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A test automation framework defines a set of rules or best practices which you can follow in a systematic way to achieve the desired results in test automation. The success of automated testing highly lies in choosing the right type of test automation framework. Unfortunately, different automation projects come with separate requirements and challenges, making it hard to find a one-size-fits-all solution to go.

So, let’s learn how to choose a suitable automation framework for your project.

How to choose the right test automation framework?

 

Selenium is among the most popular test automation frameworks

Step 1: Clarify the project requirements

Every effective automation test project starts with the right requirements set. First and foremost, you need to have a clear understanding of the project characteristics as well as the target testing outcome.

For example, when we designed test automation frameworks for our client’s F&B applications, we listed out the following:

• Test scope: 20 web & mobile applications with 5 – 6 releases per year for each application.
• Client’s needs: UI automation testing & APIs for backend testing; Cross browsers and operating systems testing.
• Target outcome: Reduced time for regression test.

• Challenges: End-2-end test flow is complicated and the data set is huge for API tests.
• Solution: Develop API test program (using Java), support data-driven to test a huge dataset.

Step 2: Define the budget

To set a budget for your test automation project, you have to calculate the effort for developing and maintaining scripts, plus the budget for automation testing tools and infrastructure. Types of test automation framework include:

• Open-source frameworks

• Commercial frameworks
• Customized frameworks

Then, decide whether you will use a free, open-source framework or pay for a commercial tool. There are pros and cons to each option:

• Open-source tools: They are free tools with an active community, free tutorials, and meetups. However, open-source tools may become outdated, become too slow, not 100% fit your project, and require high-tech capacity to customize.
• Commercial tools: Also called paid tools, offering a lot of features outside of the box. Still, with high costs, they’re unpopular and hard to find tutorials and support from the community. They should provide users with prompt customer support for all technical issues.

Although the commercial tools come with high initial investments, they help increase productivity and benefit us much better in the long term. If you’re ready to spend money on a commercial tool, it’s better to start a free trial and experiment on a small project before buying the full package.

Step 3: Consider the tech stack

An ideal framework for test automation should be compliant with the programming language used for the project as well as familiar with your team.

Firstly, you should see if your test automation engineers are well versed in a particular language and framework, then, compare it with the programming language that your project was developed on. If there’s a difference, take into account the effort spent on getting familiar with the language and the effect of using it. Maybe it will decrease your team’s productivity, but it won’t expand the required tech stack and allows you to ease into the process while helping to avoid unexpected issues.

In case you work with mobile apps, you’ll also have to consider the supported platforms. If you target various platforms, you should choose a tool that supports all. For instance, Selenium and Appium support both IOS and Android.

Step 4: Evaluate the test automation framework

There are some aspects that you need to consider before choosing a framework for the automation project.

Maintenance and reusability

A significant factor that escalates the total cost for test automation is script maintenance. Even a small change of application can cause the script to fail. So, if debugging is easy, it could reduce the effort.

On the other hand, script reusability saves you and the team a great deal of time for similar test cases as you can reuse test scripts.

Integration capabilities

CI/CD is now becoming quite popular in software development. The chosen framework should be able to integrate into the CI/CD pipeline to ensure full automation.

Nice-to-have features

• Report: A well-categorized, easy to read, easy to understand report display will be a bonus for an automation framework. Because the ability to analyze errors when reading reports will help reduce debugging effort for the project.

• Behavior Driven Development Framework: If you are not a techie, using BDD frameworks with Gherkin syntax will be an advantage to help you better understand the project. The BDD framework also gives a fairly readable report with the steps written in human languages (English, Vietnamese…)

Step 5: Verify the selection

When you come up with your selection among automated test frameworks, don’t implement it immediately. Proof of concept (POC) may be very useful for conformity checks or in case you still have some doubts about the tool.

This POC can help you identify:

• How the framework is maintained

• How easy it is to use
• Whether it meets your requirements
• If it addresses some of the high-priority edge cases you have, as well as different scenarios and controls in the application.

