Framework review: Robot

Robot Framework is a test automation framework for acceptance testing (…) it utilises the keyword-driven testing approach. Its testing capabilities can be extended by Python test libraries.

- Official website

Code

Example of automation at GitHub.

Use cases 🥈

Automate end-to-end tests using the UI. You can also use it quite well for contract or API tests (though not as explicit as RestAssured).

Learning curve 🥇

You will quickly master the Robot syntax, as it’s close to plain English. The framework “just works” and you don’t need to know much about it.

Language 🥈

Tests are written in Robot, and supports Gherkin. Even though it’s easy, it’s yet another syntax your team needs to learn.

Ecosystem 🥈

Python. Enough libraries for most use cases. PyCharm as not helpful an IDE, so I used a regular Python text editor like VS Code.

Readability 🥇

The keyword-driven approach makes your tests easy to understand. The test report file gives you an overview of the results, yet allows you to drill down to details.

Extensibility 🥈

You can create your own keywords to increase the abstraction, or compose them with existing keywords. Not easy to add custom code.

Maintainability 🥈

Refactoring keeps the code base understandable, although without a proper IDE it gets cumbersome. Limited debug.

Documentation 🥈

The online doc is enough and clear. There are enough examples online. There are also tutorials and courses.

VERDICT: 3.5/5

Good for small or simple projects, otherwise has limitations.

Originally published at https://www.diogonunes.com on April 12, 2021.