We are operating in an era of automation everywhere. Nowadays, most organizations and people strive to minimize, speed up, and make their work efforts more efficient with the help of various tools. In today’s digital economy, software development teams can’t afford to rely on anything less than the best tools and the latest software development practices. This way, they can deliver quality software faster.
Why Use Software Testing Tools?
Data from the 9th edition of the World Quality Report shows that test automation is helping businesses speed up decision-making. Automated software testing provides developers with tools and methods to determine the quality of their software and what improvements are needed. It is a step ahead of manual testing, so it saves time and human effort to a greater extent. More importantly, it leaves no room for error in testing.
For instance, if you are developing an Android cleaner or Windows error solutions, software testing tools will help you assess whether your software performs properly, meet development team goal, is usable, and meet overall requirements.
One of the key features of software testing tools is integration with software development solutions and other software testing tools. For easier monitoring and analyzing of test activities and results, most solutions have some form of reporting and a dashboard. Some may even have pre-defined KPIs and metrics.
Best Tools for Software Testing
The increased demand for automation in the software testing industry has resulted in the emergence of numerous software testing tools, thus providing users with a plethora of choices. Taking into account this situation, we have compiled the best 5 tools for software testing.
1. Selenium
Apart from being one of the best open-source software testing tools, it is arguably the most popular one. Many consider it the industry standard for testing web applications. Selenium is a testing framework that can help you test applications across various browsers and platforms, such as macOS, Windows, and Linux.
This tool is popular and for a reason. For testers and developers who are experienced in scripting and programming, Selenium offers them the flexibility that is lacking in most software testing tools. Moreover, it is an open-source tool, so you don’t have to worry about upfront costs.
Selenium has evolved considerably since its first release in 2004. Currently, it has several components, including Selenium WebDriver and Selenium IDE. Selenium WebDriver helps testers develop applications that support dynamic web pages, while Selenium IDE is used primarily for generating quick bug reproduction scripts.
The tool is ideal for users who possess advanced programming skills. You will find this testing tool valuable if you can write tests in the following programming languages:
- PHP
- Java
- Python
- Ruby
- C#
- Perl
- Groovy
2. TestComplete
TestComplete is a functional software testing platform that offers different solutions to automate testing for web, desktop, and mobile applications. This test automation tool from SmartBear allows testers to use VBScript, JavaScript, Python, and C++ to write test scripts.
One of its unique features is that it has an object recognition engine that detects dynamic interface elements. For that reason, this tool is ideal for testing applications that have frequently changing user interfaces.
Just like Selenium, TestComplete is compatible with different platforms. Here is an overview of its key features:
- GUI testing
- Test visualizer
- Test recording and playback
- Scripted testing
3. Ranorex
Ranorex Studio is an all-in-one testing tool for web, desktop, and mobile applications. This tool is quite popular among beginners, thanks to its codeless click-and-go interface. It is also a robust tool for experts with a full IDE.
One good thing about this tool is that it can integrate with Selenium Grid to allow for distributed testing, on top of parallel test executions. Other than this, it also integrates with tools like TestRail, JIRA, Travis, Jenkins, CI, Git, and more. That is why over 4,000 organizations worldwide rely on Ranorex to test their applications.
4. Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio is a powerful, cross-platform automation solution for testing web, API, and mobile applications. It comes with a rich feature set and supports multiple platforms, including macOS, Windows, and Linux.
This tool is easy to deploy, completely free, and more importantly, has an active community of over 100,000 testers who have created useful guides and tutorials. This wealth of knowledge alone makes learning Katalon Studio effortless.
Leveraging Appium and Selenium frameworks, Katalon Studio can integrate with a variety of other tools, such as Slack, qTest, Git, JIRA, and more. But what makes it stand out is that it supports both non-programmers and experienced programmers.
5. Telerik Test Studio
Test Studio is a comprehensive software testing solution that is well-suited for performance, load, GUI, and API testing. Besides manual testing capabilities, it offers robust functional exploratory testing, UI testing, load testing, mobile testing, performance testing, and testing in Visual Studio.
Its main features include support for coding languages like VB.NET and C#, a point-and-click test recorder, continuous integration with source control, and a central object repository. On top of this, the tool offers a variety of compatibilities, including:
- Scripting language support – AJAX, HTML, JavaScript, ASP.NET, WPF, Silverlight, and MVC
- Record and playback
- Integration with Visual Basic Studio (both 2010 and 2012)
- Manual testing
- Cross-browser testing
- Integration with bug-tracking tools
Wrap-Up
Software testing has matured significantly over the last few years. Modern software testing tools are more polished, and versatile, and can support a solid testing strategy. When shopping for the best software testing tool, your current needs should guide your choice of tool. You should also focus on potential improvements and trends, but don’t let the popularity of a potential tool influence your decision-making.
There are many other quality software testing tools available in the market, but the above are our top selection. Make sure to check Software Tested to get more details about software testing products, PC repair software, Mac and PC cleaning software, and other Windows error solutions.