by admin | Oct 14, 2021 | Automation Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
Gecko is a browser engine for Firefox that has been in usage since the year 1998. But Gecko was initially developed and maintained by a company called ‘America Online’. In the year 2003, Mozilla Corporation took control of Gecko development. Since then, the Firefox browser has improved a lot over the years. Firefox Quantum was released back in October of 2016 with multiple performance and rendering-related improvements. Quantum is an improvement project for the Gecko engine. Being a leading software testing company, we maintain automated test suites for multiple web products. You should be familiar with how Selenium WebDriver works for different browsers in order to achieve multi-browser execution. So in this blog article, you will learn a few important details about the Gecko Driver. (A proxy between WebDriver & Marionette Driver)
Marionette Driver
Marionette allows you to automate Gecko-based browsers. Marionette has namely two components, they are the Client and the Server. The server is bundled in the Firefox browser, and the client is your test code. The Marionette client driver is available in Python. Now, let’s take a look at the codes you will need to use the Marionette Driver.
How to use Marionette Driver
1. Install the Marionette client driver by using the below code
pip install marionette_driver
2. Use the below code to Run the Marionette enabled Firefox build
3. Once you execute the below test code, it will launch Firefox browser
from marionette_driver.marionette import Marionette
client = Marionette('127.0.0.1', port=2828)
client.start_session()
Gecko Driver
The Gecko Driver is written in Rust programming language. Here, the Gecko driver is responsible to translate WebDriver commands and redirect them to the Marionette driver.
System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "drivers/geckodriver");
WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
driver.get("https://google.com");
By default, Marionette is enabled when you launch Firefox using WebDriver. You can even see Marionette-related logs during the execution.
You do have the option to turn off Marionette using the System property. However, it is not supported with the latest version of Firefox.
System.setProperty("webdriver.firefox.marionette", "false");
It is worth mentioning that Selenium has started supporting the Gecko driver from v3.0.0.
Conclusion
We, as an automation testing company, run automation test scripts across multiple browsers. As stated earlier, Selenium WebDriver is an important tool that will help you achieve multi-browser testing. To achieve that, you should know how each implementation of the WebDriver works on different browsers. When you know the enhancement details of a browser and its driver, you will be in a position to plan and accommodate the changes in the test automation framework well ahead of time without any hassle.
by admin | Oct 13, 2021 | Selenium Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
Selenium is a web browser automation testing library that has evolved to become one of the most popular automation testing tools over the years all thanks to the various tools and libraries associated with it. If you are an experienced automation tester, you will be very familiar with Selenium and you can refer to our more advanced blog articles around Selenium. On the other hand, if you are a novice automation tester who isn’t very familiar with Selenium, we highly recommend you to read this blog and get to know the basics of Selenium. It is not a how-to guide, rather, it will help you understand how Selenium works. To become a master of any tool, it is always pivotal to understand how it works first. Let’s begin from Selenium RC and move forward to where we are now and help you understand how much Selenium has evolved.
Selenium RC
Selenium remote control (RC) was the first version of Selenium that is no longer in use. It had all the features we have in Selenium WebDriver except for the way it interacts with the browser & the webpage.
How did the Selenium RC work?
- The Client code (Test Code) sends a Selenese command to the Selenium server using an HTTP request.
- The server receives and finds the suitable Selenium-Core JavaScript command for the request.
- Then the server interprets and injects a JavaScript snippet into the browser’s built-in JavaScript interpreter.
There were a few major downsides to Selenium remote control as well,
Disadvantages
- It cannot mimic how a user performs actions on a browser since the server injects JavaScripts and manipulates the DOM. Let’s take the Chrome browser as an example. Chrome browser has pointer-events to listen to the user inputs from a touch screen, pen, or mouse. Here, the pointer-events are APIs of Chrome. Selenium RC will only manipulate the DOM using JavaScript and not access the browser API to execute the commands. That’s why Selenium RC does not have the capacity to emulate user actions.
