Test Automation Frame works - Functional Testing

"We must always remember: our ultimate goal is to simplify and perpetuate a successful automation framework."

Do you know how to satisfy the above successful statement. If Yes, I still recommend you to read this article on Software Test Automation Frame works those are suitable for all functional test tools like QTP,Selenium,Silk Test ,Rational Etc.

To give you the glimpse on this article, I am re writing the summary that I extracted from this excellent article

In order to keep up with the pace of product development and delivery it is essential to implement an effective, reusable test automation framework.

We cannot expect the traditional capture/replay framework to fill this role for us. Past experience has shown that capture\replay tools alone will never provide the long-term automation successes that other more robust test automation strategies can.

A test strategy relying on data driven automation tool scripts is definitely the easiest and quickest to implement if you have and keep the technical staff to handle it. But it is the hardest of the data driven approaches to maintain and perpetuate and often leads to long-term failure.

The most effective test strategies allow us to develop our structured test designs in a format and vocabulary suitable for both manual and automated testing. This will enable testers to focus on effective test designs unencumbered by the technical details of the framework used to execute them, while technical automation experts implement and maintain a reusable automation framework independent of any application that will be tested by it.

A keyword driven automation framework is probably the hardest and potentially most time-consuming data driven approach to implement initially. However, this investment is mostly a one-shot deal. Once in place, keyword driven automation is arguably the easiest of the data driven frameworks to maintain and perpetuate providing the greatest potential for long-term success. There are also a few commercially available products maturing that may be suitable for your needs.

What we really want is a framework that can be both keyword driven while also providing enhanced functionality for data driven scripts. When we integrate these two approaches the results can be very impressive!

The essential guiding principles we should follow when developing our overall test strategy (or evaluating the test strategy of a tool we wish to consider):

• The test design and the test framework are totally separate entities.
• The test framework should be application-independent.
• The test framework must be easy to expand, maintain, and perpetuate.
• The test strategy/design vocabulary should be framework independent.
• The test strategy/design should isolate testers from the complexities of the test framework.

I also have some customized material on Frame works and tutorial on Selenium and QTP e-Books.

Please respond via comments if you need these books or if you have any questions on this article