Java GUI Test Automation:
Squish for Java Success at Ericsson
May 20th, 18:00 UTC
"Squish has proved to be an excellent and popular replacement for the GUI automation tool which was used in previous automation campaigns." said Shane McCarron from Ericsson AB.
We had the pleasure to interview Shane McCarron, a Senior Designer
of Ericsson AB, who use froglogic's Squish for their
automated GUI testing effort of several Java GUI applications in
different divisions. We talked about their test automation and why
they chose Squish over the competition.
Froglogic: What's your name and position?
Shane: Shane McCarron, Senior Designer.
Froglogic: What's the name of the company you work
for?
Shane: LM Ericsson Ltd.
Froglogic: Can you briefly describe the software you are
testing with Squish?
Shane: It is a suite of Java GUI applications used to manage a
telecommunications network.
Froglogic: How did you learn about Squish?
Shane: I read about it on a WIKI article which was
discussing vendors that provide cross platform GUI automation
tools. Squish was said to support multiple Java Virtual Machines
(JVMs) which was a key requirement of ours.
Froglogic: When did you start to use Squish?
Shane: In July 2007
Froglogic: What are the main reasons you decided to use
Squish for your automated GUI tests?
Shane:
- Squish supports testing of multiple JVMs from a single test case
- Tests can be written in JavaScript and this was seen as a benefit
as there was already some knowledge of this language in our area and
we didn't have to learn a proprietary language
- We were impressed with the Spy feature which lets you pick an
object on a GUI and then set related synchronisation points in your
test script
- The step through debugging feature of the IDE was also seen as a very
beneficial facility
Froglogic: What are Squish's main advantages over the
competition? Why did you choose Squish over its competitors?
Shane:
- Multiple JVM support
- JavaScript based test scripts
- Ability to integrate existing tests written in other languages
e.g. Perl
- Modular based development which means commonly used functions can
be placed in scripts which are shared by multiple tests
- Technical support - this was gauged by our experiences when we had
questions during the review process
- Competitive cost of the product and its licenses
Froglogic: What's your favorite feature of
Squish?
Shane: The debugger is excellent - when a breakpoint is
encountered it is possible to see at that point in time the value of
test specific variables and quickly get to the bottom of any problem
with the logic of a test.
Froglogic: What is your most wanted feature wish for
Squish?
Shane: Formatting and auto-completion of code e.g. in other
IDEs when you type a function name and the opening bracket a prompt
will appear indicating the parameters that must be passed to the
function for that particular call. [Editor's note: froglogic works
on a highly improved IDE for Squish 4.0]
Froglogic: Are you satisfied with froglogic's technical
support service?
Shane: Yes. We have found froglogic to be very
approachable and knowledgeable. The turnaround time for resolving
issues is quite fast too.
Froglogic: What have been your biggest challenges in
creating your automated GUI tests with Squish?
Shane: We were early adopters of Squish for Java so there were some teething
problems there but I think our main challenge is that the GUIs we are
testing are rather complex.
Froglogic: Where do you see the main benefit of
automated testing? Shorter testing cycles, decreased use of human
resource, better coverage, test reliability, and/or improved product
quality?
Shane: We believe automated regression testing to be the
quickest way to ensure that the introduction of new functionality has
not broken existing core functionality of our GUIs. Where large tests
involving many repetitive actions are concerned the automated test has
to be considered more reliable too.
Froglogic: Do you use any other 3rd party or internal
tools complementing your testing effort?
Shane: Yes for example we use internal Perl scripts to
check a database at various points in our tests to validate the
actions taking place on the GUI
Froglogic: Is there anything else you'd like to
add?
Shane: Squish has proved to be an excellent and popular
replacement for the GUI automation tool which was used in previous
automation campaigns.
Froglogic: Thank you, Shane, for your time!
(Submitted by Reginald Stadlbauer of froglogic)
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