Right test Automation Tools – Automation Testing is becoming increasingly essential for accelerating release cycles and enhancing software quality. While it can save significant time and effort, the success of automation largely depends on choosing the right tool for the job. Rather than opting for the most popular option, it’s crucial to select a tool that aligns with your specific project needs.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the key factors to consider for choosing the Right Test Automation Tools.
Start by asking: What does my project really need?
1. Understand Your Project Requirements
Before anything, get a clear picture of what your project needs in terms of testing.
Application Type: Are you testing a web, mobile, or desktop app? Some tools focus on one, while others handle multiple platforms.
For example:
Web apps may also need cross-browser testing or UI/Usability checks.
Mobile apps might require testing across Android, iOS, and tablets; therefore, Will you use real devices or emulators?
Type & Level of Testing: What kind of testing does your project demand — whether it’s functional, non-functional, regression, or integration?
Functional Testing: Make sure the tool supports the platforms and technologies your app uses (e.g., APIs, databases).
Non-Functional Testing: You’ll also want a tool that can handle Performance testing , Load testing and Security testing.
Regression Testing: Consider a tool that simplifies updating test scripts as the application evolves.
Technology Stack: The tool should therefore work well with the technology your application is built on.
Example:
Furthermore, ensure it supports programming languages your team knows (Java, Python, C#) and integrates smoothly with your CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab).
If your app uses Angular, Protractor might be a good fit.
2. Mind Your Budget
Automation tools come with various costs, and it’s important to budget wisely.
Learning Time: If the tool is easy to learn, your team can become productive faster, saving both time and money.
Efficiency: Tools that make it quick and simple to create and maintain test cases will save resources in the long run.
Human Resources: Therefore, Consider using AI-based or low-code/no-code tools that reduce the need for manual intervention and specialized skills, which can lower costs.
Maintenance Costs: Furthermore, don’t forget the long-term factor in costs for upgrades, support, and maintenance throughout the project.
Open-Source vs Paid: Open-source tools can help reduce costs upfront, while paid tools often offer advanced features, support, and flexible pricing. Some offer free trials or team subscriptions to give you a chance to evaluate before committing.
3. Consider Your Team’s Skill Set
The tool you choose should match your team’s skill set.
Beginner Team: If your team is new to automation, opt for low-code or codeless tools that are user-friendly and quick to adopt.
Advanced Team: If your team is well experienced, go for a tool with more customization options to take full advantage of their expertise.
The ease of adoption directly impacts your team’s productivity and the overall success of your automation efforts.
4. Scalability and Maintenance
Automation isn’t a one-time activity. Over time, your test cases will need updates.
Test Case Maintenance: As your app evolves, old test cases may no longer find bugs (“pesticide paradox”). Look for tools that make it easy to update and maintain test scripts.
Self-Healing Abilities: Some tools can automatically adapt to minor changes in your application, reducing the need for constant script updates.
Customization: Choose tools that allow users to customize their tests based on their skills and project needs, so both beginners and experts can work effectively.
5. Integration with Test Case Management, Defect Management and Version Control Systems
The right tool should integrate smoothly with your Test Case Management, defect management and version control systems.
Test Case Management: Ensure the tools support the integration with Test Case management tools to make sure the tests are marked as automated, generate test execution reports etc.
Defect Reporting: Ensure the tool can easily track and report bugs.
Version Control: Some tools let you track changes over time, so you can compare previous and current versions. This can be crucial for debugging and maintaining test integrity.
6. Collaboration and Communication
Collaboration between teams is key for successful automation. Look for tools with features that improve teamwork.
Automated Notifications: Some tools offer features that notify team members of updates or executions in real time, keeping everyone on same page.
Cross-Department Collaboration: Tools with shared dashboards or collaborative features can improve team coordination.
7. Robust Reporting Mechanism
Detailed reports are a must! You’ll want to quickly identify problem areas and track progress.
Step-by-Step Logs: Look for tools that provide step-by-step logs, screenshots, video recordings, and error logs.
Graphical visualizations: Visual reports provide an instant overview of testing results, helping you identify issues faster.
8. AI Integration
AI-driven tools can significantly enhance automation by.
Auto-generating code: Reducing the time needed for script creation.
Improving test coverage: By generating various combinations of test data and scenarios.
Self-healing: Automatically adjust test scripts when application elements change, reducing maintenance efforts.
Conclusion
Selecting the right automation tool is more than just picking the most popular option. By understanding your project requirements, budget, team skills, and long-term scalability needs, you can make an informed choice. The right tool will not only fit your technical needs but also help your team work more efficiently and deliver higher-quality products faster.
