Publication #3 - Tools and resources for Automated Software Testers
About Me
My name is Matt Gilbert and I have been in the Software Testing field for close to 10 years now. I have my B.S. in Software Development from Western Governors University. I’ve had the opportunity to take on a number of different roles in varying industries like Insurance, SaaS, Healthcare, as well as contract work. Across these different industries I also gained experience with a number of different testing techniques, which we will discuss in a later publication. Those include API testing, Integration, Performance, Accessibility, UI, Usability, Mobile, Contract, as well as automation framework development in Java, C#, Typescript, and Python. You can find me on LinkedIn. Let’s connect!
Testing Resources
Test Automation University (TAU)
Listed first simply because it’s so easy to get started with and the content is hyper focused towards Test Automation. Created by Applitools, Test Automation University, or TAU for short, is an online collection of videos that teach you all sorts of Test Automation techniques using various frameworks, languages, or based on learning path. Their learning paths are super helpful if you want to focus in on a certain type of testing, like API, web UI, Mobile etc. The quality of the videos are great and the instructors are some of the best in their fields. What’s even cooler is that while you are watching the videos, you can take a small quiz to gauge your learning and progress. At the end, you’ll get a certificate for completing the course that you can share on social media!
Test Guild
Test Guild was started by Joe Colantonio who is considered an expert in the Software Testing space. Test Guild is a community of testers, but it also has blogs, podcasts, and live webinars on a wide variety of topics. The yearly Automation Guild that Joe puts on is great. I’ve attended (online) before and can’t recommend it enough. In addition to this, the amount of helpful blog posts and video interviews on the Test Guild site are top notch. If you want to further your knowledge in the testing space, I highly recommend bookmarking it.
Ministry of Testing
Ministry of Testing is another great resource with a ton of content. You can find blogs, courses, webinars, podcasts, forums etc. Most of the content is pretty good on there and it all depends on what you are wanting to learn. They most likely have an article or podcast talking about it.
freeCodeCamp
freeCodeCamp has thousands of hours of training on a variety of topics. The learning there is centered around learning paths which makes it easy to know which courses to take. Pick a learning path that interests you and get started! Best of all, it’s free! I also recently discovered they have a path dedicated for Quality Assurance. Like TAU, they offer certificates based upon successful completion of a path that you can display on your LinkedIn profile!
Test Tooling
Testim*
Testim, who was recently acquired by Tricentis, is an AI powered Automation tool. It has Accessibility testing, performance testing, API testing and much, much more. The best part is, anyone can create tests with Testim. No coding experience is required unless you want to use some of the more advanced features (which I highly recommend learning about). Their documentation is amazing, and the support team is very helpful. In addition, they integrate nicely with other tools your organization might already be using like BrowserStack, SauceLabs, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins etc! If you are new to the Test Automation space or a seasoned vet, go check them out.
*Full disclaimer: I have been using Testim myself for over 2 years now.
Postman
Most people probably already know that Postman is an API testing tool. Did you also know it can help your team create, document and debug their APIs? You can even connect your Postman workspace to GitHub to track and sync changes you make so that your entire team can benefit.
Outro
Thanks for reading! As you can see, there are plenty of resources out there but if you don’t take advantage, they may as well not exist. Always be learning, always be growing!
What are your go-to resources for furthering your knowledge? Sound off in the comments! Stay tuned for my next article where I’ll be diving into Common mistakes in Software Testing Part 2.