Software Testing Tools Interview Preparation Guide

Kind of Tool
Automated GUI Client Testing Tool (freeware)
Organization
Smith House
http://www.smith-house.org/open.html
Software Description
Android is an open-source GUI testing tool that can observe and record your interactions with a graphical user interface, creating a script that can repeat the session to any desired level of accuracy. The user can specify test points where the designated window is to be checked to see if it differs from the "canonical" test run originally recorded, signalling a test failure if this is the case. It can also be used to write GUI automation scripts.
Platforms
Record mode requires Expect. Playback or scripting will work on any Posix-compliant system with a working port of Tcl/Tk.

Seapine's software development and testing tools streamline your development process, saving you significant time and money. Enjoy feature-rich tools that are flexible enough to work in any software development environment. With Seapine integrated tools, every step in the development process feeds critical information into the next step, letting you focus on developing high quality software in less time.

Seapine Website http://www.seapine.com/

Seapine Software Software Test Tools

QA Wizard - Incorporating a user friendly interface with integrated data and a robust scripting engine. It adapts easily to new and evolving technologies and can be mastered in a short period of time. The result--you deliver higher quality software faster.

Leading the revolution in business process optimization through true-automation in quality assurance. Break through the programming wall with next-generation test automation technology and accelerate your Time-to-Quality™.

AccordSQA Website http://www.accordsqa.com/

AccordSQA Software Test Tools

SmarteScript - First functional and regression testing tool built on next-generation technology. Powered by the patent pending Grid-Visualization Engine™, SmarteScript empowers the AccordSQA user with the ability to incorporate the business logic of their application directly into the testing process through Smarte Process Optimization™ – the true test of software quality and performance. The result is the highest level of quality assurance for the most complex of software applications. Simply comprehensive testing.

Forecast by Facilita is mainly used for performance testing but functionally it is as strong as the other performance tools and the cost saving is usually at least 50% less.

Facilita Website http://www.facilita.com/

Facilita Software Test Tools

forecast - The Load and Performance Test Tool. A non-intrusive tool for system load testing, performance measurement and multi-user functional testing. Load test your enterprise infrastructure by simulating thousands of users performing realistic user actions.

winperl.com is a small company with a simple nice product called WinPerl++/GUIdo.

WinPerl Website http://www.winperl.com/

winperl.com Software Test Tools

WinPerl++/GUIdo - A suite of tools written to solve the need for a Windows UI automation tool with an easy to learn and use scripting language. For this reason, the Perl programming language was chosen. Winperl is a collection of windows dll's, Perl modules, developer UI and related tools which make its use in various environments possible. The WinPerl++ a.k.a GUIdo tool suite is ideal for the following purposes:
- Windows UI application automation.
- Corporate SQA application test efforts.
- Ideal for automating repetitive tasks.
- IT functions to eliminate human interaction.

OpenSTA is a distributed software testing architecture designed around CORBA, it was originally developed to be commercial software by CYRANO. The current toolset has the capability of performing scripted HTTP and HTTPS heavy load tests with performance measurements from Win32 platforms. However, the architectural design means it could be capable of much more.

OpenSTA Website http://www.opensta.org/

The OpenSTA toolset is Open Source software licensed under the GNU GPL (General Public License), this means it is free and will always remain free.

Compuware Corporation is a recognized industry leader in enterprise software and IT services that help maximize the value of technology investments. We offer a powerful set of integrated solutions for enterprise IT including IT governance, application development, quality assurance and application service management. Compuware is one of the largest software test tool vendors. It has a turnover in excess of $2 billion and staff of more than 15,000. 9,500 of these are professional services staff with skills covering all the development lifecycle. Compuware does not only supply the tools but will provide staff to initially develop your test suite and handover to internal staff as required.

Compuware's test tool set is second to Rational only on the windows platform (for coverage) but for complete coverage across platforms including mainframe and Unix they are the best. So for the larger company that requires a complete testing solution to cover these platforms it is probably best to start with Compuware as they will offer unit test, database test, mainframe, functional, load, web test, defect tracking and more in their tool set. No other vendor can offer this range.

