When it comes to software testing, automation stands out as the best possible method to achieve it. The automated testing process is not a new norm; it is being utilized for the past few years in the software testing field to deliver quality products.
In today’s agile development processes, every software development process requires automation testing at some point to fasten their delivery. It becomes easier to execute the automation tests with an efficient automation tool and check your product’s efficiency. An automation tool not only helps testers but developers as well to focus on their respective tasks.
However, the most challenging task for businesses in automation testing is selecting the right automation tool for their task. Most developers couldn’t even decide which tool is ideal for all their testing tasks.
In this article, we will cover five simple steps that can help you select the right test automation tool for your project. But before that, let’s understand the importance of choosing the right automation testing tool.
Importance of Selecting the Right Automation Testing Tool
The success of any automated testing module hugely depends on the tool you choose to execute the tests. Thus, selecting the right automation tool for your project is of higher importance for any tester.
Suppose you plan to develop a web application for an e-commerce store. In the beginning stages, you don’t even need to use automation testing, as every process can be carried out manually. But, once the e-store starts getting recognition from a wider audience, you might need to move to automation testing. For example, if we consider cross browser testing of your e-store, you need to ensure every user gets the same experience from all browsers, which is only feasible via an automated cross browser testing tool.
Besides, if we talk about the standard software testing processes like regression testing, unit testing, functional testing, or integration testing, you also need to consider automation testing. Today, the market is brimming with numerous automation testing tools, but not every tool is developed to meet your requirements. Thus, you need to examine your requirements closely to finalize your decision on the automation testing tool.
Evaluation Criteria for Automation Testing Tool
Before selecting any automation testing tool, there are a few factors that every tester needs to consider to make the selection easier. So, ask yourself these questions before purchasing or subscribing to an automation tool.
- Is there really a need for automation testing in your software project?
- Do you have the necessary skills to use an automation tool?
- What is your maximum budget to purchase the automation tool?
- Is the tool ideal for your project environment and the technology that you use?
- Does it offer easy integration with the management tools?
- Does the tool offer a free trial version to analyze its functionality or features?
- Do you want the automation tool for a specific project or all the upcoming projects in your company?
These are the most common and essential questions that you must ask yourself before purchasing an automation testing tool.
Steps to Select the Best Automation Testing Tool
Whether it’s about developing a website or selecting an automation testing tool, there is always a simple yet effective approach to follow.
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Identify your Project Requirements Thoroughly
The first thing you need to consider before purchasing an automation tool is to determine your project requirements. Having a clear understanding of the project requirements will help you analyze which tool is the best fit for it. To understand the project requirements, consider the following points:
- What type of project you want to test – a web app, mobile application, desktop application, or any other project?
- Whether the project requires manual testing or automated testing?
- What is the future of the project after its release?
- Is your team capable of using the technology to execute the automated test cases?
- How much are you investing in your project?
Generally, automation testing is required when you need to repeatedly execute a large number of test cases and ensure that the essential features of the application are functioning correctly. At present, there is not any testing tool that is completely good or bad; each automation tool has its own benefits.
However, if you’re looking for a tool that provides good ROI, then it entirely depends on your project requirements. In most cases, both manual and automated testing techniques are used in the applications. Thus, it would help if you look for a tool that easily integrates with your project planning and test management tools.
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Determine the Critical Criteria Suitable for your Project
Whatever automation testing tool you choose, it must fulfill your project’s specific criteria. Here are few critical criteria that can be utilized to find the best automation tool for you.
- Creating and maintaining test scripts should be effortless and straightforward to reduce human efforts and resources.
- The tool must support all three essential platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile. Choosing different tools for different platforms is not a wise choice.
- Executing the test suites must be easy for any team member involved in the testing project. Moreover, manual testers should be comfortable in performing the test cases with the tool.
- The test reports generated by the tool should be intuitive and simple so that team members can understand them easily.
- The tool should support keyword-driven and data-driven testing frameworks.
- Support for multiple programming languages like C#, Java, Python, Ruby, etc., to write customized test scripts.
- Ideal for multiple browsers across different platforms so that it becomes easy to execute cross browser testing.
- Easy integration with multiple continuous integration tools to build automated reports and tests
- Continuous assistance and support from technical experts to handle critical problems faced by you while using the tool.
Keep these factors in mind while choosing an automation testing tool for your project.
