How do you level up your automated testing skills?

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Hello everyone! :wave:

I’ve been thinking of building a web application that helps you level up your skills for creating automated tests. Think of multiple challenges and small apps of different categories and difficulty levels that you can use to improve your testing skills.

But before that - What are you doing right now to improve your testing skills? Would that even be something you would use to improve your skills?

Happy to hear about your experiences!

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I just work at it every day - and write down all the techniques I’ve developed.

As an example, I’m now making Selenium IDE do things it “can’t” do, like data-driven testing, working reliably with Angular apps, and so on. You just have to pick away at problems and build on what you know. At some point, I’ll try to make it do right clicks. I don’t know how yet, but I suspect the dreaded Javascript will be involved.

As a fun exercise, I like to take a bug fix verification I’ve closed and try to figure out how I could possibly implement it for regression testing in one of the automated scripts.

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Following along with courses should only be a small first step, after that google for some automation practice websites, and try applying what you learn from courses for it to really sink in, and do it often, daily if possible over an extended period of time. If you learn automation for 30-60 minutes daily, for a year, you will learn more than if you would learn twice a week for 12 hours straight.

Test automation uni is a good place to start, just pick one language and one framework and stick to it for a while, good luck with your learning journey!

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Really like the idea “Think of multiple challenges and small apps of different categories and difficulty levels that you can use to improve your testing skills.”

Hope you make it soon so that I can check it :smiley:

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Keep learning every day for Xpath syntax, Driver principle and so on.

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I agree. Being fluent in xpath is essential.

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I think I grow with my challenges. I mostly improve my testing skill in the daily business.
Otherwise i read/watch much what others say to get new ideas. For which I wait to apply them at my daily business.

I differentiate (at least) 3 basic things at automation:

  • Testing, no matter if automated or not. Thinking about what should I test, where is risk. Partly test case design. My thinking work and also a bit hands-on.
  • Coding: The development of the automation code itself. My knowledge in in the language and design patterns.
  • Control of the app: how does the automation controller and my app work together. E.g. Where do I need to do a Wait (and for what), what is the controller capable of.

One more time I become aware of that we do automation IN testing and not test automation (who automates the thinking?).
And its just one more tool (surely a often demanded one).
in a thoughtful mood

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Some thoughtfully designed sample scenarios seems like an amazing way help folks level up their skills.

I especially like Sebastian’s mental model here - first help folks think about testing (with basic scenarios and easy coding), then help them think about the coding itself (with something a bit more complex), then help them think about app control and the internals if the testing tool itself (with some interesting edge cases or unusual requirements).

I’m excited to see what comes of this!

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