BuildWise

The common ones are CI servers that are mostly used to build software and run unit tests. They are the easier part of the CI process. The most rewarding and challenging part of Agile (or DevOps) is to execute automated UI tests because it is the only way to guarantee frequent and quality releases.

The fact is, very few IT professionals have seen the execution of UI tests in CI servers. One of the reasons is that Jenkins and the alike servers are not built for running UI tests. BuildWise is.

UI test scripts are independent from the underneath technologies that the software uses. We recommend automated test scripts written in scripting languages such as Ruby, Python or Node.JS. BuildWise supports test execution of RSpec, Cucumber, Mocha and PyUnit by default (RSpec is highly recommened).

Windows, macOS and Linux.

Yes. BuildWise even goes further with Dynamic Build Process, providing users give very quick feedback on test executions. BuildWise Agents are required for distributed test execution.

What you described is typical, just as Martin Fowler said in his classic CI paper. But it can be started simple (then gradually adding more integration steps), especially setting up a continuous testing server for automated functional tests. Check out our screencasts, you will know that it can be done in minutes.

BuildWise Continuous Testing server has a dual license model, like MySQL. A rule of thumb is that if you are installing BuildWise server for self-use, it is free. Commercial license is required only if you earn money for distributing BuildWise Server.

BuildWise is free and open-source, and it is provided as is. The support (via ticketing system) is provided for customers who have purchased BuildWise agents when using the products. For one-on-one mentoring or coaching via video conferencing, you may book with us on WhenWise.

If our understanding of 'Cloud Testing' is like yours, BuildWise has the capability. We have clients running BuildWise in AWS and Azure. Functional testing execution is fragile, an unexpected popup window could be just enough to ruin the test execution. It is important that customers have full control of the build machines, not black-box renting marketed by some 'cloud-testing' services.

Not really. In terms of cost: hardware nowadays is quite cheap, US$500 can get you a decent machine without a monitor. BuildWise server is free and BuildAgent is as low as $22.5/month (with renewal discount). Unless you are building the next Facebook or Twitter, the chance of your test execution time is in a matter of hours, which is very admirable. 4 agents can reduce 2 hours' test execution time to around 35 minutes.

In terms of effort, setting up BuildWise is simple and quick, so is the BuildWise Agent. Of course, like any CI solution, it depends on the nature of your application. For example, a 2GB-memory Linux VM is enough for running web testing (in Chrome). The total cost of 5-agent build farm in Vultr or Linode (both are reputable PAAS vendor): $10 x 5 = $50 per month. If you want to keep the agents 24x7 running without the need to restart, add $22.5 (with renewal discount) x 5 = $112.5 for 5 BuildWise Agent licenses. If you want to run tests on Windows (10 or Server), which are the more common platform for our clients, there will be extra for Windows licenses and bigger VMs ($30 more for each VM on Vultr).

Finally, once your build farm is set up, you can easily configure it to support another project. The resource is fully reusable.

If you distribute BuildWise server (with other apps) for finanical benefits, commercial license is required. Contact our support.