<s>
In	O
software	O
testing	O
,	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
is	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
software	O
separate	O
from	O
the	O
software	O
being	O
tested	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
execution	O
of	O
tests	O
and	O
the	O
comparison	O
of	O
actual	O
outcomes	O
with	O
predicted	O
outcomes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
can	O
automate	O
some	O
repetitive	O
but	O
necessary	O
tasks	O
in	O
a	O
formalized	O
testing	O
process	O
already	O
in	O
place	O
,	O
or	O
perform	O
additional	O
testing	O
that	O
would	O
be	O
difficult	O
to	O
do	O
manually	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
is	O
critical	O
for	O
continuous	O
delivery	O
and	O
continuous	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
approaches	O
to	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
,	O
however	O
below	O
are	O
the	O
general	O
approaches	O
used	O
widely	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
testing	O
framework	B-Architecture
that	O
generates	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
events	O
such	O
as	O
keystrokes	O
and	O
mouse	O
clicks	O
,	O
and	O
observes	O
the	O
changes	O
that	O
result	O
in	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
to	O
validate	O
that	O
the	O
observable	O
behavior	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
is	O
correct	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-General_Concept
driven	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
testing	O
framework	B-Architecture
that	O
uses	O
a	O
programming	O
interface	O
to	O
the	O
application	O
to	O
validate	O
the	O
behaviour	O
under	O
test	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typically	O
API	B-General_Concept
driven	O
testing	O
bypasses	O
application	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
model-based	O
approach	O
enables	O
non-technical	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
automated	O
business	O
test	O
cases	O
in	O
plain	O
English	O
so	O
that	O
no	O
programming	O
of	O
any	O
kind	O
is	O
needed	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
configure	O
them	O
for	O
multiple	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
browsers	O
,	O
and	O
smart	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
multi-vocal	O
literature	O
review	O
of	O
52	O
practitioner	O
and	O
26	O
academic	O
sources	O
found	O
that	O
five	O
main	O
factors	O
to	O
consider	O
in	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
decision	O
are	O
:	O
1	O
)	O
System	O
Under	O
Test	O
(	O
SUT	O
)	O
,	O
2	O
)	O
the	O
types	O
and	O
numbers	O
of	O
tests	O
,	O
3	O
)	O
test-tool	O
,	O
4	O
)	O
human	O
and	O
organizational	O
topics	O
,	O
and	O
5	O
)	O
cross-cutting	O
factors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
growing	O
trend	O
in	O
software	O
development	O
is	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
unit	O
testing	O
frameworks	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
xUnit	B-Library
frameworks	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
JUnit	B-Language
and	O
NUnit	B-Application
)	O
that	O
allow	O
the	O
execution	O
of	O
unit	O
tests	O
to	O
determine	O
whether	O
various	O
sections	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
are	O
acting	O
as	O
expected	O
under	O
various	O
circumstances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
,	O
mostly	O
using	O
unit	O
testing	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
key	O
feature	O
of	O
extreme	O
programming	O
and	O
agile	O
software	O
development	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
known	O
as	O
test-driven	O
development	O
(	O
TDD	O
)	O
or	O
test-first	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
offers	O
a	O
possibility	O
to	O
perform	O
these	O
types	O
of	O
testing	O
effectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
automated	B-Application
tests	I-Application
have	O
been	O
developed	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
run	O
quickly	O
and	O
repeatedly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
reusability	O
of	O
automated	B-Application
tests	I-Application
is	O
valued	O
by	O
software	O
development	O
companies	O
,	O
this	O
property	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
a	O
disadvantage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
ambiguity	O
once	O
again	O
leads	O
to	O
the	O
conclusion	O
that	O
the	O
decision	O
on	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
should	O
be	O
made	O
individually	O
,	O
keeping	O
in	O
mind	O
project	O
requirements	O
and	O
peculiarities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
tools	O
can	O
be	O
expensive	O
and	O
are	O
usually	O
employed	O
in	O
combination	O
with	O
manual	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
can	O
be	O
made	O
cost-effective	O
in	O
the	O
long	O
term	O
,	O
especially	O
when	O
used	O
repeatedly	O
in	O
regression	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
good	O
candidate	O
for	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
is	O
a	O
test	O
case	O
for	O
common	O
flow	O
of	O
an	O
application	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
required	O
to	O
be	O
executed	O
(	O
