Sauce Labs is a cloud-based platform
for automated testing of desktop and mobile applications. It is designed to be instantly scalable, since it is optimized for continuous
integration workflows. (The vendor says that when tests are automated and run in parallel on
multiple virtual machines across many different browser, platform and device
combinations, testing time is reduced and developer time is freed up from
managing infrastructure.) The Sauce Labs testing cloud is intended to be paired…
$19
per month
SpecFlow
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
SpecFlow is an open source BDD for .NET. that aims to bridge the communication gap between domain experts and developers by binding readable behavior specifications to the underlying implementation.
Access to specific devices is good, as well as access to a specific browser/platform. We are not able to connect our dev environments to Sauce Labs because the devices are put in our VPC. Some versions are not available like iPhone with iOS 12.1. With iOS, there is limited/no support for push notifications without real devices due to Apple's provisioning profiles.
It is best suited for implementing the automated test cases in a human readable form so it's easy for non-technical members of the team and stakeholders to understand the test cases, features and the functionalities of the application. Automation of Integration tests and End to End tests are good use case. It is less appropriate or situations where the focus is only on the writing and maintenance of unit tests.
Versatility to be used in combination with different kinds of automated testing like automated performance testing, API testing, UI testing etc. I use JavaScript, Selenium, C#, email testing libraries, database testing libraries in combination with BDD with SpecFlow. I am able to use all these with SpecFlow to make my automation framework to be able to automate any kind of automated testing.
It provides different widely used runner options like NUnit, XUnit etc. Before I started to work on establishing proper test automation in my workplace, the previous automation framework (non-BDD based) as well as unit tests used NUnit runner. The transition to using BDD was smooth because we could use the same runner and there were no compatibility issues.
The auto-complete feature is good. I use it with Visual Studio as well as Rider and I don't have to recall the entire Gherkin statements. I just type a few words and the entire Gherkin statement implemented in framework is auto-suggested by SpecFlow. It saves time and context switching.
Cost: it's a little bit pricey, but I don't pay the bill so I'm not complaining too much there. Overall, I'd say the price isn't ridiculous but it's not inexpensive.
Logs: I don't find their logs very useful for front-end web tests, I usually refer to my own logs if I have a bug/issue/error that needs investigation.
SpecFlow does not accepts optional input variables in the methods defined during Gherkin statement implementation. Cucumber supports optional input variables in the methods defined during Gherkin statement implementation.
The tests identified while using SpecFlow with NUnit removes all white spaces in the scenario names. It makes the tests less readable. If the white spaces are not auto-removed, it would be much better for readability as well as their actual identification in the repository.
I love how it's super easy to use. Not only that but it ensures security and it always has great updates to ensure that it continues to be awesome. Also, I love how nice the people there are too. Their support tea is amazing. Anytime, I have a question, they are super speedy to answer.
I think Sauce Labs is great and I've been using them since late 2014. With that said, I'm very used to how their interface works and how to get what I need. I think if a brand new user would come in and use it, it would still be easy, but maybe not as easy as it is for me. That's why I rate this area a 9 instead of a 10. Still great though!
Yes, Sauce labs is always there, and it is easy to troubleshoot when you are having any connectivity issue, they always keep you informed when they plan to perform any type of maintenance window on their side in advance, so you can plan and will not affect your current work. I do not recall any outage.
The time where they acquired TestObject and were trying to integrate their services would probably be the most annoying time. Annoying as features were in two separate places (websites) for example. But since the introduction of their unified platform, we haven't run into any issues as of yet and we've used them for at least 5-6 years now.
The support is good for Sauce Labs. It is hard to get an initial response but the support has cleared our issues with Sauce Labs. Sometimes we have to follow up and it's hard to get a hold of the team initially. Once we get a hold of the team, the issues are always resolved.
I am not sure if it's my company that makes getting Sauce Labs integrated into the team difficult or is it Sauce Labs. The process for getting Sauce Labs for a project is quite a tedious process and the information for using Sauce Labs initially is quite lacking. There is little support for getting started
Firebase is pay per use and so was difficult to work out the true costings, it also felt more developer focussed whereas Sauce Labs had better Appium support for our Automation team. AWS Device Farm appeared to require either Android or iOS and we wanted both, so that wasn't a great fit. It was also not possible to run Cucumber tests on Android in AWS but this may no longer be the case, but it was another unknown for us and not worth the risk. Sauce Labs explicitly mentioned Cucumber support.
SpecFlow is .Net based which supports C#. Behave is Python based. Cucumber is Java based. Ghost Inspector is no-code based but provides very limited testing features. We wanted to implement BDD so we rued out using Ghost Inspector. Most of the developers in my team are C# experts so it was decided for everyone's comfort to go for SpecFlow rather than Behave or Cucumber. It's import to have technical experts in the language of the automation framework because there are many situations where the solutions to the test automation needs are not straightforward and implementing those requires expertise in the related programming language.
With private devices, you have full reign over usage of them, so no complaints there. Public devices are available if no one else is using it, which is understandable. Browser VMs are based on number of open sessions and Saucelabs give you a certain number depending on what you need. If you need more, then you pay for more. It is as simple as that. You need more devices, then you can pay for more private ones too. A workaround for public devices is to pick the first available one and not be too picky, that's if you are able to of course.
Provided an ability for us to run 55,000+ tests/month across all browsers.
Gave us an opportunity to showcase the great things we have done in quality using Sauce Labs. This was through a white paper and an opportunity to speak at Sauce Con. People in our company have a far better appreciation for the what we do and how far we have progressed in the quality space.
Everyone stays on the same page regarding the behavior of existing functionalities whether it be technical or non-technical individuals. So there is less need for multiple people to get involved which saves time and thus money.
Reusing the same code through the implemented Gherkin statement saves test automation time and thus reduces cost.
We combine SpecFlow with other opensource testing technologies to make our automation framework more versatile which further saves costs for us.
