Human skills to win in Software Testing
Not your traditional hard tech skills but rather equally important
Posts by categories
- Testing 31
- Test automation 24
- Coding 14
- Software Engineering 10
- Software Testing 10
- Engineering practices 9
- Android 7
- Espresso 7
- UI Automation 7
- Test Automation 6
- QA 5
- gRPC 5
- Career Advice 4
- Conferences 3
- Productivity 3
- SDET 3
- Career 2
- Interviews 1
- Announcements 1
- Test leadership 1
Testing
Deep dive into evolution of testing organizations
Understanding how different testing organizations are setup in enterprise, small product, hyper growth scale up and big tech companies based on my personal e...
Who the heck is an SDET? 😕
Software development engineer in Test is a popular role/title in Testing space. In this post I share my thoughts on what this role means and some of the skil...
Simple truths of Software Testing and Automation
Software testing and Test automation is nuanced field. There are many common sense truths that engineers should take care. This post elaborates on a twitter ...
10 years of Software Testing and Automation
I started my career as a professional Software tester and Automation engineer 10 years ago on this very day. This post is me reflecting on how this decade we...
🎉 Announcement - API testing in python course live on Test automation university
Here to announce that the course on building an API test automation framework using Python is finally live on Test automation university. Check it out
Python API test automation framework (Part 9) Running tests in parallel
We explore using pytest xdist plugin to run tests in parallel for our framework
Python API test automation framework (Part 8) Adding reporting with ReportPortal
Any framework is incomplete without a robust test results reporting setup, In this post, I walkthrough how to setup pytest to ReportPortal integration for pe...
Python API test automation framework (Part 7) Refactoring structure
So far we’ve seen how to do something using a specific module in python and their syntaxes. In this post we explore what could be a good API automation frame...
Python API test automation framework (Part 6) API response schema validation
Asserting that your api’s are returning responses conforming to valid schema contracts is very important. With a data validation library its often quite easy...
Python API test automation framework (Part 5) Working with JSON and JsonPath
In this post, we explore how to perform serialization/de-serialization of JSON and use JsonPath to parse JSON strings which forms a crucial building block of...
Python API test automation framework (Part 4) Working with XML using python lxml
Working with XML in any test automation framework specially API is inevitable, In this post we see how to write tests for an API that returns XML response an...
Python API test automation framework (Part 3) Adding fluent assertions using assertpy
Using a good assertion library can supercharge your automation framework. In this post we see how assertpy library could be useful and see some examples of i...
Python API test automation framework (Part 2) Making HTTP requests
Learn how to make http requests in python using requests and pytest for a locally hosted Flask API
Python API test automation framework (Part 1) Introduction, Setup and Installation
Introduction to the course and setting up python and required dependencies for building an API framework
How mob testing can bootstrap whole team quality
Mob testing is a very useful testing practice to encourage the whole team to test together and more often and is really effective at finding bugs while teach...
Testers identity crisis - QA/QE/AE/SDET/SET/TA? 🤷
In the Software Industry, Testers possess different titles. Sometimes these can cause different confusions in terms of roles/scope. In this post, I share wha...
How to do logging integration with logback and testng in ReportPortal
How to push logs into ReportPortal using logback in a Kotlin/TestNG/Gradle project
A Testers imposter syndrome
Why do testers feel like an imposter and how to deal with it?
Writing clear bug reports
Writing clear and concise bug reports can greatly reduce the back and forth between different engineering stakeholders. We discuss on what makes a good bug r...
Testing Android/IOS apps under network conditions
Mobile apps should be tested not just under WiFI but under “more” realistic network conditions. In this post we see how we can simulate these conditions on A...
Musings on Equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis
What are boundary value analysis and equivalence partitioning testing techniques? In this post we would understand these with an example.
Using adb and cmdline to ease android app testing
Using adb and command line can simplify and ease many tasks that are otherwise performed via a UI. In this post, we cover how to use adb/scrcpy to perform so...
Why automate tests early
A post on why test automation early and in parallel to the development cycle can help you scale faster and give better and quickly repeatable confidence over...
Mobile app testing checklist
A testers brain requires a lot of creativity and the no of scenarios that we test on a day to day basis are innumerable. Expecting the brain to remember all ...
The problem with titles for testers
An opinionated post on Why focussing on titles is an anti-pattern that should stop in the Testing world and how much better the industry if we all focussed a...
Advice from a test journeyman
In this post, I want to share some of my mental models as a test journeyman with the hope that it gives some insight to people who are a bit new to the field...
