After attending a local careers fair and looking around at a lot of job vacancies, I’ve been making a start at looking into learning JavaScript and how I could become an automated tester using it due to what I’ve seen as more demand for it in the market.
I’ve started with the JavaScript introduction course on Test Automation University to get a quick kickstart of the language in general but it’s a case of what to look at once I’ve completed the course on TAU.
As I’m still fairly new, I know I’ll need to continue focussing on JavaScript in general to help build those skills up, it’s just a matter of where to look to find further learning.
Are there any recommended resources that I could look into to continue building my skills in JS? Furthermore, where should I look to get to grips with Selenium and/or PlayWright in JS once I’ve got to grips with it?
My goal is to learn what I can with JS as well as relevant tools and then begin to build a portfolio to help me land a junior automation testing position.
Any and all suggestions are welcome so thanks a lot in advance!
Hi @smsmith195 welcome to the fun world of JavaScript! I would advise you to take a look at https://playwright.dev/, as someone entering a new space I would look at the new exciting frameworks that are increasing in popularity quickly. Playwright is also multi language which I believe ive seen that you also like Python so you can switch around but the core concepts are the same.
In terms of learning material it depends how you learn. I find following tutorials I sit there and copy the code because it seems abit pointless to retype it and then I learn nothing, instead I usually start with https://the-internet.herokuapp.com/ and https://formy-project.herokuapp.com/ and work my way through each different feature/elements that it has, then once I can comfortably say I can write an interaction and a reasonable assertion for each of those then ill take another webpage and create all the tests I think I can do. I learn by trying different methods of interaction, breaking down what I want to do then google that specific thing rather than a tutorial that shows you how to do an entire flow.
Once you have a great understanding of JS, you might want to look at TS. Its JS but with a bit more structure and will catch alot of your errors before run. But its not required to be a great tester, JS is more forgiving.
Feel free to reach out if you have questions/blockers
On the JS aspect of things as it relates to test automation tooling, here are some thoughts beyond what one would normally think for JS for QA use:
JS as used in node.js in case you work with other JS tools on CLI or for load testing, or to help investigate server side issues where server side uses node.js. There is known load test tool k6 that uses JS.
JS as used in browsers - for tricks and workarounds for test automation issues or limitations as well as have better understanding of web (and mobile) UI automation on this case, here are some posts of mine that may be helpful:
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