Java as a test language?

Interesting discussion... Now lets make it practical. How about some links for using Java as the test-automation language? I am a QA Engineer that is taking Java classes in school and I would love to use Java as my test automation tool.

It is not necessary to use JNI and 'C' glue-code to interface between Java and NI-VISA. Do a Google search for "java jna" and you will find the homepage of JNA, which allows Java apps to call C libraries without the interface that JNI requires. I use Java/JNA/NI-VISA on a daily basis for test automation and find the combination to be reliable. I don't notice any performance issues - any delays that Java might introduce are insignificant compared to system delays and settling times.

I would be using Java as a test language now were it not that I also would need to learn 'C' to interface Java to the GPIB and VISA driver dlls with JNI. The cross-platform part of Java is great, but lack of vendor support to the drivers is the deal breaker.

I've been using Labview as a programming language for a decade now and this language also shows portability over different operative systems as well as swift development time. I think that the execution time is as slowed down as Java, but have no comparison experience. The Labview language is not as popular as others as the interface is VERY different and takes some training. Kind regards Jens Holme Bjoerneboe Test and packaging engineer GN ReSound

Hi, everybody: 1). The debates of that kind could be traced back 2 decades when C language per se got the traction as a high-level substitute for low-level Assemblers programming languages. In regards to Rapid Application Development (RAD) and portability concerns C is a much better choice than its Assemblers counterparts, though the latter could produce more speed-efficient code. So, the arguments against “C vs. Assemblers” were pretty much the same as the current “Java vs. C” ones. Such criteria as code portability, consistency and RAD capability typically prevail in a Language selection for common-task software engineering, though there could be some very specific areas where speed concerns and/or code footprint requirements dominate. 2). It’s relevant to mention, in particular for the Windows application developers, that there is another excellent choice of programming language, which is C#. It is syntactically close to both C and Java, but has many advantages, such as: adherence to pure Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) paradigm; rather efficient and labor-saving memory-management capability (close to Java and much better that plain C); very efficient data structures. The detailed discussion goes far beyond the boundary of single comment, but I hope this rather simplified overview of the issue could help. As a working sample, you could refer the mentioned above by Martin “Best fit RLC calculator” (available at: www.alexanderbell.us/RLC/RLC.aspx), which I’ve developed in C#. I have also built a desktop version of this calculator in C# on the top of .NET 2.0/3.5. Kind regards, Alexander Bell, Infosoft International Inc, US