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  1. Stackups
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  4. Virtual Machine Platforms And Containers
  5. Appium vs Docker

Appium vs Docker

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Docker
Docker
Stacks194.2K
Followers143.8K
Votes3.9K
Appium
Appium
Stacks650
Followers574
Votes28
GitHub Stars20.8K
Forks6.2K

Appium vs Docker: What are the differences?

Developers describe Appium as "Automation for iOS and Android Apps". Appium is an open source test automation framework for use with native, hybrid, and mobile web apps. It drives iOS and Android apps using the WebDriver protocol. Appium is sponsored by Sauce Labs and a thriving community of open source developers. On the other hand, Docker is detailed as "Enterprise Container Platform for High-Velocity Innovation". The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere.

Appium can be classified as a tool in the "Mobile Testing Frameworks" category, while Docker is grouped under "Virtual Machine Platforms & Containers".

Some of the features offered by Appium are:

  • Works on native and hybrid mobile apps
  • Write mobile tests using any language or framework
  • Open source

On the other hand, Docker provides the following key features:

  • Integrated developer tools
  • open, portable images
  • shareable, reusable apps

"Webdriverio support" is the top reason why over 5 developers like Appium, while over 816 developers mention "Rapid integration and build up" as the leading cause for choosing Docker.

Appium and Docker are both open source tools. Docker with 54K GitHub stars and 15.6K forks on GitHub appears to be more popular than Appium with 9.66K GitHub stars and 3.94K GitHub forks.

Spotify, Pinterest, and Twitter are some of the popular companies that use Docker, whereas Appium is used by Intuit, PedidosYa, and A+E Networks. Docker has a broader approval, being mentioned in 3526 company stacks & 3445 developers stacks; compared to Appium, which is listed in 31 company stacks and 21 developer stacks.

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Advice on Docker, Appium

Florian
Florian

IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH

Oct 22, 2019

Decided

lxd/lxc and Docker aren't congruent so this comparison needs a more detailed look; but in short I can say: the lxd-integrated administration of storage including zfs with its snapshot capabilities as well as the system container (multi-process) approach of lxc vs. the limited single-process container approach of Docker is the main reason I chose lxd over Docker.

483k views483k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Docker
Docker
Appium
Appium

The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere

Appium is an open source test automation framework for use with native, hybrid, and mobile web apps. It drives iOS and Android apps using the WebDriver protocol. Appium is sponsored by Sauce Labs and a thriving community of open source developers.

Integrated developer tools; open, portable images; shareable, reusable apps; framework-aware builds; standardized templates; multi-environment support; remote registry management; simple setup for Docker and Kubernetes; certified Kubernetes; application templates; enterprise controls; secure software supply chain; industry-leading container runtime; image scanning; access controls; image signing; caching and mirroring; image lifecycle; policy-based image promotion
Works on native and hybrid mobile apps; Write mobile tests using any language or framework; Open source; Facilitates mobile continuous integration; Mobile test automation tool; Cross-platform (iOS, Android); Framework based on Selenium
Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
20.8K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
6.2K
Stacks
194.2K
Stacks
650
Followers
143.8K
Followers
574
Votes
3.9K
Votes
28
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 823
    Rapid integration and build up
  • 692
    Isolation
  • 521
    Open source
  • 505
    Testa­bil­i­ty and re­pro­ducibil­i­ty
  • 460
    Lightweight
Cons
  • 8
    New versions == broken features
  • 6
    Documentation not always in sync
  • 6
    Unreliable networking
  • 4
    Moves quickly
  • 3
    Not Secure
Pros
  • 12
    Webdriverio support
  • 6
    Java, C#, Python support
  • 3
    Open source
  • 2
    Active community
  • 2
    Great GUI with inspector
Integrations
Java
Java
Docker Compose
Docker Compose
VirtualBox
VirtualBox
Linux
Linux
Amazon EC2 Container Service
Amazon EC2 Container Service
Docker Swarm
Docker Swarm
boot2docker
boot2docker
Kubernetes
Kubernetes
Docker Machine
Docker Machine
Vagrant
Vagrant
Sauce Labs
Sauce Labs

What are some alternatives to Docker, Appium?

LXD

LXD

LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.

LXC

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

rkt

rkt

Rocket is a cli for running App Containers. The goal of rocket is to be composable, secure, and fast.

Vagrant Cloud

Vagrant Cloud

Vagrant Cloud pairs with Vagrant to enable access, insight and collaboration across teams, as well as to bring exposure to community contributions and development environments.

Studio 3T

Studio 3T

It's the only MongoDB tool that provides three ways to explore data alongside powerful features like query autocompletion, polyglot code generation, a stage-by-stage aggregation query builder, import and export, SQL query support and more.

EarlGrey

EarlGrey

EarlGrey is a native iOS UI automation test framework that enables you to write clear, concise tests. With the EarlGrey framework, you have access to enhanced synchronization features. EarlGrey automatically synchronizes with the UI, network requests, and various queues; but still allows you to manually implement customized timings, if needed.

Kobiton

Kobiton

It enables developers and testers to perform automated and manual testing of mobile apps and websites on real devices. Modern DevOps and Quality environments require apps to be tested on hundreds of device/OS/browser combinations. Managing an in-house device-lab is expensive, resource intensive, restrictive and very manual. Kobiton allows for instant provisioning of real devices for testing with automated or manual scripts, and also allows current on-premise devices to be plugged in to form a holistic testing cloud.

Kiwi

Kiwi

It is a Behavior Driven Development library for iOS development. The goal is to provide a BDD library that is exquisitely simple to setup and use.

pCloudy

pCloudy

It is a smart mobile app testing solution that lets developers ensure their users enjoy a smooth and consistent experience. With it, developers can access manual and automated testing options to facilitate the swift debugging of their applications.

Magneto

Magneto

Magneto was built by Automation Engineers for Automation Engineers out of necessity for a mobile centric test automation framework that's easy to setup, run and utilize.

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