Software testing forms a crucial part of software development. It ensures the development of the software/application by testing its overall functionality. This ensures that the software/application is of good quality and standard. Most testers have switched from manual testing processes to automated testing tools due to the time and cost constraints.
Software testing tools provide comprehensive solutions for QA service needs by aiding to organize the test cases, execute tests, collect the test results, and consolidating those tests to determine software/application quality. They also aid the software development company to determine the quality of their software/application creation and enhancement projects.
Development teams use software testing tools to analyze the functionality, performance, security, and compatibility of their software. Software testing tools support more than one testing operation/function be it test analysis, planning the requirement, test execution, building the test, defect logging, analysis of the tests or even monitoring the entire process. Some of the monitoring approaches include tools that do tasks like error tracking, project management, decoding, test automation.
The following are the criteria for a good software testing tool:
- Availability of different testing options (Agile/ waterfall)
- Bugging & debugging
- Allow different types of testing (performance, functionality, compatibility & security)
- Drafting Reports and metrics on tests
- Integration with third-party software development solutions.
Let’s have a look at the software testing tools that satisfy the above-mentioned criteria to justify that they are among the top 10 software testing tools in the industry in the year 2020.
SELENIUM
The most popular and efficient test automation tool- Selenium is a testing framework to perform web application testing across various platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) and browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Explorer). With selenium, you can come up with very powerful automation testing scripts that are scalable across different environments. It is highly compatible with many programming languages and automation testing frameworks.
APPIUM
Another popular mobile open-source test automation tool for iOS and Android, hybrid and mobile web-apps is Appium. It is the best choice for the test automation system since it can be used in all types of apps/web. It is highly customizable and can be used as per requirements. It can run on any programming language and supports any testing framework.
EGGPLANT
Eggplant is a licensed tool developed by TestPlant, used primarily for application testing and mobile GUI testing. It is a combination of eggplant Functional and eggOn. This software works on an image-based approach component that enables complete testing on iOS, Android, and Windows. It can work on all major platforms such as Web, mobile, and POS systems.
AUTOMATION ANYWHERE
Automation anywhere tool is another important testing tool that offers cross-platform support on desktop, mobile, and web users. It can convert the scripts into load scripts for analytics and machine learning using RPA technology. It offers easy conversion through automation. It is also cost-efficient and has a TestLab to control the testing devices.
APACHE JMETER
The Apache JMeter is an open-source desktop application that works on Java codes, used for load testing. Its architecture is centered around plugins that help it to be run on various platforms and languages. It supports different types of applications, servers, and protocols like SOAP, TCP, Web, Mail protocols, Java objects, and shell scripts. It has a powerful Test IDE, command line mode. This tool can perform functions like dynamic reporting and multithreading.
UFT- UNIFIED FUNCTIONAL TEST
The UFT is an automation tool that works on cross-platforms. It offers functional validation and augmented regression for software applications. It is suitable across desktops, computers, cloud, SAP, oracle, java, net, visual basic, and other languages. It also has a few features which include business process testing, XML support, key-word driven framework, robust checkpoints, and others.
RATIONAL FUNCTIONAL TESTER
The Rational Functional Tester by IBM uses a data-driven testing system to automate the regression and functional testing. It offers integrated support with many platforms and coding languages. It also provides dependable tools that include text scripting, visual editing, early data detection, and so on. Test scripting and Storyboard testing can be done using this tool. It supports applications, such as .Net, Java, SAP, web-based, Siebel, PowerBuilder, Adobe Flex, Dojo Toolkit, GEF, Adobe PDF documents, and many more.
BLAZE METER
The Blaze meter is an open-source tool that runs on AWS based tests that can conduct performance tests. They are highly scalable and customizable since they are compatible with Apache JMeter and also offers a real-time reporting bonus. It can perform additional functions such as mobile capture, stimulation of network conditions and also allows the developers to create performance tests as per requirement.
SILK PERFORMER
The silk performer by MicroFocus is a cost-effective tool for testing the performance of applications. It can perform load tests, service-level tests, and even performance tests based on software requirements. It can be deployed on the cloud which makes it an advantage to simulate loads without initial investment and operational costs. It provides an authenticated real-time experience for its users by transactions, monitoring, and tracking the performance of the application/ software.
REDMINE
Redmine is an advanced software testing tool that can track defects swiftly. It is an open-source testing tool that can run on any machine. It offers performance on multiple databases and provides a flexible tracking system. It can be scaled and customized as per the requirement of the software test.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SOFTWARE TESTING TOOL?
The following are the steps incurred in the implementation of tools for software testing:
- Analysis- The problem needs to be carefully identified. After identification, the weaknesses and threats that might come up due to the problem need to be analyzed.
- Planning- The testing needs to be planned based on the requirement and available resources such as budget, time, and infrastructure.
- Evaluation- The available options to fix the problem in the software/ application need to be discussed and shortlisted based on the requirements.
- Development- The pros and cons of selecting and implementing a software tool need to be noted. This is referred to as the Proof of Concept.
- Execution- The execution stage can be done once a pilot project is conducted before implementing the tool across the entire system. Once the results are as expected, the tool can be implemented across the organization to meet its software testing needs.
Wind Up
There are many Software testing tools available in the market. There is no best software testing tool. Each tool is unique and offers a specific set of advantages.
Choosing the best tool for your software testing needs can be achieved by listing down the availability of resources and criteria that are necessary for the kind of testing that is to be performed on the software/application.