Compuware Website http://www.compuware.com/

Compuware Software Test Tools

Compuware provides tools for Requirements Management, Risk-based Test Management, Unit, Functional and Load Testing, Test Data Management, and Quality Discipline.

Compuware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) offers a more effective approach. CARS combines our patented methodology with innovative enterprise-wide technologies and certified quality assurance expertise to instill a consistent discipline across development, quality assurance and operations. By following this systematic testing approach, you:
- adhere to a consistent quality assurance process
- deliver the quality metrics required to make a sound go/no go decision
- ensure the most critical of business requirements are met

QACenter Enterprise Edition: Requirements Management Tool. Align testing with business requirements. With QACenter Enterprise Edition you can:
- prioritize testing activities through the assignment of risk
- align test requirements with business goals
- quickly measure progress and effectiveness of test activities
- centrally manage and execute various manual and automated testing assets
- automate the process of entering, tracking and resolving defects found during testing.

Compuware DevPartner: A family of products providing a comprehensive development, debugging and tuning solution to the challenges of application development, from concept to coding to security and finally to completion. DevPartner products cover Microsoft, Java™, 64-bit and driver development, helping you improve productivity and increase software reliability—from simple two-tier applications to complex distributed and web-based systems.

Xpediter: Analyze, test and debug mainframe applications. With Xpediter you can:
- Analyze programs and applications
- Test and debug programs interactively
- Understand and control the process of data and logic
- Identify what has executed within an application
- Debug DB2 Stored Procedures
- Test date and time related logic

File-AID: Test data management tool. Help you pull together test data from multiple source to create, move, convert, reformat, subset, and validate your test date bed. The test methodology has helped organizations test more efficiently and effectively.

Mercury is the global leader in Business Technology Optimization (BTO) software and services. Our BTO products and solutions help customers govern and manage IT and optimize application quality, performance, and availability. Mercury enables IT organizations to shift their focus from managing IT projects to optimizing business outcomes. Global 2000 companies and government agencies worldwide rely on Mercury to lower IT costs, reduce risks, and optimize for growth; address strategic IT initiatives; and optimize enterprise application environments like J2EE, .NET, and ERP/CRM.

Mercury has a number of complimentary tools TestDirector being the most integrated one. They have a lot of third party support and test tools are usually compared first against Mercury than the others. Mercury tends to use third party companies to supply professional services support for their tools (e.g. if you require onsite development of test suites).

Mercury Website http://www.mercury.com/

Mercury Interactive Software Test Tools

Mercury TestDirector: allows you to deploy high-quality applications quickly and effectively by providing a consistent, repeatable process for gathering requirements, planning and scheduling tests, analyzing results, and managing defects and issues. TestDirector is a single, Web-based application for all essential aspects of test management — Requirements Management, Test Plan, Test Lab, and Defects Management. You can leverage these core modules either as a standalone solution or integrated within a global Quality Center of Excellence environment.

Mercury QuickTest Professional: provides the industry's best solution for functional test and regression test automation - addressing every major software application and environment. This next-generation automated testing solution deploys the concept of Keyword-driven testing to radically simplify test creation and maintenance. Unique to QuickTest Professional’s Keyword-driven approach, test automation experts have full access to the underlying test and object properties, via an integrated scripting and debugging environment that is round-trip synchronized with the Keyword View.

Mercury WinRunner: offers your organization a powerful tool for enterprisewide functional and regression testing. Mercury WinRunner captures, verifies, and replays user interactions automatically, so you can identify defects and ensure that business processes work flawlessly upon deployment and remain reliable. With Mercury WinRunner, your organization gains several advantages, including:
- Reduced testing time by automating repetitive tasks.
- Optimized testing efforts by covering diverse environments with a single testing tool.
- Maximized return on investment through modifying and reusing test scripts as the application evolves.

