Many beginner software testers, at some point in their careers, decide to go beyond manual testing and start learning test automation. That’s when the question arises – where to begin?
Start with the basics
The answer to the above question is: start with a solid foundation in programming. I could technically end the article here, but I’d like to explain this thoroughly. 🙂
Test automation requires at least a basic understanding of one programming language. Don’t take shortcuts. Regardless of the language you choose (Java, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, etc.), make sure to build a strong foundation in coding. It’s essential to understand the core concepts of the language, best practices, and design patterns—all of which will pay off when writing automated tests.
Someone might ask, ‘Why should I spend time on intensive programming studies if I won’t even use that knowledge when writing simple automated tests? Isn’t it enough to just know how to declare variables and methods? The rest is unnecessary!’
Well, unfortunately, that’s not entirely true. Writing tests can indeed be quite repetitive, but even then, you need to understand the fundamental concepts of a given programming language to handle designing more complex logic, debugging and troubleshooting issues, and simply understanding the code.
In summary – before you start automating tests, invest in acquiring programming skills.
Next – time for automation
Once you have learned the basics of coding, you can focus on mastering a test automation tool. The range of frameworks is quite broad, with Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright being the most relevant today. Recently, we have written several articles that can help you decide which one to choose:
How to learn test automation? Video tutorials (YouTube, Udemy, etc.) are the most effective way to start. After that, nothing beats practice – writing tests for a selected application on your own, combined with reading the documentation of the chosen tool.
Understanding good testing practices
It’s not hard to write ‘some’ tests – the real skill is writing tests that are stable, scalable, and efficient. A tester must know and follow best practices for writing tests, such as:
- The DRY principle (Don’t Repeat Yourself) is one of the fundamental principles in programming, including in automated testing. It involves avoiding code repetition.
- Test isolation – tests should be atomic, meaning each test should verify a single aspect of functionality, making it easier to identify the cause of the issue in case the test fails.
- Avoiding dependencies between tests – tests should be independent of each other so they can be run in any order.
- Naming and readability – test names and test method names should clearly describe what the test checks.
The topic of best practices when writing automated tests is covered in more detail in this article.
What’s next?
As much practice as possible 🙂 Consistently write tests and work on your technical skills. Remember, the IT industry requires continuous learning, so keep an eye on trends and stay open to exploring new tools.