- The full strength of the Object-Oriented Programming was not adopted to Selenium RC.
Selenium WebDriver
WebDriver was developed by Simon Stewart at ThoughtWorks. WebDriver uses the Browser API instead of injecting JavaScript to perform the required actions. So Selenium and WebDriver were merged and released as Selenium 2.0. Local and Remote are two methods that are also few basics of Selenium that one must know. So let’s take a look at that now.
Local
Selenium WebDriver has drivers for each browser as every browser has its own engine. So the API implementation differs. When you want to automate a browser in the same machine where the test code is located, you wouldn’t need the Selenium Remote Server. Instead, your test code has to know where the browser driver is located. Once the driver location has been identified, it will start sending commands to the driver and the driver will begin interacting with the browser.
Remote
But at the same time, if you want to execute your test code on a Windows machine and launch Safari browser in Mac. You can start the Selenium Remote server in Mac and start the script execution from Windows. In this scenario, the test code and the browser are not in the same location. That’s why the remote server is coming into the picture.
Selenium IDE
Selenium IDE is widely used to record test scripts. The Selenium IDE Legacy version is supported only on Firefox. The newer version of Selenium IDE does have plugins for Chrome & Firefox. Now let’s take a look at a few use cases and understand where Selenium IDE can be used.
Usage
- If you are a beginner, you can use Selenium IDE to learn the Selenium commands.
- You can also use it to quickly check whether you are able to automate a webpage or not without writing any snippets.
Selenium Grid
If you have multiple machines for test execution, you would have to start the remote server on all the machines. In addition to that, your test code needs to take the overhead to orchestrate IPs and Port numbers of all remote machines. This is where Selenium Grid comes into play and becomes one of the must-know basics of Selenium as it allows you to have a hub to which the nodes can be attached. Now your test code has to just send the commands to the hub and the hub will redirect the command to the appropriate nodes.
Basically, Hub takes the overhead of managing nodes and routing the command requests. So the Selenium Grid makes it easy to achieve parallel execution.
Selenium 4
If you have been following the topic, you will know that Selenium 4 has brought some notable features to the table. Selenium WebDriver has 60 plus endpoints to send and receive commands using the HTTP Protocol. So the Selenium client and server communicate with each other using the HTTP Protocol. But in order to implement the Chrome DevTools Protocol, Selenium 4 needs the Bi-directional protocol.
We, as one of the leading software test automation services providers, have used the browser console listener for a project. We wanted to capture all the JavaScript errors which are triggered on the browser. Yes, the Selenium 3 server does have the capability to receive the requests and send the responses. But when the browser sends a series of messages to the client via the server, the HTTP protocol isn’t enough to handle it. If you’re interested in finding out how we handled the bidirectional protocol, read our blog where to explain everything step-by-step.
Conclusion
As stated earlier, this is not a how-to guide, and we hope that our approach of covering the basics of Selenium helped you get a crystal clear understanding of Selenium works. If you like what you have read, make sure to follow us on social media to get all the latest blog updates that happen over the week. QA Automation Testing Services is our core and in order to deliver the best service to our clients, we are on a path of continuous development. We have an R&D team to explore the new tool features, techniques, and so on. So it goes without saying that more informative articles are on the way.
by admin | Oct 12, 2021 | Automation Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
Nowadays, we have many open-source test automation frameworks to choose from that we have created this list of the top 7 open-source test automation frameworks to use. But back in the day, test automation frameworks had to be developed using commercial test automation tools. Before the emergence of such open-source automation testing tools, many proprietary tools had the below-listed limitations.
- Only a few limited programming/scripting languages were supported.
- The scripts could be executed only on IE browsers.
- Separate licenses had to be purchased for script executions.
- Only limited Reporting Features were available.
- Third-party test management tools integration was not possible.
- There was a lack of documentation.
- The annual tool support fee was huge.