Manisha is a Lead SDET at SpurQLabs with overall experience of 3.5 years in UI Test Automation, Mobile test Automation, Manual testing, database testing, API testing and CI/CD. Proven expertise in creating and maintaining test automation frameworks for Mobile, Web and Rest API in Java, C#, Python and JavaScript.
After spending years in the software testing field, many SDETs/Test Engineers showcase strong technical abilities and hard work. However, despite their skill and effort, some may find themselves feeling undervalued, lacking the recognition and success they had hoped for, highlighting the importance of software testing skills.
Conversely, there are also SDETs/Test Engineers who possess solid technical knowledge and have rapidly gained recognition for their contributions, resulting in significant career advancement. What do you believe sets them apart? Could it be luck, connections, a positive reputation with seniors, or another factor?
Indeed, a crucial distinction lies between the two categories. Individuals in the first group solely emphasize technical skills and hard work, while those in the second group strike a balance between technical expertise and soft skills, allowing them to work smartly.
But what exactly are these soft skills, and why are they pivotal for career growth?
Absolutely, Technical skills are undoubtedly paramount as they form the solid foundation upon which one’s expertise is built. Without acquiring strong technical skills, initiating or sustaining a career in the long run can prove to be quite challenging.
However, it’s essential to recognize that these technical skills must be complemented by Soft skills to maximize outcomes and achieve goals within optimized timelines. Just like hand in hand, the synergy between Technical and Soft skills fosters excellence in work and facilitates goal attainment.
By now, it’s evident that Soft Skills hold immense significance not only in the software testing field but also across various other domains. Despite their importance, these skills are often overlooked amidst work pressure, tight deadlines, and a focus on problem-solving or achieving test results.
Let’s delve into some of the most common Soft skills, well-known to everyone, yet frequently neglected in practice.
Essential Skills in the Software Testing Field
Here are the most common soft skills for software testing professionals:
Let’s dive deeper into each of these skills to understand their significance and how they contribute to success in the software testing field.
1. Attention to detail :
It is a foundational skill in software testing that contributes to the accuracy, reliability, and overall quality of software products. Testers who possess this skill play a crucial role in ensuring that software meets quality standards, satisfies user requirements, and delivers a positive user experience.
Benefits :
Effective Bug Identification: Testers who pay close attention can find even small issues in the software, helping developers fix them faster.
Ensuring Quality: Attention to detail ensures that all parts of the software meet the required standards by carefully reviewing documents and test cases.
Improving User Experience: Testers focus on making sure the software is easy to use and error-free, which makes users happier and more likely to keep using the product.
Identifying Risks Early: By carefully examining requirements and designs, testers can catch potential problems before they become serious issues, saving time and money.
Building Trust: Thorough testing builds trust in the software among clients and users, showing that it’s reliable and high-quality.
Encouraging Improvement: Testers who pay attention to detail help their teams get better over time by learning from mistakes and finding ways to improve their processes.
2. Proactive communication:
In software testing proactive communication involves initiating and maintaining effective communication within the team and with Developers, Clients, and Stakeholders, throughout the testing process.
Benefits :
Improved Team Collaboration: Proactive communication fosters better collaboration among team members, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding project goals, tasks, and timelines.
Early Issue Identification: By sharing updates and insights regularly, team members can quickly identify potential issues or roadblocks in the testing process, allowing for timely resolution.
Enhanced Problem-Solving: Proactive communication encourages team members to openly discuss challenges and brainstorm solutions, leading to more effective problem-solving and faster resolution of issues.
Increased Efficiency: Clear and proactive communication helps streamline workflows and eliminate misunderstandings, reducing the likelihood of rework or delays in the testing process.
Effective Task Coordination: By communicating task assignments, dependencies, and priorities proactively, team members can coordinate their efforts more efficiently, ensuring that testing activities progress smoothly.
Boosted Morale: Open and transparent communication creates a positive work environment where team members feel valued and supported, leading to higher morale and job satisfaction.
Continuous Improvement: Proactive communication encourages feedback and discussion about testing processes and practices, enabling the team to identify areas for improvement and implement changes to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
3. Good data organizing and presentation skills :
It involves the ability to effectively structure, format, and present data in a clear, concise, and meaningful manner.
Benefits :
Clarity in Reporting: Testers often need to compile and present data regarding test results, defects, and overall testing progress. Strong data organizing skills ensure that information is presented clearly and concisely, making it easier for clients/stakeholders to understand and interpret.
Effective Communication: Well-organized data facilitates effective communication with developers, project managers, and other stakeholders. Testers can convey testing findings and insights more effectively, leading to quicker decision-making and problem-resolution.
