Developing web applications and responsive websites for the mobile world can be a challenge. How to test your Web App or website works great for every customer when there are new devices coming out every day? How to account for the different form factors, operating systems and software? How to make this scale so that your testers do not go insane? To solve all these problems, one would need some sort of cross-platform tool that works for mobile, maybe one that is using established protocols, is language-agnostic and easy to integrate with CI … Good news, this tool is out there, and it’s called Appium. This original talk was presented at Webinale 2016.

1. Giovanni Rago | TestObject
How to Test your Web App Automatically
and Keep Your Testers Sane

2. Your Speaker
• Lead Test Automation Engineer @ TestObject
• Working with Appium since day one
• Responsible for
– kickstarting customers' test automation infrastructure;
– providing support on all related matters;
– know-how transfer through both on-site and remote
workshops;
– development tasks on testing API, product and plugins;
– …

4. About TestObject
• Mobile-oriented cloud testing platform
• The user can run manual and automated
tests on hundreds of real Android and iOS
devices which TestObject maintains
• Among the automation frameworks we
support, Appium is our focus

5. About TestObject
• Berlin-based!
• Fast growing international team
• Fast growing customer base, going from
small startups to multinational corporations

7. About Appium
Open-source tool for automating native, web, and hybrid
mobile applications on the iOS and Android platforms.
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CROSS PLATFORM CROSS TECHNOLOGY

8. 1. You write an automation script (programming skills
required) in one of many supported languages
2. By running the script you instantiate an AppiumDriver –
the client that connects to the AppiumServer
3. The driver asks the server to perform actions on the UI
of the application
4. The server translates the commands for the underlying
OS automation tools
5. The device on which the app is running is automatically
remote controlled
How It Works – In Short

9. How It Works – In Short

10. • You shouldn't have to recompile your app or modify it in
any way in order to automate it.
ØVendor-provided automation frameworks are used
under the hood:
ØUIAutomation for iOS
ØGoogle’s UIAtomator and Instrumentation
(bundled with Selendroid) for Android
Appium’s Philosophy

11. • You shouldn't be locked into a specific language or
framework to write and run your tests.
ØVendor-provided frameworks are wrapped into the
WebDriver (aka "Selenium WebDriver"), which
specifies a client-server protocol (known as the JSON
Wire Protocol). A client can be written in any language
and be used to send the appropriate HTTP requests to
the server.
Appium’s Philosophy

12. • A mobile automation framework should be open source,
in spirit and practice as well as in name!
ØOpen source project, massive community, frequent
fixes and many active committers.
Appium’s Philosophy

13. Typical Appium Test Script

14. Typical Appium Test Script
• Not using abstraction to our advantage: low
level and high level mixed together
• Low readability
• Low maintainability: bad news if you have a
new release every two weeks

15. The PageObject Pattern

16. The PageObject Pattern
“Page objects are a classic example of encapsulation -
they hide the details of the UI structure and widgetry
from other components (the tests).”
- Martin Fowler

17. Applying the Pattern

18. Thank you!
Come find us at
www.testobject.com
Giovanni Rago
Test Automation Engineer
giovanni.rago@testobject.com