Functional Testing Tools

What are Functional Testing Tools?

Functional Testing Tools are used by QA (Quality Assurance) and DevOps teams to verify that software functions as intended, conforming to an application’s specifications and requirements. Functional testing tools are concerned with simulating application input including user activity and inspecting the resulting output to see if it is what is expected.

These tools facilitate end-to-end testing of every feature of the software to ensure it is working properly, examining the functioning of APIs, web, mobile, and enterprise applications. It is considered a type of black-box testing, where internal code and program structure is not evaluated.

Functional testing tools overlap with Automation Testing Tools., utilizing its features that maximize efficiency and limit human error by automating testing scenarios and validating results. The tools support automated UI (User Interface) testing. These tools provide insights into the causes of testing issues, expediting bug fixing, and problem resolution.

Types of Functional Testing

Functional testing tools support the following types of testing.

• Unit Testing – evaluates a small portion of code representing an individual task and is a crucial part of the application development process
• Smoke Testing – is an initial testing step to determine if a new build’s main functionality is working, to allow more detailed testing to proceed
• Sanity Testing - is like smoke testing, however, it is used to test changes to an existing already stable build as opposed to an entirely new build
• GUI Testing – verifies that the user graphical interface and navigation is working as intended
• Component Testing – tests a module or system component independently. It could be a module of code, a web page or screen, or a subsystem within a larger system.
• Integration Testing – tests validated individual components to see how they work together
• Regression Testing – is used to test new and updated features or configuration changes to ensure they do not have unexpected consequences (bugs) and adversely impact existing functionality
• Systems Testing – is conducted on a complete, integrated system to ensure that it meets its technical, functional, and business requirements.
• User Acceptance Testing / Environment Testing – is done prior to production implementation to ensure that the software will work in real-world conditions and scenarios

Difference between Functional and Non-Functional Testing

Functional testing is done to ascertain whether an application has satisfied its business requirements.

Non-Functional testing is used to verify that the application will run successfully once deployed and includes the following: performance, load, stress, security, installation, and recovery testing.

Integrations

Functional Testing Tools offer integrations with a range of other tools that may be in your ecosystem. Here are a few examples.

• DevOps - Azure DevOps
• Issue Tracking - Jira
• Version Control - Git
• Continuous Integration (CI) – Jenkins
• Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – Visual Studio

Functional Testing Tools Features

Functional Tools will include many of these features.

• Test web, mobile, desktop, enterprise, native, and hybrid applications
• Support multiple platforms Window, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android
• Support multiple devices
• Support multiple scripting languages
• Testing automation
• Machine learning for automated testing
• Reusable scripts
• Cross-browser testing, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, headless
• GUI testing, and AI-assisted object recognition
• Parallel testing
• Error logging and reporting
• Dashboards, analytics
• Test recording and playback

Functional Testing Tools Comparison

Consider the following when purchasing Functional Testing Tools

Use Case: Most testing tools have a specific focus. Some tools are geared toward enterprise-scale testing such as Worksoft Certify which supports SAP, Oracle, and SalesForce application testing. Others specialize in mobile and web-based application testing like Sauce Labs or focus exclusively on one type of testing such as SoapUI for API testing.

Free Open-Source Tools: If you have the necessary in-house tech support, your business can take advantage of free open-source tools like Watir which is a Ruby-based library for testing automation, or Selenium which supports web browser emulation. Commercial tool vendors provide the expertise and tech support to help a business use its software.

Automation: Most tools offer automation features; some tools have more robust automation capabilities like SmartBear TestComplete and Tricentis Tosca. They employ ML and AI-powered automated testing that facilitates API testing, supports pattern recognition in UI testing, identifies unexpected errors, and can recommend solutions.

Pricing Information

Many functional testing tools are available free and open source. These tools are usually purpose built and specific to certain kinds of projects or apps (e.g. for Android apps, etc.). Open source tools may present the best option for small projects and independent developers. Prices for paid products begin at $40 to $200 per month. Enterprise-scale tools are considerably more expensive and require a vendor price quote.

Functional test tools providing automation or complex multi-purpose testing are generally priced $250 monthly for short-term subscriptions, or $2000 to $3000 annually per licensed user with volume pricing available. Such high end suites support testing applications across browsers, mobile platforms, APIs, as well as ERP applications, and legacy systems. They also include load and performance testing capabilities, as well as live support. The intended users of advanced test automation suites are larger enterprises.

Other Functional Testing Products

• JUnit
• Pester
• Jest
• ScalaTest