Are you confused about where to start as a software tester?
Then this article is for you since it serves as a primer for understanding software testing better.
Before we delve deep into the list of things you need to learn as a software tester, you must first remember that you can’t always measure what you are learning. As you test a product, you gain knowledge about it. Then you grow with developers, managers, and testers, enabling you to excel at what you do. Finally, you adapt depending on the setting of the product being tested. However, you must keep learning more about the tools used to test every product.
The list given below is by no means an exhaustive one, but it will help you begin your software testing adventure.
Things Every New Software Tester Must Know and Learn
Go through the questions and tasks given below. They should help you in your journey as a tester.
Testing for non-testers
Katrina Clokie’s Testing for Non-Testers is one of the most valuable resources. Utilizing her approach, you can comprehend testing and its significance. You may extend your expertise by looking into her references more.
Socialise
This will be a more straightforward task, to begin with, but it will require effort to maintain. Start with as little as you want or feel comfortable with.
Participating in social activities will allow you to meet local testers eager to assist you when you encounter a difficult challenge. You can resort to popular coding platforms or initiate a conversation chain on helpful videos to meet like-minded people at the same stage as you.
Organization is key
When so much information is thrown at you, it can take time to keep organized. Establishing new little goals for yourself will save you time and money in the long term.
You can also consider creating mind maps. There are several free tools available to assist you with this. For example, a mind map can make it much simpler to simplify a random thought process.
What is a bug?
Next, you need to understand clearly what a bug is. The explanation below will give you a basic idea. However, you need to search for more information related to bugs.
Bugs cause a program to alter its behaviour when the programmer did not want or expect it to, or it may cause the program not to change its behaviour when the program did expect it to.
Recommended Reading
This is an excellent place to start with your reading list. You will be able to do some of this in a single day but keep in mind to be consistent with your efforts.
Elizabeth Hendrickson’s Discover It!
Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory’s Agile Testing
Conferences
There are several software testing conferences to pick from. Some even upload recordings of the talks later, which is great, but it is only part of the complete experience. Attending a conference allows you to network, which may sound dreadful, but it may be the best part of the experience. Another advantage of attending is the opportunity to ask the speakers queries after their presentation or locate them afterwards to discuss further.
Podcasts
Have you ever wished to learn something new as you work, drive, or ride the train? Try listening to podcasts. They allow you to study while working or commuting.
Podcasts are fantastic resources. Make an effort to pay attention to them. I’m sure you’ll find your favourites shortly.
Write a user story
Creating a user story will help you think more about writing user requirements. It will help you to think about the approach you can use to test these user stories. You will be able to draw attention to missed details or overlooked information. It’s an excellent process because you’re testing before you write any code!
Testing personas
During testing, you should do more than just test for yourself. You must also consider impatient consumers, users who take their time, and many other factors. Something like this may slip from your thoughts as you become more comfortable with an application, and you may drift into autopilot mode. Trying to delve further into the user persona will help avoid this issue.
Test a user story
To test a user story, review the requirements, create test scenarios, prepare test data, execute the tests, verify acceptance criteria, report defects, retest defects, and sign off on the story if it meets all requirements. Test scenarios should cover both positive and negative cases, and all defects should be reported and resolved before signing off on the story.
Heuristics
Heuristics are problem-solving tactics and techniques used in software testing to assist testers in identifying possible flaws in software. Heuristics are recommendations that testers employ to make rapid choices and prioritize testing efforts.
Heuristics are especially beneficial when testing is limited in time or the software being tested is complicated to grasp fully. They can assist testers by quickly directing their attention to the parts of the software that are most likely to have flaws based on prior knowledge and experience.
Oracles
Oracle is a principle or mechanism used in software testing that tells you if the software failed or passed the test.
An oracle is a source of information that lets you test the accuracy of a software’s output. The purpose of utilizing an oracle is to guarantee that the program performs as expected.
White Box Testing
White-box testing entails inspecting a software application’s internal structure and logic. Testers build and test cases that investigate how the system processes inputs and outputs based on their understanding of its internal workings.
Because of the time you have spent with the product, you are automatically biased in your thinking habits when conducting this form of assessment. As a result, you may miss apparent or non-obvious flaws.
Black Box Testing
Black-box testing is a technique that evaluates software without knowledge of the system’s underlying workings. Testers examine the system’s external behaviour and compare it to predefined requirements. This method assesses how effectively software reacts to expected and unexpected user actions and discovers flaws in the system’s user interface, functionality, and performance.
Accessibility Testing
The practice of assessing a product’s capacity to be utilized by people with impairments is known as accessibility testing. It guarantees that persons with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive disabilities have equal access to and use of the product. Accessibility testing involves a variety of tests, such as keyboard-only navigation, screen reader compatibility, and colour contrast checks.