regression	O
testing	O
)	O
every	O
time	O
an	O
enhancement	O
is	O
made	O
in	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
reduces	O
the	O
effort	O
associated	O
with	O
manual	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
automated	B-Application
testing	I-Application
,	O
the	O
test	O
engineer	O
or	O
software	O
quality	O
assurance	O
person	O
must	O
have	O
software	O
coding	O
ability	O
since	O
the	O
test	O
cases	O
are	O
written	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
source	O
code	O
which	O
when	O
run	O
produce	O
output	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
assertions	O
that	O
are	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
tools	O
allow	O
for	O
test	O
authoring	O
to	O
be	O
done	O
by	O
keywords	O
instead	O
of	O
coding	O
,	O
which	O
do	O
not	O
require	O
programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-General_Concept
testing	O
is	O
also	O
being	O
widely	O
used	O
by	O
software	O
testers	O
as	O
it	O
enables	O
them	O
to	O
verify	O
requirements	O
independent	O
of	O
their	O
GUI	B-Application
implementation	O
,	O
commonly	O
to	O
test	O
them	O
earlier	O
in	O
development	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
make	O
sure	O
the	O
test	O
itself	O
adheres	O
to	O
clean	O
code	O
principles	O
,	O
especially	O
the	O
single	O
responsibility	O
principle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
involves	O
directly	O
testing	O
APIs	B-General_Concept
as	O
part	O
of	O
integration	O
testing	O
,	O
to	O
determine	O
if	O
they	O
meet	O
expectations	O
for	O
functionality	O
,	O
reliability	O
,	O
performance	O
,	O
and	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
APIs	B-General_Concept
lack	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
,	O
API	B-General_Concept
testing	O
is	O
performed	O
at	O
the	O
message	O
layer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
API	B-General_Concept
testing	O
is	O
considered	O
critical	O
when	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
serves	O
as	O
the	O
primary	O
interface	O
to	O
application	B-Architecture
logic	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Continuous	O
testing	O
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
executing	O
automated	B-Application
tests	I-Application
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
delivery	O
pipeline	O
to	O
obtain	O
immediate	O
feedback	O
on	O
the	O
business	O
risks	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
software	O
release	O
candidate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
tools	O
provide	O
record	O
and	O
playback	O
features	O
that	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
interactively	O
record	O
user	O
actions	O
and	O
replay	O
them	O
back	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
times	O
,	O
comparing	O
actual	O
results	O
to	O
those	O
expected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
approach	O
can	O
be	O
applied	O
to	O
any	O
application	O
that	O
has	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
such	O
a	O
framework	B-Architecture
utilizes	O
entirely	O
different	O
techniques	O
because	O
it	O
is	O
rendering	O
HTML	B-Language
and	O
listening	O
to	O
DOM	B-Application
Events	I-Application
instead	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
events	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Headless	B-Protocol
browsers	I-Protocol
or	O
solutions	O
based	O
on	O
Selenium	O
Web	O
Driver	O
are	O
normally	O
used	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
variation	O
of	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
tool	O
is	O
for	O
testing	O
mobile	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
very	O
useful	O
given	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
sizes	O
,	O
resolutions	O
,	O
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
used	O
on	O
mobile	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
variation	O
,	O
a	O
framework	B-Architecture
is	O
used	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
instantiate	O
actions	O
on	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
and	O
to	O
gather	O
results	O
of	O
the	O
actions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
variation	O
is	O
script-less	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
that	O
does	O
not	O
use	O
record	O
and	O
playback	O
,	O
but	O
instead	O
builds	O
a	O
model	O
of	O
the	O
application	O
and	O
then	O
enables	O
the	O
tester	O
to	O
create	O
test	O
cases	O
by	O
simply	O
inserting	O
test	O
parameters	O
and	O
conditions	O
,	O
which	O
requires	O
no	O
scripting	O
skills	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
strategy	O
to	O
decide	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
tests	O
to	O
automate	O
is	O
the	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
pyramid	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
layer	O
refers	O
to	O
testing	O
the	O
services	O
of	O
an	O
application	O
separately	O
from	O
its	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
these	O
services	O
are	O
anything	O
that	O
the	O
application	O
does	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
some	O
input	O
or	O
set	O
of	O
inputs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
