Robot Framework Automation Testing made simple 

My background 2 •  DevOps, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery @Odecee •  Java/WESB/WPS Developer @ IBM •  Passionate about Automation Testing (ATDD/BDD, TDD) 

What is Robot Framework? 3 •  Keyword driven, automation framework for acceptance testing and acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) •  Provides •  Execution Platform •  Reporting •  Tools •  Facilitates Keyword driven, Data driven and BDD style testing •  Facilitates Automation testing across different application types •  Very mature and actively developed 

Keywords 4 •  Keywords Define specific actions •  Eg “Open Browser” keyword tells Robot to open a browser window •  Eg “Click Button” [@locators] •  Similar to functions with parameters •  Abstracts implementation detail from the user •  No Selenium Knowledge required to run tests using Selenium •  No REST API framework knowledge required to run API Tests •  Keyword based approach plays a pivotal role in reducing technical barriers to automation testing for non technical users 

Extending Keywords 5 •  Two ways to extend •  Build on existing keywords •  Define new high level keywords based on existing keywords •  Add custom functionality •  Add new low level keywords using Java or Python. Other languages can be used using remote server library 

Libraries 6 •  A collection of Keywords that expose functionality •  Eg Selenium Library has 146 keywords which provide users with every possible functionality that Selenium exposes. •  Extension mechanism – Write your own keywords and libraries •  Lots of libraries available •  Compared to Cucumber based BDD automation the need to write custom code is reduced which drastically reduces the time to automate. 

Robot Framework building blocks 7 

Cucumber/Jbehave Automation building blocks 8 

Supports many testing paradigms 9 •  Keyword Driven •  Login … Then Click this…. Then click that…. Then Something happens •  Data Driven •  Test Login for 1000 users •  Test configuration changes for a specific test case •  BDD •  Given .. When .. Then 

Benefits 10 •  Executable Acceptance Criteria with no knowledge of underlying framework •  Abstracts framework and language complexities from end users •  Comes with extensive built-in and external libraries •  Web, REST API, SOAP, Database, Mobile •  Extensible - Write you own libraries •  Java and Python can be used to extend existing libraries or write custom ones •  Beautiful Reports, Jenkins/Bamboo Integration •  Mature and well documented 

Benefits….! 11 •  Robot IDE •  Auto Completion, Keyword Search, Context Help. •  Helps get new users get up to speed very quickly •  CLI •  No need to use Ant or Maven or Gradle or Rake or Spring. Less bloat-ware •  Fast •  Compared to home grown Java/Ruby based selenium framework •  Projects/Tests suites/Test cases are text based files which can be easily version controlled. •  Test executable files are plain English which makes tests much easier to understand for everyone – No RubyMine, No Intellij, No Eclipse required. 

Robot Tools – A complete ecosystem for Testing http://robotframework.org/#tools 12 •  RobotHub – Enables keyword sharing and reuse •  RobotIDE (RIDE) •  Pybot – CLI •  ReBOT – Report Processing •  PaBOT – Parallel executors for Robot. Takes care of Data race conditions. •  Robot-Excel – Read and Write data from Excel files. •  JIRA-Robot – Keywords for interacting with JIRA •  Plugins for every IDE under the sun •  Integrates with Maven, Ant, Jenkins and Bamboo 

Compared to BDD/Cucumber 13 •  BDD provides •  A common language based on simple, structured sentences expressed in English (or in the native language of the stakeholders) that facilitates communication between project team members and business stakeholders. •  “As a … I want to … So that” and “Given… When … Then” is English “LIKE”. •  It does not •  Make writing automation easier or •  Standardizes Given.. When.. Then across the organization 

Cucumber Test Automation Process 14 

Robot Framework Test Process 15 

BDD challenges which Robot fixes 16 •  Process and Tools •  It takes more time to automate test cases than actually develop code for an application •  Tests need to carefully designed with the right level of abstraction and expressiveness •  Lot of code duplication •  Given.. When.. Then does not make sense all the time •  Types of application to test Web, REST API, SOAP Web Services, iOS, Android •  Produce consistent reports across application types •  Produce reports with rolled up results across specifications •  Agile = Code changes fast = Tests break faster •  Many languages and frameworks to learn for testers or automation developers •  People •  Its not my problem. I don’t write automation code. 

Why Robot Framework 17 •  Technical •  No glue code required to automate acceptance criteria. •  Abstracts framework and language complexities for end users •  Provide a unified execution and reporting platform for various types of System Under Test. •  Provides Tools for processing reports, expose REST APIs, centrally share keywords across organization and a dedicated IDE •  Process •  More time spent automating tests rather than understanding the framework(s) = Faster time to market •  Culture •  Enables non technical people to easily understand and automate test cases = Everyone can help in improving quality. 

Final Thoughts 18 •  Robot Framework is what every home-grown Cucumber/JBehave automation framework aspires to be. •  It fast tracks teams way ahead in automation testing maturity. •  Keyword driven way of thinking enables reuse and abstraction •  What do you think?