Topic: Test Automation Frameworks
*What is meant by a 'framework'?
*What should be included in a framework?
*Can they help with planning, ROI ?
*Etc.
Took place on: Wed. January 7 2009 6:30 PM
Attendance: 16
This was a roundtable discussion in which we discussed the meaning of 'framework' in the
context of automated testing as well as other contexts. Usage of the term 'framework'
was seen to vary considerably. We discussed some open source frameworks. We
discussed the types of capabilities that might be considered for an automation framework and came
up with a (not by any means final) list that included:
Automated tests of the test framework itself
Comparator for determining pass/fail of results
Configuration component for automation tool
Connection/Messaging layer
Controller
Data component
Documentation
Logging of results
Logging of automation processing
Login component (for apps that have a login)
Reporting of results
Results Oracle (to provide, where feasible, 'correct' test data against which to compare results)
Test automation engine
Some of the open source test automation frameworks mentioned were:
STAF - Software Testing Automation Framework, an open source, multi-platform, multi-language framework designed around the idea of reusable components and called services such as process invocation, resource management, logging, and monitoring.
TPTP - Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform
Rasta - open-source keyword-driven test framework using spreadsheets to drive test automation, loosely based on FIT
ATF - the Automated Testing Framework, an open source collection of libraries and utilities for test automation sponsored by The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
