Six Steps to Master End-to-End Test Automation, Part 3: Learn Proactively
“Be Proactive” is the first and most fundamental habit in Stephen R. Covey’s classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Six Steps to Master Test Automation Series:
Part 1: Witness the real
Part 2: Get Motivated *
Part 3: Learn Proactively
Part 4: Practise persistently *
Part 5: Apply E2E test automation at work, gradually (upcoming)
Part 6: Learn by Teaching (upcoming)
Part 7: FAQ (upcoming)
In my view, acquiring skills in end-to-end test automation is comparable to learning a foreign language. While many acknowledge the value of mastering a widely spoken second language, few commit the effort required. Why?
Because it falls into the ‘important but not urgent’ category, as described in the classic book First Things First.
I’ve met many software engineers and testers who show interest in automation but quickly give up, mainly because it isn’t part of their day-to-day work. That’s why the first two steps—“Witness the real” and “Be motivated”—are essential.
Now, suppose a software professional is genuinely motivated and committed to mastering E2E test automation. How should he/she begin?
There are a few common ways people acquire non-trivial skills:
Formal education.
No. Courses on E2E test automation are rarely offered at universities.
Learning from colleagues (at work)
Very unlikely. Real test automation engineers are extremely rare, even at tech giants.
“95% of the time, 95% of test engineers will write bad GUI automation just because it’s a very difficult thing to do correctly”.
- this interview from Microsoft Test Guru Alan Page (2015), author of “How we test software at Microsoft”Training
A good way to start, but the majority of test automation training programs are poorly designed. Check out “Why Are Most E2E Test Automation Training Not Effective?” series.
Check out my article, “Software Side Hustler Tip: My “Hit Two Birds With One Stone” Secret — Excel both day job and side projects. Part 4: Advice”Getting a Mentor
Some software professionals write a couple of automated tests and think they’ve mastered the field. Of course, that’s wrong. If so, the company would already have E2E test automation in place, right?
“Testing is harder than developing. If you want to have good testing you need to put your best people in testing.”
- Gerald Weinberg, software legend, in a podcast (2018)
Real E2E test automation demands both broad and deep knowledge. When you get stuck—which is common early on—having a mentor to turn to can make all the difference.Self-Learning
Training and mentoring, unless provided by the work company, require a financial investment. Few software professionals are willing to spend their own money/time on professional growth—but those who do are often excelling, which is not surprising.
Here, I will focus on ‘Self-Learning,’ which clearly demands a proactive mindset and consistent effort.
Find Learning Resource
Once I set my goal—to become skilled in calligraphy—and strengthened my motivation, finding learning resources became easy. Nowadays, I simply search for ‘books by Tian Yinzhang (田蕴章),’ the creator of the impressive artwork I found.
When I was young, my father tried a few times to get me into calligraphy by buying books and materials. All of those attempts failed because I wasn’t interested and used ‘studying’ as an excuse.
“Self-learning an ‘important but not urgent’ skill—such as test automation or a foreign language—is difficult without a mentor or teacher, because it’s simply too easy to give up.” — Zhimin Zhan
This time was different—it was my own decision. The proactive mindset made all the difference.
Learning Resource for Test Automation
Since most of my readers are software testers, I’ll focus on sharing resources in that area.
Over two decades ago, test automation was considered a luxury because tools like HP QTP and IBM RFT were extremely expensive—often costing over $10,000 per license. Today, that’s no longer the case—best frameworks like Selenium WebDriver and Appium are completely free and open-source.
There is really no or little cost (in terms of money) to get started or use at work.
Below are some resources if you want to try my approach.
My eBooks on Leanpub.
I have authored 14 ebooks (my daughter had two), my ebook costs only $10 — $20.My Articles on Medium
$5/month (cancel any time) you instants grant you access to all my articles.My Newsletter on Substack
Substack has become my main blogging plarform, as it offers more features.Test Automation Framework: raw Selenium WebDriver with RSpec
100% free, open-source and widely used.TestWise IDE
Next-Gen functional testing IDE (see the acknowledgement by experts here). You can use fully-featured TestWise in free mode. Simply relaunch (took about 2 seconds) after 15 execution limits.BuildWise Server
international award winning, free and open-source CT server.BuildWise Agent
Free mode: free 40-minute up time (a bit like Zoom). After that, simply relaunch, which takes about 2 seconds.
In other words, there are no excuses not to act! Of course, there are other approaches, using a tester’s mindset to try and verify. Check out my article, “Test Automation and Continuous Testing Competition Week”.
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