NEWS
Does backend need QA Engineer?
I enjoyed following David Gonçalves's thinking process captured in this article. And I liked the answer as it suggests a transition into something alike Modern Tester role — which I think is the future in software testing.
medium.com
The Indispensable QA Engineer
Great piece of advice from Oluwatomi Familoni on how to increase and show your value as a QA. Agreed — what else I can say!
medium.com
Listen beyond the pass and fail – a story of looking at the bigger picture
As testers, we must step back frequently and take a broader view of the software testing process. This is what Lena Pejgan Wiberg reminds us about, sharing useful pieces of advice based on her experience making it an even more powerful message.
pejgan.se
Make Issue Types Great Again
In this monumental, 36-minute read, Konstantin Sokolov goes through pretty much everything related to issue types, trying to find the reasoning behind them. And if that looks like a bit too long piece to you, then take a look at the end of the article where you'll find a neat summary and rules that he came up with.
medium.com
5 Reasons Why Product Managers Need to Know QA
It's always nice to see a product manager's point of view on the importance of quality assurance. I worked for several startups where the PM–QA cooperation was extremely beneficial for projects' success, so now I keep this kind of message in high regard. Thanks, Leah Barrett!
medium.com
AUTOMATION
Basics of testing in Go
Interested in Go language? Abhishek Gupta just shared a useful article on how to start with testing in Go using the officially supported testing package. Looks simple!
dev.to
UI Test Automation Is an Awful, Wonderful Thing
Do you sometimes feel like automated tests become more harmful than helpful? Kevin Lamping shares his point of view on both the good and the bad sides of test automation in this sobering article. It's one of those that makes you stop and think.
kevinlamping.com
React Testing Crash Course
In this excellent step-by-step guide, Gábor Soós shows how to simply test React applications from A to Z. Since now, this will be my go-to resource for React testing!
dev.to
UI Testing iOS application with EarlGrey
I used EarlGrey in a couple of projects, and while it's not perfect, it's still one of the best options to test native iOS apps. In this article, Maksym Shcheglov shares his tips for test automation using this open-source tool.
onswiftwings.com
TOOLS
BackstopJS — an open-source visual testing tool
BackstopJS is an open-source testing tool that helps in visual test automation by comparing DOM screenshots. Even though it only runs on Chrome using Puppeteer, it should be enough for most use cases.
If you want more insights on how to get started with the tool, Gregory Paciga wrote a helpful guide on it. Here's the part 1 and the just-published part 2.
github.com
Predator — distributed open-source performance testing platform for APIs
Predator is an open-source performance testing tool (I've included a few in this newsletter already!), created by a PayU team. It's free and unlimited mainly because you can run it on your own Kubernetes cluster. And it comes with a handy UI to manage your tests.
The reason I mention it today is because NaveenKumar Namachivayam has just created this handy guide that can help you get started.
predator.dev
VIDEOS
Making Mutants Work for You
Henry Coles gave a great speech on mutation testing using PiTest, originally presented at GOTO Copenhagen 2019 conference.
During my career, I've heard about mutation testing here and there but I've never really had a chance to actually use it. After watching this, though, I might give it a go!
youtube.com
ISTQB organisation has recently announced that they now allow online exams. It's still up to their member boards and exam providers to prepare the exams and hold them online — so not all of them might be ready for that just yet — but it's worth checking with your local provider. As per their announcement, this is a pilot run that started on 27th April and will last until October, when it will be reviewed.
Now that most of us are stuck at home, it seems like a perfect moment to learn more. So if you were thinking of doing any of the ISTQB certificates, you may still have an opportunity to do so.
Is it worth doing though? The opinions differ — I recommend you to check out this and this post on Reddit and make up your own mind.
Have a great weekend!
Dawid Dylowicz