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This question may have already been asked/answered in various places, and in various forms, but this is my problem. I have been in software testing for a few years now, most of this has been manual functional testing. I am in a position now where I am testing large websites for various types of clients, quite a few are transaction sites. I need to get into automation testing as I am a lone tester among a team of 20 developers (I know this is crazy, but there you go!).

I need to start using automation tools to:

  • validate code,
  • test performance,
  • and security.

I know there are many free tools out there but they don't seem to do what I want them to do or have certain limitations. Is there 1 tool out there that is quick and easy to use, is efficient and gives me simple errors that I can raise with the developers to fix?

If this doesn't exist what tools would be best to use that I can run on an entire website in order to supplement the manual testing that I am also doing along side? Obviously free ones would be better, but as long they don't cost a bomb, paid for tools would also be considered if they are worth the money.

I was trying to make it clear without writing an essay, basically it sounds like there is no such one-size-fits-all tool out there so I now need to find the best tools that give the best value for money for:

  • code validation (which would include accessibility),
  • performance
  • and security.

The limitations I have found with the tools I've tried so far are:

  • only being able to validate 1 or a few pages at a time,
  • not easy to use,
  • and not easy to decipher how important a failure is and therefore whether or not I need to stand firm with the developers on getting something fixed or not.

I want tools that are easy to use, efficient, and that simply tell me what I need to know in order to raise valid and important bugs, not wasting developers time raising issues that are either not able to be fixed or not worth fixing. I want to add value to the team, not be a pain by raising every issue under the sun, its just not practical.

These tools I'm after are to supplement the manual testing I'm already doing, as neither can replace the other in my experience. So I need tools that are a few clicks away that can validate an entire website, not just chunks of it.

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    www.opensourcetesting.org which provides the tools according to your needs of your application and explore your needs
    – BlueBerry - Vignesh4303
    Oct 1, 2012 at 10:46
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    For what you are looking for you will need multiple tools, your best bet is to find what area you are strongest in (and get the biggest bang for your buck) then focus on a tool to improve that area. Then move on, remember automation takes time and resources and you can't do everything you are looking for at once or in one tool.
    – MichaelF
    Oct 1, 2012 at 11:52
  • I think you need to expand on what you mean by 'validate an entire website'
    – Phil Kirkham
    Oct 1, 2012 at 13:48
  • I was thinking more of 'validate' - what do you mean by this ?
    – Phil Kirkham
    Oct 1, 2012 at 14:29
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    Gerrard, just letting you know that I got your flag. If you'd like to split this out into followup questions, feel free to do that. As a general rule, the more focused a question, the better. (Note there's a difference between focused and localized.)
    – corsiKa ♦
    Oct 1, 2012 at 19:10

3 Answers 3

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Is there 1 tool out there that is quick and easy to use, is efficient and gives me simple errors that I can raise with the developers to fix?

Although you are likely to receive many answers like "try my favorite tool, it's the best", there is no single tool that is best for everyone.

You haven't indicated the limitations you have found with free tools, and haven't expressed much in the way of your requirements, so it's pretty hard to offer much useful advice here.

I use WinTask and I'm very happy with it, but here's a list of commercial tools that offer trial versions. I'd suggest you try a few: http://www.allthingsquality.com/2010/04/trial-versions-of-commercial-test.html Then perhaps you could come back and asked more directed questions.

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    "not easy to decipher how important a failure is and therefore whether or not I need to stand firm with the developers on getting something fixed or not." You won't find a tool that replaces human judgement in that way.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Oct 1, 2012 at 13:40
  • "I need tools that are a few clicks away that can validate an entire website, not just chunks of it." If by "validate" you mean something like "test that it meets requirements" you are out of luck. If you mean something far simpler like "test that it has no broken links", you can find a tool for that.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Oct 1, 2012 at 13:42
  • As I would with any "Requirements", I'm striving for understanding before trying to offer solutions. But I'll stop. Here are links to trials of some decent performance/load tools: allthingsquality.com/2010/04/… Good luck.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Oct 1, 2012 at 15:44
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Simple answer is 'no'. In your question you mention 3 different types of testing - functional, performance and security ( do you care about accessibility ? ) so a security tool is not likely to be good at performance

What are the devs using to test their work, can you use or get them interested in using a test framework that you in turn could piggy back some of your tests on ?

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    Phil raises a good point. With such a low tester-to-developer ratio, your developers need to find most of the bugs before you get involved so that you can focus on things that they cannot test. (It probably goes without saying that your organization should consider hiring more test people).
    – user246
    Oct 1, 2012 at 13:57
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First of all, no tool is perfect and it mainly depends on how we use it !

I think I may know a tool (solution) that could help, but you have to pay ;)

Eggplant is an industry leading software test automation platform provider that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to automate test creation and test execution. From Keysight Technologies. This "tool" do all you ask for and more !

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