With the growth in technology and the advent of DevOps and Agile, the software testing industry is witnessing numerous changes. Software Testing has come a long way from manual testing to complex testing tools, recording and playback, then test automation and now codeless automation testing.

Codeless test automation means executing automation testing without using any scripts. The codeless test automation approach is a familiar one based on recording and playback. In this case, a tool automatically records all test steps in a script, while a tester performs them manually. Once the recording is finished, the script can be replayed and used over and over. Writing automated scripts can be difficult for testers, as the code that needs to be written in every programming language is cumbersome and time consuming. Unlike the old approach or tools you might be used to recording static test cases, these days it is equipped with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that allow you to manually create and edit test steps and create structured test flow diagrams.

Why Consider Codeless Automation?

Codeless automation testing is not entirely code-free; however, there are many reasons to consider applying codeless test automation to your software testing process.

  • Codeless automation facilitates easy testing with little effort from the team to automate.
  • Codeless automation is a quick way to automate a test case.
  • Codeless automation has a user-friendly interface.
  • Codeless automation is cost-effective.

Advantages of Codeless Automation

Low Learning Curve: With codeless testing, test cases can be created even when the user has absolutely no knowledge of coding or programming languages. Thus, it does not take much time for the user to learn and start creating test cases.

Easy to Review: Since these test cases are built without any code, they are readable and understandable for people who don’t know how to code. Thus, these test cases can be easily reviewed by other non-technical people in a project.

Efficient: Because the learning curve is slow and test case creation does not require the use of complex sentences, test case creation is fast, increasing the efficiency of the automation process.

Saves resources: With codeless testing, testers don’t need to learn new languages, no need to hire a new person for coding skills. Thus, time, cost and resources can be easily saved.

 

Disadvantages of Codeless Automation

Lack of Customization: Automation is handled in the background, leaving almost no opportunity for testers to change scripts.

Not Really Code-Free: Although scripts are created and configured automatically, there may be instances that require some manual coding.

Sustainability is Difficult: If tests are not designed to be reusable or modular, problems with sustainability can arise as the number of tests is constantly growing and the practice is constantly changing.

Errors: Even though it was created by the computer, we cannot say that it has no errors. Incorrect coverage can cause errors and glitches in the script. This script is reusable and if modular, it may lead to incorrect playback of the saved script or invalid test results.

Based on Codeless Automation, Selenium automation tool, let’s talk about the differences between Code Based Selenium and Codeless Selenium and create a more concrete perception:

Code Based Selenium

  • Manual test cases, BDD, user stories
  • Scripting in Java
  • Create a page-based test
  • 6 hours per test
  • Strong coding skills
  • Must be proactive
  • Managed in an SCM tool (GIT, Perforce)
  • Structured environment
  • Local execution via CI, cloud
  • Functional, API, payload etc.
  • Mobile native (Appium) and desktop web (Selenium)

Codeless Selenium

  • Codeless test creation
  • Code-free UI tools
  • Exploratory, flow-based test cases
  • 1 hour per test
  • Minor code skills
  • self-healing tools
  • Automatic test correction
  • Built-in execution in no-code tools
  • Made locally vid CI, cloud
  • Functional, API, payload etc.
  • Mobile native (Appium) and desktop web (Selenium)

If I were to give examples of codeless testing tools, Katalon Studio, Leapwork, Ranorex Studio, Testcraft, Selenium IDE, etc.

In a nutshell, software testers prefer codeless test automation as a critical component when it comes to agile development. It does not completely replace manual automation testing, but speeds up its work.