top	O
level	O
we	O
have	O
UI	O
testing	O
which	O
has	O
fewer	O
tests	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
different	O
attributes	O
that	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
complex	O
to	O
run	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
the	O
fragility	O
of	O
the	O
tests	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
small	O
change	O
in	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
can	O
break	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
tests	O
and	O
adds	O
maintenance	O
effort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
testing	O
blog	O
,	O
unit	O
tests	O
should	O
make	O
up	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
your	O
testing	O
strategy	O
,	O
with	O
fewer	O
integration	O
tests	O
and	O
only	O
a	O
small	O
amount	O
of	O
end-to-end	O
tests	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
framework	B-Architecture
is	O
an	O
integrated	O
system	O
that	O
sets	O
the	O
rules	O
of	O
automation	O
of	O
a	O
specific	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
framework	B-Architecture
provides	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
and	O
simplifies	O
the	O
automation	O
effort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
advantage	O
of	O
a	O
framework	B-Architecture
of	O
assumptions	O
,	O
concepts	O
and	O
tools	O
that	O
provide	O
support	O
for	O
automated	B-Application
software	I-Application
testing	I-Application
is	O
the	O
low	O
cost	O
for	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Choosing	O
the	O
right	O
framework/scripting	O
technique	O
helps	O
in	O
maintaining	O
lower	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
approach	O
of	O
scripting	O
used	O
during	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
has	O
effect	O
on	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
framework/scripting	O
techniques	O
are	O
generally	O
used	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Testing	O
framework	B-Architecture
is	O
responsible	O
for	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
interfaces	I-Application
are	O
platforms	B-Device
that	O
provide	O
a	O
single	O
workspace	B-Application
for	O
incorporating	O
multiple	O
testing	B-Application
tools	I-Application
and	O
frameworks	O
for	O
System/Integration	O
testing	O
of	O
application	O
under	O
test	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
of	O
Test	B-Application
Automation	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
is	O
to	O
simplify	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
mapping	O
tests	O
to	O
business	O
criteria	O
without	O
coding	O
coming	O
in	O
the	O
way	O
of	O
the	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
interface	I-Application
are	O
expected	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
efficiency	O
and	O
flexibility	O
of	O
maintaining	O
test	O
scripts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Test	B-Application
Automation	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
the	O
following	O
core	O
modules	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Interface	O
engine	O
consists	O
of	O
a	O
parser	B-Language
and	O
a	O
test	O
runner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
parser	B-Language
is	O
present	O
to	O
parse	O
the	O
object	O
files	O
coming	O
from	O
the	O
object	O
repository	O
into	O
the	O
test	O
specific	O
scripting	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Object	O
repositories	O
are	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
UI/Application	O
object	O
data	O
recorded	O
by	O
the	O
testing	B-Application
tool	I-Application
while	O
exploring	O
the	O
application	O
under	O
test	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
an	O
automation	O
framework	B-Architecture
is	O
not	O
a	O
tool	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
specific	O
task	O
,	O
but	O
rather	O
infrastructure	O
that	O
provides	O
the	O
solution	O
where	O
different	O
tools	O
can	O
do	O
their	O
job	O
in	O
a	O
unified	O
manner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provides	O
a	O
common	O
platform	B-Device
for	O
the	O
automation	O
engineer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Testing	B-Application
tools	I-Application
can	O
help	O
automate	O
tasks	O
such	O
as	O
product	O
installation	O
,	O
test	O
data	O
creation	O
,	O
GUI	B-Application
interaction	O
,	O
problem	O
detection	O
(	O
consider	O
parsing	O
or	O
polling	O
agents	O
equipped	O
with	O
test	B-Application
oracles	I-Application
)	O
,	O
defect	O
logging	O
,	O
etc.	O
,	O
without	O
necessarily	O
automating	O
tests	O
in	O
an	O
end-to-end	O
fashion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
must	O
keep	O
satisfying	O
popular	O
requirements	O
when	O
thinking	O
of	O
test	B-Application
automation	I-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
Driver	O
(	O
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
Java	O
development	O
ecosystem	O
,	O
that	O
means	O
Ant	B-Application
or	O
Maven	B-Language
and	O
the	O
popular	O
IDEs	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enables	O
tests	O
to	O
integrate	O
with	O
the	O
developers	O
 '	O
workflows	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
