Automated testing has become the go-to choice for companies focused on agile software development due to its numerous advantages over manual testing. While many automation testing tools are codeless, testers still need to be familiar with at least one or many automation testing languages to write test scripts, depending on the frameworks they choose for automation.
This article lists the top 15 popular programming languages used for test automation so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs.
Table Of Contents
15 Top Automation Testing Languages
Python
Python is a general-purpose language and a popular choice for automation testing.
Key features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Has a simple syntax that is easy to learn.
✅Strong Community Support- A vast ecosystem ensures the ready availability of resources for testing requirements.
✅Main Application- Data analysis, building machine learning models, creating websites, and software programming.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Automates repetitive tasks like interacting with web interfaces, APIs, databases, and more
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, functional testing, API testing, web and mobile application testing, acceptance testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Pytest is the most widely used, followed by PyUnit (Unittest) Framework, Robot Framework, Behave Framework, Lettuce Framework, TestProject Framework, Testify Framework, and Doctest Framework.
❌Slow Performance- Relatively slower than other software testing languages. Its memory-intensive nature and dynamic typing can also lead to runtime errors.
Java
Java is one of the most widely used automation testing languages. It is owned by Oracle Corporation and is based on the principle of object-oriented programming (OOPS). Java follows the principle of WORA (Write once, run anywhere), ensuring broader test coverage.
Key Features:
✅Strong Community Support- Strong community and comprehensive documentation help in solving challenges during test development.
✅Main Application- Used for building websites and applications such as mobile applications, web applications, and enterprise applications.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- One of the most popular automation testing languages due to its strong community support and compatibility with testing tools.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, functional testing, end-to-end testing, performance testing and more
✅Multithreading- Allows parallel testing and cross-browser testing.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- JUnit, TestNG, Selenium, Mockito, Cucumber, SerenityBDD, and REST Assured.
❌Not Beginner-Friendly- The syntax can be challenging for testers, especially for those who are unfamiliar with object-oriented programming. Also, testers unfamiliar with OOP concepts may find it hard to learn them.
Choosing a programming language for testing can be challenging, as it requires the entire team to be proficient in it. Testsigma simplifies this by offering NLP-based test automation, enabling testers to write and execute test cases in plain English.
JavaScript
JavaScript (JS) is mainly used by developers to create interactive web pages. As per Web Technology Surveys, 98.9% of all websites use JS as a client-side programming language. This wide popularity has also made it a go-to language for automation testing, especially when developers are involved in testing during the early stages of a project.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- The simple syntax offers a lower learning curve.
✅Strong Community Support- One of the largest programming communities globally, with about 12 million active developers and readily available resources.
✅Main Application- Used for both front-end and back-end web development.
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Extensively used for testing dynamic web applications because of its ability to handle complex web elements and user interaction.
✅Types of Tests Supported- UI testing, unit testing, functional testing, cross-browser testing, end-to-end, functional testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- MochaJS, Jest, Jasmine, Karma, Puppeteer, NightwatchJS, Cypress, Playwright, and Selenium.
❌Lacks GUI Testing Frameworks- Does not have enough libraries or frameworks to support advanced Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing. Also, debugging asynchronous test scripts can be challenging for beginners.
TypeScript
TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript and it introduced static typing, which helps detect type-related errors during development. Testers can write more structured and maintainable test scripts with TypeScript.
Key Features:
✅Error- Prevention- Static typing helps in early error detection and reduces runtime errors.
✅New Features- Features like interfaces and generics allow the creation of reusable and maintainable test codes, optimizing larger test projects.
✅Main Application- Used for front-end development and programming web servers. Also, it adds certain extra functionalities to JavaScript.
✅ Scope in Automated Testing– Often chosen for test automation that requires structures and reusable test code.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, end-to-end testing, snapshot testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Mocha, Jest, Cypress, Puppeteer, Karma, AVA, Jasmine (same as JavaScript but with added TypeScript support).
❌Not Beginner-Friendly- New features like type annotations and interfaces pose a learning curve.
❌Community and Resources- Fewer resources and community support due to relatively lower adoption compared to JavaScript.
C#
C# is an object-oriented language developed by Microsoft, and it is gaining popularity in building robust and sustainable automated tests across various application types like web, desktop, and mobile applications.
Key Features:
✅Main Application- Used for developing Windows applications, including desktop applications, web applications, and games. With the .NET framework, C# enables cross-platform automation testing on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Object-oriented principles like inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation make C# a suitable choice to create modular, reusable test components and improve test maintainability.
✅IntelliSense Feature- Significantly increases productivity and reduces errors during test development with its typing and IntelliSense features in Visual Studio.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, system testing, functional testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- MSTest, NUnit, xUnit.Net.