Even now, some of the commercial’s test automation tools have these limitations. In the earlier days, the Excel-driven test automation framework was very popular. The claim was that testers didn’t have to open the tool to write the automated test scripts. Stakeholders thought that filling the excel sheet to create an automated script was simple and a game-changer. So if any change was required in the framework, it would be done by the test automation architect. That is when the open-source automation frameworks slowly started to emerge in the market.
Selenium brought the capability to automate both Firefox and IE. This was in a time period when even many of the popular commercials automation testing tools didn’t have the feature to automate any other browser apart from IE. It is important to remember that Selenium is a browser automation library; it is not a test automation framework. You have to use Selenium to build the framework.
Why do we need a test automation framework?
With the help of a test automation framework, we will be able to
- Organize automated test scripts
- Avoid duplication of scripts
- Reduce the effort required for maintenance
- Troubleshoot failures quickly with the help of test reports
- Integrate with test management tools
- Manage test data that are required for test execution
- Follow common scripting guidelines
- Ease portability & adaptability
Now that we have seen why we need an automation framework, let’s move over to our top 7 list of open-source test automation frameworks which can be used right away instead of having to build an in-house framework. As a leading QA company, we get projects requests from our clients to work with ready to use framework. Given our expertise in the domain, we believe that this blog article will help you to choose a suitable open-source automation testing framework to kick start script development from day one.
Serenity
First up, we have Serenity BDD which is a ready-made automation testing framework. It has many built-in methods for both Selenium and API automation which will ease the script development process. The Serenity test reporting feature will be very helpful in understanding what tests have been executed, and what requirements have been tested.
We know for a fact that Serenity is a popular open-source test automation framework. Let’s take a look at what makes it so popular.
- Serenity introduces one more layer between the Step Definitions and page objects. ‘Steps’ is the new layer that represents actors or personas who interact with the application. This layer makes your test scripts more readable and maintainable.
- You can mention environment-specific configurations in serenity.conf file.
- Built-in methods and test reporting system for REST API automation testing using REST Assured is a great value-add.
- Serenity supports the Screenplay pattern which helps to produce readable test code.
- It introduces a new Ensure class to write readable assertions.
- You can also run Serenity tests on a Zalenium server to achieve parallel execution.
Robot Framework
Robot Framework is an open-source automation testing framework that has many built-in keywords and libraries. The robot framework’s core is developed using Python. It was developed by Nokia Networks and open-sourced in 2008.
The various standout Robot framework features are:
- It is a keyword-driven framework.
- You can write test scenarios in the Gherkin format.
- It produces both HTML and XML reports.
- You can tag tests to categorize them.
- Robot Framework has standard and external libraries. Standard libraries come along with the installation. Whereas, you can install the external libraries which are required for the project.
- It has plugins for all popular IDEs like (Eclipse, Intellij, PyCharm, SubLime, TextMate, Vim, Emacs, Brackets, Atom, etc…).
- Execution can be scheduled in Jenkins.
- You can use Robot Framework for Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD).
- Desktop App test cases can be automated using WhiteLibrary.
- You can also automate JavaSwing GUI.
- Video recording and screenshots can be captured during execution.
- It supports IBM Mainframe automation testing.
Robot Framework is very vast, and so you will be able to automate any application or API. So even if you don’t find any library for your requirements, you won’t be in trouble as Robot Framework lets you write your own library.
Gauge
Gauge is an open-source test automation framework developed by the Thoughtworks team that eases automated acceptance tests. You can write the test scenarios in the .spec or .md file format. The implementation codes can be written in JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C#, & Python languages. Gauge allows you to focus only on tests instead of spending time on utilities & keywords development.
If you want to share data from one test scenario to another, you can use the Gauge data store factory. There are three types of data stores (ScenarioStore, SpecStore, & SuiteStore).
If a test execution has any failures, you will be able to rerun only the failed scripts using the below command.
You can run these specs in parallel, but you must be able to write the thread-safe test code. Gauge is a simple and flexible test automation framework that avoids complex test code layers.
