From theory to tools: Take you a comprehensive understanding of the automated testing framework

The software industry is moving towards an independent, fast, and efficient future. To keep up with this fast-moving ecosystem, application delivery time must be accelerated, but not at the cost of quality. Rapid achieving quality is necessary, and therefore quality assurance has received much attention. Automation testing will be prioritized for superior quality and faster time-to-market requirements. It is necessary for micro-small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to automate their testing process, and the most critical aspect is choosing the correct automated testing framework.

What is the automated test framework?

The automated testing framework is a scaffold that provides an execution environment for automated test scripts. The framework provides users with various advantages that help them effectively develop, execute, and report automated testing scripts. It is more like a system created specifically to automate organizational testing. In short, we can say that the framework is a constructive mix of guidelines, coding standards, concepts, processes, practices, project levels, modularity, reporting mechanisms, testing data injection, etc., to support automated testing. Therefore, users can follow these guidelines when automating their applications to benefit from the different productive results.

These advantages can be in different forms, such as easy for its script, modularity, flexibility, intelligibility, process definition, reusability, cost, maintenance, etc. Therefore, to gain these benefits, it is recommended for developers to use one or more automated testing frameworks. Furthermore, a unified standard test automation framework is needed when developers work on different modules of the same application. We wish to prevent each developer from implementing its automation approach.

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The type of the automated test framework

Automated testing frameworks on the market may vary by supporting different key factors (e. g. reusability, maintainability, etc.). Such as the following types:

● Module-based Test Framework

● Test Library Architecture Framework

● Data-Driven Test Framework

● Keyword Driven Test Framework

● Hybrid Test Framework

● Behavioral Driven Development Framework

Advantages of the automated testing framework

Besides the minimal manual intervention needed to automate testing, using a test automation framework has many advantages:

●Quicker time to market: Using a good test automation framework can help reduce the time to market for applications by allowing the continued execution of test cases. Once automated, the test library will perform faster and run longer than manual testing.

●Early Defect Detection: Documentation of software defects becomes relatively easy for testing teams. It improves the overall development speed while ensuring the correct functionality across regions. The earlier the problem is discovered, the lower the solution cost and the higher the benefits of using an automated testing framework.

●Improves test efficiency: Tests occupy a significant part of the entire development life cycle. Even the slightest improvement in overall efficiency can significantly impact the entire time frame of the project. Although the initial setup time was longer, automated testing ultimately took much less time. They can run unattended, monitoring the results at the last moments of the process.

●Higher ROI: While initial investments may be higher, automated testing can save organizations over the long term. This is due to the reduced time required to run the test, resulting in a higher quality of work. This, in turn, reduces the probability of failure post-release, thus reducing project costs.

●Higher test coverage: In automated tests, more tests can be performed on applications, bringing higher test coverage. Increasing the test coverage can test for more features and the quality of the applications.

●Reusability of automation testing: In test automation, the reproducibility of test cases can help software developers evaluate the program response, as well as the relatively simple setup configuration. Different methods can use automated test cases because they are reusable.

Top ten automated testing frameworks

1. Robot framework

The Robot framework is the best choice if you want to use the python test automation framework in your test automation work. The Robot Framework is Python-based, but you can also use Jython (Java) or IronPython (. NET). The Robot framework uses a keyword-driven approach to simplify the creation of tests. The Robot framework can also test for MongoDB, FTP, Android, Appium, etc. It has many test libraries, including the Selenium, WebDriver library, and other useful tools. It has a lot of API to help it expand as much as possible. The keyword approach used by the Robot framework is beneficial for testers already familiar with other vendor-based keyword-driven testing tools, making it easier for them to transition to open-source.

2. Network Drive (WebDriverIO)

WebdriverIO is an automated testing framework based on Node.js. It has an integrated test runner that runs automated tests for web and local mobile applications. At the same time, it runs on the WebDriver protocol and the Chrome Devtools protocol, making it practical for either Selenium WebDriver-based cross-browser testing or Chromium-based automation. Since WebDriverIO is owned by open-source, you can get a bunch of plugins to meet your automation needs. The Wdio Installation Wizard makes installation simple and easy.

3. Citrus

Citrus is an open-source framework that you can automate any integration testing in any messaging protocol or data format. For any messaging, such as REST, HTTP, SOAP, or JMS, the Citrus framework will be fit for testing the messaging integration. If you need to interact with the user interface and validate the back-end process, you can integrate the Citrus with the Selenium. For example, if you must click the Send Email button and verify that the back-end email is received, Citrus can receive this email or UI-triggered JMS communication and verify the back-end results, all done in one test.

