The mobile software industry is a chaotic one. Quick rollouts along with succeeding maintenance work, keep schedules tight, and the mind working. Amidst this chaos, Appium, a mobile application automation testing tool, provides the opportunity to orchestrate this chaos in a more efficient way. This has led to the spurious growth of demand for skilled Appium professionals. In this “What is Appium” blog, I’ll explain how this is made possible.
The following topics are covered in this blog:
What is Appium? | Introduction to Appium | Edureka
This Edureka “What is Appium” video will give you a general introduction to Appium, a tool that has widespread acceptance in the mobile application testing industry.
What is Appium?
Appium is an open source, cross-platform automation testing tool. It is used for automating test cases for native, hybrid and web applications. The tool has a major focus on both Android and iOS apps and was only restricted to the mobile application testing domain. Recently, a few updates back, Appium also announced that they will support the testing of desktop applications for windows.
Appium is developed and maintained by Sauce Labs. Currently, Appium version 1.12 is being distributed. Appium first started off as a command line based testing service that can be installed using node.js. In their latest release, named ‘Appium Desktop’ they have released a robust and refined tool with an intuitive graphical user interface. Appium Desktop comes with an application element inspector which you can check out in my Appium tutorial.
Why Should You Choose Appium?
If the widespread acceptance of Appium in the mobile application testing industry isn’t enough to convince you, maybe these points can change your mind.
Free and Open Source – Not only is Appium free of cost, but also open source. This means Appium can be tweaked infinitely to work according to your whims.
Truly Cross-Platform – Appium can test any mobile application whether it be a native one, a hybrid one or even a web app. Whether the app works only on iOS or Android or even both, Appium has you covered. Above that, Appium, itself can be installed on Windows, Mac and Linux
No Need for Application Source Code – Automation testing applications till date would require access to the application code libraries and the source code. Appium brings something new to the table by completely disregarding this fundamental aspect of automation testing.
Application not Reinstalled – Appium’s philosophy believes in testing an application without reinstalling it and modifying it in any way.
Appium Support – Appium as a framework is also supported by various automation testing tools out there, just to make migration of any project a breeze.
A lively Community – A tool in itself is never sufficient. A budding community is extremely necessary. An active community results in faster bug reports and easier troubleshooting which is key to the success of an automation testing tool.
How Does it work?
Appium is a simple HTTP server that is written using Javascript. It follows the generic client-server architecture. The Appium server processes requests from the Appium client and forwards them to the simulator/emulator/real device where the test scripts are automated. The results of the test are communicated to the Appium client through the Appium server, in the form of a server response.
For a much more detailed explanation of how exactly Appium work, check out my Appium Architecture blog, where I strip down the tool to its fundamental elements and take a deeper look at them. The blog will give you a better understanding of how all the pieces that you see in the picture below, fit together.
Installing Appium
Installing AppiumThere’s been a lot of buzz around the installation of Appium. People tend to deem it as a tiresome and convoluted process due to Appium’s high dependency issues. To be honest, the process is simple and just needs to be orchestrated properly.
The following are the dependencies needed to install Appium
- Node.js
- Java
- Appium Server
- Appium Client Libraries
- Selenium Libraries
- Android Studio
- Xcode
For a step by step guide to installing Appium, you should definitely refer to my Appium installation blog!
This brings us to the end of this “What is Appium” blog. I hope reading this blog helped you achieve a good idea regarding Appium as a tool. If you’re interested in building a career in mobile application testing, please check out edureka’s Appium Certification course. You will be taught mobile application testing using Appium by industry professionals in an online live class setting.
If you have any queries regarding this blog, please post a comment in the comment section of this “What is Appium” blog, and we will get back to you as soon as possible!
