How do I educate that it's not test automation framework?

Question

The term "Test Automation Framework" is become a cliche in automated testing.

I have come across circumstances during work when my colleagues developed some reusable methods/function for an automation tool and propose it as if they have developed an automation framework. This is also often portrayed in Resumes.

I personally find test automation framework a very wide term which might include (and not limited to) - language support, IDE support, Test Report Generation, Recovery Mechanism, Test Execution Scheduling, Test Report delivery mechanism etc etc.

Creating some reusable methods in a language should/may not qualify as a framework, though it may add to over all framework. But then how do I let them know that their creation is not a framework?

Answer 1

Well there is the question "What is a difference between a library and a framework" over on stack overflow and I think that the accepted answer, albeit reworded there also applies here.

Wikipedia calls framework a "buzzword". It defines a software framework as

A software framework is a re-usable design for a software system (or subsystem). A software framework may include support programs, code libraries, a scripting language, or other software to help develop and glue together the different components of a software project. Various parts of the framework may be exposed through an API.

So applying a little search and replace magic I think you could define a test automation framework as follows:

A automated testing framework is a re-usable design for an automated testing system. An automated testing framework may include support programs, tools and other automated testing libraries to help develop and glue together the different components of a automated testing project.

Answer 2

It is hard to prevent people from misusing abstractions on their resumes, at work, in politics, and elsewhere in their lives.

Rather than arguing over the abstraction, you need to talk about the specifics in the context of how the test software will be used. So for example, if your manager is asking the test team for recommendations for a test framework, you need to be specific about what you need out of that framework, just as you would if you were shopping for a place to live or a car.