4. Cypress

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Cypress is a developer-centered test automation framework that makes Test-Driven Development (TDD) a reality for developers. It is designed on the principle of packing and bundling everything, making the entire end-to-end test experience enjoyable and straightforward. Cypress has a different architecture than Selenium; Selenium WebDriver runs remotely outside the browser while Cypress runs inside the browser. This approach helps to understand what happens inside and outside the browser to provide more consistent results. It does not require you to process object serialization or online protocol while providing you with native access to each object. When you pull your application into your browser, Cypress can synchronize, informing you of everything happening inside your browser so that you can have native access to each DOM element. It also makes it easy to place debuggers in an application, making it easier to use developer tools.

5. Selenium

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As one of the most popular open-source test automation frameworks for web applications, selenium can also serve as the basis for many other testing tools due to its cross-platform and cross-browser capabilities. Selenium supports multiple programming languages, such as Java, C #, PHP, Python, Ruby, etc. It is easy to maintain because it has one of the largest online support networks. Selenium can be highly expanded through various libraries and API to meet everyone's needs and demands. Selenium is the first choice for testers because it can write more advanced test scripts for all levels of complexity. It provides a playback tool for test writing without learning a specific scripting language.

6. Cucumber

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It is a cross-platform behavior-driven development (BDD) tool for writing acceptance tests for web applications. Cucumber can set up execution quickly and easily and allows code to be reused in tests. It supports Python, PHP, Perl, NET, Scala, Groovy, and other languages automate function validation in easy-to-read and understand formats. A good feature is that the specification and test documentation are uploaded to the latest document. Cucumber makes it easier for business stakeholders unfamiliar with testing to read the code because they can easily read it because the test reports are written in commercially readable English. The code can be used with other frameworks such as Selenium, Watir, Capybara, etc.

7. Gauge

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It is an open-source tool-independent test automation framework for Mac, Linux, and Windows. People working with TDD and BDD will love Gauge's focus on creating dynamic/executable documents. Specification —— gauge automation tests are written in existing ide (e. g., VisualStudio, and Eclipse) in the price reduction languages of C, Java, and Ruby. The functionality of Gauge can also be extended with support for the plugins. It was developed as a BYOT (with its tools) framework. So you can use Selenium or any other tool to drive test UI or API tests. If you want a readable non-BDD method to automate this, you should try Gauge.

8. Serenity

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If you are looking for a Java-based framework integrated with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) tools like cumber and JBehave, then Serenity may be the right tool for you. It aims to make it easier to write for automated acceptance and regression testing. It also allows you to keep the test scenario at a higher level while accommodating lower-level implementation details in the report.

The Serenity acts as a wrapper for the Selenium WebDriver and BDD tools. It abstracts many of the boilerplate code you sometimes need to write, making it easier to write both BDD and Selenium tests. Serenity also offers many built-in features, such as handling tests running in parallel, WebDriver management, screenshots, status between management steps, facilitating Jira integration, all without writing a line of code.

9. Carina

Carina is built using popular open-source solutions such as Appium, TestNG, and Selenium, which reduces dependence on specific technology stacks. You can test the mobile applications (native, web, hybrid), web applications, REST services, and databases. The Carina framework supports MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL databases, providing a fantastic experience of the MyBatis ORM framework implementing the DAO layer. It supports all popular browsers and mobile devices and reuses the test automation code by up to 80% between the IOS / Android. The API test is based on the Freemarker Template engine, which provides excellent flexibility in generating REST requests. Carina is cross-platform and can efficiently perform tests on a Unix or Windows operating system.

10. ZTF

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Zentao Testing Framework, or ZTF, is an open-source automated test management framework. ZTF focuses more on automated testing than the existing automated testing framework. ZTF defines automated test scripts, management, drive, return of execution results, creation of Bug, and integration of other automated test frameworks. ZTF is developed using the go language and can support various platforms. ZTF supports common programming languages, and you can choose the language you like to use to develop automated test scripts. The ZTF automated test tool developed by Zentao can well drive 8 unit test frameworks to perform the test and pass the final results back to Zentao for a unified report presentation. The Zentao ZTF opens up the gap between project management and continuous integration tools, running through the different stages of the DevOps life cycle, such as continuous integration, continuous testing, and continuous deployment.

Conclusion

Most of the tools listed above are mature and famous. They use AI / ML to provide testing automation capabilities to address the rapid delivery and quality challenges organizations now face. This list also includes tools that provide API and service testing essential for successful DevOps conversion. Emerging technologies such as AI, code-free, big data, and IoT testing are improving the efficiency of testing automation and creating opportunities for existing tools and new players to bring value to the testing community.

The choice of automation tools should meet current needs and focus on potential trends and improvements. Practical test automation tools should support basic optimization, data generation, innovative solutions, and analysis. So far, automation of tests in tissues is low, between 14% and 18%. But organizations are working to increase automation coverage to 80%. API and service testing are also future trends.