Robot Framework : How I stumbled upon this proven test automation framework

Almost a year ago, I had to do a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) for test automation of one of our web application using QuickTest Professional (QTP) tool (as my organization had already invested a lot on this tool). The web application was developed using Ext-GWT (Google Web Toolkit).

The PoC was not successful as I found a lot of issues in identifying the GWT/GXT web controls through QTP. Further, on checking the Product Availability Matrix document of QTP version that we were using, we found that the GWT version being supported by QTP was much older than the version that our web application was developed on.

So, the option of using QTP for test automation was ruled out.

I did another PoC using Webdriver (Selenium 2.0) using Java. With some days of self training on Webdriver and Java, I managed to develop a 'main()' driven test automation organizing the test parameters and object repository in the .properties files. It worked like a charm ! Later on, I managed to enhance the tests using TestNG.

This meant a big thumbs up for Webdriver for our test automation tool. However, the main challenge in front of me (and my organization, too) was developing a test automation framework for Webdriver/Java/TestNG. We already had proven test automation framework for QTP as most of our projects have been using it since a long time. Development of a robust test automation framework for Webdriver/Java using TestNG involved a big cost in terms of efforts. Also, it involved extensive training (for me and other test engineers) on Java.

Meanwhile, I kept on researching on the proven test automation frameworks for Webdriver that can we can use readily. I found a couple of suggested frameworks listed on SeleniumHQ.org (here).

"Robot Framework" was one of these (apart from TestNG, JUnit ...). I found that there is a large community of users who have been using successfully using Robot Framework for test automation with Webdriver, which boosted my confidence to give it a try :).

It was time for one more PoC. I spent a week on self training on Robot Framework and Selenium2Library (it is keyword library for Webdriver API). I managed to develop automated tests (or I should say - migrate my Webdriver/Java tests that I had earlier created) with Robot Framework, and it looked very promising !

Finally, in order to convince my management and client, I created a presentation on Robot Framework along with some demonstrable automated tests developed using it. Everyone was convinced and happy upon looking at the features of Robot Framework.

This is how I stumbled upon this proven framework, and began my journey to test automation development using Robot Framework :).

I plan to document my learnings in Robot Framework in this blog soon.