Step 6: Make the final decision

You now have all the necessary information to decide the right framework for your automation test project. You should have a strong awareness of the test automation tool, understand all the strong and weak points of the solution and keep the balance between cost and benefits.

Let LQA helps you choose the right test automation framework

Although choosing between different types of test automation framework will take some time and effort, it is a prerequisite to ensure effective automation tests in the long term.

At LQA, we have 6 years of providing custom testing and QA solutions to global clients. We implement both manual and automated tests to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your project. Don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation regarding selecting the test automation framework or figuring out the plan for your next steps!

• Website: https://www.lotus-qa.com/
• Tel: (+84) 24-6660-7474
• Fanpage: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lqa/

 

Automation Testing moves at the speed of light, as the technological trend and applications are influenced by the ever-evolving change of the information technology market.

From the starting point of writing and executing the test scripts with bare support from technical tools, automation testing team now leans towards the utility of automation testing tools with various choices in terms of pricing plans, programming skills and other technical aspects.

After years of development and enhancement, the current pool of automation testing tools is now considered the pathway to success in the journey of transforming from manual to automation.

 

3 Types of Automation Tools

Automation tools are the destination for businesses and firms to come to for the optimal solution.

You must have been familiar with How to do automation testing. But do you really know the nature of them, such as their categories, price range, etc.? With this pace of development within the market, automation tools can be divided into 3 categories as follow:

 

Open-Source Tools

Open-source tools are the most common type for many firms and businesses to implement their automation testing process.

With these tools, the source code for testing execution has deliberate access. Plus, the source code can be utilized in both ways, either with full adoption or partly modification, depending on your needs.

For general utility, open-source tools allow quick access and viability for customization of an advanced test case. Hence, the use of an open-source tool requires SDETs (Software Development Engineering Testers) to have a programming background to deliberately customize the source code according to the specification of the project.

Note: Open-source tools for automation are free. In contrast, the cost of training and hiring adequate automation testing engineers is much higher than that of manual testing.

 

Commercial Automation Tools

Commercial automation tools, or vendor-source tools – are one other option for automation tools. With purchase through a monthly or annual subscription, you get access to premium features of these tools

One fine example of these features is the customer-centric service. If you encounter any problem during your time with the tool, full support 24/7 with a dedicated team will be at your service.

 

Custom Frameworks

No doubt open-source and vendor-source automation tools are the most popular ones, with a percentage of the utility of more than 80% of the market. Nevertheless, they are not always the answer, especially for niche projects. 

 

The differences and incompatibility in the testing processes, testing environments, test methodology require the testing team for a custom framework to be developed in accordance with their project’s features.

 

As compared with the open and vendor-source tools, custom frameworks are far more complicated and burdensome to develop. For most of the time, custom frameworks are the last resort for the testing team and technical experts only if the other types of tools are incompatible with the project.

 

How to Choose the Best-Fit Automation Tool?

Despite being spoilt for ubiquitous choices of automation tools, businesses can follow these 5 following steps to come up with the strategic tools best fit for your firm.

 

1. Acquire a profound understanding of project requirement

A thorough understanding of the project requirements acts as the foundation for any further development of that project, including the automation testing process.

With the undeniable improvement and enhancement of automation testing, the scope and scale of the tests and projects require minute details to alleviate the test results and proficiency throughout the operation of the testing team.

The checklist of what to be clarified includes:

•       Kinds of application (web app, mobile app or desktop app)
•       Scope of the project (number of test cases, test scripts, etc.)
•       Skill competence of the testing team

Having sorted out the checklists of project specification, businesses can indicate a strategic business analysis to put into an official project requirement. Only with the clarification of every single detail can the chosen tool integrate seamlessly with the project/application.

 

2. Devise budget and pricing plans

For any business, the ultimate target is to gain as much revenue as possible. In other words, a positive ROI for your business, in the long run, is the utmost important goal. 

Fascinating as it is, not every firm is willingly ready to invest such a big amount of capital with no ROI in the near future.