✅Community Support- Strong Microsoft-backed community and extensive documentation.
❌Platform Dependence- Mainly focuses only on Windows environments.
❌Not Beginner-Friendly- Steeper learning curve for testers with limited programming experience.
Ruby
Ruby is a dynamic programming language that focuses on productivity.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Syntax is simple and highly readable.
✅Main Application- Used for web development, data processing, and automation processes.
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Known for behavior-driven development (BDD) testing.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, end-to-end testing, usability testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Cucumber, RSpec, CMinitest, Test::Unit, and Capybara.
✅ Smooth Automation Workflows- Features like test data handling, mocking, and reporting enable efficient test automation workflows.
❌ Lower Performance- Has limited performance when compared to other automation testing languages like Java and C#.
❌Community Support- Has limited resources due to declining popularity.
PHP
PHP was initially created for web development but has become a significant language for software testing because of its simplicity when compared to other automation testing languages.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Simple and easy-to-learn syntax, ideal for new testers.
✅Main Application- Used to develop interactive web pages and eCommerce platforms.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Predominantly used for testing web applications. It is easy to set up and integrates with web servers.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, regression testing, performance testing, load testing, security testing, and acceptance testing.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- PHPUnit, Codeception, Storyplayer, Selenium, Behar, Atoum, and SimpleTest.
✅ Additional Features- PHPUnit comes with mocking, test suites, and detailed reporting to enhance unit and functional testing.
❌ Not Suitable for Complex Tasks- Limited testing features make it unsuitable for large-scale or complex test suites.
❌Community Support- Has a smaller ecosystem of testing frameworks and tools.
Smashtest
Smashtest is both a test automation language and a tool, built on NodeJS. It simplifies writing and executing automated tests, especially for web applications.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Has human-readable declarative syntax.
✅Main Application- Used mainly for rapidly generating tests, especially for web applications.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Mainly used for testing in the NodeJS ecosystem.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Functional testing of often web applications and unit testing.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, Cucumber, Katalon Studio, and Robot Framework
✅ Parallel Test Execution- Speeds up the testing process, making it ideal for large test suites.
✅Live Reporting- Provides real-time feedback, allowing quick diagnosis and resolution of issues during test runs.
❌ Community and Resources- Has a limited ecosystem and community support.
❌ Not Ideal for Complex Tests- The declarative syntax might be insufficient in handling complex or custom testing scenarios.
Golang
Golang or Go, as it is commonly known, is a statically typed language developed by Google. It stands out as the only programming language with a standard library with a fully working web server.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Simple syntax to write and maintain test cases
✅Main Application- Used for networking, web development, and microservices. Also, it is a popular choice for back-end development.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Well-suited for testing web applications.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, functional testing, performance testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Ginkgo, Gomega, Testify, GoConvey, and Httpexpect
✅Parallel Test Execution- The concurrency feature allows parallel operations, reducing the operational time of large test suites.
✅Direct Compilation into Machine Code- Compiles directly to machine code, ensuring faster test execution and efficient memory management.
❌ Community Support- Limited community compared to other automation testing languages.
❌Limited Frameworks- Less number of testing frameworks makes it less suitable for complex test scenarios.
VBScript
VBScript (Visual Basic Script) was developed by Microsoft to automate tasks on Windows-based systems.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Straightforward syntax, ideal for even non-programmers.
✅Main Application- Automates tasks in the Windows environment.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Primarily used in Windows-based environments to control and manipulate various Windows elements using the Component Object Model (COM).
✅Types of Tests Supported- Functional testing and UI testing
❌ No Major Testing Frameworks- Does not have any testing frameworks since it is mainly used with Windows Script Host (WSH).
❌ No Cross-Platform Capabilities- Lacks cross-platform capabilities due to the primary focus on Windows systems.
❌ Community Support- VBScript is an outdated language with limited community support.
Kotlin
Kotlin is a modern programming language developed by JetBrains and supported by Google. It comes with many features that are not available in Java. Functional programming, no NullPointerExceptions, better compiler, and more succinct code are a few examples.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- The concise syntax simplifies writing test cases and improves code maintainability.
✅Community Support- The ecosystem is rapidly growing, yet less mature when compared to Java.
✅Main Application- Used for Android mobile app development and server-side development.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Mostly used in Android testing. Since it seamlessly interoperates with Java, testers can leverage both Java’s vast libraries and frameworks as well as Kotlin’s modern tools.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, UI testing, performance testing, and functional testing.
✅ Top Testing Frameworks- Kluent, Kotest, MockK
✅Less Run-Time Errors- Easily eliminates NullPointerExceptions, reducing runtime errors.
❌ Learning Curve- Challenging language to learn for testers transitioning from Java.
