Load Testing - Jmeter Vs Siege

- Jmeter comes with a GUI to create/run load tests, while Siege is command line tool
- Jmeter has tons for features that can be used while testing an entire website - with muliple pages, while Siege has limited options to be used
- Siege is fast to setup and run while Jmeter takes time to setup as it involves multiple steps
- Jmeter is faster to run for n concurrent users than Seige
- Jmeter has broad set of options for results analysis while Siege has one summary of results
- Seige is good for a quick load testing of a webpage while Jmeter is good for a wide variety of tests to be run at a single time
- Jmeter has several plugins to enhance its load testing features and analysis while Siege lacks in plugins
- Sometimes, Siege can give false results thinking better performance while Jmeter is quite accurate in its results

Hence, I prefer Jmeter in most of the load testing requirements, while I use Siege for a quick load test.

Automation testing using TestComplete

For more than a year, I've been working on automation of functional testing, regression testing using TestComplete(http://smartbear.com/products/qa-tools/automated-testing-tools). It's a paid automation tool.

It's an little tricky to learn and use but quite similar to Selenium. You can use xpath, record and play to script test cases.

Pros:
- similar to Selenium IDE, you can record and play test scripts
- similar to Selenium RC, you can create test scripts in VBScript, JScript, DelphiScript, C++Script or C#Script. (personally, I liked VBScript)
- Test results logs helps in finding precisely the issue where test failed
- tests can be recorded in keywork driven or screen capture modes
- tests can be created for regression, functional, DDT (data driven testing), ODT(object driven testing), and so on
- can easily do cross-browser testing

Cons:
- automated tests can not be run on Mac OSX
- no support for mobile testing automation (though there is a package  'seetest' which can be integrated with TC)
- it can not read xpath values for browsers other than IE, Firefox, chrome, Safari.

Please read this book on TestComplete(reviewed by me): http://www.packtpub.com/testcomplete-cookbook/book