How To Perform Mobile Automation Using A Framework?

With the growing demand for mobile applications, new applications are developed in order to cater to various platforms. Therefore, it has become imperative to have a robust automation framework that can help automate applications on any platform. The framework is a combination of test-data handling, coding standards, and object repository management that are followed during automation scripting which results in producing beneficial outcomes such as re-usage of the same code in multiple projects, higher portability and decreases the script maintenance cost, etc.

Types of Automation Frameworks:

# Test Library Architecture Framework:

Test scripts are initially created using the "Record & Playback" method. After that tasks inside the scripts are grouped into Functions. Their Functions are called by main text script which is called Driver, in different ways to create test cases.

# Data Driven Testing Framework:

Test case logic resides in Test Scripts and Test Data is separated and kept outside the Test Scripts in this type of framework. Test Data is read from external files such as Excel Files, Text Files, CSV Files, etc. and are saved in the Test Script as variables.

# Keyword Driven Framework:

The Keyword-Driven consists of data tables and keywords and is not dependent on an automation tool for execution.

# Hybrid Test Automation Framework:

As the name suggests the hybrid test automation framework is the combination of one or more frameworks but widely uses as a combination of Keyword Framework and Function decomposition method.

The power of the mobile automation framework lies in increased automation efficiency by minimizing the initial coding efforts. Mobile Automation can be performed using various available robust automation frameworks. The widely used automation frameworks are as follows.

1. Appium

i) Appium is a test automation framework that supports most of the applications such as native, hybrid and mobile web apps.

ii) It supports both iOS and Android applications and also Web Driver JSON Wire Protocol.

iii) Appium is a black-box testing tool so it does not require source code.

Advantages of Appium:

# Cross-platform open source mobile app testing automation framework.

# Supports native, hybrid or mobile web apps.

# Supports various Client libraries such as  Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, C#.

# Does not access our source code or library.

# Compatibility with many CI environments.

# Appium is a tool that is used worldwide so it has a strong community.

# It supports many languages and test frameworks with full access to databases and APIs from test code.

2. TestNG

i) TestNG is another famous testing framework that overcomes the limitations of another popular testing framework JUnit.

ii) It supports both Android and iOS applications.

iii) The "NG" means "Next Generation. Most of the Selenium users use TestNG over JUnit because of its various advantages.

Advantages of TestNG:

# Annotations are easier to understand.

# Test cases can be grouped more easily.

# It supports parallel testing.

# Generates various reports based on Selenium test results.

# Generates the reports in a more readable format.

[ Related Read: TestNG Framework and its Benefits ]

3. Selendroid

i) Selendroid is one of the best mobile test automation frameworks available in the market which supports various types of UI testing of the mobile apps Android native, hybrid applications, and the mobile web.

ii) Selendroid supports emulators, real devices and parallel testing.

iii) Selendroid is also compatible with Selenium 3/ JSON Wire Protocol.

iv) It is easier to find the UI elements by using its default locator making the testing process better.

Advantages of Selendroid:

# No modification of Application under test is required. One just needs to install the binary file in the system.

# Supports multiple android devices. Users can interact with multiple simulators at the same time to check the compatibility of various Android devices.

# Supports signs of human user options such as touch, swipe, drag and drop on devices.

# Supports various android API versions.

# Built-in inspector tool is available that helps to identify all the UI elements of an application under test.

# Supports parallel testing integrating a node into Selenium Grid.