As new-age project development methodologies such as Agile and DevOps gradually replace the old waterfall model, the need for testing continues to grow in the industry. Testers are now working alongside developers and automated testing has greatly replaced manual testing in many ways.
If you are new to the world of automated testing, the organization that just hired you will expect you to be fast, out of the box, and able to detect bugs or provide solutions that no one thought of. But with just the basics of testing, how will you be a successful test automation engineer unlike your predecessors? What are the skills to be a successful automation tester in 2023? Let's find out.
1. Automated tester skills - programming language
When I started out as a manual tester, I didn't like coding. However, as I was gradually getting into the field of automation, it became clear to me that one cannot write logical automation test scripts without some basic understanding of programming languages.
Knowing a little about programming will not only simplify those automation scripts, but also help you improve communication with developers. Not only that, but you can also participate in in-depth functional testing once the unit testing is complete. Now, to get the #1 skill of an automation tester, there are two different aspects, how much programming knowledge is required depends on your role and where you are in the industry in a few years time. Aspects are:
design framework
You need a solid understanding and coding skills in Python, Java, Perl, SQL, XML as well as HTML and CSS. Although, which language you should be proficient in depends on the programming language used by the developers in the project. For example, if the project is on Ruby, you should have at least a basic knowledge of Ruby basics. Here are the top programming languages that are useful for testers.
Create test scripts
Whether or not you should have programming knowledge at this stage depends on the automation framework used. If your organization uses SpecFlow or Cucumber for test automation, scripts can be written in plain English and you don't need to think about backend logic or coding. Just having a good understanding of SeleniumWeb Driver is enough. However, if you are using UFT or QTP, you should have a solid understanding of programming. This is a Selenium WebDriver tutorial for cross browser testing.
2. Automation Tester Skills – Excellent Manual Testing Skills
To become a proficient automation tester, you also need to have a keen eye and experience in manual testing. Remember the following points!
the human eye is everything
During testing, as long as something looked, the human eye could easily detect it. Vision problems are difficult to detect using automated scripts. Viewing software from a live user's point of view helps testers identify UI and usability tests to find bugs, a feature that is difficult to program in automation scripts.
Some tests can only be done manually
Automation is a machine, and a machine can only do what it is meant to do. Complex tests require a lot of preparation and planning and have boundaries. The script will then follow the protocol and test the application accordingly, ad hoc testing helps testers answer questions like "what happens when I follow X instead of Y". It helps testers to think and test using an out-of-the-box approach which is difficult to program in automation scripts. Even visual cross-browser testing requires a manual approach. Instead of relying on automated scripts to check for issues, you can check for issues manually by testing on real browsers and devices, or even better, by using a cloud-based cross-browser testing tool such as LambdaTest Find visual differences. Seamlessly test your website across thousands of different browser-device-OS combinations
Automated tests may contain vulnerabilities
An automation script is like another piece of code. And, no matter how good your coders are, bugs will always exist. Doing it manually throughout the testing process rather than relying entirely on automation will ensure that there are no instances of false positives or false negatives as test results after script execution.
Certain scenarios are not suitable for automated testing
What if the testing phase asked you to check how your app's gesture or touch functionality works? You can't do this through automation. The process would be too expensive and the results might be somewhat inaccurate. Again a manual method is required. At that point, the testers have finished writing the automation scripts for such user-controlled scenarios, and the manual testers have done the overall testing as well as bug fixing.
you have an idea about the whole problem
Yes, automated testing does save a lot of time. It is ideal for automated testing if the same scenario is tested more extensively and repeated tests are performed. However, to understand the exact problem theoretically, manual testing skills are required. Automation testers who have experience in manual testing can easily understand the root of the problem by thinking from the perspective of the end user.
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3. Automation tester skills – automation tool expertise
In the current agile age, the industry demands speed and quality. Stakeholders and customers across the globe expect organizations to deliver high-quality, error-free applications in a fraction of the time. This is why automation testing is on the rise, and as a skilled automation tester, every organization expects you to have knowledge and experience in the following automation tools.
Selenium
Proudly supporting all major browsers, Selenium has become a household name in the world of automated testing. Almost all major browsers ensure that Selenium is a native part of them. With the introduction of WebDriver, Selenium ensures flawless execution of automated testing of browser-based web applications. Whether you are a novice or an experienced test automation engineer. You should have knowledge or work experience with Selenium. Plus, it's open source! If you've been working on any variant of Selenium, you'll find LambdaTest a very promising platform for executing automation scripts on the cloud. LambdaTest provides parallel test execution for Selenium automation testing on more than 2000 browsers via the online Selenium grid.
SoapUI
The perfect tool for testing web services and APIs. The tool supports both SOAP and REST services, and if your project requires automated testing of APIs, you should at least be aware of the open-source version of this headless tool for functional testing.
