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An outlook of state-of-the-art approaches in functional testing of web application

The numerous recent contribution of web application testing approaches reflect the rising awareness and concern for assuring web application's functionality and performance. The functionality of a web application cannot be compromised, especially if dealing with critical web-based applications such as online banking system, ticketing system and file hosting services. This paper aims to systematically investigate state-of-the-art functional testing approaches for web applications. Focus will be given on testing techniques that address the functional aspect of a web application. In this paper we firstly perform exhaustive literature reviews on state-of-the-art approaches in functional testing of web application. Next, a comparative evaluation framework that consists of several related criteria is developed, and subsequently applied to the selected prominent approaches. Finally, we present a critical discussion on the results of the comparative evaluation. Based on our observations, the evaluation results may indicate the current and future direction in web application functional testing and the viability of these approaches. Through the results, we will be able to determine the direction of functional web application testing and which area within the functional requirement aspect of web applications that has not duly being addressed.