7 Myths about software testing
Common misconceptions about testing and the people who perform it.
Testers are not the last line of defence
Thoughts on why testers need to think beyond their role and evolve to become quality coaches for the whole team.
Testing: First principles
What are some of the first principles of testing that every tester/engineer should know of
Test automation
How WhatsApp tests software?
How do engineering teams at Meta enable Quality for an app with a 2B+ monthly active users
Who the heck is an SDET? 😕
Software development engineer in Test is a popular role/title in Testing space. In this post I share my thoughts on what this role means and some of the skil...
Simple truths of Software Testing and Automation
Software testing and Test automation is nuanced field. There are many common sense truths that engineers should take care. This post elaborates on a twitter ...
10 years of Software Testing and Automation
I started my career as a professional Software tester and Automation engineer 10 years ago on this very day. This post is me reflecting on how this decade we...
🎉 Announcement - API testing in python course live on Test automation university
Here to announce that the course on building an API test automation framework using Python is finally live on Test automation university. Check it out
Python API test automation framework (Part 9) Running tests in parallel
We explore using pytest xdist plugin to run tests in parallel for our framework
Python API test automation framework (Part 8) Adding reporting with ReportPortal
Any framework is incomplete without a robust test results reporting setup, In this post, I walkthrough how to setup pytest to ReportPortal integration for pe...
Python API test automation framework (Part 7) Refactoring structure
So far we’ve seen how to do something using a specific module in python and their syntaxes. In this post we explore what could be a good API automation frame...
Python API test automation framework (Part 6) API response schema validation
Asserting that your api’s are returning responses conforming to valid schema contracts is very important. With a data validation library its often quite easy...
Python API test automation framework (Part 5) Working with JSON and JsonPath
In this post, we explore how to perform serialization/de-serialization of JSON and use JsonPath to parse JSON strings which forms a crucial building block of...
Python API test automation framework (Part 4) Working with XML using python lxml
Working with XML in any test automation framework specially API is inevitable, In this post we see how to write tests for an API that returns XML response an...
Python API test automation framework (Part 3) Adding fluent assertions using assertpy
Using a good assertion library can supercharge your automation framework. In this post we see how assertpy library could be useful and see some examples of i...
Python API test automation framework (Part 2) Making HTTP requests
Learn how to make http requests in python using requests and pytest for a locally hosted Flask API
Python API test automation framework (Part 1) Introduction, Setup and Installation
Introduction to the course and setting up python and required dependencies for building an API framework
Testers identity crisis - QA/QE/AE/SDET/SET/TA? 🤷
In the Software Industry, Testers possess different titles. Sometimes these can cause different confusions in terms of roles/scope. In this post, I share wha...
How to do logging integration with logback and testng in ReportPortal
How to push logs into ReportPortal using logback in a Kotlin/TestNG/Gradle project
How to work with redis for test automation
Redis is a powerful in-memory data store that could be used for a variety of test automation use cases. In this post, we setup a redis server on an ubuntu VM...
Why automate tests early
A post on why test automation early and in parallel to the development cycle can help you scale faster and give better and quickly repeatable confidence over...
How to setup ReportPortal on a local docker instance
ReportPortal is one of the new reporting solutions available. It supports multiple different test frameworks like TestNG, Cucumber, Pytest and many more. Thi...
Using TestNG setup/teardowns with data provider combinations
Sometime back, I tried to update my Kotlin test code using TestNG to use data providers and Before/After annotations and it did not work immediately. After s...
Understanding reporting and logging in TestNG
TestNG is a popular test framework that needs no introduction in the JVM (Java virtual machine) ecosystem and can be used for automating your tests regardles...
Working with TestNG data providers in Kotlin
Data providers are not new, they are a cool feature in TestNG, in this post, we see how to implement these in Kotlin language
How to setup a load test via Locust
Walkthrough of how we can use Locust to set up a simple test for a mocked API
How to run your grouped testNG tests using Gradle
Walking through how to group and run your testNG tests via gradle and to avoid common pitfalls.
Coding
Migrated away from Wordpress
How i moved away from Wordpress and into the world of static site generators with Jekyll and Github pages
Debugging tip: Conditional breakpoints in IntelliJ platforms
Useful debugging feature in IntelliJ based IDEs: Put a breakpoint which stops only when a certain condition matches.
How to manage your python virtualenvs with Pipenv
Working with virtualenvs in python can be a bit tricky initially, Luckily we have pipenv now, which makes it quite easy to create, edit, delete and manage yo...
