What are the criteria for choosing a software test tool

The choice of one or more tools (test tools) suitable for the type of test to be performed and for the type of application being tested is fundamental for the preparation of a continuous software testing activity. Let’s see what are the criteria that lead to the choice of a particular application test tool:

1. The type of application being tested. For example an application in a J2EE environment may have been developed with the help of different frameworks (Struts, Spring, Hibernate), another may only use server-side technologies (JSP, Servlets). An application can provide interaction with one database while another does not.
2. The level of complexity of the application. Obviously the more the level of complexity increases, the more testing activity becomes wider and more sophisticated.
3. The type of test as described in the previous paragraph. For example, in Java environment, JUnit is one of the most popular tools for Unit Testing while TestNG is used for Integration Testing.
4. The application support platform intended as the operating system that must accommodate the application and / or language with which it must be or was written.
5. The degree of knowledge of the test tool by the tester; someone could have already gained experience with a test tool and this could speed up the testing activity itself and the development of the related project.
6. Compatibility with other test tools: in J2EE applications where there are many components that interact, it is very likely that a single test tool will be unsuitable to verify everything.
7. The usability of the test results, that is the possibility of handling the results according to one’s own formats and the possibility of collecting statistics based on the results themselves.