Manual testing to automatic testing A formal training programme for testers at Bands 3 to 7

1.2.2 Select Suitable Test Automation Tools For a Given System Under Test

Part of 1 Introduction and Objectives for Test Automation, 1.2 Test Automation in the Software Development Lifecycle.

Learning objective: TAE-1.2.2 (K2).

In short

Choose tools by first analysing the system under test and the project's requirements, then the team's skills, and always the cost.

Key ideas

  1. Analyse the SUT first. Identify the project requirements that will be the baseline for choosing tools. A web user interface and a web service need different tool features, so understand what the project wants to achieve over time.
  2. Consider cost. You can use as many tools as you like, but every one costs something. Choosing between a commercial off-the-shelf tool and a custom solution built on open-source parts can be complex.
  3. Consider the team. If testers have little or no programming experience, a low-code or no-code tool may be the right choice.
  4. Match the language. For technical testers, a tool in the same language as the SUT helps: developers can help debug test code, and people can cross-train between teams.

In this programme

The programme's own choice is a worked example: JavaScript, Selenium, and Mocha (Decision 1 in the decision log). The web products the teams test are built with JavaScript, Selenium is open source and standard, and the basics modules teach the language first, so the team can grow into a coded solution rather than a recorder.

Teach it (30 minutes)

Give pairs a short description of two systems: a patient-facing web booking site, and a FHIR API with no user interface. Ask them to list three requirements for a tool for each, and say whether the same tool could serve both.

Check yourself

  1. What should you analyse before you choose a tool?
  2. When is a low-code or no-code tool a sensible choice?
  3. Why does it help to choose a tool in the same language as the SUT?

Previous: 1.2.1 Explain How Test Automation is Applied Across Different Software Development Lifecycle Models · Contents · Next: 2 Preparing for Test Automation

Based on the ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Automation Engineering (CTAL-TAE) syllabus, version 2.0, section 1.2.2. The syllabus is © International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB®); ISTQB® is a registered trademark of the ISTQB. Copyright © 2024 the authors of the syllabus: Andrew Pollner (Chair), Péter Földházi, Patrick Quilter, Gergely Ágnecz, and László Szikszai. This page explains its concepts in our own words, for teaching, and is not an accredited course or a substitute for the syllabus.

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