Git commit amend: Way to quickly fix last commit mistakes
A quick post on how git amend command can help you fix and change your last commit if you want to add something more or have made a mistake.
Using TestNG setup/teardowns with data provider combinations
Sometime back, I tried to update my Kotlin test code using TestNG to use data providers and Before/After annotations and it did not work immediately. After s...
Using IntelliJ to speed up your dev workflow
Give your development experience superpowers!
How to do reverse lookup enum constant by value in Kotlin
This is a neat trick I discovered recently
Working with TestNG data providers in Kotlin
Data providers are not new, they are a cool feature in TestNG, in this post, we see how to implement these in Kotlin language
Vol 2: How Kotlin eased my life in a Java world
2nd part in a series on how to write idiomatic Kotlin, Read first part here
Vol 1: How Kotlin eased my life in a Java world
Part 1 of a series of posts on why coding in kotlin makes so much sense over java.
Basics of writing Clean code
Key takeaways from Robert C Martin (Uncle bobs) book on clean code
Vim: The editor you need, but not the one you deserve
Hi there! So apart from the obvious reference to the Dark knight trilogy, I think this is quote in a small way highlights how great Vim is. Once put in pract...
Remembering GIT commands
GIT is one of the most popular SCM tools being used these days, and even though there are lot of UI interfaces to it (Source tree, GIT extensions etc), It re...
Duck Typing in python
Understand what duck typing in python means with an example
Software Engineering
🫨 Should an SDET move over to SDE?
This question often crosses the mind of people working as an SDET one or more times during their careers. In this blog, I offer a personal story from my own ...
⚖️ Balancing product vs platform engineering as an SDET️
Strategies and tips on how to approach platform engineering work while working in a product team as an SDET
BYOL: bring your own learning ⚡️
A post on how self-learning on your own time can bring you compounding effects in your engineering career that your day job just might not!
TribeQonf 2024 Debrief
Talks I saw and what I learned from them, tools and solutions explored at booths and the people I met
Testing gRPC #5: Load test a gRPC service
Learn how to write a load test for a locally hosted gRPC Java service using locust4j and run it on a local locust python-based master service
Testing gRPC #4: How to E2E test a gRPC service
Explore how to write a Functional API test for gRPC API with the live service
Testing gRPC #3: How to unit test a gRPC client
Grasp internals of how a client is written, and unit test it with a positive and negative case with a fake service implementation.
Testing gRPC #2: How to unit test a gRPC server
How is a service method implemented, What is the basic anatomy of a server unit test, grasp GrpcCleanupRule, InProcessServer and InProcessChannel. Let’s go ⚡
Testing gRPC #1: Set up a gRPC server and make an API call via gRPC UI
What is gRPC, its basic nuts and bolts, how to setup a server and explore APIs via gRPC web UI
Dev: QA ratio A tale of burnout? Is there a better way out?
A deeper look at disproportionately staffed engineering teams and what can we as leaders do to nudge this into more healthier and balanced directions
Software Testing
Is there growth in testing?
Is testing a dead-end career? Should I continue in testing? If I’m still here, how do I grow? Is there a future? In this blog, I provide my take on this freq...
📛 Common terminology misses in software testing
Does it matter? Maybe … maybe not. But … It doesn’t hurt to be clear
🫨 Should an SDET move over to SDE?
This question often crosses the mind of people working as an SDET one or more times during their careers. In this blog, I offer a personal story from my own ...
TribeQonf 2024 Debrief
Talks I saw and what I learned from them, tools and solutions explored at booths and the people I met
Testing gRPC #5: Load test a gRPC service
Learn how to write a load test for a locally hosted gRPC Java service using locust4j and run it on a local locust python-based master service
Testing gRPC #4: How to E2E test a gRPC service
Explore how to write a Functional API test for gRPC API with the live service
Testing gRPC #3: How to unit test a gRPC client
Grasp internals of how a client is written, and unit test it with a positive and negative case with a fake service implementation.
What I wish I knew about Software Testing and growth at the start of my career 🌱
A random unordered list of skills, approaches, habits, and growth ideas that I wish I had known at the start of my testing career to mature and compound faster
Testing gRPC #2: How to unit test a gRPC server
How is a service method implemented, What is the basic anatomy of a server unit test, grasp GrpcCleanupRule, InProcessServer and InProcessChannel. Let’s go ⚡
Testing gRPC #1: Set up a gRPC server and make an API call via gRPC UI
What is gRPC, its basic nuts and bolts, how to setup a server and explore APIs via gRPC web UI
Engineering practices
How WhatsApp tests software?
