Issue 114: How Microsoft Taught Me to Test Things and Try Things to Learn Better
š 5 MIN READ | Published on: December 13, 2023This is the Software Testing Notes, a newsletter that goes out every Wednesday. I republish it here for sharing and referencing, but if you'd like to sign up you can do so right here:
Hello there! š
Welcome to the 114th edition ofĀ Software Testing Notes, a weekly newsletter featuring must-read content on Software Testing. I hope this week has been good for you so far.
Since, I started working on TestDevJobs, one thing people have asked me the most is, Is job posting automated? The answer is yes, somewhat. I have started working on some selenium automation that will scrap the relevant jobs and create a csv file. Itās still in very early stage and requires lots of manual interaction for now.
But what I wanted to talk to you about is that many people were surprised (newbies in testing specially) when I said āIām using selenium to automate the job postingā. In their mind, selenium is a test automation framework and I donāt blame them as thatās the story most of us were fed when we started learn test automation. But this puts a shadow over what it can actually do and we loose the sight of true capabilities of selenium.
You can also automate repetitive tasks, scrape the web, create custom web automation workflows and 100s of other things.
Test automation is just one of the thing Selenium can do. Itās a browser automation framework, not exclusive to test automation.
So, what I was saying earlier? Ohhhh, Yes.
Are you looking for a Job in testing? We have more than 60+ jobs curated for you this week, all around the world. Browse all Opportunities ā It's Free!
š„ Explore new Jobs Now š„
š Testing
How Microsoft Taught Me to Test Things and Try Things to Learn Better by J.D. Meier
Nobody can learn for you and testing and trying things is crucial for deepening knowledge.
This is a really great piece about trying things in order to learn effectively and showcasing itās importance in testing. J.D. Meier share his experience at Microsoft about how creating small experiments helped them gain insight and learn faster.
Starvation Testing An Ai by Wayne Roseberry
How do you test LLMs? Wayne Roseberry shares one approach called āStarvation Testingā. Itās basically starving the AI of data to test its ability to generate accurate responses. The article goes into the detail about this with an example to generate accurate responses based on a given JSON format.
Furthermore, also read about Ai Test Idea Generation Example
ā Read all curated stuff on Software Testing.
āļø Automation
How to Bypass reCaptcha in Selenium Automatically with Code Example by Alex Gerasimchuk
Ever had to test something thatās behind reCaptcha? Learn how to automate reCaptcha recognition using Selenium and the 2Captcha API. Alex Gerasimchuk provides step by step guide with Python and selenium to navigate to the target page and solve the captcha through the 2Captcha API.
Model-Based Testing in Python by Maaret PyhƤjƤrvi
Model-based testing is an approach to software testing that involves creating a model of the system under test and then using that model to design and execute test cases.
How would you start implementing model-based testing? Maaret PyhƤjƤrvi shares how they have used model-based testing to automate tests for a system with multiple interfaces.
Running Playwright Tests on GitLab CI: A Step-by-Step Guide by Pradap Pandiyan
In the modern world of where CI/CD is norm, we as a testers should also start learning how testing integration fits in the CI/CD paradigm. Pradap Pandiyan shares step-by-step instructions for configuring the CI pipeline, writing test scripts, and defining jobs and stages in the .gitlab-ci.yml file.
Additionally, Raghava Nelabhotla has also written about Triggering Chef InSpec tests with Airflow DAG.
Making E2E Tests Harder, Better, Faster, and Stronger by Ben Hammond
Ben Hammond shares how using Playwright for E2E testing improved overall quality of the system by making tests less fragile, improving developer experience, reducing test execution time, and making tests more comprehensive.
Dashboard for Maestro JUnit XML Report by Aliaa Monier Ismaail
We have talked about Maestro in couple of our past issues. This time letās learn how to generate and improve JUnit XML reports generated by the Maestro. Aliaa Monier Ismaail provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a basic HTML dashboard with D3.js and Google Charts to display data from the JUnit XML report.
How to handle: 5 Issues that Every QA Automation Engineer faces by Bharat Varshney
A neat article by Bharat Varshney discussing and sharing possible solutions to some of automation challenges such as frequently changing UI, test script maintenance, test data management, test execution environment setup, and test reporting.
API Testing Showdown: Postman vs Pytest. Part 2 by Nikita Belkovskiy
How does Postman fair against Pytest? This is a interesting series or articles by Nikita Belkovskiy. This article discusses the use of setup and teardown procedures in API testing using Pytest and Postman.
Also read part 1 about how Postman and Pytest work with entry-level tests and examine the variables system in Postman.
ā Read all curated stuff on Software Testing Automation.
š”ļø Security
Security testing your APIs - Broken Object Level Authorization by Bas Dijkstra
Whatās the term for when user can access resources they should not have access to? Apparently, itās called āBroken Object Level Authorizationā or BOLA for short. Bas Dijkstra provides an example of a BOLA violation in an online banking scenario and how to test for them along with few tips to minimize the risk.
ā Read all curated stuff on Security Testing.
š ļø Resources & Tools
PactumJS ā A REST API testing tool to automate e2e, integration, contract,Ā and component (or service-level) tests.
Xenu's Link Sleuth ā is a web scraping software that checks for broken links on sites.
Pile ā A privacy-friendly, open-source journaling app for Mac, centered around personal reflection and thought development and integrates with AI.
HandBrake ā is a open-source tool, built by volunteers, for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.
šĀ List of Software Testers
It's hard to find good articles, podcasts on Software Testing. Even hard to find people who create them. Are you also looking for amazing software testers to follow or read their content ? check out this page dedicated to software testers.
Do you also create content around Software Testing ?Ā Submit yours hereĀ and I will add it to the list.
š Bonus Content
š OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
- Adopting Asynchronous Collaboration in Distributed Software Teams
- What would a map of your career look like?
- Death by a thousand microservices
ā LAST WEEK'S MOST READ
- 67 Weird Debugging Tricks Your Browser Doesn't Want You to Know
- How to Improve Automation Test Coverage
- What is browser based load testing
š And Finally,
Tested and broke Paper Mario š¤£
Keep Smiling and have a fun week.
šØ Send Me Your Articles, Tutorials, Tools!
Wrote something? Send links via Direct Message on Twitter @thetestingkit (details here). If you have any suggestions for improvement or corrections, feel free to reply to this email.
Thanks to everyone for subscribing and reading!
Happy Testing!
Pritesh(@priteshusdadiya)
Did You Enjoy This?
Then consider joining the 1,720 other people getting the Software Testing Notes newsletter. It's a collection of fascinating finds from my week, about wide range of topics surrounding software testing and whatever else catches my interest.