In this social world, it is very easy to get biased into believing that some practice is the best practice, or some automation tool or framework is “the best.” When anyone makes the statement – “this <some_practice> is a best practice”, or “this tool <name_of_tool> or framework <name_of_framework>” is the best, there are 2 things that come to mind:
- The person is promoting the practice / tool / framework as a “silver bullet” – something that will solve all problems, magically.
- The said practice / tool / framework actually worked best for them, in the context of the team adopting it
So when I hear anyone saying – “best ….” I get suspicious and think which category do they belong to – “silver bullet,” or knowledgeable folks who have done their study and determined what is working well for them.
Doing the study is extremely important to determine what is good or bad. In the context of Test Automation, there are a lot of parameters that need to be considered before you reach a decision about what tool or framework is going to become “the best tool / framework” for you. I classify these parameters as negotiables and non-negotiables.
I had the privilege of delivering the opening keynote at the recent Future of Testing event focused on Test Automation Frameworks on September 30th 2021. My topic was “The best test automation framework is …”. I spoke about the context, and the non-negotiable and negotiable criteria required to make any test automation framework the “best.”
How to Choose the Best Test Automation Framework…
Understanding the Context
Here are the questions to answer to determine the context:
Negotiable and Non-Negotiable Criteria
Once you understand the context, then apply that information to determine your non-negotiable and negotiable criteria.
Start Evaluating
Now that you understand all the different parameters, here are the steps to get started.
You can see the full mind map I used in my keynote presentation below.
You can also download the PDF version of this mind map from here.
Catch the Keynote Video
To hear more about how to choose the best test automation framework, you can watch the whole video from my keynote presentation here, or by clicking below.
