Best Software Testing Tools

What is Software Testing?

Software testing is an organized process of evaluating and validating the software's functionalities and behavior. The ultimate goal of the software testing process is to identify and fix any bugs in the software to make it complete, bug-free, and efficient.

Again, there are multiple types of software testing, such as acceptance testing, unit testing, functional testing, performance testing software, integration testing, and regression testing. Each test serves a different purpose and is carried out uniquely.

What are the Advantages of Using the Best Software Testing Tools?

The following are the top five advantages of using the best software testing tools:

1. Enhance Reliability:

The first significant advantage of using the best software testing tool is that it improves the overall reliability of the application. Bug-fixing software assists the testing team in identifying and correcting bugs in the software program. The bug-free code will make the software reliable and allow it to perform the job for which it was designed.

2. Elevate Security:

Every application you design must be secure and capable of thwarting any attack. You can find and fix potential security flaws in the system by testing the software before deployment. Overall, software testing tools can assist you in improving application security.

3. Robust Integration:

Integration with third-party apps and tools must be functional and error-free to produce accurate results. Using software testing tools, you can verify and validate each software integration before releasing the update to the public. This will protect you from any security breach or damage.

4. Improve Data Accuracy:

The fourth advantage of using a software testing tool is that it aids in data accuracy. Through the testing process, you can determine whether the application is generating accurate results or whether the formula and logic used are correct. This is how software testing tools help with data accuracy.

5. Boost Performance:

When there are no bugs in the application, the code is appropriately written, all integrations work correctly, and data is well protected, the application's performance will be optimal. In a nutshell, you must test the application using software testing tools to ensure that it performs precisely as intended.

What are the Key Features of a Software Testing System?

Understandably, each software testing tool has its own set of features. The number and type of elements also depend on the industry for which the software is designed. However, the following are some of the most common testing system features:

What Factors Should You Consider When Choosing a Software Testing Tool?

The following are the ten most important factors to consider when choosing a software testing tool:

1. Compatibility across platforms

2. Scalability

3. Platform’s Security

4. Ease of creating test scripts

5. Technology & type (Manual or Automatic)

6. Number & types of features

7. Technical support

8. Pricing

9. Ease of use/Technicality

10. Reports & Analytics

These are the 10 most important factors when selecting a software testing tool. However, you should also consider other factors based on your specific requirement. Above all, choose software that can meet all of your testing needs.

What are the Latest Market Trends In Software Testing Tools?

The following are the top software testing trends to watch:

1. Big Data

Big Data has been around for years. Surprisingly, testers know little about it, although they should. After all, the process of testing is directly related to data. So what is big data? Definitions may vary, but they all boil down to the fact that Big Data is associated with volume and processing. Previously, test engineers used to deal with megabytes and gigabytes, and now it’s all about terabytes and petabytes. However, the number of zeros isn’t a crucial factor in understanding its principles.

Big data is associated with the so-called four “v’s”:

• volume
• velocity
• variety
• veracity

The problem with big data is that it is poorly structured in 90% of cases. Most of the data is derived from social networks: calls, messages, search requests, pictures, PDF-files, and other information. This way, testing large data involves both functional and non-functional checking. Functional testing consists in analyzing the quality of data for further processing. Non-functional types of testing include load and volumetric testing. However, each type of testing requires the tester to know the system and the ability to research the product. Besides, the testing of large data often requires testing automation.

2. The growth of DevOps

It would be fair to say that DevOps isn’t a new concept for business but its emergence in the IT sector is quite fresh. It has gained an enormous amount of support from various businesses in the past five years.

DevOps is a set of practices which allows saving loads of time in the development process. According to a study by cloud-management provider RightScale, the ratio of enterprises that have adopted some aspect of DevOps principles reached 84% in 2017.  It’s fair to say that in 2018, more and more organizations will implement the practices of DevOps. More and more practitioners are used to support automated testing and continuous integration (CI).

Robert Stroud from Forrester Research states that “although many organizations are in the experimentation stage with single or multiple pilots, they all are transitioning toward DevOps across their entire enterprise.”

3. The share of automated testing will increase

Although testing automation is an integral part of DevOps, at the moment it covers no more than 20% of all testing activities according to the World Quality Report 2017-2018. The majority of organizations still focus on functional UI and regression testing.

The automation testing is considered as the primary approach to reducing testing and layout time. Its ability to integrate with DevOps tools becomes mandatory for autotest tools. Most large open source and free tools like Selenium and Katalon and commercial tools Ranorex and TestComplete are now supported by integration with Jenkins, Git, and Jira.