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Common Functionalities for Testing
Although automated testing tools have their own features and functionalities, there are some standard features that must be included with every tool. A few of the technical aspects that you should consider for selecting the automation tool are:
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Record & Playback Feature
The record & playback feature is one of the necessary facilities that every testing team needs during software testing. It is not mandatory to use this functionality, but it’s good to have it, as it simplifies the tool’s learning process.
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Screenshot Testing
Screenshot testing is another essential feature that allows testers to take continuous screenshots of their testing process and find bugs. With screenshot extension, it even becomes more comfortable to test the web pages on the browser itself.
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Multiple Object Orientation and Object Mapping Support
When testing an application manually, it is often difficult to recognize some objects as there are not multiple selection methods. Having various selection methods can help you in numerous ways. If we talk about Selenium, it offers various methods to select objects, such as ID, Name, Link Test, Class, XPath, CSS Selector, and JavaScript.
Likewise, having an option to map multiple objects in the object repository is also valuable for testers.
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Integration with Selenium
Well, Selenium cannot fulfill all your testing requirements; it can help you improve your entire process if integrated with any other automation tool. So, check whether the automation tool supports integration with Selenium or not?
Having these features in an automation tool makes it an ideal choice for every software project.
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Your Budget and Tool’s Actual Price
After comparing multiple tools based on the above criteria, it’s time to check your pockets. Automation tools are costly, and we cannot deny this fact, but some tools are often cheaper than others. Thus, you need to consider your budget before making a purchasing decision.
Budget is the most significant concern for testers when it comes to purchasing an automation testing tool. If the tool price is too high, you should avoid buying it and look for another option.
Another thing to note here is the actual price of the tool. It is often seen that most tools only display the license price and don’t include the add-ons, continuous support charges, upgrading fee, and training fee. Also, the types of licenses vary from tool to tool. For example, some vendors only offer a single license for automation tools on a monthly or yearly basis, whereas others provide multiple licenses.
Make sure you check the actual price of the automation tool before purchasing it. Else, you’ll end up paying a higher amount for the additional features or support, which might affect your overall budget.
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Use the Trial Version of the Automation Tool
The last thing you would want is to pay a higher amount and find that the tool doesn’t offer what it says. There are multiple testing tools for multiple requirements. But it would help if you verify which tool provides the best functionality and value as per your needs. And the best way to do this is to use the trial version of the tool.
Before downloading and using the trial version, keep your test scripts ready and look for the following things:
- Understand how different testing tools execute the test cases
- Time to set up the tool infrastructure and environment
- Integration with the bug tracking tools and test management tools
- Analytics features with robust reporting
- Support for leading browsers, operating systems, and platforms
- Time taken to perform the test cases
- Parallel testing of web, mobile, or desktop applications
- Support for multiple programming languages
- Testing solutions offered by the tool
Moreover, you should also check for the support provided by the vendor for the trial version of the tool. These points will help you understand the automation tool’s capability.
Following these steps, you’ll be able to find the best automation testing tool for your projects. But, make sure your team members are qualified or have proper training in using that tool. Some vendors don’t provide appropriate training for using the tool, whereas some even offer special certifications. For instance, LambdaTest provides lambdatest certifications for individuals to train them in automation testing.
Best Automation Testing Tools
Although you’re going to do your own research to find the best automation testing tool for your project, we have gathered some of the industry’s best automation frameworks.
- LambdaTest – It is a cloud-based automation testing platform integrated with Selenium grid to provide real-time, screenshot, visual, and cross browser testing. It even offers lambdatest certifications for individuals to help them learn and understand the automation testing scenarios.
- Katalon Studio – It is a codeless automation testing tool that is ideal for API, mobile, and web app testing. It is fully compatible with all operating systems and browsers to offer scalable testing processes.
- Test Complete – This is another efficient automation testing tool that supports parallel testing, visual testing, real-time testing, and cross browser testing of applications on multiple platforms. It is equipped with multiple features like record and playback, screenshot testing, etc.
- Ranorex Studio – It is widely used by SMEs or individuals who build web, mobile, or desktop applications on Ruby, JavaScript, or Python languages. It also supports more than 1000 browsers, operating systems, and devices for cross browser testing of web applications.
- TestingWhiz – This is another codeless automation testing tool similar to Katalon Studio in many aspects. But it is cheaper than that as it lacks some of the advanced features required for automation testing.
Closure
After reading the above points, you might understand how hard it is to select an automation testing tool. But facts are facts; you cannot avoid them. No tool is a bad tool or a good tool; they all have their specialties depending upon your requirements. But every automation tool must meet the basic criteria for testing. In this article, we have covered almost every essential point and step that you should take to select the best automation testing tool for your project.