Identifying Patterns and Trends: By organizing data systematically, testers can identify patterns, trends, and correlations in software behavior or defect occurrences. This enables them to make more informed decisions about where to focus testing efforts and how to prioritize issues for resolution.
Facilitating Root Cause Analysis: When defects or issues arise, well-organized data allows testers to conduct thorough root cause analysis. They can trace the origins of problems more efficiently, leading to more accurate diagnoses and more effective solutions.
Enhancing Documentation: Good data organizing skills contribute to the creation of comprehensive and well-structured test documentation. Test plans, test cases, and test reports are more informative and useful when data is organized logically and presented in a clear format.
Demonstrating Value: Effective data presentation showcases the value of testing efforts to stakeholders. By presenting data in a compelling and visually appealing manner, testers can demonstrate the impact of their work on software quality, project success, and overall business objectives.
4. Time management :
In the software testing profession time management involves efficiently allocating and prioritizing time to complete testing tasks, meet deadlines, and ensure the timely delivery of high-quality software. Here are the benefits of effective time management in software testing
Benefits :
Meeting Deadlines: Proper time management allows testers to schedule and prioritize tasks effectively, ensuring that testing activities are completed on time and within project deadlines.
Optimizing Resource Allocation: By managing time efficiently, testers can allocate resources, such as human resources and testing tools, in a way that maximizes productivity and minimizes waste.
Enhancing Testing Coverage: With good time management, testers can allocate sufficient time to different testing activities, including test planning, execution, and defect resolution, ensuring comprehensive testing coverage and thorough validation of the software.
Improving Test Quality: Properly managing time allows testers to dedicate adequate time to each testing activity, reducing the likelihood of rushing through tests or skipping important steps. This results in higher-quality testing outcomes and more reliable software.
Identifying Risks Early: Time management enables testers to allocate time for risk assessment and mitigation activities, such as identifying potential risks, creating contingency plans, and conducting risk-based testing. Early identification of risks helps prevent issues from escalating and ensures smoother project execution.
5. Critical Thinking while Planning Tasks:
It plays a crucial role in planning tasks in the software testing profession.
Benefits :
Identification of Test Objectives: Critical thinking helps testers analyze project requirements and objectives thoroughly, ensuring that testing activities are aligned with the goals of the project. This ensures that testing efforts are focused on verifying the functionality, performance, and quality attributes that are most critical to the project’s success.
Effective Test Strategy Development: Critical thinking enables testers to evaluate different testing approaches and methodologies critically, selecting the most appropriate strategy for the given project context. This ensures that testing efforts are efficient, cost-effective, and capable of uncovering potential defects and issues effectively.
Optimized Test Coverage: Critical thinking allows testers to analyze the software under test critically, identifying key areas and functionalities that require testing priority. By prioritizing testing efforts based on criticality and risk, testers can optimize test coverage and ensure that testing resources are allocated effectively.
Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Critical thinking helps testers assess potential risks and vulnerabilities in the software accurately. By critically analyzing project requirements, dependencies, and constraints, testers can identify and prioritize risks, allowing them to develop targeted risk mitigation strategies and allocate testing resources accordingly.
Identification of Test Scenarios: Critical thinking enables testers to identify and define test scenarios comprehensively. They consider various factors such as user workflows, boundary conditions, error handling, and performance requirements. This ensures that testing coverage is thorough. Critical scenarios are adequately tested as a result.
Adaptability to Changes: Critical thinking equips testers with the ability to adapt and adjust testing plans dynamically. They respond to changing project requirements, priorities, or constraints. Testers critically evaluate the impact of changes on testing objectives and strategies. They make informed decisions and adjust testing plans accordingly. This ensures continued alignment with project goals.
6. Adaptability :
In the software testing profession, adaptability in software testing skills is crucial. Testers need to respond effectively to changes. These changes can include project requirements, priorities, technologies, or constraints.
Benefits :
Flexibility in Test Planning: Testers can adapt their testing strategies and plans to accommodate changes in project scope, timelines, or priorities. This ensures that testing efforts remain aligned with evolving project needs and objectives.
Quick Response to Changes: Adaptability allows testers to respond quickly to changes in software requirements, design, or functionality. They can adjust test cases, test scripts, and test data as needed. This ensures comprehensive coverage of new features or modifications.
Efficient Resource Allocation: Testers can adaptively allocate testing resources, such as persons, tools etc based on changing project demands. This ensures that resources are utilized efficiently and effectively to support testing activities.
