Andrew Knight Archives - Automated Visual Testing | Applitools

Test Automation Video Winter Roundup: September – December 2022

Applitools Team — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 18:35:00 +0000

Check out the latest test automation videos from Applitools.

We hope you got to take time to rest, unplug, and spend time with your loved ones to finish out 2022 with gratitude. I have been incredibly appreciative of the learning opportunities and personal growth that 2022 offered. In reflection of our past quarter here at Applitools, we’ve curated our latest videos from some amazing speakers. If you missed any videos while away on holiday or finishing off tasks for the year, we’ve gathered the highlights for you in one spot.

ICYMI: Back in November, Andrew Knight (a.k.a. the Automation Panda) shared the top ten Test Automation University courses.

Cypress vs. Playwright: The Rematch

One of our most popular series is Let the Code Speak, where we compare testing frameworks in real examples. In our rematch of Let the Code Speak: Cypress vs. Playwright, Andrew Knight and Filip Hric dive deeper to how Cypress and Playwright work in practical projects. Quality Engineer Beth Marshall moderates this battle of testing frameworks while Andy and Filip explore comparisons of their respective testing frameworks in the areas of developer experience, finding selectors, reporting, and more.

Automating Testing in a Component Library

Visual testing components allows teams to find bugs earlier, across a variety of browsers and viewports, by testing reused components in isolation. Software Engineering Manager David Lindley and Senior Software Engineer Ben Hudson joined us last year to detail how Vodafone introduced Applitools into its workflow to automate visual component testing. They also share the challenges and improvements they saw when automating their component testing.

When to Shift Left, Move to Centre, and Go Right in Testing

Quality isn’t limited to the end of the development process, so testing should be kept in mind long before your app is built. Quality Advocate Millan Kaul offers actionable strategies and answers to questions about how to approach testing during different development phases and when you should or shouldn’t automate. Millan also shares real examples of how to do performance and security testing.

You, Me, and Accessibility: Empathy and Human-Centered Design Thinking

Inclusive design makes it easier for your customers with your varying needs and devices are able to use your product. Accessibility Advocate and Crema Test Engineer Erin Hess talks about the principles of accessible design, how empathy empowers teams and end users, and how to make accessibility more approachable to teams that are newer to it. This webinar is helpful all team members, whether you’re a designer, developer, tester, product owner, or customer advocate.

Erin also shared a recap along with the audience poll results in a follow-up blog post.

Future of Testing October 2022

Our October Future of Testing event was full of experts from SenseIT, Studylog, Meta, This Dot, EVERSANA, EVERFI, LAB Group, and our own speakers from Applitools. We covered test automation topics across ROI measurement, accessibility, testing at scale, and more. Andrew Knight, Director of Test Automation University, concludes the event with eight testing convictions inspired by Ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints. Check out the full Future of Testing October 2022 event library for all of the sessions.

Skills and Strategies for New Test Managers

Being a good Test Manager is about more than just choosing the right tools for your team. EasyJet Test Manager Laveena Ramchandani shares what she has learned in her experience on how to succeed in QA leadership. Some of Laveena’s strategies include how to create a culture that values feedback and communication. This webinar is great for anyone looking to become a Test Manager or for anyone who has newly started the role.

Ensuring a Reliable Digital Experience This Black Friday

With so much data and so many combinations of state, digital shopping experiences can be challenging to test. Senior Director of Product Marketing Dan Giordano talks about how to test your eCommerce application to prioritize coverage on the most important parts of your application. He also shares some common shopper personas to help you start putting together your own user scenarios. The live demo shows how AI-powered automated visual testing can help retail businesses in the areas of visual regression testing, accessibility testing, and multi-baseline testing for A/B experiments.

Dan gave a recap and went a little deeper into eCommerce testing in a follow-up blog post.

Cypress, Playwright, Selenium, or WebdriverIO? Let the Engineers Speak!

Our popular Let the Code Speak webinar series focused primarily on differences in syntax and features, but it doesn’t really cover how these frameworks hold up in the long term. In our new Let the Engineers Speak webinar, we spoke with a panel of engineers from Mercari US, YOOBIC, Hilton, Q2, and Domino’s about how they use Cypress, Playwright, Selenium, and WebdriverIO in their day-to-day operations. Andrew Knight moderated as our panelists discussed what challenges they faced and if they ever switched from one framework to another. The webinar gives a great view into the factors that go into deciding what tool is right for the project.

Read the Let the Engineers Speak recap blog series

More on the way in 2023!

We’ve got even more great test automation content coming this year. Be sure to visit our upcoming events page to see what we have lined up.

Check out our on-demand video library for all of our past videos. If you have any favorite videos from this list or from 2022, you can let us know @Applitools. Happy testing!

The post Test Automation Video Winter Roundup: September – December 2022 appeared first on Automated Visual Testing | Applitools.

The Top 10 Test Automation University Courses

Andrew Knight — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:34:00 +0000

Test Automation University (also called “TAU”) is one of the best online platforms for learning testing and automation skills. TAU offers dozens of courses from the world’s leading instructors, and everything is available for free. The platform is proudly powered by Applitools. As of November 2022, nearly 140,000 students have signed up! TAU has become an invaluable part of the testing community at large. Personally, I know many software teams who use TAU courses as part of their internal onboarding and mentorship programs.

So, which TAU courses are currently the most popular? In this list, we’ll count down the top 10 most popular courses, ranked by the total number of course completions over the past year. Let’s go!

#10: Selenium WebDriver with Java

Starting off the list at #10 is Selenium WebDriver with Java by none other than Angie Jones. Even with the rise of alternatives like Cypress and Playwright, Selenium WebDriver continues to be one of the most popular tools for browser automation, and Java continues to be one of its most popular programming languages. Selenium WebDriver with Java could almost be considered the “default” choice for Web UI test automation.

