Codeless Automation Trends, Appium, PerfOps, and More TGNS87

What are some trends I've been seeing that may mean Colis Automation testing is the future. Have you heard the latest on Appium? And what is PERF DevOps? Find out in this episode of the Automation and DevSecOps News show for the week of July 9th. So grab your favorite cup of coffee or tea and let's do this. But first, are you looking to take your automation testing to the next level? Look no further than applitools, the visual AI validation testing. Trust me, it is a game changer. Plus you could try it out for yourself by creating a free account now by using the special link in the comments down below and see the difference for yourself. So speaking of applitools, in a significant move in the field of AI powered test automation, applitools has announced its acquisition of Preflight, which is a leading low code test automation platform. So this was posted by one of the co founders, Moshe, at applitools, which is a leading low code test automation platform. And in the announcement it also talks about how this strategic acquisition aims to democratize the testing process. So it's going to enable individuals of varying technical capabilities to create, run and maintain automated tests swiftly and efficiently. And the integration of Preflight's low coding testing solution into applitools platform will allow for more comprehensive testing lifecycles from altering test execution and maintenance. This move is also expected to enhance AI driven test authoring, execution and analysis capability, allowing teams to automate the tests more quickly, easily and accurately. So this is a trend I've been seeing more and more of a lot of tools are trying to become more of a platform and all in one go to solution and I actually cover this in my trends for 2023 that I foresaw more and more companies becoming platforms. This looks like another move of another company like Apple's trying to become an all in one testing platform solution and also to me is an indicator of more and more companies seeing the value of codeless automation, at least from what they heard from their customers. So it's something you need to keep an eye on for sure. Also, I'm not sure if you caught my interview with David Burns all about Nightwatch, JS Nightwatch, JS3 and a bunch of awesome features. And so this next article covers one of those features that I think a lot of people unaware of that Nightwatch actually can help you with and this was released by Milan who let me know on LinkedIn that he just released this article and the post highlights the easy setup NightWatch, which enables API testing in as little as 15 minutes and in this post Milan walks readers through a two step process. The run setup involves creating a simple API test and executing. This post also includes a bonus feature on automating HTML report generation. So this guide provides a straightforward approach to API testing and using Nightwatch, making it accessible to everyone that is new to the field or new to Nightwatch. So definitely a feature you should try out and try it for yourself. You can find it in the first comment down below. So I'm not sure if you heard this, but Huge announcement from the folks at Appium so it's now official. The Open JS foundation has announced the release of Appium 2.0. Finally. We've been talking about it for years and if you don't know Appium is an open source test automation framework for native, hybrid and mobile web apps, and this new version reimagines Appium as a platform where drivers and plugins can be easily created and shared, facilitating automation across multiple platforms. So one of the huge features of Appium 2.0 is it introduces a new system for developing and sharing Appium drivers, plugins that really can extend or modify any of Appium's behaviors and the ability to install drivers and plugins from across the ecosystems. A single command and this major update is expected to enhance the tool's versatility. So big kudos to all the folks that contributed to this latest Release of Appium 2.0. We really appreciate you all. And speaking of Appium and two major contributors I know to Appium that always releasing new features to help the community with Appium is this latest announcement. So Srini and Sai have just introduced the Appium Gestures plugin. It allows users to easily perform basic gestures such as sweeping, tapping and long pressing using the W3C Actions API. And this initiative is set to enhance the user experience in mobile app testing significantly. A lot of people complain that this is really hard to do. This app or plugin is really going to help you do better, more realistic mobile app testing. Furthermore, the decoupling of architecture of the Appium 2.0 that they just released allows users to select the drivers and plugins that best meets their needs, offering a fully customizable testing experience. So this is just another development of Appium. You haven't used Appium in a while. Definitely check out Appium 2.0 and definitely check out this new plugin from Srini and Sai. And thank you Srini and Sai for all you do for the community as well. Have you been hearing more about htmx but not sure how it's going to be impacting