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If you're seeking in-depth information on test automation frameworks, this blog is tailored for you. It provides valuable insights into the key components of test automation frameworks, their significance in streamlining testing processes, and practical tips for selecting the most suitable framework for your specific needs. By the end, you'll have a comprehensive understanding to make informed decisions for your test automation strategy.
What is a Test Automation Framework?
A test automation framework consists of a set of guidelines, tools, and practices created to automate the software testing process. It offers a structured way to write, organize and execute test scripts, ensuring consistency, maintainability, reusability, and efficiency.
Types of Test Automation Frameworks
Typically, there are six types of test automation frameworks, each with its own unique architecture, advantages, and disadvantages. These frameworks are detailed below:
Linear Test Automation Framework
Also referred to as a record-and-playback framework, a linear test automation framework requires you to record every process step manually such as navigation, user input, or checkpoints. These steps are then played back automatically to conduct the test.
The advantages of a linear automation framework are:
- It does not rely on automation expertise and might be a simple way to record a script.
- Recording can be done in a minimal amount of time and test scripts can be generated accordingly.
- You don’t need to plan extensively with this automation testing framework.
The downside of this testing framework is that test scripts aren’t reusable, and the test cases cannot be re-run with multiple sets.
Modular Based Testing Framework
In a modular testing framework, you need to divide the application under the test into separate units, functions, or sections. You would have to create separate scripts for every module and collaborate with them to generate the best results from the automation test.
The main advantage of this framework is that if a change is made to the application, only the module and associated test scripts will need to be fixed.
The downside of this automation testing framework is that programming knowledge is required to set up the framework.
Library Architecture Testing Framework
The library architecture testing framework is similar to the modular framework but offers additional benefits. Here, the application is divided on the grounds of commonality of functions. A library is created which archives all the functions and tests, which can then be called upon when required.
The library architecture testing framework provides easy and cost-effective maintenance, along with significant scalability. It is highly reusable, making it an efficient choice for optimizing test automation processes.
The limitations of this framework are
- You need technical expertise to write test scripts.
- As new libraries are introduced, you might find this framework a bit complex.
- You need to invest more time in planning and preparing test scripts.
- When you modify anything in the test data, you must change the same in the test script as well.
Data-Driven Framework
In a data driven framework, the test script logic gets separated from test data. It means that data can be stored externally in resources like MS Excel sheets, XML files, SQL database, etc. Here, parameterization of test scripts is done to run them with various input data sets.
The main advantages of data driven framework are
- Enhances test coverage by executing tests with various data sets.
- Eliminates the need for hard-coding data, ensuring that changes to test scripts or data remain independent of each other.
The limitations of this automated testing framework are
- You’ll need highly experienced test automation engineers with proficiencies in various programming languages to properly utilize this framework design.
- Setting up this testing framework requires a significant amount of time.
- It requires careful management of test data sources and may involve initial setup complexity.
Keyword-Driven Framework
Also referred to as a table-driven testing framework, this approach is ideal for small-scale projects or applications. In this framework, each function of the application under test is organized in a table, with a sequence of instructions defined for each test to be executed. The keywords are stored in an external data table, ensuring they remain independent of the automated testing tool used for execution.
Advantages of Keyword Driven Test Automation Frameworks
- You don’t need to be an expert in multiple programming languages to use this.
- Once the libraries are ready, it becomes very easy to write the actual test script steps in excel sheets.
- High reusability as keywords can be reused across multiple test cases.
- It offers greater flexibility with respect to test scripts maintenance and fixing of bugs.
The main limitations of keyword driven testing framework are
- The initial cost of setting up the framework is high.
- Keywords need to be defined, and the object repositories / libraries need to be set up.
- Experienced test automation engineer is required
- Keywords can be a hassle to maintain when scaling a test operation. Building up repositories and keyword tables will be a continuous process.
Hybrid Test Automation Framework
A hybrid testing framework includes the strengths of the different frameworks while minimizing their limitations. The advantages of hybrid test automation frameworks are
- They offer advantages of the different related frameworks.
- They provide flexibility. These frameworks are independent of the system or environment under test.
- They allow reusing test cases and library functions.
- They improve testing efficiency due to higher code reusability.
Disadvantages
- You must have a clear understanding of combining various frameworks.
- Tests are entirely script-based so you need to invest more effort in automation.
Key Advantages of Test Automation Frameworks
- By enabling reusability of test scenarios, components, and codes, test automation frameworks improve efficiency.
- By automating repetitive steps in testing during the software development lifecycle, test automation frameworks minimize manual effort, enabling the team to focus their time and energy on more productive tasks.
- They overcome the limitations of manual testing. By speeding up the testing process, improving test coverage and minimizing maintenance costs, they significantly contribute towards productivity.
How to Select a Test Automation Framework
Criteria for selecting from the best test automation frameworks are
- The test automation framework should be user-friendly. It means that both developers and testers can create automated test scripts without needing in-depth knowledge of programming. Developers can handle script-based testing frameworks; however, business users face difficulties in test development as they are non-technical folks. So, a framework that doesn’t require programming knowledge can be a great asset.
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- Your testing framework should support various technologies and platforms, whether you’re testing web applications, mobile apps, or embedded systems. It also supports parallel testing and integrates with CI CD tools.
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- A good testing framework makes it easy to maintain and update your test scripts as your software changes.
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