A code smell is code that isn't technically wrong, meaning, it works; however, the implementation of said code is problematic in that it's difficult to manage and thus can lead to delayed development time and even the introduction of bugs. There are many writings about code...
A code smell is code that isn'...
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I've published a free course on Test Automation University that walks you through how to define a successful test automation strategy and the many considerations you need to make to do so. This course is great for those who are starting a new test automation...
I've published a free course ...
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For many, Machine Learning and AI are nothing more than buzz words. However, machine learning is a realized form of AI that is currently being utilized by top tech companies in products that we use every day. For this reason, it’s important that we understand...
For many, Machine Learning and...
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I've been exploring some of the newer testing tools lately and this week I had a look at TestProject. This tool promotes itself as a free community-driven test automation application, which really piqued my interest. It works as a graphical interface to industry-standard test automation...
I've been exploring some of th...
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With JavaMail API, I've been able to not only verify that an email was received, but also verify its contents, open links within the email, extract data sent (temp passwords, verification codes, etc). Someone recently asked me about email verification within automation, so I decided...
With JavaMail API, I've been a...
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Does your application and test automation code reside in separate repositories? If so you're missing out. Angie Jones explains the benefits....
Does your application and test...
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I’ve seen (and written) several automation projects where each page class requires a constructor that takes a WebDriver object so that the page classes can access the current browser instance. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this, but I do find it a bit annoying to...
I’ve seen (and written) severa...
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The concept of shifting left suggests that testing be done earlier in the software development process. The notion of this is admirable and, when done properly, can enable teams to be very successful with their quality initiatives. However, the implementation of this practice is often...
The concept of shifting left s...
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When learning an object-oriented programming (OOP) language, we learn about key concepts in theory, but it's not always clear on how to apply those concepts to practical software development. And many automation engineers learn programming by taking the hands-on approach and jumping head first into scripting...
When learning an object-orient...
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Test Automation Engineers are in high demand, but that doesn’t mean companies are willing to lower the bar in hiring for these roles. With test automation projects failing left and right, flaky tests crippling continuous integration pipelines, and automated tests causing maintenance nightmares, managers feel...
Test Automation Engineers are ...
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When done properly, Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) can drastically improve the communication and understanding of requirements. An additional benefit is being able to utilize the domain-specific language of the requirements to drive test automation. However, like any other automation initiative, when done poorly, this too can...
When done properly, Behavior-D...
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Mike Horn, a writer for Smartsheet, reached out to me and several other test automation practitioners for a piece he was writing on the basics of test automation. Mike, not being an automation engineer himself, didn't know what he was getting into when he opened...
Mike Horn, a writer for Smarts...
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It's no secret that I've led several successful automation projects, however, to get to this point I had to learn quite a few painful lessons the hard way. As the saying goes, experience is the greatest teacher. Well hopefully, you can utilize my experiences to...
It's no secret that I've led s...
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I had the honor of contributing a chapter to Eran Kinsbruner's new book, The Digital Quality Handbook: Guide for Achieving Continuous Quality in a DevOps Reality. My chapter is titled "Actualizing Quality While Practicing Agile" and focuses on how to effectively perform mobile testing in...
I had the honor of contributin...
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Once upon a time I needed to automate tests for machine learning...
Once upon a time I needed to a...
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#SeConfAustin - The Build that Cried Broken ...
#SeConfAustin - The Build that...
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As someone who regularly interviews candidates for test automation roles, there are common mistakes I see companies making that drive their automation engineers away. On TechBeacon, I've written about the top five actions that may cause your automation engineers to bail. Review your practices and see if...
As someone who regularly inter...
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Mike Cohn's Test Automation Pyramid is a guide that is frequently cited as a good practice to follow. It suggests that: the bulk of your automated tests should be unit tests the next largest group of tests should be developed to target the service layer...
Mike Cohn's Test Automation Py...
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If you search online for articles on Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), you're likely to find more literature on how everyone is doing it wrong versus what it really is and practical success stories in using it. I've read article after article explaining how teams are claiming...
If you search online for artic...
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As quality initiatives shift left in an agile world, software testing teams realize that they must rely on the fast feedback of automated scenarios for continuous integration and deployment. But even when people understand test automation basics, most automation initiatives fail. There are many reasons why test automation initiatives fall short,...
As quality initiatives shift l...
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One reason why human testers are far better at finding bugs than automated scenarios is because testers aren't just validating the expected results. They are also able to recognize unexpected surprises and anomalies within the application. For example, take a look at this application and assume...
One reason why human testers a...
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TestBash Philly 2016 ...
TestBash Philly 2016 ....
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Selenium Conf 2016, London, UK ...
Selenium Conf 2016, London...
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Angie speaks all over the world about emerging technologies and software development. Here are upcoming events where Angie will be speaking or teaching technical workshops....
Angie speaks all over the worl...
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When interviewing candidates for UI automation openings, I like to give them typical automation 'problems' to solve. Most of the problems provide them with a picture of a UI and the corresponding HTML, and ask how they would automate something given a tricky DOM. I'm...
When interviewing candidates f...
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TL;DR: taught a workshop and it went great. planned as a Selenium workshop but morphed into a broader automation workshop. presents practical use of automation over simplistic unrealistic intro; raving reviews from attendees. As continuous integration is becoming more of a reality at the company that...
TL;DR: taught a workshop and i...
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Behavior Driven Development (BDD) has become a popular approach in communicating requirements between stakeholders of agile teams. In fact, it's so effective that it's also being adopted in automation strategies by using Cucumber to write test scenarios in Gherkin (a non-technical, human readable language) and...
Behavior Driven Development (B...
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Developers should not lead your automation efforts. I've never seen this succeed. In fact, many times I have been brought on to teams to clean up the mess that is left behind when developers try to lead this effort. The reason is simple. Developers are not...
Developers should not lead you...
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There's quite a demand for automation engineers. Unfortunately, as the demand grows, so has the difficulty in finding testers with automation skills. As of late, I'm seeing more of a push from companies to transition their existing testers into more of an automation role, and I'm...
There's quite a demand for aut...
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Test cases are important. They provide step by step instructions on how to validate a feature. They are essential for cross-training and necessary for auditing. They also take quite a bit of time to write, do not seem to be testers' favorite activity, and instantly become outdated...
Test cases are important. They...
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I've been in Automation for more than 10 years. I consider myself a hardcore automation engineer, and have always thought that to truly get automation done you need programmers...
I've been in Automation for mo...
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Marlena Compton wrote a very interesting blog post on the power structure in tech and how she believes women and minorities are pushed into software testing roles. Marlena advises...
Marlena Compton wrote a very i...
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