Atata
Atata is an open-source C# based Web App Automation Testing framework. It provides a rich set of libraries to automate web-related test cases and uses Page Object Pattern to define the UI elements & actions to be performed on web pages. Atata is supported in all major C# based unit & BDD testing frameworks (NUnit, Xunit, MSTest, & Specflow). Atata even integrates ExtentReports for test report generation.
Carina
Carina is a Java-based open-source automation testing framework that can be used to automate Web Apps, Mobile Apps, REST Services, Windows apps, and even DB-related test cases. Carina has one very unique and resourceful feature for mobile app automation testing. It allows you to have common automated snippets for both iOS and Android platforms.
WebDriver.IO
WebDriver.io uses the Selenium, Appium, and DevTools protocol to automate Web apps, mobile apps, and Electron-based Desktop Apps. The DevTools capability was introduced in Selenium 4. However, the WebDriver.io framework has already implemented DevTools without relying on the WebDriver protocol.
Some notable features of WebDriver.io are:
- It is suitable for automating all modern web, mobile, and desktop apps.
- It supports all major reporting libraries (Allure, Concise, Dot, Junit, Spec, Sumologic, etc).
- You can embed video recording in test reports.
- Execution can be triggered based on GitHub actions.
- WebDriver.io has built-in commands. You can also add custom methods if you need any.
- You can schedule executions in Jenkins and Bamboo CI tools.
- You can also migrate the existing Protractor automated scripts to WebDriver.io.
Citrus
Citrus is an open-source test automation framework best suited for integration testing. You can send, receive messages, and also specify control messages for validation. Citrus allows you to test complex messaging scenarios with a step-by-step sequence of operations.
Conclusion
You need experts such as us by your side to provide the best automation testing services. Yes, choosing the right framework is a critical choice. But your team should be capable to create a custom test automation framework, explore, and even suggest the ready-to-use framework for a project.
by admin | Oct 11, 2021 | Automation Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
DevOps and Agile primarily focus on how to add value to both the product and the business, and test automation is considered an important activity in the delivery pipeline. In the past, test automation metrics and ROI were used to determine the benefits of automation testing. Let’s say an automated test suite runs perfectly for 6 months without any changes and refer to the metrics from the executions, it will show positive outcomes. But the underlying problem here is that the automated test scripts which are untouched and not improved don’t provide any value at all. So in this blog, we will be going through how to effectively measure the value of automation testing.
Measuring the value of test automation in DevOps & Agile is totally different. Let’s take a look at some of the more traditional value measuring techniques and explore why they are no longer effective.
Total Duration
Let’s start off with one of the most basic metrics, the time is taken to perform the tests using automated test suites. In most cases, automation test execution will be faster than manual test execution. But isn’t it more important to see what is being tested instead of how quickly it is tested in the initial phase? We understand that providing quick QA feedbacks to a team is a paramount task, and are not denying it. You can employ multiple Docker containers and run the scripts in parallel to achieve speed. But make sure you don’t compare the execution time between manual and automation testing for each test case. It does not help you to measure the value of your automation tests.
Percentage of Pass & Fail
False Positives & Negatives is one of the major productivity killers for automation testing that requires you to script well to avoid them. Just because all your tests have passed, you cannot assume that your scripts are doing well. You need to ensure that your automated test suites are constantly improved by adding new test scenarios, updating the existing scenarios when functionalities change, and also fixing the false positives & negatives. There is no doubt that the percentage of pass & fail is a good metric, but you need additional supporting data to measure the value of your automation testing more precisely.
In DevOps, you need to improve your automated test suites continuously. Only stable test scripts are qualified to fit in the delivery pipeline. As a leading QA Company, we use automated testing reporting dashboards to view all the collected metrics to measure their value. So based on our vast experience, we recommend you collect the below metrics to measure the value of automation testing.
Scalability
- Keep track of the number of scripts that are up and running in the pipeline.
- Collect data on the number of scripts that are getting added.
- Monitor how many scripts are updated & removed.
