Choosing the right automation testing tool is important to each project. It not only helps us to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and adaptability of the testing process but also costs savings. In my more than 10 years of experience in automation testing, I’ve suggested various kinds of automation for my clients. Depending on the technologies and budget of the project, we suggest the appropriate toolsets. Let’s explore the key criteria to consider when selecting the automation testing tool for your projects.
1. Platform and Application Support
Different automation testing tools have varying capabilities in terms of platform and application support. For instance, Selenium is primarily used for web application automation, whereas Test Complete can automate web, mobile, and desktop applications. We need to investigate the platforms and application types required for your automation testing. Here are some examples of platform and application types to consider:
- Web applications
- Mobile applications (Android, iOS)
- Desktop applications (Windows, Mac)
- Hybrid applications
- Web services/APIs
By understanding your project’s platform and application requirements, you can make an informed decision when selecting the appropriate automation testing tool.
2. Programming Language Compatibility
The tool’s language compatibility is aligned with the strengths and expertise of the team will increase productivity.
If your team is proficient in Java, it would be advisable to avoid tools that primarily utilize C#. Alternatively, opting for a tool like Selenium, which supports multiple programming languages, can provide flexibility and accommodate the preferred language of your team.
3. Usability
Installation and configuration: the tools which are easy to set up and configure will help us to save our efforts. It is necessary to check the steps involved in setting up the tool and how to run tests across different browsers or in parallel.
Require programming skills: Codeless is the trend nowadays. Many automation tools support us to generate the automation script without requiring programming skills quickly.
Test report & debug: The clear test report will let us know the status of product quality, how easy to investigate the issue if any.
Extensibility: The scripts can run in multi browsers/platforms is necessary.
Besides, the tool provides customization and support to integrate with other tools should be considered.
Documentation and Community Support: Troubleshooting problems and finding solutions will be easy with the tool providing a well-guideline and having an active user community.
4. Script maintainability
Ensuring script maintainability is essential in automation testing. We need to choose the tools that offer a well-structured project framework and facilitate code reuse across multiple test cases.
In certain projects, non-technical team members such as Business Analysts (BAs) or Product Owners (POs) may also require an understanding of and involvement in the automation test scripts. In such cases, prioritizing tools that promote highly readable test scripts becomes important.
5. Automation Testing Framework Support
There are several popular kinds of automation testing framework like Linear, Data Driven, Keyword Driven, Hybrid and BDD. Based on the requirement of the project, we can check which kind of framework we should apply and choose the tool supports this.
6. Test runner
The test runner of the automation tool is very important. A good test runner is able to support us to do the following activities:
- Filter test cases for running.
- Run test in parallel.
- Implement test hook function.
- Integrate with CI/CD tools.
- Re-run the failed test case.
7. Cost
The budget for the project is quite important. The enterprise tools are easy to use but the open-source tools are free. The cost we mention here is not only related to the license price but also the effort for learning and using the tool. We need to consider this carefully when making the decision for the automation tool.
If you’re looking for automation tools for your project, you can compile a table encompassing the criteria above and assign weights to the criteria based on your project, budget, skillsets, or available resources.
Once you evaluate each tool and allocate points to the table for each criterion, you can obtain a total score for each tool. This streamlined approach facilitates the decision-making process.
Based on the above criteria, Selenium will still be the open-source tool that is used most within the next 5 years. However, the codeless solution is trendy now, and enterprise tools like Mabl, Katalon, Testim will be chosen.
8. Conclusion
In summary, choosing the right automation test tools can be a challenge. We need to spend the effort to make the decision carefully about the automation test tools for our project. It is one of the most important things leading to the success of our projects.