 

To successfully pull this off, the first thing you need to do is devise a budget and plan for your capital. Depending on the budget, it will be easier for you to pick the appropriate software and the suitable automation tool.

 

With the detailed plan of the expenses and infrastructure for an automation testing lab, product owner or higher-level executive can have a grasp of how the whole testing process will operate with the given revenue. Hence, the decision on what tool to be implemented will be more cost-effective and proficient. 

 

3. Determine the available skills of SDET and the programming languages

The inroads of automation testing take huge effort and knowledge of programming languages and other technical skills.

Most of the automation testing tools necessitate popular programming languages, including Java, Python, etc. The application of these programming languages is a must, but to proficiently and competently implement them in the automation testing environment is another story.

For usable and sustainable test scripts, automation testers are obligated to write code that conforms to the designated quality standards of the project. Along with this, it is also quite important to deliver test scripts that are both efficient and comprehensible, even for newbie testers. 

This could help in automation training and maintenance for later.

 

4. Clarify supported platform cross-browser compatibility

Supported platforms of the project are to be clarified as for each different platform, there are different tools to optimize the testing process.

For example, Selenium is an open-source framework to perform web testing; Kobiton specializes in Mobile and IoT Continuous Testing; Ranorex is for desktop applications.

Regarding cross-browser compatibility, testers have to consider these features:

• Different browser-OS combinations, devices, and assistive tools
• Shortlist of the most important browser-device combinations. This can be concluded from the target market, business indicators and other additional values. 
• The behavioral analysis of your target customers to come up with the most common combinations of browsers and devices.

 

5. Clarify other technical aspects

Distinct from manual testing, automation testing process demands for high skills in the use of programming languages, not to mention other aspects in the course of technology. 

With automation testing tools, the project leaders have to dig through the functions and performance of those available to come up with the most suitable lists of tools for your project. 

The services provided within the market of automation testing tools have diverse choices for clients. You can experience one’s core features in trial and then decide whether it’s worth your investment.

Check out: Top 10 Trusted Automation Testing Tools for Your Business

The technical aspects of any automation tools include:

• Script maintenance and reusability: As a key factor on how the cost of one automation testing project can escalate, testing scripts maintenance requires vast consideration for any possibilities of utility in the future. 

By putting a direct effect on the reusability of the test scripts, the automation testing team can save a lot of time when facing similar test cases.

A significant factor that escalates the total cost for test automation is script maintenance. Pre-written scripts in automation testing are fragile by nature. The ideal automation tool should come with capabilities to reduce such effort, such as eliminating object locator flakiness. On the other hand, script reusability saves you and the team a great deal of time for similar test cases as you can reuse test scripts.

• Technical support from tool provider: Professional technical support is offered within commercial tools. Normally, you can get help from tool providers via channels like direct chat or email. As in open-source tools, the support often comes from an active community with thousands of users.
• CI/CD integration capabilities: Tools with capability to integrate into the CI/CD pipelines ensure the testing continuity, making the whole process robust, dynamic and comprehensive. 
• Report record and format: With automation testing tools, the record of test results and further documentation is secured in digital format, which is stored for future reference and training.
• Keyword & Data-Driven Testing: The robust utility of Keyword & Data-Driven Testing assists test team in the extension and expansion of the test scope. In the long run, this is a strategic feature for higher ROI.
• The applied application under test: The application under test should have a schedule of releases for the most proficient preparation. What features to be updated and new points should be noted to clarify the procedure of automation testing.

 

No matter what your scale and what aspects to be tested in your product, you have to follow through the 5 steps above to catch the essence and the core of your automation testing process. You can either figure this out with your BA and developer team or you can come to experts in the field for a thorough analysis of what tool to be implemented.

 

If you want to hear from our professional staff of the Testing Industry, don’t hesitate to Contact us for detailed consultation. 

• Website: https://www.lotus-qa.com/
• Tel: (+84) 24-6660-7474
• Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/LotusQualityAssurance