4. Use of manual and automated testing

Although automation is regarded as a key area nowadays, manual testing is still dominant in the testing industry, and this situation makes it difficult to solve problems associated with continually cutting cycles of calculations and complex test environments. As for now, correct testing strategies combine both manual and automated testing. So it’s safe to predict that these two types of testing will continue to co-exist for the next few years.

The variety of artificial intelligence and machine learning practices serves to increase the productivity of software teams and the quality of programs themselves. Taking into account the latest achievements in the field of AI and ML, there will appear more intelligent testing automation technologies and tools for drawing test cases, test data and reusing test scenarios. They will also help in developing test scenarios, predict application behavior, areas and test levels. Intelligent testing tools should offer intelligent analytics to better diagnose errors and visualize testing results through a variety of sources.

In general, automation is now centered around the user interface. And testing of APIs and services remains with developers and is performed manually. The trend is to extend the use of API testing automation and services, rather than testing UI. Typical testers equipped with smart and easy-to-use tools will be responsible for testing APIs and services, helping to reduce product delivery time and improve quality.

5. Increased automation for mobile platforms

As we’ve already stated, the current use of test automation is relatively low. The share of mobile automation is even lower. The fact is there is a shortage of correct methods, tools, and devices to automate mobile applications in full measure. However, the necessity is growing as the gradual shift from the desktop and web applications to mobile ones requires organizations to increase the use of test automation for mobile applications. New testing platforms and tools like Kobiton and Sauce Labs offer excellent opportunities for these purposes.

6. Shift Left testing with TDD & BDD

Thanks to the automation of configuration management to improve performance there is a chance that the shift left trend of testing will also be one of the best solutions. Shift left testing is the beginning of the testing process at an early stage of development without waiting for the development processes to be completed to identify and report errors.

An example can be the launch of test processes directly from the requirements definition phase to prevent bugs from getting into the code and to prevent the occurrence of problems related to defects. With shift left testing, companies are more likely to benefit from a cost and time perspective, since the more time it takes to detect errors, the bigger the repair price is.

Companies are also more inclined to use TDD and BDD to deliver applications according to customer expectations without any defects or delays. Accepting the methodology of TDD and BDD, the team can get a real idea of what is required, and whether there is a misunderstanding from the requirements stage.

7. Integration

To support smart testing and analytics, you need to collect data from different sources at different stages of development, such as requirements management systems, change management systems, task management systems, and test environments. In the nearest future, we will see testing and management automation tools that offer functions for integration with various sets of ALM tools and test environments. Such integration allows you to make more informed decisions about testing and software quality.

What are the Top 10 Software Testing Tools for Building Robust Applications?

The top 10 software testing tools for developing robust, secure, and reliable applications are listed below. Take a quick look at their features, pricing, and purpose.

1. Selenium Testing Tool

Selenium is one of the most well-known and advanced software testing tools. It is an open-source automated testing framework for verifying and validating web applications across multiple browsers and platforms.

The tool allows you to write Selenium test scripts in various languages, including Java, C#, and Python. Furthermore, Selenium is a collection of different automation testing tools for software testing, each designed to serve a specific purpose.

Selenium Features:

• Open-source & portable
• Multiple programming language support
• Multiple OS, browsers & platforms support
• Parallel test execution
• Less number of resources required
• Easy implementation

Selenium Pricing: Selenium is an open-source testing tool. For pricing information, contact the Selenium sales team.

2. Appium Mobile App Automation Tool

Appium is a free, open-source testing framework for native, mobile web, and hybrid apps. The tool is compatible with various platforms, including iOS mobile, Android mobile, and Windows desktop. 

Most importantly, the Appium software testing tool supports cross-platform testing. You can write tests against multiple platforms using the same API. This allows for code reuse across iOS, Android, and Windows test suites.

Appium Features:

• Open-source test application
• Support cross platforms
• Multi-programming language support
• Parallel execution of test scripts
• User-friendly
• Compatible with automation

Pricing: Appium is an open-source testing tool, i.e., free to use.

3. Katalon Test Automation Tool

Katalon Studio is a low-code test automation platform for Web, API, Mobile, and Desktop applications. The software is based on the open-source automation frameworks Selenium and Appium and includes a specialized IDE interface for web, API, mobile, and desktop application testing.

Furthermore, Katalon Studio can be integrated with other software products such as Jira and TestRail.