Effective Risk Management: Adaptability enables testers to identify and respond proactively to emerging risks or challenges in the testing process. They can adjust testing priorities, focus areas, or methodologies to mitigate risks and ensure they adequately address critical areas.
Enhanced Problem-Solving: Adaptability fosters a problem-solving mindset among testers, enabling them to overcome obstacles or challenges encountered during testing. They can explore alternative approaches, techniques, or tools to address complex testing scenarios effectively.
Continuous Improvement: Adaptability promotes a culture of continuous improvement within testing teams. Testers actively seek feedback, reflect on past experiences, and implement changes to enhance testing processes and practices over time.
Customer Satisfaction: Adaptable testers respond to feedback from end-users or clients. They incorporate preferences or requirements into the testing process. This leads to higher levels of customer satisfaction. It ensures that the software meets user needs effectively.
7. Empathy and customer-centric approach :
In the software testing profession, an empathy and customer-centric approach involves considering the perspective, needs, and experiences of end-users throughout the testing process.
Benefits :
Improved User Satisfaction: Testers can ensure that the software meets users’ needs effectively. This is done by understanding their perspective and requirements. It leads to higher levels of user satisfaction.
Enhanced Usability: Taking an empathetic approach helps testers identify usability issues early in the testing process. This allows for improvements that result in a more user-friendly software interface.
Better Bug Detection: Testers who empathize with users are more likely to anticipate how they will interact with the software. This leads to better identification of potential bugs or defects. These issues could affect user experience.
Enhanced Brand Loyalty: Users develop a sense of loyalty to the brand when they feel that the software understands and addresses their needs. They are more likely to stay committed and engaged. This loyalty often leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals.
Alignment with Business Goals: An approach centered around the customer ensures that software testing efforts align with broader business goals. These goals may include increasing revenue, improving market share, or enhancing customer satisfaction.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, software testing skills encompass expertise in various testing methodologies. Technical skills equip you with the knowledge to execute these methodologies effectively. Soft skills complement your efforts by meticulously organizing details in a presentable manner. They also enhance your flexibility and adaptability to navigate dynamic changes in client requirements. This ensures the delivery of a product that meets the end user’s expectations. Therefore, achieving a perfect balance between technical and soft skills is pivotal for recognition and advancement in your career.
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Manisha is a Lead SDET at SpurQLabs with overall experience of 3.5 years in UI Test Automation, Mobile test Automation, Manual testing, database testing, API testing and CI/CD. Proven expertise in creating and maintaining test automation frameworks for Mobile, Web and Rest API in Java, C#, Python and JavaScript.
To ensure comprehensive mobile app testing, it is essential to do 360-degree testing for functions, appearance, and performance on multiple devices with various configurations, sizes, resolutions, and platforms.
There are three ways to conduct mobile app testing:
Emulators for Android devices and Simulators for iOS devices
Real physical devices
Cloud-based real devices platform
Testing an application on different platforms, including emulators and simulators, as well as physical devices, comes with a set of challenges.
Emulators and Simulators:
When it comes to emulators and simulators, creating multiple virtual devices with different configurations can be difficult, and they may not accurately replicate real-world situations compared to physical devices.
Physical devices:
On the other hand, testing on physical devices poses its own set of difficulties. It requires a large number of devices to test app compatibility with different configurations, and the list of devices keeps changing as new models are introduced to the market. Additionally, cross-location testing can be challenging since carrying multiple devices across different locations can be cumbersome.
To address these challenges, a possible solution is to use cloud-based platforms for testing applications in real-world conditions. By doing so, we can perform robust testing with a variety of devices and configurations without the need to physically acquire and maintain them.
Cloud-based platform (BrowserStack) :
BrowserStack is a cloud-based real devices platform that provides support for both manual and automated testing of mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices.
One of its standout features is the App Live feature, which allows users to manually test their mobile apps on over 3000 real Android and iOS devices.
BrowserStack also supports 15+ native features, such as GPS, network simulation, and localization, which can be used to test mobile apps in real-world scenarios.
Other features include debugging apps, viewing crash reports and logs, inspecting UI elements, and using stack traces to find and fix bugs instantly. These features make it easy for developers to identify and fix issues quickly and efficiently.
Furthermore, BrowserStack supports testing across different environments, including Dev, QA, Staging, and Production apps from the play store or app store. This makes it easy for developers to test their apps in various environments and ensure that they are working correctly in each environment.
To test a mobile app on BrowserStack, follow these steps:
4. Here in the left panel “SELECT SOURCE” you can see different options available to upload or install apps.
i. Uploaded Apps – You can upload an apk or ipa file here.
ii. Sync with App Centre – If you have access to the app center you can use this option to directly install the app from App Centre.
iii. Install via TestFlight – While testing on iOS devices you can install the app directly from TestFlight also.
iv. Install via Play Store – Select a device, sign in to the play store and install the app if available on Play Store.
v. Install via App Store – Select a device, sign in to the App store and install an app, if available on App Store.
