As more complex features are introduced in applications nowadays, testing is becoming more and more a critical part of the software development process. However, without a sound testing strategy, it can also become a major process bottleneck.
Test automation tools make it easier and faster to implement a truly robust test-driven development practice. By using one or more of the following automation tools, development and testing teams can observe a marked improvement in productivity and software quality.
Perfecto
Perfecto is a cloud-based platform that allows you to test both web and mobile applications. It is a testing platform of choice for some of the world’s largest brands and fortune 500 companies. Rightfully so, it provides great tools that make testing robust and easy.
Some of Perfector’s Key Features are the Following
- Perform tests anywhere in the world – your environment is based on the cloud.
- It allows for an unlimited scale for your tests.
- It allows for automating tests for device features such as camera and biometric access.
- It fully integrates with your current CI/CD tools as well as other test frameworks.
Robot Framework
Robot Framework is a keyword-driven acceptance testing framework. Aside from test automation, it can also be used for behavior-driven development testing. It is very much integrated with other automation tools.
Robot Framework is a community-driven project and has vast tools and libraries available to users.
Some of Robot Framework’s Key Features are:
- It has a tabular syntax which allows for tests to be written using keywords. This makes it easy to use especially for new developers.
- Its modular architecture makes it simple to extend with custom and third-party libraries.
- It allows for test tagging – it then allows you to run tests using these same tags.
Selenium
Selenium isn’t much of a single platform or tool but a suite of tools for automated testing. It’s probably the first in mind when the term automation testing is mentioned.
It is most known for web browser testing that uses a record-playback mechanism to create tests. This then allows for one to create and run tests without writing a single line of code.
Some of Selenium’s key Features Are:
- It supports major operating systems, programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, Ruby), and browsers.
- It supports parallel testing making tests faster.
- It is very lightweight as it uses fewer resources than other automation tools
Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is very easy to set up and uses a test automation tool. It has both an auto and manual playback mode of writing tests which makes it easy to use even for non-coders. Recently, Katalon Studio 7 has been released (KS7) which introduced enhancements and new features.
Some of Katalon Studio’s Features (includes also KS7 Features):
- It easily integrates with tools such as Git, Jira, and Jenkins.
- Its Smart Wait Function (in KS7) doesn’t start executing tests until the web page fully loads – this eliminates the flakiness experienced by using Selenium.
- It can now perform desktop application testing (KS7).
Its test artifacts sharing allows for importing information such as test cases, test profiles, etc from one project to another.
Ranorex Studio
Ranorex Studio is a test automation tool used for testing desktop, web, and mobile apps. It dubs itself an all-in-one test automation solution as you can perform all sorts of tests with it (end-to-end, regression, unit).
It is easy for beginners to use as it has a codeless mode for non-coders to work in.
Some of Ranorex Studio’s key Features are:
- It has a powerful object recognition tool in Ranorex Spy which easily detects and tracks UI elements.
- Its capture and replay functionality allow for non-coders to easily and quickly build test cases.
- For experienced coders, its highly robust IDE allows for code extension using its Automation Helpers.
WireMock
Frontend developers may need to test how their apps send and receive responses from APIs. Without having the need to create the API itself one can use WireMock. It is a tool that simulates web servers and HTTP based API’s.
Some of WireMock’s Key Features are as follows:
- For Java developers, you can run WireMock straight from your Java app, JUnit test, or even in standalone mode.
- Existing API traffic can be quickly captured through its record and playback feature.
- It has what it calls Powerful Request Matching which matches requests with whatever you set in your application.
Serenity BDD
Previously known as Thucydides, Serenity BDD is an acceptance testing automation tool. As its site states it helps you write tests in style by helping testers create cleaner and more maintainable test scripts.
You start with creating your user stories with acceptance criteria that Serenity BDD uses to automate test executions.
Some of Serenity BDD’s key features are:
- You can produce visual test reports.
- Visualize your application’s test coverage.
- You can map your tests against requirements.
Most of the tools above are open source. This means making your software development process highly reliable with robust testing involved doesn’t incur additional costs.
In addition, most of these tools don’t even require highly skilled coders. Thus junior developers and even non-coding members of the team can contribute to writing test cases.