The goal of user interface (UI) testing is to verify that: However, most software testing tools either test the appearance of the application or the functionality—few tools do both well. To test functionality, most automated software testing tools primarily interact with the underlying code of an application, while assuming that the visual layer (what the user sees) is rendering properly.

Automating your software tests can speed up testing and provide more reliable test results. For most software teams, automation is necessary to achieve adequate test coverage. If you’re just getting started with automated software testing, you may be overwhelmed by all the options and have a hard time figuring out which tools are right for your team.