It is a very powerful test automation tool for automating web applications thus making sure that the application is of good quality, fulfill the customers requirements and is ready to be released into market.It enables automation testing of complex functionalities of applications in different browsers and operating systems thus saving the time of developers and testers. Selenium is compatible with various programming languages like Java,Python, C# thus helping developers to write test scripts as per their preferred language.It is also integrated with CI/CD tools like Jenkins and version control tools like Git so that the workflow is streamlined.
Pros:
- Selenium is an open source and freely available automation tool and it does not incur any licensing costs thus making it one of the most preferable tool for startups as well as top MNCs.
- Selenium is compatible with various programming languages like Java,Python,Ruby,JavaScript etc.This allows testers to write test scripts with their preferred programming language as per their project requirements.
- Selenium is used for parallel testing and cross browser compatibility testing in various browsers like Chrome,FireFox,Edge etc.Selenium is also used across different operating systems like windows,macOS, linux etc. for performing cross platform testing. SeleniumGrid facilitates parallel browser,cross browser and cross platform automation thereby speeding up the test execution.
- Since Selenium is an open source tool, it has vast community support that continuously work for its development and provide help in troubleshooting.
- Selenium is integrated with various CI/CD tools like Jenkins,Bamboo etc. thus helping testers to automate test scripts as part of build pipeline.
- Selenium is integrated with frameworks like TestNG,Junit etc. for running multiple test scripts simultaneously as well as for generating test reports.
Cons:
- Selenium is used only of automation testing of web applications and it cannot be used for automation testing of mobile applications and desktop applications.
- Selenium is difficult for non technical persons due to its variety of functionalities and complex configurations.Handling Selenium requires a thorough understanding of programming languages like Java,Python Ruby etc.
- While performing cross browser and parallel browser automation,it is difficult for web applications to achieve constant behaviour across different browsers.
- Selenium is not applicable for performing visual testing and screenshot comparison.
- Selenium does not have an inbuild report generation functionality as a result it depends on external tools like TestNG,Junit for report generation.
Playwright
Playwright is an automated testing tool used for automation testing of web applications,mobile applications and desktop applications.Ever since its creation by Microsoft in the year 2020 it emerged as the most rapidly growing and powerful test automation tools for browser automation and web scrapping thus making it popular among developers and testers. It provides various functionalities for performing parallel and cross browser automation across browsers like Chrominium, WebKit etc. thus making it a viable choice for testing across different browsers and operating systems. It is also compatible with programming languages like Java,Python, JavaScript thus providing a choice to developers and testers for writing automation test scripts in their preferred language.
Pros:
- Playwright is useful for performing parallel and cross browser automation across multiple browsers like Webkit,Chrome,FireFox etc.
- Playwright allows automation testing in headless mode for faster execution of test scripts. It can also be integrated with CI/CD tools like Jenkins,Github thus making it easier for automating test scripts and integrating them into the pipeline.
- Playwright is useful for faster test execution thus making it suitable to be used in larger test suites execution.
- Playwright has an in build automatic wait functionality that allows the web elements to wait for a particular interval of time before user performs actions.
- Playwright is useful for end to end system testing of web applications thus ensuring that all the functionalities work as per requirements.
- Playwright is compatible with various programming languages like Java,Javascript,python etc thus providing a choice to testers for executing test scripts in their preferred language according to their project requirements.
Cons:
- Since Playwright is a relatively new tool, it lacks some of the functionalities and larger community support.
- Playwright cannot be used by non technical persons as well as by those people who do not have strong programming knowledge.
- Athough Playwright supports Parallel and Cross Browser Automation in various browsers like Chrome,Edge, WebKit etc. it is not compatible with the older versions of those browsers.
- Playwright may not integrate smoothly with CI/CD tools like Jenkins,GitHub etc.
- Playwright does not have an inbuild report generation feature. As a result it depends on tools like Allure report for generating reports.
3.Appium
It is the most widely used test automation tool for automation testing of mobile applications. It helps developers and testers for test automation of various android and IOS based mobile applications thus ensuring the software meets the quality and standards before getting delivered to market thus ensuring productivity of organizations. It covers numerous devices thus allowing testers to effectively test the application functionalities in different mobile configurations, screen sizes and versions of operating systems. It is integrated with programming languages like java,python javascript thus allowing testers to write automated tests in their preferred language.
Pros:
- Using Appium testers can perform automating testing of android applications,IOS applications and web applications.
- Appium supports various programming languages like Java,Python,JavaScript etc. This gives testers the flexibility to execute automation test scripts in programming languages of their choice as per their project requirements.
- Appium is an open source and free mobile automation testing tool with vast community support.
- Appium allows automation testing of applications without the need of source code. This helps in testing third party applications that do not have access to codebase.
