What does good test automation training look like?

This post was published on November 30, 2016

As I’m moving away from by-the-hour work and more towards a hybrid of consulting, training, writing and speaking, one of the things I’m working on is slowly building up a workshop and training portfolio around topics I think I’m qualified to talk about. I have created a couple of workshops already, but so far, they are centered around a specific tool that I am interested in and enthusiastic about. This, however, has the downside that they’re probably targeted towards a relatively small group of interested people (not in the least because these tools are only available for a specific programming language, i.e., Java).

To extend my options with regards to delivering training and workshops, I am currently looking at developing workshops and training material that contain higher level and more generic material, while still offering practical insights and hands-on exercises. There are a lot of different approaches and possible routes that can be taken to achieve this, especially since there is no specific certification trajectory around test automation (nor do I think there should be, but that’s a wholly different discussion that I’ll probably cover in another blog post in time). So far, I haven’t figured out the ideal contents and delivery format, but ideas have been taking shape in my head recently.

Here are some subjects I think a decent test automation training trajectory should cover:

Test automation 101: the basics
Always a good approach: start with the basics. What is test automation? What is it not (here’s a quote I love from Jim Hazen)? What role does automation play in current development and testing processes and teams? Why is it attracting the interest it does? To what levels and what areas can you apply test automation and what is that test automation pyramid thing you keep hearing about?

Test automation implementation
So, now that you know what test automation (sorta kinda) is, how to apply it to your software development process? How are you going to involve stakeholders? What information or knowledge do you want to derive from test automation? How does it fit into trends such as Agile software development, BDD, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery?

Test automation, the good the bad and the ugly
It’s time to talk about patterns. Not about best practices, though, I don’t like that term. But there are definitely lessons to be learned from the past on what works and what doesn’t. Think data driven. Think maintainability. Think code review. Think (or rather, forget) code-free test automation. Think reporting. Think some more.

Beyond functional test automation: what else could automation be used for?
Most of what we’ve seen so far covers functional test automation: automated checks that determine whether or not some part of the application under test functions as specified or desired (or both, if you’re lucky). However, there’s a lot more to testing than mere functional checks. Of course there’s performance testing, security testing, usability testing, accessibility testing, all kinds of testing where smart application of tools might help. But there’s more: how about automated parsing of logs generated during an exploratory testing session? Automated test data creation / generation / randomization? Automated report creation? All these are applications of test automation, or better put, automation in testing (thanks, Richard!), and all these are worth learning about.

Note that nowhere in the topics above I am focusing on specific tools. As far as I’m concerned, getting comfortable with one or more tools is one of the very last steps in becoming a good test automation engineer or consultant. I am of the opinion that it’s much more important to answer the ‘why?’ and the ‘what?’ of test automation before focusing on the ‘how?’. Unfortunately, most training offerings I’m seeing focus solely on a specific tool. I myself am quite guilty of doing the same, as I said in the first paragraph of this post.

One thing I’m still struggling with is how to make the attendants do the work. It’s quite easy to present the above subjects as a (series of) lecture(s), but there’s no better way to learn than by doing. Also, I think hosting workshops is much more fun than delivering talks, and there’s no ‘workshop’ without actual ‘work’. But it has to be meaningful, relevant to the subject covered, and if possible, fun..

So, now that I’ve shared my thoughts on what ingredients would make up a decent test automation education, I’d love to hear what you think. What am I missing (I’m pretty sure the list above isn’t complete). Do you think there’s an audience for training as mentioned above? If not, why not? What would you do (or better, what are you doing) differently? This is a topic that’s very dear to me, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Your input is, as always, much appreciated.

In the meantime, I’ve started working on a first draft of training sessions and workshops that cover the topics above, and I’m actively looking for opportunities to deliver these, be it at a conference or somewhere in-house. I’ve got a couple of interesting opportunities lined up already, which is why I’m looking forward to 2017 with great anticipation!

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