What are the pros and cons of scriptless testing?

Scriptless test automation platforms help organizations improve their QA processes by providing:

Quick test case creation. Thanks to a simple GUI and easy-to-use functionalities, scriptless platforms allow users with no programming experience to quickly configure simple tests. This saves QA specialists hours of manual programming and allows users to learn about QA processes themselves.

Automation of a wide range of processes. Though limited in their abilities, scriptless test platforms can be used as complex solutions to automate many processes throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). Adopting scriptless test automation frameworks is generally easier for organizations than using traditional QA, as the latter require a specific set of skills to automate each process.

Lower QA maintenance costs. Creating and maintaining tests is faster and easier with scriptless testing tools. It can be done by any business user without specific development and testing knowledge. QA specialists only have to write test modules once, and other users can reuse them when needed.

Scalable QA processes. Scriptless platforms allow users to combine, change, and reuse parts of test scenarios. When a user changes the back end of a test scenario, the platform automatically updates all test cases with the changed module. This allows for quick and painless scaling of test cases.

Access to a wide pool of testers. The need to master a certain testing tool, framework, or integration may become a bottleneck for a project. In scriptless testing, a user doesn’t need to know the inner workings of a test case, since they work only with the GUI of the testing platform. In this way, scriptless testing eliminates the need to have a QA team member with knowledge of a specific tech stack and allows almost anyone to join the QA team.

Thorough test documentation. Detailed descriptions of test modules, records of test cases, and logs of user activity provide everyone with details on the testing process. Scriptless platforms also record who changed what in the QA environment.

The advantages of scriptless testing make it a rather attractive choice for IT organizations that are looking for ways to improve their QA routine. However, it has some severe limitations that organizations have to take into account:

Few to no customization options. Scriptless no-code test automation tools have only a set toolbox for test creation. Low-code platforms provide some flexibility, since they allow users to add their custom code to tests. But they still limit options in creating test scenarios. Without customizable test modules, users can’t adjust scenarios to their needs and create unique test cases. Because of that, it’s best to use scriptless tests only for testing the parts of your system that will not change.

Need for coding skills to solve non-trivial tasks. Although scriptless platforms help you create and structure test scenarios automatically, there always will be some scenarios that require manually coded tests. For organizations that use scriptless tests, this means they still need QA specialists with coding skills to ensure the quality of their system.

Limited compatibility. Each codeless test automation platform has limitations in its compatibility with certain browsers, devices, and software. To build a universal testing system, an organization has to combine several scriptless platforms or combine them with manual testing activities.

Risk of errors in automated tests. Although automated tests in scriptless platforms are generated by a computer using predefined modules, there still may be errors. Errors in code generation can lead to incorrect or faulty test scenarios and, ultimately, to wrong test results. To fix such errors, QA specialists have to spend many hours manually reviewing and rewriting test modules.

Vendor lock-in. Code generated by a specific scriptless testing platform is often unique to the platform or operating system. This property of such platforms makes organizations dependent on the platform they choose. If an organization decides to change their test automation tool or introduce a new framework in the middle of the project, QA engineers have to completely rewrite existing test cases.

Even with such severe limitations, scriptless testing tools have become popular within QA teams. Read the full article at the Apriorit blog and explore how such tools fit into a comprehensive testing strategy.