Software Testing Tools

Software Testing tools are key assets of a project that can improve productivity and software Quality. Automation and Software testing tools were considered as good to have in the past and are going to be a must have in near future. Automated testing tools are not always used for screen capture and playback, there are tools that are used for unit testing, to test protocols, to check code coverage etc., Automated testing is intended to reduce test execution effort, time and increase accuracy of validation. Automated software testing tools are used for one or more types of software testing, for e.g. a retesting, regression testing, performance testing, stress testing, soak testing etc.,. Most of the automation test tools provide option to generate script by recording and allowing the generated scripts to be edited or parameterized.

Software testing tools are used to provide results, speed up test execution, increase testing team productivity and enhance product quality; even if one of these objectives are not met then implementation of automation test tool does not make any sense. Choosing a Software testing tool from a long software testing tools list might seem to be difficult but it is simple when decision maker clearly understands priorities of the project correctly. First and foremost question comes to mind is, why buy a commercial automated testing tool when there are software testing tools list in the market? Why spend money when there are free software testing tools? Most of the managers and decision makers get carried away with the cost of the tool without considering other project constraints like time and resources. Success of implementing software testing tool depends on various factors like ease of scripting, training provided to testers, test cases to be automated are detailed and prioritized, test automation framework used, configuration management used to maintain script versioning, adequate time is provided for test automation and trial run for the scripts.

Implementing software test automation has additional benefits; test automation is a motivation for testing team, as test automation provides an opportunity to learn software testing tool, scripting and implementation of test automation speeds up their test execution. Some of the automated test tools even produce bug reports, thereby reducing the effort required in logging bugs where in testers can spend this time in finding more bugs or they can come up with more test cases and automate the same.

Also leadership team have false notion about test automation, like test automation is easy and quick, automation does not cost much time or effort, once test automation is completed there is little or no script maintenance required, once test automation is completed then manual testing is no longer required, 100% test automation for is achievable etc., It is the duty of the Project manager to educate leadership and make them understand about any false notions or assumptions regarding software test automation or software testing tools.

There are different types of software testing tools based on the type of software testing they are used for. Each types of software testing tool can be used for automating one or more related software testing types. For e.g. GUI testing tool can be used for functional testing and browsers compatibility testing, smoke testing, regression testing and so on. Similarly, load test tool can be used for load, stress and soak testing. Below is how software testing tools can be categorized

- GUI test tools Or Functional test tools
- Performance testing tools
- Unit test tools
- Code coverage

Automated software testing tools can be broadly categorized as commercial testing tools, open source testing tools or in-house testing tools. There are pros and cons to each of the testing tools (commercial , in-house, open source testing tools. However, choice of the tool depends on technology, budget, and duration available for testing and stakeholder or sometimes client approvals in case of service based companies when client is bearing the cost of the Software Testing tool.

Pros of using Commercial software testing tools: Commercial test tools are easy to use, takes less time to script, have support when required

Cons of using Commercial software testing tools: Commercial test tools are usually expensive, need to play for plug-in and need to upgrade as and when newer versions of the automation tools are released to market.

Pros of using open source testing tools: Free to use, free to modify or enhance and distribute

Cons of using open source testing tools: takes time to learn, hard to script, does not support variety of platforms, no dedicated support.

Pros of using in-house testing tools: No licensing cost, can be used as unlimited licenses, commercial or open source software testing tools are not available for specific OS or technology.

Cons of using in-house testing tools: Development effort in terms of $ and time, tool developed has to be tested again testing effort.

Good automation test tools are quick to learn, supports different environments like different Operating systems and Browsers or technology (like VB, .Net or SAP), scripts are easy to maintain, cost effective or no cost in case of open source test tools.

Designing right Test automation framework is equally important as the choice of a software testing tool. A good Test automation framework will reduce time required for software test automation and would lessen time required for test script maintenance. There are different Test Automation frameworks like Linear test automation framework, Data driven test automation framework, Keyword driven test automation framework and Hybrid test automation framework which is a combination of both Data driven and Keyword driven test automation frameworks.

Please go through the below software testing tools list (both GUI test tools and load test tools). Only the popular and most commonly used commercial and open source software testing tools are listed below.

GUI Testing Tools / Function Test automation tools

Load testing tools

Guest post on Software testing tools contributed by Rahul Tripati. Rahul is a test engineer working for a reputed software MNC at Mumbai. Thanks Rahul for the article, hope you will write more for our readers.

Other Interesting Articles:

• QTP interview questions
• What is Performance Testing ?
• QTP Test 2
• QTP test 1
• Components of LoadRunner

Share this article with friends and colleague if you like it OR Share it with your boss if you got bored :-)

•