By Adam Satterfield, Katalon Evangelist
A Make-or-Break Decision?
It’s funny how many still think that a single best automation testing tool exists. That’s like saying mint chocolate is an all-time favorite ice-cream flavor when many may think it tastes like toothpaste.
The perfect tool for one team doesn’t necessarily mean it’s perfect for your team as well. What could go wrong with the wrong selection? Here are a few considerations.
Endless Hours to Learn
Open-source software is great. While it is free and has been around ever since test automation has gotten its name, the hidden costs of a steep learning curve are one of the many drawbacks people fail to spot. With a common prerequisite of programming, manual testers often have to spend additional time to pick up the language before getting their hands on the testing part.
Suffering Budget
So you read somewhere that some big corporations use tool ‘X.’ Immediately picking that tool may not be a wise move if the subscription plan exceeds what you can afford, or what your client is willing to pay. Remember that if their company is that big, chances are they are handling very large and complicated Applications Under Test (AUTs), accompanied by a team experienced enough to use and know those tools like the back of their hands.
Complicated Workarounds
If you’ve decided to save costs and build your own test automation framework, beware of repetitive configurations and complicated setups. Unlike pre-built tools with everything tucked under a UI and nifty features, starting from scratch equates to having experienced developers or automation experts to code everything.
Popular Options and How to Choose One
Selenium
Selenium and its suite of tools are probably the most answered choice for web automated testing on forums like Quora or Reddit. Supported by a large community of users and tutorials all over, Selenium is still seen as “automation the hard way.” Nevertheless, Selenium is perfect for teams with a firm background in programming to craft a stable framework, while still able to teach newcomers to use them effectively.
Unlike Selenium, Katalon Studio offers both a free and paid version for web, API, mobile and desktop automated testing. Providing a made-ready framework for users to get started right away, Studio is seen as a simple tool for beginners, while also boosting productivity for experts. Some of its notable features include low-code test creation with Record-and-Playback, the page-object model design for simplified maintenance, smart test reporting, integration with CI/CD systems and many more. Sidebar: Download Katalon Studio for Free
SoapUI
SoapUI is a widely-known open-source solution for SOAP technologies and API test automation. It allows users to perform load, functional, regression and compliance testing. Additionally, security testing with SoapUI is also very common as it is also capable of finding security vulnerabilities like XML bombs or fuzzing.
This is just an introduction to some of the considerations a company has to answer before choosing an automation test tool. Deciding on the proper tool is not to be taken lightly, and should be examined from many angles. Often, the answer is very specific to the company.
To see the full article to Select The Right Test Automation Tool.
