In the era of cloud computing, we have seen a surge in on-demand services for automation. It all started with providing infrastructure to test mobile and web applications on different browsers, OS, and mobile devices. Cloud testing allows you to perform web and mobile application testing on different environments without setting up any dedicated device labs, emulators, or virtual machines.
Cloud-Based Automation Tools - Key Benefits
- Less setup cost and hassle
- 24/7 support
- Simplified infrastructure
- Highly scalable
- Reduced debugging time to setup test environment
- Enhanced team efficiency
- Reduced resource infrastructure management cost
Why Cloud-Based Automation Tools?
Cloud-based automation tools are built with extended capabilities. They support Windows, MAC, and Linux OS. Their community of developers regularly share add-ons for Web, Mobile, and API testing.
TestProject is built on Selenium and Appium with extended capabilities. It supports Windows, MAC, and Linux OS. Its community of developers regularly shares add-ons for Web, Mobile, and API testing which can be installed without any cost.
Following is a brief comparison of cloud-based automation tool with traditional automation tools like Selenium and Appium.
| Cloud-Based Tools (TestProject) | Traditional Tools (Selenium and Appium) |
|---|---|
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Less initial setup time and cost.
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Initial setup time and cost is high.
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No need for local infrastructure setup.
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Need to work on the local infrastructure setup.
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Support for iOS on Windows. Has the ability to run iOS tests on the Windows OS.
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In Appium, XCode and Mac is required for iOS automation.
|
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Has a dedicated plugin for Jenkins to execute advanced CI/CD pipeline configurations.
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Engineers need to learn about CI/CD configuration and troubleshooting.
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Installation is not necessary - you can create scripts on cloud platforms and execute on local machines via agent.
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Installation required for creating and executing test scripts.
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No separate code editor required. Mostly cloud-based tools have an inbuilt editor and engineers can work on a project using internal code repo.
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Separate code editor like Eclipse, code repo like Git and CI tool is required for scheduling.
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Has built in framework and has its own reporting dashboard, ability to schedule report, screenshot wrappers, and logs mechanism.
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Need to develop framework with automation capabilities, enable multiple browser support, reporting, scheduling, CI tools integration, screenshots, and logs. Code editor like Eclipse, code repo like Git and CI tool is required for scheduling.
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In an effort to understand more about cloud automation tools, we have evaluated TestProject and below are our observations on some of its pros & cons.
Pros & Cons
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Pros
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- Record scripts using a recording studio and convert into Java and C#
- Find add-ons developed by community
- Own reporting dashboard to track multiple jobs in runtime
- Displays progress as per different agents and platforms
- Create and import scripts for Web, Mobile, and API tests
- Supports Jenkins, BrowserStack, Slack, Jira, Qtest, and Sauce Labs
- Hosting by AWS S3, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, and JWT for authentication
- Data is transferred via an SSL-encrypted connection
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Cons
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- Cannot record and run scripts offline
- Does not support Git and VCS repo
- Cannot export the complete framework but only a single test script
- Supports only real iOS devices and no simulators
- Supports only Java and C#
| Tips And Tricks |
|---|
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Perform parallel execution by installing multiple TestProject agents on a machine that will act as a virtual VM
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TestProject has its own Restful API through which you can schedule, trigger, get job status, and get testing results without accessing the web app
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Integrate CI/CD workflows with DevOps tools like Slack and Jenkins
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You can execute tests on Sauce Labs and BrowserStack Labs with the help of both Local and Virtual TestProject agents
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