- Appium can be properly integrated with CI/CD tools like Jenkins,Bamboo,TeamCity etc. thus allowing testers to perform automated testing within the CI/CD pipeline.
- Appium is compatible with various automation frameworks like TestNG,Junit,Nunit etc, thus making it easier to integrate with existing test suites.
Cons:
- For Automation testing of complex test scenarios Appium is relatively slow as compared to other testing tools.
- Setting up Appium involves adding dependencies,appium server and drivers separately for android and IOS applications which is a lengthy and complex process mainly during troubleshooting dependencies.
- Maintaining appium test scripts is difficult.Since appium depends on locators like ID,Xpath the continuous change in UI breaks the test scripts resulting in increase in efforts for maintaining appium scripts.
- Appium does not have an inbuild test report tool. As a result it is integrated with external tools like TestNG,Junit for generating test reports.
- Using appium it is difficult to handle dynamic content like popups,ads.
Cypress
Cypress is a test automation tool for complete end to end testing of web applications. It is designed using JavaScript and it enables faster test execution on inbuilt features thereby ensuring seamless user interaction with different web applications. It’s user interface is simple thus making it easier for developers and testers to write and maintain test scripts effectively. It allows automatic wait for web applications thus reducing flakiness. Developers easily receive the feedback during test execution thus ensuring faster software development process.
Pros:
- Cypress is an automation testing tool which uses Javascript thus making it easier for Java script developers to get started with automation testing.
- When a test script is modified, Cypress reloads the test automatically and provides immediate feedback on the modifications.This speeds up the software development process thus making software testing more efficient.
- Cypress directly interacts with the browser without the use of webdriver component thus resulting in faster test execution.
- Cypress has an automatic wait feature that automatically waits for the elements to get displayed properly before user interaction thus diminishing the need to use manual wait and sleep commands.
- Cypress easily integrates with CI/CD tools like Jenkins,GitHubActions,CircleCI etc.
- Cypress is compatible with browsers like Chrome,FireFox and Edge thus making it suitable for cross browser automation.
Cons:
- Though Cypress supports Chrome,FireFox and Edge for Cross browser automation testing,it has limited support for other browsers like Safari,Internet Explorer for performing cross browser testing.
- Cypress is not suitable for testing multiple windows and browser tabs and such interactions are needed while automating web applications and websites.
- Cypress is compatible with only Javascript for running automation test scripts and it does not support other programming languages like Java,Python etc.
- Cypress does not have an in build reporting feature and it depends on third party tool for generating reports.
- Though Cypress is a developer friendly tool for JavaScript developers,non JavaScript developers will find it difficult to use this tool thus providing them steep learning curve.
5.Protractor
Protractor is a test automation tool for performing end to end automation testing of web applications that are Angular based. It is built Jasmine and WebDriverJS which help testers to automate user interaction with Angular Based web applications. It uses Jasmine tool for writing test automation scripts and WebDriverJS for browser simulation.
Pros:
- Protractor is used for effective automation testing of angular based applications.It provides in build support for angular specific components like two way data binding,dependency injection.
- Using Protractor testers can run test scripts across multiple browsers like Chrome,FireFox,Internet Explorer thus ensuring the application works in same way in different browsers.
- Protractor uses WebDriver component for cross browser automation across multiple browsers.
- Protractor can be seamlessly integrated with various test frameworks like Mocha,Cucumber,Jasmine thus providing testers and developers a choice in selecting their preferred testing style and structure.
- Protractor provides an inbuild reporting feature for generating real time detailed reports. It is also integrated with Allure for generating real test results.
- Protractor can be seamlessly integrated with CI/CD tools like Jenkins for running test scripts in pipeline.
Cons:
- Although Protractor is designed for automation testing of Angular based web applications,it does not provide equal support for non angular based web applications.
- Protractor is not efficient compared to other automation testing tools for parallel test execution.
- Developing Protractor setup is more complex and time consuming compared to other automation testing tools.
- Test execution is slower compared to other tools like Cypress,Playwright since it depends on WebDriver component for browser automation. This results in longer duration of test execution especially for longer test suites and applications with complex User Interface.
- Although Protractor is compatible with Chrome,FireFox and Safari for parallel testing and cross browser testing,it may face compatibility issues with newer versions of browsers.
Conclusion
Automation testing tools have been playing a significant role in seamless automation testing of software applications. They reduce time and energy of developers and testers compared to manual testing by testing more complex functionalities of software applications thus ensuring a good quality of application is delivered to clients. Every automation tool have its own strength and weaknesses and is selected based on different parameters like project requirements, budget ,testing types etc. A proper evaluation of tools helps testers to select the best tool for effective testing.