Software Quality Assurance Forums: What are the major limitations of QTP 9.2?

This question has been asked, bantered, and argued over in many ways in many threads over the years. In the future, please search the forum, before posting this kind of open ended question. But I suspect none of those threads will satisfy your specific questions or needs.

All of the automation tools that compete for market share with QTP are extremely rich in features and complexities. Layered on top of this core complexity, primatives if you will, are now (unfortunately) a plethora of "wizards" that are suppose to help those who can't program write usable (sometimes), maintainable (me thinks not) testing scripts. Then on top of the wizards you can pile the marketing hype, whereas each vendor claims superiority over the others.

For each tool, all of this works some of the time for testing some applications in some scenarios, while none of this works all of the time for all applications in all scenarios.

So the best you can hope for, when asking such an open ended question as this of Mercury (or Segue or Compuware, or Impirix or...) tools, is to get a bunch of replies from folks dissatisfied with the particular tool at the time you ask.

A usable answer requires that you:

1. First make a list of features and capabilities that are must haves for your testing team. These should be broad enough to cover more than the first project you will target with the tool. Think beyond the specific technical needs, and consider also how the team works, and what the skill levels are on the team (or future team).

2. Then do a paper evaluation of this list against the major tools, using what the vendor claims the tools do and support. Use this step to narrow you choice down to two or not more than three tools.

3. Then get evaluation versions from each of those vendors and put the tools to the test. You will only have about two weeks with each tool, so schedule wisely and have a well defined hands-on evaluation plan written beyond getting the first tool.

IMO, this is the only way you will not only answer "what are the short comings of QTP", but will answer this question from your perspective, needs and requirements.

QTP and all of its competitors can probably get the job done for most test teams, but depending on your needs and requirements each tool will make it harder or easier.

-Hope this helps, Terry Horwath

Search phrases" "QTP evaluations", "QTP shortcomings", "QTP benefits", "QTP versus", "versus QTP".

Edited by Terry Horwath (05/27/07 04:51 AM)