Introduction
The main factor for the success of test automation lies in the identification of the right automation tool for the application under test (AUT). Of the many test automation tools available on the market, it is very important to choose the most suitable tool for the overall requirements.
HP has released some functional automation testing tools like QTP and UFT. HP UFT combines HT QTP, the QTP plugins, and HP Service Test to form a single package. Automates the creation and execution of functional and regression tests. Allows you to record, verify, and replay user interactions. This helps to quickly identify and report any inconsistencies in the application. HP UFT is highly suitable for business analysts, subject matter experts, test automation engineers, QA analysts, and testers. But it also has a very limited ability to support systems focused on continuous integration, continuous deployment, and continuous delivery. It is heavy and has a very large learning curve.
To address these challenges, HP has released another functional test tool. LeanFT is a very lightweight, powerful and developer-oriented testing tool. It has been built specifically for Agile and DevOps methodologies and supports continuous integration, continuous deployment, and continuous delivery.
LeanFT can be fully integrated with standard IDEs like Eclipse, Visual Studio and integrates naturally with development and QA ecosystems. Harness the power of object-oriented programming languages and their commonly used IDEs. LeanFT targets technical automation engineers and development testers on Agile teams.
LeanFT actually extends the functionality and features of UFT. LeanFT enhances UFT’s object repository and SPY tools. But, compared to UFT, LeanFT does not come with a record and playback feature. UFT is still required for web services testing and visual API testing. Business Process Testing (BPT) is only possible through UFT.
It will not be correct to say that LeanFT is here to replace UFT. If so, UFT 12.5, an enhanced version of UFT, would not have been released. UFT 12.5 improves the recording functionality of Chrome. This has made it easier to create cross-browser test scripts. Therefore, only one test script can be used to test in all major browsers. It is also possible to exclude a browser from the test. UFT12.5 can be further integrated with the HP Mobile Solution. The report function in UFT12.5 is HTML based which has made it easy to share information between team members.
The only goal of switching from UFT to LeanFT would be to take advantage of the features of the object-oriented programming language. LeanFT provides the maximum benefit of shifting to the left to deliver applications with less effort. To move from LeanFT to UFT, the following options can be followed:
– Rewrite the scripts in LeanFT: This can take more time and is also an expensive solution.
– Migrate from UFT to LeanFT using automated tools: Using automated tools for script migration is a more feasible solution. QuickLean is the first tool to migrate from UFT to LeanFT.
Conclusion
It would be wrong to say that LeanFT is the ultimate solution. LeanFT and UFT address very different problems. UFT test cases are written to fit the test environment. Scripts in LeanFT are used to adapt to Agile and DevOps environments. It is best to mix and match the use of LeanFT and UFT for better test coverage.
