Automated Testing with Selenium Vs Tosca: A Comprehensive Comparison
Introduction
Selenium and Tosca are two of the most popular test automation tools available today. Both offer a wide range of features to help developers automate their testing process, but there are some key differences that users should consider when deciding which tool to use. This article will explore these differences in detail, looking at the capabilities, cost and complexity associated with both Selenium and Tosca.
What is Selenium
Selenium is a popular open source testing tool that has been gaining popularity over the past decade. It is a suite of software tools used for automating web browsers and testing web applications. Selenium provides a set of libraries and APIs to automate browser actions, which allows testers to perform functional tests on various web applications.
Selenium was initially developed by Jason Huggins in 2004 while he was working on a web application project at ThoughtWorks. The name “Selenium” was derived from the word “selene,” meaning moon in Greek mythology, as it meant to work overnight while the developers slept! Since its inception, Selenium has undergone significant changes and advancements through contributions from developers worldwide.
Today, Selenium is compatible with all major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge etc., which makes it an incredibly powerful tool for automated testing across multiple platforms.
What is Tosca
Tosca is a software testing tool used to automate functional and regression testing. It was developed by TRICENTIS, an Austria-based company, and released in 2007. Tosca is designed to support both manual and automated testing and provides end-to-end test management capabilities.
One of the unique features of Tosca is its model-based approach to test automation. This means that testers can create reusable models of the application under test, which can be easily maintained and updated as changes are made to the application. The models also provide a visual representation of the application’s functionality, making it easier for testers to understand complex business processes.
Tosca supports various technologies such as web applications, desktop applications, mobile applications, SAP systems, and more. It also integrates with other tools commonly used in software development processes like JIRA, Jenkins, and Selenium WebDriver.
Gain professional expertise in Tosca through online Tosca Training and become a professional.
Difference’s between Selenium Vs Tosca
Selenium and Tosca are two different tools used for test automation, but they have different features and capabilities.
Selenium is an open-source testing framework used to automate web browsers for testing web applications. It supports multiple programming languages like Java, Python, C#, and Ruby. Selenium provides the ability to create automated tests for different browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Tosca, on the other hand, is a commercial tool that provides end-to-end test automation solutions. Tosca supports different technologies, including web, desktop, mobile, and APIs, and provides a model-based approach for test case design and test execution. Tosca also provides features like test data management, test reporting, and test automation optimization.
In terms of functionality, Tosca provides a broader range of features and supports multiple technologies, making it suitable for complex enterprise applications. Selenium, on the other hand, is more suited for web-based testing and provides flexibility in terms of programming language support.
Overall, the choice between Selenium and Tosca would depend on the specific testing needs of an organization, including the application under test, technology stack, and available resources.
Pro’s & Con’s of Selenium
Pros:
1. Selenium is free and open source.
2. It supports multiple browsers, operating systems, and programming languages.
3. Selenium can be easily integrated with other test frameworks and tools such as Junit and TestNG.
4. Complex scenarios can be tested by writing custom code in any language of your choice such as Python, Java, C# etc.
5. Selenium has great community support which is helpful to newcomers and experienced users alike.
Cons:
1. It requires technical expertise to use Selenium effectively due to its complexity.
2. Debugging is difficult due to the lack of good debugging tools available for Selenium.
3. It is not very user friendly and can be difficult for a beginner to learn quickly without getting help from an experienced tester first.
4. Cross browser testing requires a lot of extra effort and time due to different implementations in different browsers
Pro’s & Con’s of Tosca
Pros of Tosca:
1. It is easy to learn and use, making it a great choice for organizations that don’t have dedicated DevOps teams.
2. Supports continuous delivery and helps automate manual processes, removing the need for manual intervention.
3. Comes with a built-in dashboard to monitor tasks and pipelines, enabling users to easily identify bottlenecks and workflows that can be improved.
4. Its code is modular, allowing developers to easily integrate third-party tools such as Jenkins or Kubernetes into their workflow if needed.
5. It’s open source, so it’s free to use, making it very cost-effective.
Cons of Tosca:
1. Limited scalability options make it difficult for large organizations to utilize all its features in a cost-effective manner as they grow larger.
2. It does not offer advanced features such as resource management or logging capabilities that some other.
Conclusion
In conclusion,Selenium and Tosca are both powerful automation testing tools that can improve the reliability of web applications, but each has its own unique advantages. Selenium is open source, offers a wide variety of programming languages for scripting and has a large user base with plenty of support. Tosca on the other hand offers a comprehensive feature set, a more intuitive interface than Selenium and additional features such as AI-driven test case creation.
Author Bio: Hi, I am Sai Thirumal, working In HKR Training’s as a Research Analyst and interested in writing wide range of tech blogs, and articles. I am fond of writing tech articles on Machine Learning, AWS, DevOps, and other latest technologies. Also, interested in doing in-depth research on various technology updates and putting them in writing and sharing.