Introduction to Katalon + Saucelabs in QA Testing | JWay Group

Quality assurance and testing to make sure the software is ready for primetime is a very important part of making it. It helps ensure that you have the best products or services for your end users.

QA testing can be done in two ways: manually and automatically. In manual testing, a person checks the product to make sure it works. Automated testing is the best way to improve how quickly software testing is done and how well it works. Automation tools are used to do this. In this blog, we’ll talk about the automation tools Katalon and Saucelabs, and how users and testers can use them.

What is Katalon?

Katalon is a full test automation solution for testing on the web, mobile, and API. It gives engineers who work on automation and testers a single interface that is easy to use. Katalon Studio lets you test with data, test in different browsers, and connect to popular tools like Jira, Slack, and Git. It’s a tool that can be used by a wide variety of people because beginners don’t need to know much about coding, but it also has features for people who like to write their own scripts.

Katalon is a flexible tool that makes QA testing easier because it does what it says it will do. It makes reports of the results, and analytics through TestOps has tools for team collaboration and different testing methods, such as data-driven testing.

How is it used?

1. Web Testing: Automate tests for web applications by creating test cases that simulate user interactions with the application, such as clicking buttons, filling out forms, and navigating between pages.

2. Mobile Testing: Automate tests for mobile applications on both Android and iOS platforms. This includes testing the app’s functionality, UI, and performance.

Sample Mobile Testing
Source: https://docs.katalon.com/docs/get-started/sample-projects/mobile/mobile-create-and-run-android-test-case

3. API Testing: Automate tests for REST and SOAP APIs to validate the functionality and performance of the backend systems that support your application.

Sample POST request
Source: https://docs.katalon.com/docs/get-started/sample-projects/api/sample-api-tests-project-in-katalon-studio

4. Cross-Browser Testing: Automate tests across multiple web browsers to ensure compatibility and performance on different platforms.

5. Data-Driven Testing: Automate tests using external data sources, such as spreadsheets or databases, to increase test coverage and reduce the time spent on manual testing.

6. Report and Analytics: Generate reports and analytics on test execution results to track progress and identify areas for improvement.

In general, Katalon Studio aims to simplify and streamline the test automation process for organizations, helping teams to save time and effort, increase efficiency and accuracy, and ultimately improve the quality of their applications.

What are the Pros? 

1. User-friendly interface: Katalon Studio provides a unified and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for both automation engineers and manual testers to get started with test automation.
2. Support for multiple testing types: Katalon Studio supports multiple testing types, including web, mobile, and API testing, allowing teams to automate a wide range of testing scenarios.
3. Integration with popular tools: Katalon Studio integrates with popular tools, such as Jira, Slack, and Git, to provide a seamless and integrated experience for teams.
4. Robust reporting and analytics: Katalon Studio provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities, making it easy to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
5. Cost-effective: Katalon Studio is a cost-effective solution compared to other commercial test automation tools, making it accessible to teams of all sizes.
6. Community-driven: Katalon Studio has a large and active community of users who contribute plugins, add-ons, and other resources, making it easy to find support and resources when needed.
7. Easy to maintain: Katalon Studio’s scripting language is based on Groovy, a popular scripting language that is easy to learn and maintain.

Katalon Studio provides a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for test automation, helping teams to automate their testing process, save time and effort, and ultimately improve the quality of their applications.

What are the Cons?

1. Limited scalability: Katalon Studio may not be the best choice for very large-scale test automation projects, as it may struggle to keep up with the demands of a large number of test cases.
2. Limited support for advanced testing scenarios: While Katalon Studio provides support for multiple testing types, it may not have the same level of support for advanced testing scenarios as other more specialized tools.
3. Limited support for test management: Katalon Studio provides basic test management features, but it may not be as comprehensive or flexible as other dedicated test management tools.
4. Dependent on Groovy: Katalon Studio is based on the Groovy scripting language, which may not be familiar or widely used by all teams. This can make it more difficult for some teams to get started with test automation.
5. Limited support for parallel testing: Katalon Studio does not have built-in support for parallel testing, which can limit the speed and efficiency of test execution.
6. Limited support for distributed testing: Katalon Studio does not have built-in support for distributed testing, which can limit the ability to test applications across multiple environments and platforms.

While these limitations are worth considering, they may not be significant drawbacks for all teams and projects. Ultimately, the choice of a test automation tool will depend on the specific needs and requirements of the team and project.

Who uses Katalon these days?

Katalon Studio is used by a variety of organizations, including small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises. It is particularly popular among organizations that are looking for a cost-effective and user-friendly test automation solution.

There are many companies and organizations that use Katalon Studio as their test automation solution. Here are a few examples:

1. Vodafone
2. ING
3. SAP
4. CardinalHealth
5. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Company
6. Rakuten
7. Hive

These are just a few examples of companies that use Katalon Studio. The tool is used by organizations of all sizes, across a variety of industries, including healthcare, e-commerce, finance, education, and government.

Katalon Studios: Key Takeaways

Here are the key takeaways from our discussion on Katalon Studio:

• Katalon Studio is a comprehensive test automation solution for web, mobile, and API testing that provides a unified and user-friendly interface.
• It supports multiple testing types, including web testing, mobile testing, API testing, cross-browser testing, and data-driven testing.
• It integrates with popular tools, such as Jira, Slack, and Git, and provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities.
• It is a cost-effective solution compared to other commercial test automation tools and has a large and active community of users.
• Some of the potential drawbacks of using Katalon Studio include limited scalability, limited support for advanced testing scenarios, and limited support for parallel and distributed testing.