your testing or automation efforts. Well, I found an article that's going to get you all up to speed on the HTML extended format. So in this latest blog post by Tony, he goes over htmx and why it's making waves as a powerful tool that's going to simplify the creation of dynamic web applications. Tony is a seasoned web developer and automation engineer, and he explores in this article how htmx, a small JavaScript library, allows developers to create AJAX CSS transitions, WebSockets and service send events directly in HTML, eliminating the need for complex JavaScript code. And this not only simplifies web app development, but also it has a significant implication for automation testing. So by reducing complexity, HTML streamlines test cases, it enhances performance, and it could facilitate better configuration and reduce dependencies. So we talked about how Nightwatch can help you with API testing activities if you use Playwright. We'll have an awesome new resource view that covers this as well. And this was posted by Debbie o', Brien, a dev advocate at Playwright, and it's all about the power of API mocking in Playwright Test. And this article goes on to explain the importance of mocking third party APIs, especially those beyond your control, to ensure efficient development and testing. And this article goes into detail on how Playwright can be used to intercept API calls and return mock responses without any additional libraries. And this article also provides a lot of practical examples how to mock API calls, modify API responses, and even use HAR files for more complex mocking scenarios. So as I mentioned, something is going on here. Whenever I see multiple companies doing the same thing, to me it's just a strong indicator of where the market is going to and why. You should know more about it. Tricentis has also acquired a codeless development solution to help with mobile test automation. So Tricentis has just acquired Waldo, which is a SaaS based no code zero footprint mobile test automation platform. And they say this acquisition is set to enhance Tricentis mobile testing offering with new test automation capabilities including native, hybrid and web web mobile application testing using virtual devices, supporting iOS simulation and Android emulators. If you ever used Walda before, you know its SaaS based test automation helps to simplify mobile test authoring, management and execution directly from a browser, addressing the challenges of managing a mobile test infrastructure as part of a continuous integration, continuous delivery CI CD pipeline. And once again, just another sign that codeless is really becoming a bigger, bigger thing in the testing automation field. You've heard of DevOps, but how about Perf Ops and the Perf Ops framework is designed to address the challenge of performance testing and engineering in complex service domains. And in this article it goes of how the framework aims to provide visibility into application performance, standardize reporting across different stakeholders, foster a culture of shared responsibility, ensuring shared accountability, and facilitate application optimization. It also focuses on identifying trends and patterns, capacity planning, cost optimization, and improving customer experience. And this article goes into detail in all these different areas and I think this innovative approach is expected to enhance the efficiency of performance engineering and foster better decision making based on data, which is so critical. I think performance testing is very critical. So this is a great framework I think everyone needs to check out. So so thank you again Harinda for another awesome contribution to the performance testing community. And in security news, how would you like to learn more about hacking a application? If so, I have a great resource for you on that as well. And this is a post by Edward who delves into the world of ethical hacking with a fascinating walkthrough of Power Bank, a deliberately vulnerable online banking application. So this article goes over the pseudo banking app developed by powersoft serves as a practice ground for building ethical hackers and the author, Edward of this post guides us through exploiting vulnerabilities such as broken object level authorization and demonstrates how this can lead to unauthorized access and potential misuses of banking apps. And this explanation really is a stark reminder of the importance of robust security measures in online banking systems. Remember, this is a controlled learning environment. It does not endorse hacking real life banking apps. Great example how you can learn using a real world type example without actually causing any harm. And for links of everything of value we covered in this news episode, head on over to links in the first comment down below. And while you're there, make sure to check out our awesome sponsor applitools free account offer and discover how to take your animation testing to the next level. Leveraging Visual AI so that's it for this episode of the Test Guild News Show. I'm Joe. My missions help you succeed in creating end to end full stack pipeline automation awesomeness. As always, test everything and keep the good. Cheers.