In software development, UI testing is one of the most critical tasks, which assures that the applications are operative and are not complex.
To expand, manual testing of UI can take so much time and may be prone to errors and completely ineffective because of the complexity that comes with the applications.
It is here that automated UI testing comes into the picture.
With the help of these tools, organizations can increase productivity in testing, gain higher accuracies, and cover wider angles of the testing.
In this article, I will explain the core advantages of using automated UI testing within the software development cycle.
The Benefits of Employing Automated UI Testing
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Increased Testing Efficiency
Automated UI testing is highly effective in reducing the testing time because test cases can be executed more efficiently than in the manually tested way.
You can automate the tests meaning that the tests can be run without supervision and can be scheduled to run at any time and on any day.
This cuts down on the time required to complete activities for which tight project schedules often have to be set and also facilitates faster cycles of software release.
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Improving the Accuracy and Reliability of the Test
Manual testing is very prone to human error whereby the results yielded are usually inconsistent or even incorrect.
UI automation testing tools perform tests with a great level of accuracy as compared to manual testing and integrate the same test in the same manner repeatedly.
It reduces the variation caused by human testers who may take a longer time to test the software and give inconsistent results.
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Improved Test Coverage
Automating the UI test increases the capability to achieve test coverage by as many test cases as one can run through at a go.
This capability also implies that more facets of the UI are covered during testing, including different user operations, inputs, etc., and various other peculiarities.
Automated testing is useful when compared to elementary manual testing because different scenarios and possible problems may not appear when testing manually.
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Early Detection of Defects
Automated UI testing helps with having a constant testing cycle as it greatly assists in testing during the whole development process and identifying potential problems.
Implementing a plan at the time of its formation eliminates any issue that may occur in future stages thus saving costs and time.
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Reusability of Test Scripts
This is one of the most special features of UI automation testing tools, specifically the reusability of the test scripts. In this way, we can mention that test scripts can be used in subsequent test cycles and other projects to save time.
Automated test scripts are used to provide replicability in testing practices and can be fine-tuned and revised when changes regarding the application are made.
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Scalability
When it comes to software development, testing is a process that has to expand as the projects evolve and add layers of intricacy.
These tools are developed for large-scale testing; hence they are suitable for a small project.
These tools help get the right scale of testing no matter whether the tested application is a basic web application or an advanced enterprise system.
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Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) support
In the existing methods of creating software, CI/CD helps to provide the end consumers with the best solutions in the shortest possible time.
CI/CD makes automated UI testing discharge as it supports the incorporation of testing at all development phases.
This integration entails that any code change is tested before it is released to the production system so that it does not introduce additional blunders into the system.
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Improved User Experience
Finally, the objective of testing the user interface is to have a clearance on the fact that the user interface would be a friendly one.
This is made possible through Automated UI testing because it involves testing an application interface at different times enabling the developer to determine how the interface will behave.
The UI that has been vigorously tested helps enhance user satisfaction and does not include common complaints that users pass on to the developers.
Most Used Automation UI Testing Frameworks
If an organization wants to embrace the benefits of automated UI testing, then it can opt for the various UI automation testing tools in the market. Here is a list of some popular tools:
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Selenium
Selenium is an Automatic Website Testing Tool that is also an open-source tool. The supported operating systems are multiple, including programming languages and browsers, which makes it suitable for web application testing.
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Cypress
Cypress is a new-generation end-to-end tool specially developed for testing web applications. It has the features of speed with real-time testing, reload, and debug options.
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Appium
Appium, therefore, is an open-source tool that is specifically used for mobile application testing. It allows the testing of applications that have been developed on both iOS as well as Android operating systems and it is possible to use a single API when testing.
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TestComplete
TestComplete can be categorized as a UI testing tool that is applicable for web, mobile, as well as desktop applications. It has a great record and playback mechanism and supports many scripting languages.
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Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is a comprehensive tool used in the automation of web, mobile, and API testing. However, it gives an elegant front end and sturdy tools for effective testing with little implementation of automated tests.
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Ranorex
Ranorex is an advanced system for graphically testing web, mobile, and most types of PC applications. It provides codeless automation and enables the execution of several programming languages.
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Protractor
Protractor is an end-to-end test framework that allows testers to test Angular applications It is built on Selenium to offer very smooth testing of features distinctive to Angular.
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UFT (Unified Functional Testing)
UFT is one of the commercial tools known formerly as Quick Test Pro which can be used for functional and regression testing. It supports everything from web, mobile, and even desktop applications and is available under different technologies.
Conclusion
Automated UI testing is the way that gives several advantages necessary for augmenting the effective, precise, and considerable testing scope.
UI automation testing supplements CI/CD practices and extensive testing to guarantee that the end-users receive high-quality applications.