Best automation execution frameworks

Automation frameworks are considered an essential requirement for testers. It simplifies the execution and test development. By choosing the right automation framework that best suits your needs, you will have an environment where you can execute tests and generate output. These specialized tools can be beneficial for testing and development teams to carry out automation test execution with much ease.

The primary rule of the automation framework consists of coding standards. It prevents professionals from manually entering the codes, accessing storage, testing data results, enjoying the benefits and techniques of data, handling object repositories, and various other information, which becomes beneficial to running tests seamlessly.

How To Choose Mobile App Test Automation Frameworks?

Choosing a mobile app test automation framework can be a challenging task, as there are many different options available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are some factors to consider when choosing a mobile app test automation framework:

·       Platform support: The first thing to consider when choosing a test automation framework is whether it supports the platforms you need to test on, such as iOS or Android.

·       Programming language: Different test automation frameworks support different programming languages, so it’s important to choose one that is compatible with your team’s skills and expertise.

·       Community support: A strong community around the test automation framework can provide valuable resources, support, and documentation that can make it easier to implement and maintain your tests.

·       Integration with other tools: It’s important to consider if the test automation framework integrates with other tools in your development pipeline, such as continuous integration servers, test management tools, and defect tracking systems.

·       Flexibility and customization: Some test automation frameworks are more flexible and customizable than others, allowing you to write tests that closely match your application’s specific requirements.

·       Cost and licensing: The cost and licensing terms of a test automation framework may also be a consideration, particularly for smaller teams or startups.

·       Ease of use and learning curve: It’s important to consider the ease of use and learning curve needed to learn the test automation framework. Some frameworks may require a steep learning curve and significant upfront investment in time and training, while others may be easier to use and run quickly.

What are the significant benefits of automation execution frameworks?

• Cost reduction: Utilizing automation frameworks can be helpful in developing quicker test cases as the framework has rules and scripts. Apart from this, since the codes can be used several times, it reduces the time and cost required to build test cases.
• Reusing codes: Various automation frameworks are designed with the requisite coding data to ensure successful automation tests. The data remains saved for the future, which one can reuse at any point. Testers would not require inserting manual codes. One can use the code to run several other automation framework tests.
• Efficient choice: Utilizing a test automation framework can greatly influence productivity due to the standards. It ensures maximum test coverage since the codes are executed in a manner.
• Minimal manual intervention: With an automation framework, it does not require little to no human intervention. As it has been developed with inbuilt coverage, it requires professionals to abide by the guidelines without manual interference. In case of failure, the framework will restart the test by making some changes without changing data or human effort.

Top 4 Best Automation Testing Frameworks

Since there has been a constant demand for automation testing frameworks, you can choose from a wide range of automation frameworks in the market. With more mobile applications getting developed, automated mobile testing is becoming more critical. So here, we have listed the top 4 automation frameworks you can choose to leverage the benefits of advanced automation and improve efficiency.

• Cypress

Cypress is a UI automation framework providing a significant number of features. It is among the most popular test automation tools used by testers and developers across the globe. This is an open-source tool providing various features to ensure thorough testing of your UI elements. 

This open-source framework provides users with end-to-end testing experience along with various features to perform automation testing. It is known for being highly efficient and fast when it comes to front-end testing. This framework runs on JavaScript, which is one of the most used languages today and is probably the reason for having huge demand.

Features:

• It provides the opportunity to run automation testing on your system.
• It can be integrated with CI tools like AWS Codebuild and CircleCI.
• It enables professionals to seamlessly run parallel tests simultaneously.
• It can be beneficial for professionals to use different types of automation tests like integrated tests, end-to-end tests, and unit tests.
• It can be helpful to record CI code and automation tests.
• It preserves the screenshot automatically in case of failure of a test case.

• Selenium

Selenium is one of the most popularly used automation test frameworks for testing your web apps and websites. It has been used by many testers and developers for more than 16 years now and has become one of the most common choices for testers who delve into web testing tasks. If you have been in the industry as an automation tester for a long time, selenium is undoubtedly a name that needs no introduction. It is an open-source automation tool that makes it easy for testers to test modern web applications.

Selenium has already provided four different components to make it even better for various testing teams across the globe. These notable components make testing much more efficient. 

The components are:

• Selenium grid becomes helpful for running tests in different parallel machines.
• Selenium IDE is a playback feature that allows testers to go back and look for anomalies in the tests that have been executed. It is a great feature to go back and analyze the test execution in detail. 
• Selenium web driver is one of the most valuable components that come in handy when running tests across browsers.
• Selenium RC can be helpful for writing test cases on a range of programming languages for automating UI tests.

Features:

• It helps to save money on licenses as it is an open-source tool.
• It supports a range of programming languages, including Ruby, Python, C#, JavaScript, Java, and a lot more.
• It supports different browsers such as Safari, Edge, Firefox, and Chrome. Making cross browser testing an ease.
• It has great community support.
• It supports various operating systems, including Linux, Mac, and Windows.
• Selenium framework is one of those unique frameworks which can be extended for mobile testing.

• Appium

Appium is another popular automation execution framework that automation experts prefer. It is known for having the ability to test hybrid apps, native mobile, and progressive web apps. It is an open-source framework that provides you the freedom to work on your favorite platform and tools.  With this open-source automation framework, users can efficiently perform tests in different mobile apps. It has a great GUI that helps testing professionals to write codes efficiently and inspect them.

Features:

• It saves a large amount of cost on licenses as it is an open-source tool.
• It gives cross-platform support for Chrome and Safari along with works effortlessly on different devices.
• It supports a range of programming languages, including Python, PHP, and Ruby, Java, and C#.
• It supports simulators, devices, and emulators, which becomes a great help for developers.
• It can be used easily with the selenium framework.
• It supports easy integration with any DevOps tools.
• It enables cloud-based testing.

• WebDriverIO

WebDriverIO is another popular automation execution framework available in the market. It works in Chrome, dev tools, and web driver protocol. This framework is completely based on Node.JS. This open-source platform allows you to integrate with selenium automation testing either on the cloud or local systems.

Even though this framework is the latest addition to the open-source community, it has gained popularity quickly and has a massive number of users for its features and functionalities.

Features:

• It utilizes the implementation of a web driver and supports all renowned browsers.
• It is an extensible framework with several packages or plug-ins that can be integrated to extend features.
• It supports multiple reporting types.
• It works on multiple tabs and windows.
• It is not restricted to parallel testing.

Wrapping Up: 

With the many options available for the best automation testing frameworks, it can sometimes be bewildering. However, you must understand that you require choosing a framework that works best for your organization, environment, and the type of development you are into. Considering the scope and needs is important while deciding on a framework for the best outcome. Make sure to check in detail of the framework if you are specifically looking for automated mobile testing. Comparing and analyzing them will help you to choose carefully and get the best results. 

Harper Harrison

Harper Harrison is a reporter for The Hear UP. Harper got an internship at the NPR and worked as a reporter and producer. harper has also worked as a reporter for the Medium. Harper covers health and science for The Hear UP.