- Check how many new test cases are identified for automation testing from your Exploratory Testing Sessions.
Stability
- We know that unstable scripts have to be quarantined, so find out how many scripts have been quarantined. Make sure that you bring them into the delivery pipeline only after stabilizing them.
- Keep track of the frequently failing tests.
- Your tests don’t just have to work, they have to be fast as well. So, collect data on the slowest tests as this metric will expose if any page is loading slowly or if it has any scripting issues.
- Monitor common exception messages. Since Selenium and Appium have an exception list, you can improve your automated tests by fixing the common exceptions.
- Track the Success Rate when you retry. Sometimes, running the failures again might get them to pass. But if you notice any script which is passing only after retry, it needs your attention.
Number of defects and other issues
- Keep track of the number of defects you find in testing
- Monitor the number of script issues
- Check the number of issues in the test data
- Collect data on the number of infrastructure-related issues
Conclusion
Being the best company for automation testing, we at Codoid have switched our test automation value measuring strategy from the traditional approach. We have seen great results and you will also be to witness the same when you try our approach. You will be able to capture the above-mentioned metrics during test execution, and from the framework & the test management tool to measure test automation value.
by admin | Oct 8, 2021 | Selenium Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
Have you ever noticed the inconsistencies between different Selenium browser drivers before Selenium’s W3C recommendation? If so, you would have a clear idea of what we are going to explore in this blog. But, if you are a novice automation tester, then the chances of you experiencing that are very low. So to clear things up, before Selenium WebDriver’s W3C recommendation, it was tough to bring uniform implementation. You will get a better picture once we go through an example.
Let’s say you want to run your scripts on Chrome, IE, Safari, and Firefox. Executing the scripts on IE and Safari browsers was a challenge as the IEDriver and Safari Driver are maintained by Microsoft & Apple. This meant that if any changes were needed in these drivers, then it should be done only by the browser vendors. So the issues would be raised and fixed only after the Selenium contributors notify the browser vendors.
Most of the modern browsers are W3C compliant. This means that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript should be interpreted as recommended by W3C across all the browsers. So there should not be any case where a particular HTML tag is rendered differently in a browser for all the websites.
Selenium WebDriver is a browser controlling library that is used globally and it is also supported by the major browsers. That is why Selenium WebDriver becomes a valid candidate to become W3C compliant. So the browser vendors adhere to the WebDriver’s W3C recommendations when developing the browser drivers.
The W3C
If you are not that aware of W3C, then you need to know what W3C is and what it does before we could proceed any further. Tim Berners-Lee and Michael Dertouzos met in Zurich and discussed forming the W3C, and eventually formed the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in October 1994.
- W3C’s Mission – Web for all, and Web on Everything.
- W3C’s Vision – Web for Rich Interaction, Web of Data and Services, & Web of Trust
W3C Browser Testing and Tools Working Group
W3C defines the international web standards and helps to make sure that the web is accessible from any hardware, browser, and geo-location. There are 42 open working groups to get the job done, and Browser Testing and Tools Working Group is one among the 42. The mission of the group is to produce technologies that can be used in testing, debugging, and troubleshooting Web applications running in Web browsers. So naturally, this is also the group that takes care of the Selenium WebDriver’s W3C standards.
A working group is approved and formed once the recommendations, sample code, and technical reports are submitted. WebDriver’s W3C recommendation was submitted on 5th June 2018 to inform the world to follow the recommended standards when developing Selenium drivers.
