The robust capabilities of Visual Studio and TFS (Team Foundation Server) have made them hot favourites for building business applications. The combined usage of TFS, Visual Studio and their test tools, augment the process of agile development efficiently (through different phases of development including continuous integration).
In the recent past, I have noticed a growing trend in the usage of TFS as an integrated solution for project management, application life cycle management and source control.
In this blog, I provide a glimpse into the major factors which drive test experts and architects to evangelize Coded UI (a part of Visual Studio) as a standard automation framework from a software test catalyst standpoint.
- Testing engineers and developers can work using the same tools/language, enabling them to collaborate effectively.
- Coded UI tests are compatible with both Web and Windows projects and C# is known for its robustness. Of course, there are many popular feature enriched test tools available in the market, but most of them only support testing of Web applications. When we review the supported configurations and platforms of coded UI tests, we can see its extensive support across multiple levels
- Incorporating the built-in features of Coded UI into parent class wrappers extends test capabilities and enables testers to leverage the use of APIs by inheriting them into their own frameworks as they evolve.
- Extended features available in the test controller and test agents provide for:
- Developing an extensive test suite and testing in local environment
- The ability to regularly run the test suite remotely in a Lab environment providing for increased efficiency and productivity with comprehensive regression.
- Using Coded UI with layered framework offers high flexibility to develop sophisticated tests. For example, CUITe Framework (Coded UI Test enhanced) is a Codeplex project, a thin layer over Coded UI. This breed of tools, by its mature features, make tests readable, maintainable, resilient & robust – a testimony to the fact that our claims about the framework are accurate.
To conclude, I agree with technical COE’s who recommend the above combination of tools and promise several new and incredible features in the near future. Yes! Selecting Coded UI will be the right step forward in the world of QA Automation.
While Coded UI tests are not new, it is only in the recent past that test architects are accepting the fact that Coded UI is a great way to resolve issues present in general test tools. If you started off reading this blog with reservations about the possibility of using Coded UI to automate applications and enhance efficiency, the 5 reasons listed above should establish a strong case for Coded UI in QA Automation.
