GUI Testing in Practice: An Interview-Based Study of Approaches and Challenges in the Brazilian Software Industry

Software testing is an important activity in the software development cycle, which seeks to ensure the quality of software created. When software does not meet its users' implicit and explicit needs, one can say that it lacks quality. The lack of quality in software can generate several problems for the software development project, such as friction between supplier and clients/users, financial losses, legal problems due to breach of contracts, and even risk to the life of its users in critical contexts. Along these lines, different levels of testing have been developed to ensure quality in different aspects of the software. A popular approach is functional interface testing, which evaluates software by executing events on the software screen, such as filling in a text field or clicking in a button. GUI (Graphical User Interface) functional testing can be executed either manually, with the tester interacting directly with the software, or automatically, by running the software through a programmed script. In recent years, one can find several solutions and techniques proposed to deal with GUI testing in the literature. However, they usually do not analyze how industry professionals perform this type of testing, leaving a gap in the area. Therefore, this study investigates how testers perform interface testing on their projects. Then, we conducted a semi-structured interview with 20 testing professionals. The results indicated that testers who only perform manual GUI tests do not create automated GUI tests due to the context of the project in which they work, their professional preferences and also for educational reasons, such as difficulty in programming. In addition, distinct limitations were observed for manual and automated GUI tests that negatively impact the activities performed by professionals, such as difficulties related to the company's culture and technical problems related to the software under test. The combined results provide a general overview of GUI testing available in the Brazilian software industry.软件测试是软件开发周期中的核心活动，旨在保障所产出软件的质量。当软件无法满足用户的隐含与明确需求时，即可判定该软件存在质量缺陷。软件质量缺陷会为软件开发项目带来诸多问题，例如供方与客户、用户之间的摩擦、经济损失、因违约引发的法律纠纷，在关键场景下甚至会对用户的生命安全构成威胁。 在此背景下，行业已开发出不同层级的测试方法，以覆盖软件多维度的质量保障需求。其中一种主流方法是功能界面测试，该方法通过在软件界面执行交互操作来评估软件性能，例如填写文本字段或点击按钮。图形用户界面（Graphical User Interface，GUI）功能测试可通过两种方式执行：一是人工测试，由测试人员直接与软件进行交互；二是自动化测试，通过预编程脚本驱动软件完成测试流程。 近年来，学界已提出诸多用于GUI测试的解决方案与技术，但此类研究大多未分析行业从业者实际开展此类测试的真实场景，致使该领域存在研究空白。因此，本研究聚焦于测试人员在实际项目中开展界面测试的具体实践。为此，研究团队对20名测试专业人士开展了半结构化访谈。结果显示，仅开展人工GUI测试的测试人员，其未创建自动化GUI测试的原因主要包括：所在项目的场景限制、个人职业偏好，以及教育背景带来的局限（例如编程能力不足）。此外，研究还发现人工与自动化GUI测试均存在各自的局限性，这些局限会对测试人员的实际工作造成负面影响，例如与企业文化相关的执行障碍，以及与待测软件相关的技术问题。综合上述研究结果，本研究全面呈现了巴西软件行业当前GUI测试的整体实践现状。