ABSTRACT
A testing tool should be considered on the basis of the test objectives. As a general guideline, one should investigate the appropriateness of a testing tool when the human manual process is inadequate. The learning curve is an issue for the simple reason that traditional test scripting tools are basically specialized programming languages, but the best testers are application experts, programmers. Gaining these skills takes months if not years, and without these skills the script libraries are usually not well designed for maintainability. The reason software is tested is because something has changed, which means the scripts must also be modified. Making extensive script changes and debugging errors is time consuming and complex. Finding the appropriate tool can be difficult. Several questions need to be answered before selecting a tool. Appendix F19, “Testing Tool Selection Checklist,” lists questions to help the QA team evaluate and select an automated testing tool.
