How to choose the right automated testing tool?

Automated testing is one of the most important practices in the field of high-quality software delivery. In today's agile development methodologies, almost any software development process requires automated testing at some point during the development phase to speed up regression testing efforts. Automated testing tools can help testers and entire teams focus on individual tasks that automated tools cannot handle, but the hard part is choosing an automated tool. In fact, the most common question for testers is, how to choose the right automated testing tool?

In this article, we will discuss in detail how to choose when choosing an automated testing tool. But before moving on, let's highlight the importance of automated testing tools.

The importance of choosing the best automated testing tool

Identifying the right automation tools is critical if you want to automate successful testing of your project. Choosing the right tool for project automation testing is one of the best ways to get the results your project needs. Let us take web application development as an example to better understand the importance of automated testing tools.

Suppose you are developing a website for your business. Now, in the beginning, if you're starting a business at a low level, you don't need any automated testing. All testing can be done manually. However, when your business starts to grow and starts to gain acceptance with a broad audience, you may need to automate some processes, like cross-browser testing of your web app, to ensure it provides a similar experience for all users.

Suppose you are developing a website. If the initial stage is at a low level, then there is no need for any automated testing, all testing can be done manually. But when the business starts to grow and gain widespread acceptance among users, it may be necessary to automate some processes, such as testing the web application across browsers, to ensure that it provides a similar experience for all users.

Also, if regression testing is required, then automated testing needs to be performed as well. This is why it is necessary to choose an automation tool that can provide all these functions.

Types of automated testing tools

There are generally three types of automated testing tools to choose from. Here is a brief description of each type:

1. Open source automated testing tools

Open source tools are basically free platforms that allow you to access and use the source code, as well as modify its original design. There is no cost or expense to using open source tools.

Furthermore, open source tools can be used in any stage of the testing process, such as test case management, bug tracking, debugging, etc. Of course, in general, open source automation tools have fewer features than commercial testing tools.

2. Commercial automated testing tools

Commercial test tools are specially designed and produced for commercial purposes. Many large enterprises choose to use commercial automation testing tools because of their scalable nature and support from technical teams.

3. Customized tools or self-developed tools

For niche test projects, the test environment and test process have some special characteristics that cannot be achieved by open source or commercial automated test tools. Therefore, test managers need to consider the development of custom tools. These types of tools are rarely used by a few organizations because they need to be developed explicitly.

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Automated Testing Tool

Choosing the right automated test setup depends on several factors. Each test setup is unique at the beginning and can evolve into something completely novel as the project grows. Choosing the right setup that will scale with the size of the project is just as important as choosing the right technology stack for developing the application. Here are a few factors that influence the decision:

• Whether the tool supports your testing activities, and whether it is available in the market.
• Which automated testing tool best fits your project needs and budget.
• Does the team have the skills needed to use the tool, and if not, who will use the tool after you buy it.
• Whether the automation tool is accurate for the project environment and technology you are using.
• Is there a free trial version of the tool to analyze its performance before purchasing.
• What are the costs and development effort involved in scaling the testbed as the project grows.
• How difficult is it to maintain and manage old tests to use updates in the project.

Although there are many factors involved when choosing an automation tool, we believe these are the basic factors you need to consider before looking for an automated testing tool. Let’s dive deeper into the concept of choosing the best automated testing tool.

Selection criteria for automated testing tools

No matter what your project requires from an automated testing tool, there is always an easy and efficient way to choose the best automated testing tool for your project.

1. Comprehensive analysis of project requirements

Maintaining the quality of the project by providing a defect-free product is critical to the success of the project. Automated testing is the best way to improve the quality of any project and increase the depth and scope of testing. However, before implementing automated tests, have a clear understanding of your project requirements, such as:

• What is the project type? Is it a web/desktop/mobile app or some other type of project?
• What is the scope of the project after release?
• Before the process begins, analyze the strength of the test team in terms of the code language.

Generally speaking, there is no completely good or bad automation tool, but if you want the tool to have a good ROI, it all depends on the project needs, such as what actually needs to be automated and how many test cases need to be automated.

For most projects, it is generally accepted that both manual and automated testing are essential for testing web, mobile, and desktop applications. As a result, choose tools that integrate seamlessly with project planning and test management tools, are quick to learn, and are easy to use.

2. Benchmarking existing automation tools

If you are using an open source automation tool like Selenium Test Automation, then use it as a benchmark for evaluating and determining the best automated testing tool for your project. To do this, it is necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of Selenium automation tools.

For example, Selenium is an open source free tool that allows users to test their web applications and websites. It also provides unique features for automated testing, such as record playback to create record playback test scripts, and language support for multiple languages. However, Selenium WebDriver does not provide good customer support.

Selenium is the first choice for testers who are familiar with coding techniques and testing their websites through the user interface. Also, maintenance of the Selenium suite is not easy, especially for testers who frequently oversee manual and automated testing. Another challenge you may face with Selenium is browser compatibility testing of web applications, as it is impossible to automate cross-browser testing across multiple combinations of browsers, operating systems, and devices.

Therefore, it is crucial to choose a current testing tool as a benchmark and compare it with the tool you decide to buy for automated testing.

3. Validate key criteria that fit the project

Here are some important points to consider before deciding on the best automation tool for your project:

• Test execution must be simple for any project member so that members can run tests efficiently when needed. Also, it should be easy for non-technical users with little technical knowledge.
• The test reports generated by the tool must be intuitive and simple for the management team so that they can understand the testing process.
• Automated testing tools must support all three platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile applications.
• The development and maintenance of test scripts must reduce human and time resource management.
• When it comes to cross-browser testing of web applications, automation tools must support multiple browsers and platforms.
• Keyword-driven testing is supported as it acts as an extension to the data-driven testing framework.
• The automation tool must support the language required by the project so that testers can easily write code.
• When choosing an automated testing tool, technical support and assistance are the top priority, make sure that the tool has access to ongoing technical support.
• Bonus points if other features are included, such as screenshot testing, visual appearance testing, live testing, etc.

Compare these key factors for different automation tools and choose the best one.

4. Consider budget before buying tools

After comparing the different automation tools based on the above criteria, it is finally time to confirm the budget. Budget is one of the key issues, and it is best understood that, no matter how satisfied you are with the tools chosen based on the above, it will not be possible to exceed an organization's budget.

If an organization has finalized the purchase of the tool, it is recommended to download and use the trial version of the tool to analyze its performance and whether it is worth the investment. After trying it out, if you find any issues with the tool, then don't spend too much time on it, but look for another automated testing tool. Purchase a tool only if you are sure of its capabilities and performance.

Brother Chen sells melons, sells melons and brags, and follows the above standards to avoid the trouble of choosing automated testing tools, and directly recommend ZenTao automated testing solutions for you. The solution is composed of Zendao project management software + ZTF automated test framework + ZenData general data generator, which solves test management problems from the aspects of test framework, test data and test environment.