Katalon Features:

• Full-platform support
• Easy to scale
• Seamless agile & CI/CD integration
• Support parallel script execution
• Test failure snapshots
• Test planning & test execution

Katalon Pricing: Katalon Studio is available in several versions. Visit their pricing page to learn more about their multiple pricing plans.

4. Cucumber BDD Testing Tool

The 4th name on our Top 10 software testing tools list is Cucumber. Cucumber is an end-to-end software testing platform that supports Behavior Driven Development (BDD). 

Cucumber, written in the Ruby programming language, allows you to create test cases that anyone can understand regardless of technical knowledge. The thing that separates Cucumber from other testing tools for software testing is that rather than defining ‘tests,’ the agency focuses on defining ‘behavior.’

Cucumber Features:

• Open source, Free to use
• Behavior-driven development tool
• Quick plugin with 3^rd party tools
• Supports multiple languages
• Reusable code
• Simple & quick setup

Cucumber Pricing: The cucumber testing tool has two pricing options:

A. Starter plan: $28/User/Month (Billed Annually)

B. Cloud Plan: $30.50/User/Month (Billed Annually)

5. LambdaTest Cross Browser Testing Tool

LambdaTest is regarded as one of the most effective cross-browser software testing tools. This cloud-based tool supports exploratory and automated testing across 3000+ browsers, real-world devices, and operating systems.

The product comes with a slew of additional features that will improve your cross-browser testing experience and help you reduce time to market.

LambdaTest Features:

• Integrated debugging
• Locally hosted web testing
• Geolocation testing
• Seamless collaboration with multiple tools
• Visual testing
• Inbuilt issue tracker

LambdaTest Pricing: LambdaTest software is available in several versions and with various pricing options. To learn more, visit the website.

6. Watir

Watir (Web Application Testing in Ruby) is an open-source software testing tool that automates web applications. Watir is a suite of applications that includes Watir-classic, Watir-web driver, and Watirspec.

The tool allows users even to test multiple scripts at the same time. In addition, this software testing software can also be integrated with a variety of other apps and tools.

Watir Features:

• Rich set of APIs
• Open-source testing tool
• Easy to use
• It supports all the latest browsers
• Multiple inbuilt libraries
• Allow taking screenshots

Watir Pricing: Watir is a free and open-source tool with no costs associated with its use.

7. Tricentis Tosca Automated Software Testing Tool

Tricentis Tosca is an intelligent test automation tool that optimizes and speeds up end-to-end testing across your entire digital landscape.

Tosca allows you to perform various tests, including API, exploratory, mobile, system integration, and regression. Its automated recording assistant also records daily activities and converts them into automated test cases.

Tosca Features:

• Model-based test automation
• Risk-based test optimization
• Automation recording assistant
• Service virtualization
• Test data management
• Business process verification

Tosca Pricing: Tosca provides customized pricing plans based on your needs and chosen services. Contact them to get a tailored pricing plan.

8. TestComplete Automated UI Testing System

TestComplete is an automated software testing platform allowing testers to create tests for Microsoft Windows, Web, Android, and iOS applications.

The test team can use this software tool to record scripted or manually created tests with keyword-driven operations. The device has various innovative features that make TestComplete a comprehensive, end-to-end testing software.

TestComplete Features:

• Data-driven testing
• Multiple extensions and SDK support
• Test visualize
• Bug tracking integration
• COM-based, open architecture
• Test record and Playback

TestComplete Pricing: TestComplete provides two pricing options: fixed and floating. Again, both of these types include a variety of other pricing plans billed annually or monthly. To learn more, visit the website.

9. Ranorex Test Automation Tool For GUI Testing

Ranorex Studio is a powerful test automation tool that provides an unparalleled combination of easy-to-use low-code/no-code automation tools and a complete IDE for endless extensibility. 

The software supports various testing types, including desktop, web, and mobile testing. Furthermore, Ranorex can be easily integrated with the tools you already use, allowing you to build and release faster without sacrificing quality.

Ranorex Features:

• Complete set of automation tools
• Supports integrations with multiple tools
• Codeless test creation
• Built-in image comparison
• Video reporting of test execution
• Smooth learning curve

Ranorex Pricing: Ranorex only provides customized pricing plans based on the needs of the customer and the services they choose. Visit the website to get a personalized quote.

10. testRigor Test Automation Tool

testRigor is an executable software testing tool that allows anyone, including non-technical users, to create, maintain, and understand tests written in plain English. The tool generates tests to reflect how users interact with your application. 