Now let’s explore how to upload apk file from a local machine using Upload Apps here…
i. Click on Upload – Select apk/ipa file from your local machine to be uploaded.
ii. Select the uploaded apk/ipa file and device from the list of available devices in the right panel.
iii. You can select any device from the list for the selected device category.
iv. Once you click on the device name the device will be launched and the app will be installed on it.
Now once the app is launched on the selected device you can start testing the app.
Let’s explore various features that can be used effectively while testing…
1. Report Bug:
If you find a bug while testing, BrowserStack provides the option to highlight the bug on the screen and add a bug description.
You can download the image to include it in the defect report later or send a screenshot to the developer or your team via email.
Additionally, you can share the image using various applications such as Jira, Slack, GitHub, etc. This option is visible in the screenshot below.
Then click on Cancel to return back to the testing screen.
2. Record Session:
This feature can capture a video recording of a sequence of events that led to a bug.
Choose the screen to be recorded.
After recording a session using BrowserStack, you can stop the sharing by clicking on the “Stop Sharing” button. Then, you can download the recording for later use.
3. Switch Device
This feature allows users to switch to another device at any point in time to test the same app on different devices.
The toolbar on the right side of BrowserStack provides various features to simulate real device features, including:
View open apps on the device.
Kill existing apps if they become unresponsive or test app behavior on a relaunch.
Capture screenshots, similar to taking screenshots on a physical phone.
Rotate the screen to test the app’s responsiveness to different screen orientations.
Some other important features are:
Change Location: This feature is used to test app behavior and response across different geographical locations. You can use the “Device GPS” option to set the exact latitude and longitude coordinates or the “IP Location (Beta)” option to select a specific region from a list of locations. See the screenshot below for reference.
Change Language – This feature can be used to test apps in different languages.
File & Media – This feature allows you to transfer various types of files to and from the device during testing.
On the right-hand side of the window, we have the following options in the Dev Tools section:
INSPECT (BETA) –This option is used to find element locators for app automation testing.
NETWORK Tab – This feature is useful for monitoring backend HTTP requests and responses in real-time. It can help you to debug the cause of failures during certain events in the app.
On the BrowserStack cloud platform, you can also test various native device features just like physical devices. These include:
Geolocation testing
Push notifications
Pre-loaded images
Network simulation
Testing dependent apps
Uninstalling apps
Conclusion:
Overall, BrowserStack is a convenient and easy-to-use cloud-based real devices platform that provides a wide range of features for mobile app testing. Its support for manual and automated testing, along with its native features and ability to test across different environments, makes it a popular choice among developers.
Manisha is a Lead SDET at SpurQLabs with overall experience of 3.5 years in UI Test Automation, Mobile test Automation, Manual testing, database testing, API testing and CI/CD. Proven expertise in creating and maintaining test automation frameworks for Mobile, Web and Rest API in Java, C#, Python and JavaScript.
Inspecting the WebView element using the Chrome browser is the easiest and most efficient way. So in this blog, I am going to explain how to inspect the WebView element using the chrome browser. Let’s first understand what WebView is and why to use it.
What Is A WebView?
It is widely used to display web pages in an application. The web pages and web apps can reuse in an Android application. The content used to display inside a WebView is responsive and mobile-friendly and because of this, it works better towards providing a better user experience.
Now let’s see how to inspect elements on Android WebView
1) The first step is you need to connect your mobile device to your system.
2) The second step is you need to go to your chrome browser and go to chrome://chrome-urls/ then you will see the result like the below screenshot:
3) You need to select “chrome://inspect/” from that list.
4) Click on it and it will open a window like this. There is an option to discover USB devices in it. It will display information about the devices that are currently attached to the system.
5) Now launch the app on your mobile device, and for inspecting the element just click on inspect.
This will open a new chrome window containing all the UI details of that screen.
Now you can inspect the elements for the webview app like you inspect for the website. By following these steps you will get a better understanding of how you can inspect a webview using a chrome browser and how you can locate your desired elements.
Below is the link for your reference to inspect webViews and get locators.
Manisha is a Lead SDET at SpurQLabs with overall experience of 3.5 years in UI Test Automation, Mobile test Automation, Manual testing, database testing, API testing and CI/CD. Proven expertise in creating and maintaining test automation frameworks for Mobile, Web and Rest API in Java, C#, Python and JavaScript.