There are 38 participants from 9 organizations in the Browser Testing and Tools Working Group.
| S. No |
Name |
Company |
| 1 |
David Burns |
W3C Invited Experts |
| 2 |
Michael[Tm] Smith |
W3C |
| 3 |
Patrick Angle |
Apple, Inc. |
| 4 |
Christian Bromann |
Sauce Labs |
| 5 |
Brian Burg |
Apple, Inc. |
| 6 |
Rick Byers |
Google LLC |
| 7 |
John Chen |
Google LLC |
| 8 |
Karl Dubost |
Mozilla Foundation |
| 9 |
Jim Evans |
W3C Invited Experts |
| 10 |
Jim Evans |
Salesforce |
| 11 |
Titus Fortner |
Sauce Labs |
| 12 |
Maja Frydrychowicz |
Mozilla Foundation |
| 13 |
Shuotao Gao |
Google LLC |
| 14 |
Zoher Ghadyali |
Microsoft Corporation |
| 15 |
James Graham |
James Graham |
| 16 |
Peter Hedenskog |
Wikimedia Foundation |
| 17 |
Philip Jägenstedt |
Google LLC |
| 18 |
John Jansen |
Microsoft Corporation |
| 19 |
Wilhelm Joys Andersen |
W3C Invited Experts |
| 20 |
Joon Lee |
Google LLC |
| 21 |
Jason Leyba |
Google LLC |
| 22 |
Shengfa Lin |
Google LLC |
| 23 |
Karin Lundberg |
Google LLC |
| 24 |
Clayton Martin |
Salesforce |
| 25 |
Marcus Merrell |
Sauce Labs |
| 26 |
Diego Molina |
Sauce Labs |
| 27 |
Theresa O’Connor |
Apple, Inc. |
| 28 |
Jan Odvarko |
Mozilla Foundation |
| 29 |
Michael Pennisi |
Bocoup |
| 30 |
Devin Rousso |
Apple, Inc. |
| 31 |
Maksim Sadym |
Google LLC |
| 32 |
David Singer |
Apple, Inc. |
| 33 |
Henrik Skupin |
Mozilla Foundation |
| 34 |
Sam Sneddon |
Apple, Inc. |
| 35 |
Andy Sterland |
Microsoft Corporation |
| 36 |
Simon Stewart |
Apple, Inc. |
| 37 |
Brandon Walderman |
Microsoft Corporation |
| 38 |
Luke Zielinski |
Google LLC |
Browser Drivers
The below-listed browser drivers are W3C compliant.
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Apple Safari
-
- WebKit GTK Port
- Selenium IEDriverServer
- Chrome
If any browser produces the driver for Selenium WebDriver, it needs to follow the W3C specifications.
Conclusion
There is speculation that only Selenium 4 is W3C compliant, but that is incorrect. The older version of the drivers supports W3C, and even if any of the old drivers don’t support W3C, it will use the JSON wire protocol. We, as one of the automated software testing companies, have faced many driver-related issues before the W3C WebDriver protocol. After embracing the uniformity, the Selenium Browser Drivers have now been stabilized. So there are no longer any issues where an automated test suite runs fine on one browser and fails to do so on another.
by admin | Oct 7, 2021 | Software Testing, Blog, Latest Post |
Since software testing is an integral part of the software development lifecycle, the need for talented QAs is constantly on the rise. There are also many out there who aspire to become a software tester by setting them apart from the overwhelming competition that has a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Certifications are a great way to accomplish just that, but there is a catch as not all certifications will be worth the effort and resources. So in this blog, we will be taking a look at the best QA testing certifications that will help a QA either kickstart their career or move higher in their career.
ISTQB – Foundation Level
The International Software Testing Qualifications Board is one of the most renowned and globally acclaimed QA testing certifications in the industry. The primary reason we are starting with this certification is that it can help you get a perfect start to your software testing career. It will help you understand all the fundamentals of software testing that are needed to fit into the various software testing roles such as test automation engineer, mobile-app tester, user-acceptance tester, and so on. The syllabi that they follow are constantly improved to keep up with the growing business needs. But the primary advantage that their syllabi have is that they are open to the public and you can go through their material before deciding to attend the exam that will cost you $229.
The foundation level certification isn’t the only one offered by ISTQB and we will be exploring the rest as we progress.
