When testing software functionality and reliability, developers can save time by using test automation frameworks. Through the automation of tedious and repetitive tasks such as testing menu behavior and login flows, these frameworks help find problems early in the development process, greatly improving the final product’s quality.
There are many different test automation frameworks available on the market right now, each with advantages and disadvantages. This roundup examines seven well-known test automation frameworks and rates them according to cross-browser compatibility, community support, and overall popularity.
After reading this post, you’ll know more about which framework is most suitable for you. Let’s dive in.
2024’s Most Popular Test Automation Frameworks
If your engineering team is looking for ways to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the testing process, you can’t afford to ignore test automation frameworks. On top of all, today test automation services around the world are extensively using these frameworks for delivering the best results for their customers. Together, these seven frameworks should provide you with a comprehensive overview of the state of the industry, each with its own set of advantages, disadvantages, and market share.
1. Robot Framework
If you want to use a Python test automation framework for your efforts, Robot Framework is the best option. Although the Robot Framework is based on Python, Jython (Java) or IronPython (.NET) can also be used. The Robot Framework makes creating tests simple by using a keyword-driven methodology. Moreover, Robot Framework is also capable of testing Appium, Android, FTP, MongoDB, and more. Along with other helpful tools, it contains numerous test libraries, such as the Selenium WebDriver library. To help it be as extensible as possible, it has numerous APIs. For testers accustomed to using vendor-based, keyword-driven test tools, Robot Framework’s keyword approach makes the switch to open source considerably simpler.
2. WebdriverIO
WebdriverIO is a Node.js-based framework for automated testing. You can run automation tests for both native mobile apps and web applications with its built-in test runner. It is also effective for Chromium-based automation as well as Selenium Webdriver-based cross-browser testing since it can run on both the WebDriver and Chrome Devtools protocols. You get a ton of plugins for your automation needs with WebDriverIO because it’s open-source. The “Wdio setup wizard” simplifies and eases the setup process.
3. Citrus
Citrus is an open-source framework for automating integration tests across any messaging protocol or data format. For test messaging integration, Citrus framework is appropriate for any type of messaging transport, including REST, HTTP, SOAP, and JMS. Citrus and Selenium can be integrated if you need to interact with a UI and then validate a back-end procedure. Citrus can receive this email or the JMS communication initiated by the UI, verify the back-end results, and validate the email sent, for example, all in one test. However, Citrus cannot verify the email sent and the back-end results cannot verify the email received.
4. Cypress
Developers may now implement test-driven development (TDD) with Cypress, a framework for developer-centric test automation. It was designed with the ability to package and bundle components in order to create a seamless and enjoyable end-to-end testing experience. Cypress is designed to operate inside the browser, unlike Selenium WebDriver, which operates remotely from outside the browser. By comprehending everything that occurs both inside and outside of the browser, this method helps to produce findings that are more reliable. You can access every item natively and you don’t have to worry about over-the-wire protocols or object serialization. As you’re pushing your app into the browser, Cypress can synchronously alert you of anything that occurs inside the browser, giving you native access to every DOM element. Additionally, it makes it simple to add a debugger to your application, which facilitates the use of developer tools.
5. Selenium
It’s one of the most widely used open-source web application test automation frameworks in the world. Because Selenium is cross-platform and cross-browser compatible, it also forms the foundation for many additional testing tools. Numerous programming languages, including Java, C#, PHP, Python, Ruby, and others, are supported by Selenium. Because it has one of the biggest online support networks, it is simple to maintain. With so many libraries and APIs available, Selenium is incredibly extensible to accommodate the needs and demands of all users. Testers like Selenium because it allows them to develop more complicated test scripts to match varying levels of complexity. It gives test authors a playback tool so they don’t have to learn a particular scripting language.
6. Cucumber
It is a cross-platform behavior driven development (BDD) tool for creating web application acceptance tests. Code reuse in tests is are easy with Cucumber, which is extremely quick to set up for execution. Languages like Python, PHP, Perl,.NET, Scala, Groovy, and so on are supported. Automation of functional validation in a format that is simple to read and comprehend. The fact that the specification and test documentation are posted as a single, current document is a useful feature. With test results written in clearly accessible business English, Cucumber makes it simple for business stakeholders who are not experienced with testing. The code can be combined with various frameworks such as Watir, Capybara, Selenium, and so on.
7. Gauge
It is a free and open-source test automation framework that works with Linux, Mac, and Windows. Work on TDD and BDD will benefit from Gauge’s emphasis on producing live, executable documentation. Specs: Within your current IDEs, such as Visual Studio and Eclipse, the Gauge automation tests are written in a markdown language with C#, Java, and Ruby. Gauge’s plugin support allows for additional functionality expansion. It was created as a framework for BYOT, or bring your own tools. Therefore, you can drive your UI or API tests using Selenium or any other tool. Try Gauge if you’re looking for a readable non-BDD automation solution.
In summary
There are many different frameworks available for test automation, and each has advantages and disadvantages of its own. This list, which you are reading, covers seven of the most widely used frameworks: Robot Framework, Citrus, Cypress, Selenium, Cucumber, WebdriverIO, and Gauge.
Remember to take your project’s particular requirements into account before choosing a test automation framework. Recognize the kind of application you need to test, the languages you like to use, and your team’s level of coding proficiency. After you have a firm understanding of these factors, assess the testing capabilities, community support, and compatibility of the frameworks with various application and environment versions.
- Which are the Most Popular Test Automation Frameworks in 2024? - September 27, 2024