RFT
Rational Functional Tester is an automation tool developed internally by IBM. No matter what technology your application uses, RFT supports .Net, Java, SAP, Adobe Flex, Visual Basic and Dojo. If you are doing functional testing or regression testing, you will find it useful to learn this tool.
Appius
In the current mobile-first era, many organizations are developing complex mobile applications. Appium is the best open source software that enables automated testing of any hybrid or native mobile application. Also, it is compatible with all operating systems such as Android, iOS or Windows, and it is a must to know if mobile app testing is your domain.
Apache JMeter
Originally, the tool was designed to measure application performance and load testing. In the current release, this tool is also used for API performance and service testing. As the third most popular automation testing tool, your organization will expect any skilled automation tester to have knowledge and experience with it. Even if you have no experience, since the tool is open source, you can start learning on your own.
4. Automated tester skills – understand business needs
If you have a problem with your car or motorcycle and you take it to a service center, the mechanic will ask you about the current problem you are facing, any old car problems that were fixed during the last service, and your previous Have any parts been changed. Only then can the mechanic provide information on the exact cause of the problem and the solutions needed to fix it.
Likewise, a skilled automation tester must have a thorough understanding of the application from the front-end and service layers before the testing phase begins. They must know:
1. The programming language used by the development team.
2. The application shall be required by the platform or device on which the end user is running.
3. Database is used to store backend information along with user data.
4. APIs or web services to connect to the system and how to use them.
5. All the functions expected by end users or stakeholders after the application goes live.
6. At the beginning of the testing phase, is any manual testing performed?
7. The expected time spent by manual testers while testing the application.
8. Are there any critical bugs unresolved in the previous release and how they impacted the business.
9. Estimated delivery date required to complete the testing phase.
10. Browser differences
Apart from the fact that the number of major browsers is increasing due to the use of so many open source browsers, changing according to age group or geographical location, skilled automation testers should focus on browser compatibility testing of websites. A tester should have sufficient knowledge to create a browser compatibility matrix, as well as automated cross-browser testing using Selenium WebDriver or using a cloud-based platform such as LambdaTest to determine whether the website he is working on is running correctly on all targeted browsers device.
However, the points mentioned are very basic and their complexity depends on the nature of the application and how it was developed.
5. Automation Tester Skills – Troubleshooting Automation Tools
Popular test automation tools are so large and complex that it requires testers to have detailed technical knowledge about the tools themselves before projects can start using them. In my previous projects, I often encountered things like:
The script is showing some errors in the test results, but as per the business requirement, the application is working fine.
The script shows success, but the application throws some live errors.
These conditions, known in the industry as false positives and false negatives, often occur when testers do not have sufficient knowledge to configure test scripts. They just keep using the template and expect the tests to run successfully. If you want to be a successful automation tester, you should have a detailed knowledge of configuration tools and how to troubleshoot things like false positives and false negatives when they arise.
In particular, if you are the test lead, you must ensure that the architecture of the application is compatible with the tools used to run the automated tests. Attempts to use tools that are not compatible with the application will result in test case failures and unforeseen errors that may be difficult to troubleshoot.
6. Automation tester skills – experience with test management tools
The main goal of automated testing is to reduce the time complexity of the entire testing process. If you are an automation tester, you should have experience with test management tools as they are very flexible and allow users to log any bugs and sort them by priority based on how much they affect the project. Additionally, its scalability allows easy exchange of information between team members.
If you are an automation testing lead, working experience with a test management tool will help you keep track of how testing phases transition from one phase to another. You will be able to maintain a dashboard where you can document test cases according to their usage phase, ensuring reusability in future projects.
If you're a tester, you can report on your activity in the tool; if you're a test lead, you can report in real time what resources you're using and what they're doing. This helps to analyze what is happening in the current project and speeds up the overall activity as no time is wasted tracking resources.
Last but not least, you don't need to worry about security. Having a test management tool in place will ensure that all important information related to the testing phase is protected and only accessible by your team and management.
7. Automation tester skills – understand different development methods
Remember, your organization doesn't just want you to have testing knowledge. You should also understand how the different development methodologies work. If your project follows DevOps or Agile, don't expect the team lead to tell you what to do. Deliver your work in a timely manner and be prepared to attend daily Scrum meetings to prevent any awkward situations when stakeholders or managers ask some key questions about your current stage of work. Understanding development methodologies can also help you advance your career at an organizational level.
in conclusion
These automation tester skills will help you get very high value in today's market. Especially if you have a proper knowledge of all the latest automation tools as well as CI/CD tools like Jenkins or GitLab, you will be a valuable resource not only in the organization but also in the industry. The automation tester skills discussed above will help you progress from beginner to supervisor or architect level resources. So work hard, show dedication and passion for your cause, and soon, you will stand out on the skills of other automation testers in the industry. I hope the above content is helpful to you. Friends who have been helped are welcome to like and comment.
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