Comparison of software testing tools and selection of automation over manual testing

Computer programming is the process of designing and building a software to finalize a specific computing objective. It is impossible to have no errors in the software. The main problem in a development process is not that errors appear in the software; it is whether these errors can be detected in a timely manner. Although software testing has a great importance in the software lifecycle, it is seen as the last step due to that the project's constraints as its cost and time, so its importance is not considered enough. If the most appropriate methodology can be predicted correctly in a software test, the time allocated for software testing will be used more efficiently. In order to make this decision correctly, the structure of the project, the technical knowledge of the project team and the most important critical points of the software to be tested should be known before. In order to decide on the test technique that meets these criteria, the most necessary issue to decide whether the test will be performed manually or automatically. If it is decided to perform the test automatically, it is very important to correctly answer the question of which tool will be better. To answer this question correctly, it is necessary to know the test automation tools well. The studies in this area are limited. Examining the existing studies on software testing worldwide, it is difficult to find detailed studies. The related studies are on examining multiple automation tools and compare their features. However, these studies are not sufficient to evaluate the compatibility and success on various softwares. This thesis is based on examining multiple automation tools in all aspects, running the same test on all tools and comparing the results in detail. Both software and hardware parameters that were considered important by the test team were investigated. Among these parameters, the 10 most noticeable features were determined and the tools were compared according to these features and the results were reported. Advantages and disadvantages of the tools are described. This study will assist the software engineers on how to decide the compatible tool on automatic software testing process in their projects. Keywords: Software testing, manual testing, automated testing, Telerik Test Studio, Katalon Studio, Sahi Pro, Selenium