Rust
Rust is a systems programming language widely known for its focus on memory safety, performance, and concurrency. As a software testing language, it offers some unique advantages for performance-critical and systems-level testing.
Key Features:
✅Main Application- Used for creating system software with a focus on memory management, safety, and performance
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Mainly used to create highly stable test cases with the ownership and borrowing system of Rust that ensures memory safety without the need for garbage collection.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing and integration testing.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Built-in unit testing and integration testing frameworks.
✅Highly Concurrent Tests- The concurrency model with threads and message-passing features, creates highly concurrent tests that accelerate testing large suites.
❌Not Beginner-Friendly- The ownership model of Rust has a unique approach, posing a learning challenge.
❌Longer Compilation- Has longer compilation times, slowing down complex test iterations.
Swift
Swift is a general-purpose programming language developed by Apple for IOS,macOS, watchOS, and tvOS development. However, Swift is gaining popularity among other software testing languages, particularly within Apple’s ecosystem.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Has concise and readable syntax.
✅Main Application- Building apps for Apple devices.
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Gaining traction in Apple platform automation, especially for mobile app testing on iOS and macOS.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, and UI testing.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- XCTest and Quick/Nimble.
✅Safety Features- Automatic memory management and strong typing prevent common errors during test execution.
✅Integration with Objective-C- The ability to interoperate with Objective-C allows testers to integrate it with existing Objective-C code and libraries.
❌ Cross-Platform Testing- The main focus in Apple platforms limits cross-platform testing.
Perl
Perl often referred to as “Practical Extraction and Reporting Language”, is a lot similar to C, and is easy for the users of C and C++.
Key Features:
✅Main Application- Web development, system administration, and networking.
✅ Scope in Automation Testing- Strong text processing capabilities make it ideal for tasks like extracting data from test reports, parsing log files, and generating test data.
✅Types of Tests Supported- Functional testing, unit testing, integration testing, regression testing, performance testing, and more.
✅Top Testing Frameworks- Constitutes a Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN), which offers a vast collection of modules like Test::More and Test::Unit.
✅Cross-Platform Capability- Can execute test scripts across different operating systems.
❌Not Beginner-Friendly- Has a complex syntax.
XML
While not a programming language, XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language.
Key Features:
✅Beginner-Friendly- Structures and represents data in both human-readable and machine-readable formats.
✅Strong Community Support- Widely supported across various industries and platforms with extensive documentation.
✅Main Application- Web development, system administration, and networking.
✅Scope in Automation Testing- Useful in configuring test environments, storing test cases, managing results, and data exchange, making it easy to share test data across various systems and platforms.
✅Edit HTML Content- Easily update or manipulate HTML content using XML since it separates data.
❌ Cannot Execute Tests- Needs to be paired with a programming language for full functionality.
The efforts required for learning programming languages pose a hurdle for testers, which is why natural-language-processing (NLP) based test automation that allows testers to write and execute test cases in a natural language like plain English is gaining momentum. It minimizes the dependency on coding knowledge and extensive training for testers.
How to Choose the Best Automation Test Language?
Significant factors to consider while selecting the right automation testing language are:
- Technology Stack
Choose a testing language based on the nature of your application or project. The language should align with your technology stack to simplify its integration with CI/CD pipelines and streamline workflows.
- Community Support and Popularity
A popular language will offer plenty of resources, community support, and troubleshooting guides when challenges arise during the testing process.
- The Skill Level and Size of the Team
For large QA teams, choose a popular testing language that most members are already familiar with to reduce training time. For smaller teams, consider the team’s preferences or the unique requirements of the project, even if it means choosing a less popular language.
- Integration and Scalability
The language should easily integrate with existing automation testing tools and should also be scalable and maintainable to avoid additional costs and efforts in the future.
Conclusion
We have seen the most popular automation testing languages with their important features, advantages, and limitations. The common criteria for choosing a language for testing purposes have also been discussed. Selecting a popular language like Python, Java, C#, JavaScript, or Ruby offers the benefit of plenty of resources and strong community support, making it easier for the team to address challenges during the testing process. To further optimize the testing process, many teams are now switching to codeless automation, which makes creating and maintaining tests easier, reduces overall cost, and improves collaboration.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Ruby gaining momentum in test automation?
Ruby has a beginner-friendly syntax and powerful testing frameworks like RSpec and Cucumber, and aligns with agile development and behavior-driven testing (BDD), making it ideal for test automation.
Which language is best for API testing?
While this can vary according to the requirements of the teams, because of its versatility and vast testing frameworks, Python is often considered the best language for API testing.
Which Programming Language to Learn to Become a Software Test Automation Engineer?
The selection of a language depends on the project requirements and expertise of the team. However, the most popular software testing languages are Python, Java, and JavaScript.