CAST – Certified Associate In Software Testing
CAST is yet another apt choice for the ones looking to start their software testing career. It is a foundation-level QA testing certification like the ISTQB certification we saw earlier and it will help you learn the important principles and best practices you would need to know. Let’s take a look at the prerequisites for this certification,
- Have a 3 or 4-year degree from an accredited college-level institution.
- If you have a 2-year degree at the same level, then a year of experience in testing will make you eligible.
- You could do the certification without a relevant degree if you have at least 3 years of experience in testing.
So it is evident here that you have the option to get this high-value QA testing certification just with your degree. So like ISTQB, it is a great option for freshers, and also a viable option for people with experience to certify themselves. CAST would cost you $100 to attempt and you should make sure that you attend the examination within 1 year of payment and get 70% to clear it.
CSTE — Certified Software Test Engineer
Now that we have seen two entry-level QA testing certifications to get started with, let’s move on to the next level. CSTE is more of a professional-level certification that helps you establish your competence and achieve better visibility in your team. So you will be able to present yourself as someone who can take up some additional responsibility and take a step forward in their career. The prerequisites also change accordingly,
- Must have a 4-year degree from an accredited college-level institution and 2 years of experience in testing.
So if you have a 3-year degree, you will need 3 years of experience in testing.
- Similarly, if you have a 2-year degree, then you will need 4 years of experience in testing.
- If you don’t have an appropriate degree, then you could compensate for that with 6 years of experience in testing.
Similar to CAST, you would have to score 70% to pass the test and it would cost you around $350 to $420.
CTM — Certified Test Manager
If CSTE was the first step towards a management role, CTM is the one that helps you get better at it. As the name suggests, this QA testing certification is targeted towards improving your management skills. It is a great option if you are currently in a leadership role as it can help you better your skills. You will be learning about various skills like how to manage test processes & test projects, how to measure a test process so that you can work on improving it, risk management, and so much more. Since it is management-level certification, you would also require experience in any leadership role.
The prerequisite is that you should have 3 years of experience in testing that includes 1 year of experience in a leadership role that is relevant to software testing. This has to be met with by the time the CTM will be granted. You would require a lot of supporting documents for this one. So make sure to check over the complete procedure on their website. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the Test Management Body of Knowledge book as it is the key to this certification.
CSSBB — Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
Another option to sharpen up your management skills is the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) certified CSSBB. Like ISTQB, there are other belts available as well, but the black belt certification helps you understand the team dynamics and assign roles & responsibilities accordingly. You will be able to use the Six Sigma principles to optimize the DMAIC (Design, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) model. In addition to that, you will also be equipped with the basics of lean management and how to identify non-value elements. The prerequisites are,
- You would require a minimum of 3 years of experience in one or more areas of the CSSBB Body of Knowledge.
- You would require a minimum of 1 or 2 completed projects with signed affidavits.
The exam would cost you $538 and would be an open-book test. If you are an ASQ member, then you would get a discount of $100 in the cost.
ISTQB – Advanced & Expert Level
The Advanced level of ISTQB is on par with the CTM certification that we saw earlier and the expert level is the one with the highest recognition. So starting with the foundation level certification, you should work yourself up the ladder and complete the advanced level first and then follow it up with the expert level. The expert level is the epitome of all these QA testing certifications as in addition to the in-depth concepts you will be learning about, you will also be handling practical exercises and discussions for almost half of the entire time. The prerequisites would also be very high for this certification.
- One must have at least 5 years of practical testing experience in testing.
- In that 5 years, at least 2 years should be industry experience in the specific topic that you are looking to become an expert in.
Conclusion
As one of the top software testing companies in Chennai, we always concentrate on getting our employees certified with ISTQB. We are currently a Silver-level partner with ISTQB and on a path to become a Platinum-level partner in the near future. We are aware of how valuable these ISTQB certifications are, and that is why we have started and ended the list with them. So we hope you have found this list of our top QA testing certifications to be useful. Make sure to pick the courses best for you and also remember that even though certifications are important, it is the knowledge you build that matters. So pour your heart and soul into it and be on a path of continuous learning.
