A framework is composed of a sequence of tools and applications that are intended to improve the test efficiency for QA professionals. The testing frameworks are a vital part of every successful automated testing process. They decrease maintenance expenses and testing trials and will implement a higher ROI for analysis teams looking to optimize their development processes.
Below are the key benefits of creating an automation framework:
Before writing the framework, people should understand the test automation’s basic requirements and flows. This requirement is significant because it can prevent designers from designing a defective architecture for the framework.
The test automation framework should be,
Here is a list of things to be considered while designing a framework.
Writing a wrapper method is one of the genuine solutions for extending the library features. An example of extending the wrapper method is to allow better logging capabilities and handling the errors well in Selenium.
For example, the click() method in selenium can be extended as:
11. return False
While running the test cases; activity information has to be logged into the file. This added information can be used as a reference for future audits and test runs. Therefore, the logging framework needs to be implemented and customized for this requirement. The popular logging framework for java is log4j and python is Custom logger.
Choosing the right design pattern is important and it provides the best practices for creating the test framework. It speeds up the test case development and helps to prevent minor issues that can cause major problems and therefore improves code readability. The most popular design pattern for creating a selenium automation framework is the Page Object Model (POM), it separates UI operations from the functionality and makes the code clean.
There are many advantages of using the Page Object Model that includes,
Always separating the Test script logic from the automation framework is recommended. It increases code readability and makes the code readable.
Always defining the folder structure makes the code readable and makes it easy to understand. The folder can be structured as below,
The most important principle in framework design is the separation of concerns. Therefore creating an additional layer for web services, API, databases and UI in the framework will avoid the clutter. Sometimes the testing design pattern may not cover the extra layer in framework architecture; thus, it is good to create one more layer. The best example is separation Soap UI with selenium web driver integration.
Continuous Integration is a development practice that integrates with a build automation tool like Maven to ensure whether the software is running without any breaks after making a commit decision.
Nowadays, the test automation framework has become an integral component of a software testing life cycle for all businesses. At ThinkPalm, we deliver high standards of software testing, our Test Automation services offer a high range of functional testing solutions that ensure prompt and constant performance.