Compared to previous times, portability is one of the most important factors in the life of daily users. This is because devices like smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches can provide a computer life experience while being able to fit in pockets. So, the smartphone market is one of the most rapidly growing markets in the present generation. While developing smartphones, the application developers must consider the diversity of this market. This is because thousands of new smartphones arrive annually. Various advanced smartphone mobile app testing tools like Appium automation can massively benefit the testing environment. Moreover, the application developers must have a clear idea about their preferred programming language.
So, with this article, we are going to explore the process of performing Appium Python testing. We will also create a detailed guide that will help the new testers and developers with the setup and execution of this process.
The Smartphone Market
Before understanding how to perform the process of mobile app testing, the developers need to have a clear idea about the target market. Some of the most important mobile operating systems include Android, iOS, and Windows. Android is the dominant factor in this market, releasing more than 1000 new devices every year. It is also important to understand that all of these devices are unique in terms of screen size, display resolution, and other hardware parameters. These features make it increasingly impossible to generalize the test cases or restrict them to only emulators and simulators.
This is one of the major reasons why real device testing is one of the most important parameters while performing mobile app testing. We will elaborate more on the concept of real device testing in the later part of this article.
Appium and Its integration with Test Automation
Appium is a popular open-source tool for initiating automated UI testing on mobile applications. Other than user interface testing, the application developers can also use Appium for performing test cases on native, hybrid, and mobile-based web applications. While using Appium, the application developers can initiate parallel test execution to further improve the efficiency of the application test cases. Since Appium is open-source, the developers do not have to worry about any investment in using its features.
While we are in the context of automation testing, let us elaborate on the basics of this advanced testing process. This is the process of eliminating human involvement in the test execution process. The system will replace human actions with a test file that will supply all the required parameters for emulating human interactions. These interactions will allow the system to generate a detailed report showing the usability and stability of the application undergoing the development process. Let us now analyze some of the crucial upsides of initiating automation testing:
- Using this process, the application developers can utilize parallel test execution to initiate multiple test configurations on different machines simultaneously.
- Since automation testing does not rely on human involvement, it can run the test cases around the clock without any delay. This process is also devoid of any errors that can arise due to the involvement of human testers.
- Automation testing is a long-term investment as it will profit the company by eliminating the need for a manual testing team.
- Since automation testing conducts all the repetitive test cases, the application developers can focus on the innovative areas of the project. For instance, they can work on creating new features that can be added in a future update of the application.
- While using automation testing, the application developers can also integrate various tools plugins, and libraries to further improve the quality of the application undergoing the development process.
Role Of LambdaTest in Appium Python Testing
As we already mentioned earlier, real device testing is an important parameter while the application developers are working with Appium. However, the process to set up and maintain a test bench is very expensive and time-consuming. Instead, the app developers can use cloud platforms like LambdaTest for initiating the test cases on similar real devices through remote servers. While using this platform, the application developers can run the Appium test cases on more than 3000 real browser instances.
The Appium test cases can run on the LambdaTest real device cloud to execute the test instances on both iOS and Android devices. Let us now analyze some of the other upsides of using the LambdaTest real device cloud:
- This cloud platform also grants access to legacy devices and old browser instances while working with mobile web applications on Appium.
- After executing the Appium Python test cases, LambdaTest will generate a test report that will automatically highlight the faulty elements of the application. It will also have records in the form of screenshots, videos, and test analysis logs.
- LambdaTest also maintains a real-time activity log so that the application developers can keep track of all the failed and successful test cases. This log can also act as a reference to detect the errors that have been found in the earlier versions of an application.
- The LambdaTest API allows the integration of Agile Methodologies like continuous development and continuous integration to perform the development and testing processes simultaneously. This process massively reduces the overall testing and development cycle.
A Guide for Executing Appium Python Testing
The integration of LambdaTest can help the application developers to simplify the process of Appium Python testing. They only have to perform a few prerequisites and go through a set of simple steps. However, based on our research, we have listed all the required steps and prerequisites in their chronological order:
- Executing the Prerequisites:
- The first prerequisite in this process is to create and set up a LambdaTest account. We will further discuss the complete process in this article.