Mercury Business Process Testing: the industry’s first web-based test automation solution, can add real value. It enables non-technical business analysts to build, data-drive, and execute test automation without any programming knowledge. By empowering business analysts and quality automation engineers to collaborate more effectively using a consistent and standardized process, you can:
Improve the productivity of your testing teams.
Detect and diagnose performance problems before system downtime occurs.
Increase the overall quality of your applications.

ActiveTest. Can help ensure the users have a positive experience with a Web site. ActiveTest is a hosted, Web-based testing service that conducts full scale stress testing of your Web site. By emulating the behavior of thousands of customers using your Web application, ActiveTest identifies bottlenecks and capacity constraints before they affect your constomers.

Mercury LoadRunner: prevents costly performance problems in production by detecting bottlenecks before a new system or upgrade is deployed. You can verify that new or upgraded applications will deliver intended business outcomes before go-live, preventing over-spending on hardware and infrastructure. It is the industry-standard load testing solution for predicting system behavior and performance, and the only integrated load testing, tuning, and diagnostics solution in the market today. With LoadRunner web testing software, you can measure end-to-end performance, diagnose application and system bottlenecks, and tune for better performance—all from a single point of control. It supports a wide range of enterprise environments, including Web Services, J2EE, and .NET.

Parasoft is the leading provider of innovative solutions that automatically identify and prevent software errors from reoccurring in the development and QA process. For more than 15 years, this privately held company has delivered easy-to-use, scalable and customizable error prevention tools and methodologies through its portfolio of leading brands, including, Jtest, C++test, Insure++ and SOAtest.

Parasoft Website http://www.parasoft.com/

Parasoft Software Test Tools

WebKing - An automated Web application testing product that automates the most critical Web verification practices: static analysis, functional/regression testing, and load testing.

Jtest - An automated Java unit testing and coding standard analysis product. It automatically generates and executes JUnit tests for instant verification, and allows users to extend these tests. In addition, it checks whether code follows over 500 coding standard rules and automatically corrects violations of over 200 rules.

C++test - An automated C/C++unit testing and coding standard analysis product. It automatically generates and executes unit tests for instant verification, and allows users to customize and extend these tests as needed. In addition, it checks whether code follows over 700 coding standard rules

SOAtest - An automated Web services testing product that allows users to verify all aspects of a Web service, from WSDL validation, to unit and functional testing of the client and server, to performance testing. SOA Test addresses key Web services and SOA development issues such as interoperability, security, change management, and scalability.

.TEST - An automated unit testing and coding standard analysis product that tests classes written on the Microsoft® .NET Framework without requiring developers to write a single test case or stub.

Kind of Tool
Software test automation ActiveX for Delphi 5/6/7
Organization
Vantage View Software
http://www.vantageviewsoftware.com/
Software Description
AutomX(TM), at its core, is an Active X control designed for the development of automated software testing. It can be embedded within a Delphi(TM) 5, 6 or 7 application of the user's design and run on the Windows(R) 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP platforms. Presently, it is mostly designed for US Windows(R) environments. The types of instructions within AutomX(TM)are typical of the needs of automated software test developers, with the added benefit of having the Borland(R) development environment available. AutomX(TM) includes more than instructions. It has network distributed testing capability, on line help and two tools for helping the design of test cases. • Over 150 instructions for automated software test development are included in the following categories: Files, Directories, Drives, Network, Logging, INI files, Registry, Environment, System attributes, Interactivity, Keystrokes, Mouse actions, Windows, Screens, Clipboard, Bitmaps, Edit boxes, Combo boxes, List boxes, Check boxes, Radio buttons, Up down controls, and Tab controls. • Distributed testing over a TCP/IP based LAN is easily accomplished.
• There are two tools for working with screen images and windows.
• Logging is in Text or Rich Text Format.
• There are over 150 code examples in the Help file.
Platforms
Windows 95/98/ME/NT4SP3/2000/XP