Test automation framework is a platform which we implement best practices and standards which helps us to effectively implement test automation practice in a software development project or in the entire organization. It helps to long live test automation in said development project. At the core level its the test automation tool or the API that we have selected. It will be Selenium, RestAssured or Appium, or any other tool. Test automation framework to be a success there are several areas that we should address. They are;
- Reusability - We should ensure that every UI element, every function we utilize in the test scripts are reused from a single class or location, rather than implementing the same in each and every test script we develop. This facilitates ease of maintenance when the test automation suite grows with time.
- Separating automation code logic from data used - We should remove any test specific or environment specific data within the test script itself. The data should be contained in separate files and should be read programmatically whenever its needed. This facilitates executing the test framework in any given environment and promotes flexibility.
- Reporting - This is an essential component a framework should address. We should know what test are passing, what are failing and why they are failing. Any test automation framework should have detailed reporting framework. It can have logging facility along with screenshots. Also note they should capture the relevant information about the health of the test execution and get the key information needed by the stakeholders of the test automation results much quickly.
- Integration of test with continuous integration (CI) - All the frameworks we design and develop should be finally integrated to CI, which promotes shift left testing and helps to yield a positive return on the automation investment. Therefore CI integration should be the end point for every test framework.
- Expandability - Test automation frameworks should facilitate expanding its functionality. Today we have to handle test automation of diverse platforms, UIs, and functionality. Also we have integrate our test automation frameworks with other third party external test automation services and interfaces. For example, if we want to integrate the validation of PDF in Selenium test framework, we need to add a library to get the functionality of validating PDF library. So we need to build test automation framework which facilitates easy plugin of such items.
- Use code optimization and execution optimization - Scripts in the framework and the entire framework itself should be optimize to get high speeds of execution. Use of explicit waits, headless browsers are some. So when designing and developing a test automation framework one should determine the optimization aspects.
- Standards - When scripting the test within the framework, we should establish test automation standards as well as coding standards. This will ensure readability of scripts, optimization and easy maintenance of the scripts and the entire framework itself.
- Document everything - Documenting usage of the framework, its architecture, keywords and methods used, deployment of the framework is essential for a long lived test framework, easy maintenance and the test framework to be welcomed by its consumers.
- Ultimate tool for the test automation - The test automation tool or API selected should aid the application under test. It should be a tool which balance off cost, life span of the tool, amount of support available and also expandability of the tool selected. Wrong tool in the framework will lead to disasters.