In conclusion, Katalon Studio can be a valuable tool for teams looking to automate their testing process and improve the quality of their applications, but it is important to carefully evaluate its capabilities and limitations to determine if it is the right fit for a particular team and project.

What is Saucelabs?

Saucelabs is a cloud-based testing platform that offers the most up-to-date browsers and OS combinations, different mobile and device emulators, and simulators. It can be used in manual testing, automated cross-platform and cross-browser testing, and even testing a native, hybrid mobile application.

How is it used?

Here are some common use cases for Sauce Labs:

1. Functional Testing: Development teams can use Sauce Labs to automate functional tests for their applications. This can include testing for user interactions, navigation, and other application features.

2. Performance Testing: Development teams can use Sauce Labs to perform load and performance tests on their applications. This can help to identify performance bottlenecks and ensure that the application can handle high traffic volumes.

3. Cross-Browser Testing: SauceLabs provides a variety of browsers and platforms, which can be used to test applications across different environments. This helps development teams ensure that their applications work correctly on different browsers and platforms.   

4. Mobile Testing: Sauce Labs provides a cloud-based platform for testing mobile applications on real devices and simulators. This can help development teams identify and fix issues that may only appear on mobile devices.

Mobile Testing Sample in our Retrakr app

What are the Pros?

There are several benefits of using Sauce Labs for testing web and mobile applications:

1. Speed and Efficiency: Sauce Labs allows development teams to run tests in parallel across multiple browsers, platforms, and devices. 
2. Improved Testing Coverage: Sauce Labs provides a wide range of browsers, platforms, and devices, which enables development teams to test their applications across a variety of environments. 
3. Real-Device Testing: Sauce Labs provides access to real devices for mobile testing, which helps development teams to test their applications on real devices and identify issues that may only appear on physical devices.
4. Centralized Reporting: Sauce Labs provides a centralized platform for managing and reporting test results. 
5. Cost-Effective: Sauce Labs provides a cloud-based platform for testing, which eliminates the need for development teams to purchase and maintain physical devices for testing. This can help to reduce costs and improve the overall efficiency of the testing process.
6. Scalability: Sauce Labs allows development teams to scale their testing efforts as needed, by adding more browsers, platforms, and devices as required. This helps to ensure that testing efforts keep pace with the needs of the development team and the application.

What are the Cons?

While Sauce Labs provides many benefits for testing web and mobile applications, there are also some potential drawbacks to consider:

1. Internet Connection Dependence: Sauce Labs is a cloud-based platform that requires a stable internet connection in order to run tests and access test results. This can be a problem for development teams in areas with limited or unreliable internet connectivity.
2. Cost: Although Sauce Labs can be cost-effective compared to purchasing and maintaining physical devices for testing, the platform can still be expensive for some development teams, especially those with limited budgets.
3. Integration Challenges: Integration with existing testing frameworks and tools can be challenging for some development teams, especially those with complex testing environments. This can lead to increased development time and effort to get up and running with Sauce Labs.
4. Limited Customization: Sauce Labs provides a wide range of testing tools and resources, but some development teams may require more customization or control over the testing process. This may not be possible with the standard features provided by the platform.
5. Maintenance and Upkeep: Sauce Labs requires regular maintenance and updates to ensure that the platform continues to function as expected. This can require additional time and effort from development teams, and may impact the overall efficiency of the testing process.

Who uses Saucelabs these days?

Sauce Labs is used by a variety of companies across a range of industries, including technology, e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and more. Here are some examples of well-known companies that use Sauce Labs:

1. Mozilla
2. Khan Academy 
3. Yahoo mail
4. Eventbrite
5. Zillow
6. GoDaddy
7. Battlefy
8. Walmart
9. Autodesk

These companies use Sauce Labs as part of their software development and testing processes, taking advantage

Sauce Labs: Key Takeaways

1. Sauce Labs is a cloud-based platform for automated testing of web and mobile applications.
2. The platform provides a centralized location for running, managing, and reporting on tests for multiple operating systems, browsers, and devices.
3. Sauce Labs can help development teams to improve the speed and quality of testing and development processes by providing a suite of tools for automating functional and performance tests, as well as monitoring and debugging of applications.
4. The benefits of using Sauce Labs include improved testing coverage, real-device testing, centralized reporting, cost-effectiveness, and scalability.
5. Potential drawbacks of using Sauce Labs include dependence on a stable internet connection, cost, integration challenges, limited customization, and maintenance and upkeep.
6. Development teams should carefully consider the benefits and drawbacks of using Sauce Labs before making a decision to use the platform for their testing needs.

Why do we choose Katalon and Saucelabs?

Aside from the stated features of Katalon, it also offers integration with third-party applications. Together with third-party collaboration tools like JIRA, Slack, and Git, it makes it easy to automate traceability of requirements to acceptance criteria, test results reporting, and QA monitoring.
On the other hand, it is advantageous to use third-party applications, like Saucelabs, that offer project simulations on real devices. Saucelabs is an excellent option because it provides numerous devices you can use to render your projects for testing. While manual testing won’t go away anytime soon, Saucelabs provides a reliable service in testing functionalities with the different options offered without having to lose an arm and a leg buying actual devices.

JWay Group, Inc is an IT solutions, software development, digital marketing, and staffing company with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. If you want to learn more about Katalon and Saucelabs, how it might help you with your quality assurance needs, or in need of QA engineering talent, you may contact us. You can also send an email to info@jway.com to talk to one of our experts.

Resources:

Katalon official docs 

Katalon official docs 

Saucelab official website

Suacelab documentation