- Since we will be using the Python programming language for writing all the Appium test cases, the application developers must have a clear idea about all the basic features of this programming language.
- The final prerequisite is to perform the setup of Appium and the required Python libraries. The Appium official documentation provides all the required information about performing this configuration.
- Configuring the LambdaTest Python SDK:
The first process is to configure the LambdaTest platform. For this process, the testers simply have to go through the official website and sign up for a new account. This is a very simple process as the on-screen instructions will guide the developers through the process. After purchasing the relevant license, the developers will have access to the credentials that will provide access to the LambdaTest real device testing cloud. The code ‘ pip install lambdatest-python’ will finally initiate the LambdaTest Python SDK.
- Initializing the LambdaTest Configuration:
After setting up the LambdaTest Python SDK, the application developers have to import the Python script into the LambdaTest SDK. It is also important to configure this script using the LambdaTest credentials that came with the license. In this type, the application developers must remember to replace certain parameters including the URL and device name with their desired capabilities and other specific values. The following code will initialize the LambdaTest Python SDK:
from lambdatest import SeleniumTest
from appium import webdriver
lt_username = ‘your_lambda_test_username’
lt_access_key = ‘your_lambda_test_access_key’
lt_config = {
‘user’: lt_username,
‘key’: lt_access_key,
‘server’: ‘hub.lambdatest.com’,
‘port’: 80,
‘desired_capabilities’: {
‘platformName’: ‘Android’, # or ‘iOS’
‘browserName’: ”,
‘version’: ”,
‘app’: ‘app_url_or_path’,
‘deviceName’: ‘device_name’,
‘network’: False,
‘visual’: False,
}
}
driver = webdriver.Remote(
command_executor=’https://’+lt_config[‘user’]+’:’+lt_config[‘key’]+’@’+lt_config[‘server’]+’:’+str(lt_config[‘port’])+’/nexperience/wd/hub’,
desired_capabilities=lt_config[‘desired_capabilities’]
)
- Writing and Executing the Python Test Cases:
Now that the application developers have covered all the prerequisites and the basic setup process, it is time to write the automation test cases using Python programming language. The Appium driver and LambdaTest configuration will also help the application developers to create their first Test case. After writing the test cases, it must be executed using the integrated development environment or the command line in the native testing environment. A very commonly used IDE is Eclipse.
- Exploring the Test Results:
After the system has finished executing the testing process, it will automatically generate a detailed test report. The integration of LambdaTest helps the application developers to create test cases that are visually attractive and easy to understand by even the non-technical teams of a company. The system will automatically highlight the faulty elements or bugs that might have been present in the core framework of the application. All this is possible with the help of multiple screenshots, logs, and videos.
- Utilizing the Advanced Configuration
Some of the advanced features that are available with LambdaTest include network simulation, visual testing, and integration of parallel test execution. The application developers can utilize all of these practices to further improve the efficiency and quality of the app development and testing life cycle. So we highly recommend the application developers go through the official documentation of LambdaTest so that they can explore all of these features.
It is also important for the developers to analyze the documentation including features, methods, and sample test cases of Python And Appium. This will allow them to find certain methods that might be useful depending on the specific requirements of their project. Moreover, the official websites also provide troubleshooting guides for some of the common errors that might arise in the application testing process. The app developers can name the test cycles according to the target elements to avoid any confusion in the process.
Finally, we advise the app development companies to devise elaborate test plans before beginning the test case execution process. This plan will prepare the companies for any unwanted surprises and obstacles that might come their way. While creating this plan the company should not only include the testing and development teams but also the production and business teams of the company. It will help to create a general awareness about the current status of the app development project.
The Conclusive Views
This article was a guide so that the new automation testers and developers can find their way through the execution of Appium Python testing. We also considered some of the most important factors that can justify automation testing as one of the leading trends in the modern application development market. So the developer should learn and practice all the new trends and innovations in this segment. A good practice is to conduct market surveys to gather adequate information regarding the requirements of the target audience. These data will allow the application developers to properly customize their applications. The choice of the correct automation testing tool and framework is also critical for using the full potential of the test environment.
