To learn the skills you need for Automated Testing, check our roadmap and resources for automated testing training courses for beginners and the more advanced.
Test automation plays an important part in today’s software environment, and QA-focused engineers with a strong understanding of the topic have higher earning potential and more exciting career paths than those without the skills. Whether one is just beginning a technical career or simply looking to level up and make the transition to test automation, there is a need for a clear road map with resources to help navigate the complex software delivery landscape of today.
This article on automated testing training course for beginners will provide the novice with a clear path forward to learning the fundamentals of test automation and can equip the reader with resources and tools to develop their test automation skills and potential.
Learning a Programming Language
In the test automation sphere, Java remains supreme due to its vast ecosystem, ubiquity, and the QA tech stack that has been built upon it. We focus on Java because of its industry-wide demand.
There are countless Java tutorials online, but the Java Programming Masterclass for Software Developers by Tim Buchalka at Udemy is an excellent overview of the entire language and an ideal place to start. For those who prefer to learn from books, Head First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates can also provide a fantastic introduction, and the book’s unique teaching style is both useful and entertaining.
Once a learner has developed a solid grasp of the fundamentals, the aspiring automation engineer can further develop their skills through hands-on practice. There are many platforms devoted to challenging programmers to solve engaging and diverse problems. All of the tools listed below are competent, so the learner is advised to try each, then continue with one that they like the best.
Diving into Specific Testing Tools
There are countless testing tools on the market today, but the majority of businesses are using Selenium UI tests driven by TestNG and executed on Jenkins. That tech stack is the focus of this section.
Selenium WebDriver
To get started with Selenium, SauceLabs provides a concise and effective introductory tutorial that can guide the learner in quickly bootstrapping a Selenium project.
For those who regard themselves as visual learners and prefer video courses, there are several high-quality courses available on various platforms. YouTube.com – Edureka has dozens of hours of high-quality Selenium tutorials, for free, and PluralSight also offers several great courses on Selenium that approach test design from different angles.
- Pluralsight.com – Automated Web Testing with Selenium and WebDriver Using Java
- Pluralsight.com – Automated Tests in Java with Fluent Interface Using WebDriver Selenium
Udemy offers a course that guides the learner from scratch in developing a complete test automation framework with Selenium, similar to those that might be used in a real software development team.
When the learner is ready to move on to advanced Selenium topics, Dima Kovalenko’s Selenium Design Patterns and Best Practices can change the test automation engineer’s perspective on test design with Selenium. (With all links to books sold through Amazon in this post, other stockists are available.)
REST API Testing
Agile teams increasingly lean on API testing for functional testing of modern web apps. Familiarity with API testing tools is essential for the beginner who is looking to develop a well-rounded skillset.
Postman is an excellent HTTP client with built-in scripting and testing capabilities and is designed to be a complete API testing environment. The beginner is encouraged to download the client and experiment by developing some tests for any public API available from widely known services such as LinkedIn or Facebook, for example.
The learner can expand their Postman and API testing knowledge with these tutorials and explore Postman’s testing features.
When the student engineer is ready to experiment with Java-driven API testing development, the Retrofit library from Square is an easy-to-use Java HTTP client that’s perfect for testing REST APIs.
TestNG
TestNG is a modern test framework that handles actual test execution and results reporting and is widely used across the QA world. The TestNG documentation is quite good.
Jenkins
Jenkins is the most popular CI/CD tool in use today with numerous teams using Jenkins to run their Selenium and API tests when a new build of the application under test is deployed. Familiarity with CI/CD and Jenkins is a must for any test automation engineer and is an excellent skill to invest in for beginners.
DZone’s tutorial provides a high-level overview and is a great place to begin understanding how Jenkins fits into the software development process.
The YouTube channel Edureka also provides a fantastic beginner tutorial for setting up a Jenkins Pipeline when the learner is ready to take their Jenkins knowledge to the next step.
Mastering the Craft
By working through the resources above, the new automation engineer will have achieved a strong foundation for modern test automation and can begin the journey towards mastery. Each of these books is mind-blowing, and if the concepts within are applied, the automation engineer will undoubtedly produce higher-quality test code.
- Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams
- The Tao of Testing e-book
- Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
- Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code
Finally, Pluralsight’s course on test automation discusses important concepts such as planning coverage at the appropriate level and integrating the tests in a CI/CD environment.
Conclusion
Test automation is a diverse and challenging field, and all the resources here are a fantastic starting point. The reader is encouraged to work through this list, continually experimenting with what they learn each step of the way. In doing so, the reader will find they have developed a comprehensive skillset and will be well-equipped to make the transition into effective test automation.
