Unit testing

[brikis98]

We are developing a couple of J2EE webapps, including JSP's, struts, etc. We are using JUnit to automate the unit testing of the back-end components (those written in Java). These unit tests are hooked it into our build system so that every night, we can see if our changes broke any of the automated tests.

However, what's the best tool to do automatic unit testing of the front end? Is there anything that can effectively automate the process of going through web pages, clicking links, entering values into forms, verifying that the results are correct, etc?

I've heard of HttpUnit and Selenium, but wanted some opinions before I dive into using them...

 

[Ken g6]

You're looking for end-user functional testing? The application I'm most familiar with for that is Mercury Interactive QuickTest Professional (vendor site). (And I'm very familiar with it. ) But it costs $$$!

If you want HTTP testing without a real browser, some available options are LoadRunner, also from Mercury, and OpenSTA, an open-source application. Both are load testing tools, but they can be set (with some difficulty) to go through pretty much any HTTP testing you want.

While I'm here, I might as well plug the company I work for, Automation Excellence, which provides automated testing services using these and other tools.

 

[elmro]

There is also httpUnit/htmlUnit.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

You may also want to check QAForums. It's an excellent resource for all things software test related.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Ken_g6
You're looking for end-user functional testing? The application I'm most familiar with for that is Mercury Interactive QuickTest Professional (vendor site). (And I'm very familiar with it. ) But it costs $$$!

If you want HTTP testing without a real browser, some available options are LoadRunner, also from Mercury, and OpenSTA, an open-source application. Both are load testing tools, but they can be set (with some difficulty) to go through pretty much any HTTP testing you want.

While I'm here, I might as well plug the company I work for, Automation Excellence, which provides automated testing services using these and other tools.

to clarify, my company has a QA department which will do plenty of manual end-user functional testing. however, our goal is to automate at least some of this end-user testing so developers can have some quick checks on whether their changes are breaking anything.

thanks for the advice so far folks, keep the good stuff coming

 

[nweaver]

Mercury is OK, but it's too much (imho)

Compuware has a product (not sure what one it is)

we use jmeter sometimes (but it's a bit buggy at times) and Radview's Webload, as licensing isn't too bad. We also are a load testing house, but we aren't usually up for small scale functional type testing with these tools, we are usually pushing 200-1000Mb/s bandwidth to really hammer production web servers from multiple geographic locations.

 

[nweaver]

with your addition, I would say to automate this with something like jmeter (I THINK it will do inputs and stuff)

There is also Silk, but it's another high dollar app. We really like Webload because they are pretty responsive to bugs, and fairly cheap in the long run for licensing, but we license per test/project, we don't just have a huge license to tap whenever we want.

 

[DivideBYZero]

If you want hardcore you can go with BMCs TM ART: Here.

It's my specialty.