We often get the following question – Which is a better web application automation testing tool Selenium/Protractor? whenever we demonstrate our automation testing capabilities to the clients. Tool selection should be based on the following key attributes, team’s skill-set, Documentation, Training, Online Communities, Programming Languages Support, Reporting, and Software Under Test (SUT) Technologies. In case of open-source test automation tools, you don’t get all the required features in a single package. However, if you go with a commercial tool, most of the required features come in handy in one software suite. In this blog article, we are listing all the web application tools which will help you during test automation tool selection process.
Selenium WebDriver
Selenium is an ideal choice for most of the companies for web application automation testing. Once Selenium is chosen, the next question is which programming language can be picked up for scripting. You can write Selenium automated scripts using Python, Java, Ruby, C#, and JavaScript. Choosing a programming language for Selenium scripting is a daunting task for many. However, we strongly recommend you to go with the same language in which your application or product is being developed. The reason is – most of the coding practices which are followed by your development team are applicable for automation testing as well and it enables whole team approach. Before selecting the programming language check whether your testers are comfortable with that programming language. Consider, if your development team is using JavaScript extensively and you are choosing it as scripting language, then your testers may not be interested with JavaScript. So check your testers’ comfort level before choosing a programming language for automation scripting.
Protractor
Don’t get confused with Tool and Framework. Protractor is an end-to-end test framework for Angular and AngularJS applications. Advantages of Protractor:
- It is built on top of WebDriverJS. So Protractor adds Selenium’s new features whenever it is released.
- Selenium has ID, XPath, CSS, ClassName, LinkText and Name locators. If your SUT is an AngularJS application, then you can use additional locators like repeater, model and binding.
- Writing synchronization steps avoids false positives in automation testing. However, in Protractor, you no need to write sync steps. It waits for page load automatically.
- Protractor also supports BDD Frameworks like Cucumber, Jasmine, and Mocha.
If your development is using JavaScript extensively and SUT is an Angular Application, then Protractor is a good choice for web application automation. Note: you can also achieve all above list advantages in Selenium, if you have an expert automation testing team.
Cypress
Cypress is an all in one test automation framework. It comes in four plans a free plan (Seed) and three commercial plans (Sprout, Tree, and Forest). What is unique about Cypress? For example: If you want to setup an automation testing framework using JavaScript, you may need Jasmine, WebDriverJS, ChaiJS, and other libraries. However, Cypress is not using Selenium and you need to install only Cypress in order to start writing test scripts. Since Cypress is a paid framework, it has some notable features like Parallelization, Grouping tests, and comprehensive test results. If you have a team which has limited knowledge in automation testing, then Cypress is a go-to automation testing framework.
Sahi Pro Web
Sahi Pro comes in three plans for Web, Desktop, and Mobile. You can run your automated tests on any browser. Sahi Pro waits automatically for AJAX and Page Loads. It has in-built object spy and recording options. Sahi has its own script language. You can also integrate your test scripts with continuous integration tools. It is an old and mature automation testing tool. While evaluating Cypress, you can try for Sahi Pro.
Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is a test automation framework for Web Testing, API Testing, Mobile Testing and Desktop App Testing and it is built on top of Selenium and provides comprehensive test reporting. Katalon has in-built wrappers which perform Web UI actions. You can also write your own custom keyword using Groovy scripting. It has AI-Powered XPath location mechanism. If you have only manual testers and want to reap quick benefits from automation testing then go for Katalon Studio. Building a strong automation testing team may delay the benefits, however, it ensures the test automation success with any dependencies.
In Conclusion
As a test automation services company, we use various automation testing tools. Tool selection is an important step before commencing automation test scripting. We hope this article gives some insights about some popular Web Application Automation Testing Tools. Contact us for your automation testing needs.
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