Furthermore, the software allows you to begin testing in less than 3 minutes. It also relieves your QA team of manual click-through regression testing and the maintenance of automated scripts.

testRigor Features:

• More stable tests
• Minimal maintenance
• Prioritizes issues to be fixed
• Plain-English-based interface
• Highest security standards
• Tracks down all JavaScript errors

testRigor Pricing: testRigor has three pricing plans, as listed below:

A.  Public Plan: Free forever

B. Private Plan: $900/Month (Unlimited users, Unlimited test cases)

C. Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing

DevSecOps: Future of Security Testing

1. The Origin of DevSecOps: DevOps

   It was the advent of DevOps, which paved the way for security to integrate into the delivery and deployment pipelines as DevSecOps. 

   Around 10 years ago, DevOps was the buzzword in the IT industry. Everyone was talking about how it could take the traditional Waterfall approach and Agile methodology to the next level and how it could bring about a revolutionary change. This amazing intersection of development, testing, and deployment was beginning to draw the attention of everyone. 

   As the word about DevOps was spreading, everyone, including developers, QA engineers, and system admins, was curious about its success. It’s okay to have questions, and with something as big a cultural change as DevOps, those questions were justified. But, as the years passed and DevOps got more and more mature, everyone seemed to appreciate how it had a plethora of opportunities for the industry. 

   If implemented correctly, DevOps could work like a charm for the entire software development cycle. However, like everything else out there in the world, DevOps also needed something to make its implementation even more useful. Apart from many other things, the most obvious one was security. To make the DevOps workflow even more mature, businesses and experts felt the need to inject security into DevOps, and that is how DevSecOps was born.    

2. Is Security+DevOps the ‘Next Big Thing’?

   There is no questioning the fact that DevOps makes software development and deployment cycles faster. Yet, waiting until the end of the cycle to address the security vulnerabilities could prove disastrous. DevOps without security testing would either result in delays in the CI/CD/delivery pipelines or shipment of insecure code. 

   Apparently, adding Sec to DevOps becomes so essential. Adding DevOps’ notion of ‘shared responsibility’ with security could also help build a security-conscious culture and ensure complete security coverage.   

3. Assistance to Developers: Proactive Approach with DevSecOps

   Security vulnerabilities can be introduced anytime during the development process. Even trained DevOps engineers and highly skilled developers may get tricked by security loopholes. However, DevSecOps implementation could change the picture.

   If an organization treats security as necessary, which should be the case, it must make sure that security gets integrated or codified into the development process from the very early stages. In other words, developers must know the security parameters in advance and code accordingly. It would help fix a majority of errors at the time of code development itself. Sounds interesting, right?

   The integration of security tools into the developer workflow is crucial. With these DevSecOps tools, developers could find security flaws at the beginning itself, rather than waiting till the security tests get completed. Developers could follow the best coding practices to write codes securely. They could use verified libraries, ensure that their code is tested thoroughly via code security tests, and so on.

   Now to ensure that developers ship secure code, a combination of factors needs to be put in order. And at the top of those factors is automation. 

4. Automating Security with DevSecOps: The Secret to Efficiency

   Manual security tests can be daunting. They utilize a lot of time and effort, which could be used otherwise on more productive tasks. Also, organizations may have a ‘security first’ mentality and a collection of the best security tools. But, security can only be as strong as the newest developer or a QA engineer who is in a hurry to meet some deadline. Therefore, apart from integrating security tools into the pipeline, automating them also becomes essential.  

   One of the best things about DevSecOps is that it brings the forces of DevOps, security testing, and automation collectively. Automating security tests makes the whole development and deployment process much more efficient, agile, and adaptable to dynamic market challenges.

   The use of automated solutions like DAST and SAST also provides developers with faster and detailed feedback loops to manage vulnerabilities with the least possible efforts. With most of the tedious testing work now automated, the saved security working hours could be utilized in carrying out other high-priority tasks.

5. Why could DevSecOps be the Future of Security?

   In 2017, EMA published a report stating that the top benefits of introducing security into the business operations cycle are better ROI and increased efficiency throughout the organization. So, can we assume that DevSecOps is the future? 

   With DevSecOps, two of the most contradicting business goals, i.e., ‘secure code’ and ‘speed of delivery,’ can be streamlined together. Without slowing down the delivery cycles, automated security testing is done, and critical security issues are dealt with even before they come to surface.  

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