How do engineering teams at Meta enable Quality for an app with a 2B+ monthly active users
Engineering practices @ Meta: #8 Performance review process
How does Meta do performance reviews for their software engineers? Let’s find out. 🤓
Engineering practices @ Meta: #7 Focus on impact and data
Meta-engineering culture is driven by obsessing over the impact and the use of data to support and inform decisions. This is a core engineering value and lea...
Engineering practices @ Meta: #6 Better engineering and focus weeks
Meta encourages engineers to spend time on work that improves engineering efficiency and also take time to huddle for a week to focus on creative problem sol...
Engineering practices @ Meta: #5 A culture of transparency
How engineers and leaders at meta promote an Open culture of transparency through Weekly Q&A, Bring your own coffee (BYOC), Office hours and sharing cont...
Engineering practices @ Meta: #4 Engineers write automated tests, well mostly! 😉
At meta, Software engineers/developers own writing tests for their features and code, They are supported by dedicated teams and a sophisticated test infra th...
Engineering practices @ Meta: #3 Conduct an Engineering Bootcamp for new joiners
Each new engineer @ meta goes through a 6-week intensive boot camp program that sets them up for success in their future teams and roles. Let’s unpack how th...
Engineering practices @ Meta: #2 Software engineers choose their projects
How software engineers at meta have a lot of autonomy in choosing what they work on
Engineering practices @ Meta: #1 Unblock yourself first
In this post we discuss the practice of doing your research first to unblock yourself and asking questions
Android
Hello, espresso! Recipe 1 Find adjacent elements 🎭
Learn how to find a non unique element using a unique sibling element with espresso
Hello, espresso @ Selenium Conf 2022
Links to Code samples, blog posts, slides and quizzes used in the tutorial
Hello, espresso! Part 5 Automating WebViews 🕸️🌎
Learn how to automate WebViews in hybrid android apps using espresso-web
Hello, espresso! Part 4 Working with Idling resources 😴
Make your espresso test resilient by using idling resources to handle synchronization when needed
Hello, espresso! Part 3 Working with intents 🔄
Learn how to automate android intents (with and without stubbing) using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 2 Working with lists
Learn how to automate android list controls like AdapterView and RecyclerViews using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 1 Introducing you to the world of espresso automation!
Getting started with Android automation using Espresso
Espresso
Hello, espresso! Recipe 1 Find adjacent elements 🎭
Learn how to find a non unique element using a unique sibling element with espresso
Hello, espresso @ Selenium Conf 2022
Links to Code samples, blog posts, slides and quizzes used in the tutorial
Hello, espresso! Part 5 Automating WebViews 🕸️🌎
Learn how to automate WebViews in hybrid android apps using espresso-web
Hello, espresso! Part 4 Working with Idling resources 😴
Make your espresso test resilient by using idling resources to handle synchronization when needed
Hello, espresso! Part 3 Working with intents 🔄
Learn how to automate android intents (with and without stubbing) using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 2 Working with lists
Learn how to automate android list controls like AdapterView and RecyclerViews using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 1 Introducing you to the world of espresso automation!
Getting started with Android automation using Espresso
UI Automation
Hello, espresso! Recipe 1 Find adjacent elements 🎭
Learn how to find a non unique element using a unique sibling element with espresso
Hello, espresso @ Selenium Conf 2022
Links to Code samples, blog posts, slides and quizzes used in the tutorial
Hello, espresso! Part 5 Automating WebViews 🕸️🌎
Learn how to automate WebViews in hybrid android apps using espresso-web
Hello, espresso! Part 4 Working with Idling resources 😴
Make your espresso test resilient by using idling resources to handle synchronization when needed
Hello, espresso! Part 3 Working with intents 🔄
Learn how to automate android intents (with and without stubbing) using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 2 Working with lists
Learn how to automate android list controls like AdapterView and RecyclerViews using espresso
Hello, espresso! Part 1 Introducing you to the world of espresso automation!
Getting started with Android automation using Espresso
Test Automation
TribeQonf 2024 Debrief
Talks I saw and what I learned from them, tools and solutions explored at booths and the people I met
Testing gRPC #5: Load test a gRPC service
Learn how to write a load test for a locally hosted gRPC Java service using locust4j and run it on a local locust python-based master service
Testing gRPC #4: How to E2E test a gRPC service
Explore how to write a Functional API test for gRPC API with the live service
Testing gRPC #3: How to unit test a gRPC client
Grasp internals of how a client is written, and unit test it with a positive and negative case with a fake service implementation.
