"Automation Testing 101: A Beginner's Guide to Starting Your Journey in Test Automation"

Automation testing has become an integral part of software testing, as it saves time and money while increasing the efficiency and accuracy of the testing process. However, starting the journey towards automation testing can be daunting, especially for beginners. In this blog post, we'll discuss some essential steps to help you get started with automation testing.

 

1. Understand the basics of automation testing: Before diving into automation testing, it's essential to understand the basic concepts and principles behind it. Automation testing involves using a software tool to run pre-scripted tests on software applications to detect defects and errors. It's critical to understand how automation testing fits into the software development life cycle and its advantages and limitations.

2. Choose an automation testing tool: Once you have a good understanding of automation testing, the next step is to select an automation testing tool. There are many automation testing tools available in the market, each with its features, advantages, and limitations. Some of the popular automation testing tools are Selenium, Appium, TestComplete, and QTP/UFT. It's crucial to research and evaluate the tools based on your requirements, budget, and expertise.

3. Learn a programming language: Automation testing tools require knowledge of at least one programming language. Some of the popular programming languages for automation testing are Java, Python, C#, and Ruby. Choose a language that is widely used, easy to learn, and has good community support. There are many online resources available to learn programming languages, such as Udemy, Coursera, and Codecademy.

4. Identify site and create the test cases for automation:  It is important to identify the site, which you are planning to automate, you have to identify the testcases for automation. In order to automate a site, it is crucial to determine the specific areas of the site that require automation, and to define the test cases that will be automated. This involves identifying the key functionality, features and user flows within the site that are critical to its overall performance and success and developing a plan for automating the testing of these areas. 

Note: Not all test cases can be automated, so it's crucial to identify which test cases are suitable for automation. Test cases that are repetitive, time-consuming, and require frequent execution are ideal for automation. 

It's also essential to consider the return on investment (ROI) of automating a particular test case, when we talk about real world scenarios.

5. Develop and execute test scripts: Once you have identified the test cases for automation, the next step is to develop test scripts using the automation testing tool and programming language. It's important to write efficient, maintainable, and reusable test scripts that cover all possible scenarios. After developing the test scripts, execute them to identify defects and errors.

6. Analyze test results: Automation testing generates a large amount of data, so it's essential to analyze the test results to identify defects, errors, and performance issues. It's crucial to categorize the defects, prioritize them, and assign them to the respective development team for fixing. The above process needs to be followed in real time scenarios, but if we try to identify while practice, it will give you an understanding of how real time scenario works.

7. Continuously improve the automation testing process: Automation testing is an iterative process, so it's crucial to continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve the automation testing process. Use metrics such as test coverage, defect density, and ROI to measure the effectiveness of automation testing and identify areas for improvement, again this would be part of real time scenarios, but good to keep in mind.

In conclusion, automation testing is a complex and challenging process, but it can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of software testing. Follow the steps mentioned above, and you'll be on your way to mastering automation testing. Remember, automation testing is an ongoing journey, so keep learning, experimenting, and improving.

Personal Learning Experience:

 My journey:

I entered the field of software testing in December 2010 as a manual tester, which I found enjoyable and interesting. Although I helped automation testers with test data using QTP, I lacked the desire to learn the tool and wasn't interested in coding or development. However, I realized that if I wanted to earn a good salary in the industry, I needed to upgrade my skills beyond just manual testing.

After exploring low-code technologies like Salesforce and struggling to start as a fresher with six years of experience, I decided to learn Selenium and advance my career. There was a lot of online content available, and I shared the resources that helped me along my journey and the Java topics a Selenium tester should know.

In November 2016, I began my automation journey, but faced many ups and downs along the way. I would start automation projects but often failed and gave up. Eventually, in December 2016, I decided to quit my job, but with only three months’ notice and no automation knowledge, I found it challenging to find a new job. I received few interview calls, and those I did receive were either for automation or hybrid positions.

This is when I decided to focus on developing my skills in automation. Despite it being my only option, I worked hard and was determined to succeed. I spent days and nights studying and practicing, and eventually landed my first job in a hybrid automation position. Hard work pays off.

I had worked extremely hard to come to the place where I am. Practise was the key during the journey, which mean, that we just do not have just go through the videos or notes we need to practice using IDE, to achieve mastery.

My journey has taught me that if I can do it, anyone can. It just takes a bit of hard work and dedication.

Helpful resources to learn Automation:

Although there are n number of resources available, I would like to highlight few, which was helpful to me during my Automation Journey:

YouTube Channel

Java: Java by Ratan- Durga Soft

Automation Testing: Naveen Automation Labs

Udemy

Automation Testing: Rahul Shetty

Topics you must cover in Java for Selenium are as follows:

Object-Oriented Programming Concepts (OOPs)

Class

Object

Method

Modifiers

Access Modifiers

Constructor

Abstraction

Interface

Inheritance

Polymorphism

Method Overloading

Method Overriding

Encapsulation

Variables in Java

Data Types in Java

Operators in Java

Control Statements – Conditional, Iteration, and Jump Statements

Conditional Statements (If else, Nested If, Switch Case)

Iteration Statements – While Statement, Do While Statement, For Statement, and Enhanced For Statements

Jump Statements – Break Statement, Continue Statement

Arrays in Java

ArrayList in Java

Collection Framework in Java

Map in Java

LinkedList in Java

Exception Handling in Java