In this course, Angie digs deep into the WebDriver API, teaching everything from the basics to advanced techniques. It’s a great course for building a firm foundation in automation with Selenium WebDriver.

#9: Python Programming

#9 on our list is one of our programming courses: Python Programming by Jess Ingrassellino. Python is hot right now. On whatever ranking, index, or article you find these days for the “most popular programming languages,” Python is right at the top of the list – often vying for the top spot with JavaScript. Python is also quite a popular language for test automation, with excellent frameworks like pytest, libraries like requests, and bindings for browser automation tools like Selenium WebDriver and Playwright.

In this course, Dr. Jess teaches programming in Python. This isn’t a test automation course – it’s a coding course that anyone could take. She covers both structured programming and object-oriented principles from the ground up. After two hours, you’ll be ready to start coding your own projects!

#8: API Test Automation with Postman

The #8 spot belongs to API Test Automation with Postman by Beth Marshall. In recent years, Postman has become the go-to tool for building and testing APIs. You could almost think of it as an IDE for APIs. Many test teams use Postman to automate their API test suites.

Beth walks through everything you need to know about automating API tests with Postman in this course. She covers basic features, mocks, monitors, workspaces, and more. Definitely take this course if you want to take your API testing skills to the next level!

#7: Introduction to Cypress

Lucky #7 is Introduction to Cypress by Gil Tayar. Cypress is one of the most popular web testing frameworks these days, even rivaling Selenium WebDriver. With its concise syntax, rich debugging features, and JavaScript-native approach, it’s become the darling end-to-end test framework for frontend developers.

It’s no surprise that Gil’s Cypress course would be in the top ten. In this course, Gil teaches how to set up and run tests in Cypress from scratch. He covers both the Cypress app and the CLI, and he even covers how to do visual testing with Cypress.

#6: Exploring Service APIs through Test Automation

The sixth most popular TAU course is Exploring Service APIs through Test Automation by Amber Race. API testing is just as important as UI testing, and this course is a great way to start learning what it’s all about. In fact, this is a great course to take before API Test Automation with Postman.

This course was actually the second course we launched on TAU. It’s almost as old as TAU itself! In it, Amber shows how to explore APIs first and then test them using the POISED strategy.

#5: IntelliJ for Test Automation Engineers

Coming in at #5 is IntelliJ for Test Automation Engineers by Corina Pip. Java is one of the most popular languages for test automation, and IntelliJ is arguably the best and most popular Java IDE on the market today. Whether you build frontend apps, backend services, or test automation, you need proper development tools to get the job done.

Corina is a Java pro. In this course, she teaches how to maximize the value you get out of IntelliJ – and specifically for test automation. She walks through all those complicated menus and options you may have ignored otherwise to help you become a highly efficient engineer.

#4: Java Programming

Our list is winding down! At #4, we have Java Programming by Angie Jones. For the third time, a Java-based course appears on this list. That’s no surprise, as we’ve said before that Java remains a dominant programming language for test automation.

Like the Python Programming course at spot #9, Angie’s course is a programming course: it teaches the fundamentals of the Java language. Angie covers everything from “Hello World” to exceptions, polymorphism, and the Collections Framework. Clocking in at just under six hours, this is also one of the most comprehensive courses in the TAU catalog. Angie is also an official Java Champion, so you know this course is top-notch.

#3: Introduction to JavaScript

It’s time for the top three! The bronze medal goes to Introduction to JavaScript by Mark Thompson. JavaScript is the language of the Web, so it should be no surprise that it is also a top language for test automation. Popular test frameworks like Cypress, Playwright, and Jest all use JavaScript.

This is the third programming course TAU offers, and also the top one in this ranking! In this course, Mark provides a very accessible onramp to start programming in JavaScript. He covers the rock-solid basics: variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and classes. These concepts apply to all other programming languages, too, so it’s a great course for anyone who is new to coding.

#2: Web Element Locator Strategies

I’m partial to the course in second place – Web Element Locator Strategies by me, Andrew Knight! This was the first course I developed for TAU, long before I ever joined Applitools.

In whatever test framework or language you use for UI-based test automation, you need to use locators to find elements on the page. Locators can use IDs, CSS selectors, or XPaths to uniquely identify elements. This course teaches all the tips and tricks to write locators for any page, including the tricky stuff!

#1: Setting a Foundation for Successful Test Automation

It should come as no surprise that the #1 course on TAU in terms of course completions is Setting a Foundation for Successful Test Automation by Angie Jones. This course was the very first course published to TAU, and it is the first course in almost all the Learning Paths.

Before starting any test automation project, you must set clear goals with a robust strategy that meets your business objectives. Testing strategies must be comprehensive – they include culture, tooling, scaling, and longevity. While test tools and frameworks will come and go, common-sense planning will always be needed. Angie’s course is a timeless classic for teams striving for success with test automation.

What can we learn from these trends?

A few things are apparent from this list of the most popular TAU courses:

Test automation is clearly software development. All three of TAU’s programming language courses – Java, JavaScript, and Python – are in the top ten for course completions. A course on using IntelliJ, a Java IDE, also made the top ten. They prove how vital good development skills are needed for successful test automation.
API testing is just as important as UI testing. Two of the courses in the top ten focused on API testing.
Principles are more important than tools or frameworks. Courses on strategy, technique, and programming rank higher than courses on specific tools and frameworks.

What other courses are popular?

Here’s a concise list of the top 25 courses ranked by course completion:

However, keep in mind that all TAU courses are great. They are taught by the world’s leading instructors. Many cover niche topics or special frameworks. Be sure to peruse the catalog to see them all!

The post The Top 10 Test Automation University Courses appeared first on Automated Visual Testing | Applitools.