What I wish I knew about Software Testing and growth at the start of my career 🌱
A random unordered list of skills, approaches, habits, and growth ideas that I wish I had known at the start of my testing career to mature and compound faster
Testing gRPC #2: How to unit test a gRPC server
How is a service method implemented, What is the basic anatomy of a server unit test, grasp GrpcCleanupRule, InProcessServer and InProcessChannel. Let’s go ⚡
QA
Is there growth in testing?
Is testing a dead-end career? Should I continue in testing? If I’m still here, how do I grow? Is there a future? In this blog, I provide my take on this freq...
📛 Common terminology misses in software testing
Does it matter? Maybe … maybe not. But … It doesn’t hurt to be clear
🫨 Should an SDET move over to SDE?
This question often crosses the mind of people working as an SDET one or more times during their careers. In this blog, I offer a personal story from my own ...
TribeQonf 2024 Debrief
Talks I saw and what I learned from them, tools and solutions explored at booths and the people I met
Dev: QA ratio A tale of burnout? Is there a better way out?
A deeper look at disproportionately staffed engineering teams and what can we as leaders do to nudge this into more healthier and balanced directions
gRPC
Testing gRPC #5: Load test a gRPC service
Learn how to write a load test for a locally hosted gRPC Java service using locust4j and run it on a local locust python-based master service
Testing gRPC #4: How to E2E test a gRPC service
Explore how to write a Functional API test for gRPC API with the live service
Testing gRPC #3: How to unit test a gRPC client
Grasp internals of how a client is written, and unit test it with a positive and negative case with a fake service implementation.
Testing gRPC #2: How to unit test a gRPC server
How is a service method implemented, What is the basic anatomy of a server unit test, grasp GrpcCleanupRule, InProcessServer and InProcessChannel. Let’s go ⚡
Testing gRPC #1: Set up a gRPC server and make an API call via gRPC UI
What is gRPC, its basic nuts and bolts, how to setup a server and explore APIs via gRPC web UI
Career Advice
Is there growth in testing?
Is testing a dead-end career? Should I continue in testing? If I’m still here, how do I grow? Is there a future? In this blog, I provide my take on this freq...
🫨 Should an SDET move over to SDE?
This question often crosses the mind of people working as an SDET one or more times during their careers. In this blog, I offer a personal story from my own ...
⚖️ Balancing product vs platform engineering as an SDET️
Strategies and tips on how to approach platform engineering work while working in a product team as an SDET
BYOL: bring your own learning ⚡️
A post on how self-learning on your own time can bring you compounding effects in your engineering career that your day job just might not!
Conferences
TribeQonf 2024 Debrief
Talks I saw and what I learned from them, tools and solutions explored at booths and the people I met
Appium Conf 2019 Bengaluru : My experience
My Experience as a first time speaker in a test automation conference and the awesome talks and tools that I learned about.
Pycon India 2018: What i learned?
I attended my first pycon in 2018 in hyderabad. Here are my key learnings from the different talks
Productivity
Staying productive during work from home
How do I stay productive while working remotely or from home? This post is a collection of some practices that work well for me.
How I have set up my dev environment and workflow
Thoughts on how I have set up my dev environment on MacBook Pro and settings that could be modified to increase productivity and developer happiness.
SDET
Is there growth in testing?
Is testing a dead-end career? Should I continue in testing? If I’m still here, how do I grow? Is there a future? In this blog, I provide my take on this freq...
📛 Common terminology misses in software testing
Does it matter? Maybe … maybe not. But … It doesn’t hurt to be clear
🫨 Should an SDET move over to SDE?
This question often crosses the mind of people working as an SDET one or more times during their careers. In this blog, I offer a personal story from my own ...
Career
What I wish I knew about Software Testing and growth at the start of my career 🌱
A random unordered list of skills, approaches, habits, and growth ideas that I wish I had known at the start of my testing career to mature and compound faster
How I got “that” job at Meta
I recently switched to Meta London as a Software Engineer. This post talks about my interview experience and journey, how I prepared and resources for these ...
Interviews
How I got “that” job at Meta
I recently switched to Meta London as a Software Engineer. This post talks about my interview experience and journey, how I prepared and resources for these ...
Announcements
🔊🎉 Announcing Automation Hacks YouTube Channel 🌱
I’m really excited to announce the start of my you tube channel on Software Engineering and Testing
Test leadership
Dev: QA ratio A tale of burnout? Is there a better way out?
A deeper look at disproportionately staffed engineering teams and what can we as leaders do to nudge this into more healthier and balanced directions