Citrus: Continuous Delivery by automated integration tests

ConSol* provides with Citrus a free open source testing platform

With Citrus (www.citrusframework.org) ConSol* provides an innovative framework for automated integration tests, from now on in version 1.2. This eases the fully automated testing of enterprise applications for their interface conformity with other applications – from the beginning of the development process to the integration into the productive environment. The objective is quality assurance during the development process not only for the unit tests but also in the field of integration tests. The framework is also suitable for regression tests, as each test runs automatically and can easily be reiterated. As Citrus is open source based, the framework is generally accessible and free of charge.

“A carefully tested integration is the basic requirement for a debugged exchange of information between applications, their function and stability in an enterprise architecture”, explains Christoph Deppisch, software architect with ConSol*. ”Manual testing of a software’s external interfaces is not only the k.o. criterion for the continuous delivery idea but in many cases also too costly and prone to errors.
Furthermore, the previous frameworks for automated testing were too incomplete or limited. This used to drive developers to despair before delivery, especially if many regression tests had to be run. With Citrus we created a framework that enables running even complex integration tests in an automated and reiterated way.”

Citrus in pratice

ConSol* applies Citrus successfully in all its development projects. As does Bittner+Krull, one of the biggest providers of intelligent IT based meter reading systems. Together with Bittner+Krull, ConSol* developed a high-capacity and flexible smart metering platform that is fit for use at key accounts and tested it with Citrus. Citrus was also applied in a project with Vodafone: The IT full service provider developed and established a web based mail and messaging platform for Vodafones’ DSL customer.