The need for automation in testing has been on the rise as more and more companies adopting for it which has also increased the demand. Going from being a manual tester to an automation test engineer doesn’t just happen in a snap. It is a process that takes time and requires a lot of disciplined effort. But at the same time, it is not like you will transition yourself into doing something totally irrelevant. As a leading manual QA testing company, we firmly believe the objective of both manual testing & automation testing to be the same, and that both are quintessential. So a good understanding of manual testing can help lay the groundwork for what is to come in the future. In this blog, we will be covering the automation tester skills that you should concentrate on to make a smooth and successful transition from Manual Testing.
Understanding the need
But before we head over to see what the must-have qualities of an automation test engineer are, let’s first understand the need for automation testing. The rise of the agile software development process has radically increased the rate at which software is developed. So automation testing has become the solution to meet the ever-growing demand as it is very much efficient in performing repetitive tasks over and over again. Now that we know the purpose of automation testing, we will be able to get a better picture of the focus points needed for this transition and understand them better as well.
Coding is the Key
There is just no other way to put it. Coding is one of the must-have automation tester skills when it comes to automation testing and there is no workaround that will let you bypass it. If you are considering tools that claim to perform codeless automation, we assure you that it is not a viable option. Learning to code is the first step that you have to take and there might be difficulties here as you might feel as though you are starting everything from scratch again despite being a manual tester all this while. But the actual situation here is that you are a software tester and you are just adding a new skillset.
Coding is the key to a successful automation career and so make sure you are familiar with concepts like Object-Oriented Programming, JavaScript, HTML Basics, Coding design patterns, and so on. The lingering question in your mind would be about what programming languages you must focus on. The answer to that question is Python, Java, JavaScript, XML, CSS, (C, C++ & C#), SQL, and Perl in no particular order. Do a bit of groundwork and find out which of these languages you have easier access to learn about and start your learning journey.
Tools and Frameworks to Explore
Learning the programming languages is a good first step, but it is by no means the only step you would have to take to hone your automation tester skills and fully transition into an automation testing engineer. You can further simplify the automation process with the help of the numerous open-source tools and frameworks that are available in the market. Once you have learned the various programming languages, you will be in a position to write effective automation scripts that can be implemented in such tools to get the job done. Selenium is one of the most renowned tools that every automation tester would use to automate the web application testing with their scripts. Likewise, Appium is a great option for mobile automation testing, Postman for API testing, and the list keeps going. Read our blog that covers the top 10 automation tools to get a better idea of what these tools can do.
Take the hassle out of the development process by using effective automation frameworks like Nightwatch.JS, Cucumber, and Protractor. Such tools will be instrumental in making your test suites easy to maintain, data handling, increasing code reusability, and so on.
The Automation Testing Life Cycle
We will not be taking a step-by-step walkthrough of the Automation Testing Life Cycle (ATLC) methodology. Rather, we would be bringing to light a few things about it that you should know to begin with. Deciding which test cases should be automated is the first and foremost aspect of this methodology. Just because we can do something, doesn’t necessarily mean we have to do it. The same applies to automation testing as well. You have to make sure you’ve understood the product and the requirements well enough to run a risk analysis. Based on that analysis, you should implement automation only in places you deem to be necessary.
This decision plays a pivotal role in the test strategy that you will be implementing in the ATLC. Once you have narrowed down the test cases you should automate, you can then pick the automation tools that you will be needing to complete the task. Few tools are open-source, few are not. So you would have to also plan the predicted cost and calculate the estimated ROI to make sure your decision to automate was correct. If there is no scope of ROI, then it would be probably best to review the initial decision. After which, you would have to plan, design, and develop the tests and move forward with the regular testing process of executing the tests and reviewing the results before starting the next cycle.
The Learning Curve
Completing a degree or a course is a great value add. But that alone is never enough. “Practice Makes Perfect” is an old saying, but it still holds up when it comes to automation. The key factor to remember is not to overwhelm yourself by starting out with extremely difficult tasks. Even in case of any misstep, simple test cases will make it easier to debug, maintain, and even reuse. Start small, but make sure you do it right. The more you keep automating test cases, the more equipped you get in handling any unforeseen scenarios that might arise as challenges in the process. The objective here is to develop your automation tester skills and not just getting certified. So make sure you continue the learning process by being updated with any new tool in the market, new tips, hacks, and so on.
Conclusion
We hope you found this blog to be insightful and helpful. Finally, we would like to say that you have to be rooted in the concept of delivering better software quality. As one of the best manual software testing companies, we understand the importance of manual testing and that it can’t be completely replaced with automation. So make sure to stay updated on both fronts as both are vital aspects in delivering quality software.
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