User Experience (UX) Testing
It is how the users interact with your software and how they respond when using it. For example, testers are frequently entrusted with understanding individual experiences and helping ensure the consumer has a positive experience by reporting any potential concerns to the rest of the team. In addition, testing can assist in identifying UX flaws even before the product is released to the public.
Regression Testing
Regression testing entails re-testing previously working features to ensure the addition of new features or the restructuring of old ones does not impact them.
Because of regression and the uncertainty it creates for developers and management, several testing techniques are proposed. For example, automated checks, rerunning Test Cases, extensive smoke tests, and so on are all in place for this purpose.
Read also: A Guide to Automated Regression Testing Tools: Beginner
Agile Testing
Agile testing is a software testing methodology that encourages cooperation, flexibility, and adaptation. During the development process, there is continual input and iteration, with testing included at each level. The objective is to provide high-quality software that satisfies the client’s demands while responding promptly to changes and feedback.
Pair Testing
Pair testing entails two persons evaluating software simultaneously on a machine using a single keyboard. One person is in charge of the keyboard, while the other provides ideas or runs tests, pays attentively, writes notes, etc. With this strategy, there should be a common objective, and the two persons will regularly interact to guarantee that the objective is accomplished. In this testing method, communication is essential.
This is a simple and enjoyable activity. You can try out this with a friend.
Mob Testing
Mob testing is a software testing approach in which individuals work collaboratively to evaluate an application. In mob testing, a small group of testers, developers, and stakeholders work together on a specific software feature or functionality.
Its primary purpose is to detect flaws rapidly and efficiently. The team can identify issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. It also encourages cooperation and aids in developing shared knowledge of the software being tested.
Dark Patterns
Dark patterns are user interfaces intended to lure users into doing something they did not plan to do. These are well-thought-out tactics intended to promote a business but seldom consider the user. For example, have you discovered an extra hidden item in your cart at checkout? These are dark patterns.
Consider your user experience objective. Dark Patterns are an anti-pattern to this. They have been a hot issue on news websites for quite some time.
Exploratory testing
Exploratory testing is a software testing technique that emphasizes the tester’s creativity, experience, and intuition. It involves exploring the software without a predefined test plan. Instead, the tester is encouraged to actively engage with the software, looking for defects, bugs, and anomalies that traditional scripted testing methods may miss.
The primary goal of exploratory testing is to identify defects not captured by other testing techniques. For example, exploratory testing can be performed at any stage of the software development lifecycle and can be performed by both manual and automated testing methods.
Mobile testing
Mobile application testing evaluates applications across various devices to ensure they work as intended and fulfil all necessary criteria. Mobile testing is critical for ensuring that apps are user-friendly, dependable, and available over various mobile devices.
Mobile testing is essential in developing mobile applications since it ensures the program works as planned and delivers a great user experience.
Security testing
Security testing is becoming more significant than ever. It is a type of testing that focuses on assessing the security of software systems, applications, or networks to find vulnerabilities or flaws that attackers can exploit. The fundamental purpose of security testing is to guarantee that the system or application is safe and capable of protecting sensitive data, preventing unwanted access, and preserving system integrity.
Automation
One of the benefits of automation is that it allows you to improve the coverage of your application. You are human; thus, you can make mistakes when re-checking features. Computers are capable of performing tasks that humans frequently fail at.
The most crucial aspect of automation is deciding what to automate. Establishing that frame and including additional aspects like team aim, technology, time, and team abilities can help you select tools for your situation.
Performance testing
The average user is said to lose patience after 4 seconds if a web page does not load. Load and performance testing can assist the entire team in estimating any flaws in the product before it is distributed to users.
Performance testing aims to see how accessible an app is under regular load situations. It can assist teams in determining if a website can accommodate the anticipated amount of users.
Load testing is performed to examine how the system performs under high-load situations. It would monitor reaction times and resource use under these extreme conditions. Additionally, it helps detect when the system fails.
Ask a question
You’ve undoubtedly got a lot of questions after reading all of this.
Turn the query into a conversation. Of course, you never know what you could discover. This may appear an easy topic for a job, yet it might be intimidating for others.
Share your experience
Even if it is not intended for publication, blogging about your journey may inspire and strengthen you. Writing helps you learn from the past and plan for the future. It is an excellent kind of self-retrospection or reflection.
Consider the first task you performed, why you started here, and what you intended to learn. Consider what you’ve learned thus far. Were any of the tasks especially beneficial to you?
If so, explain why. Were there any that you found uninteresting? You might be amazed at how valuable sharing some of your experiences and insights will be to others.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, these are the skills you need to acquire and the things you need to understand well if you want to be a successful software tester. We hope this guide will help you progress in your career. However, you also need to remember that nothing will teach you better than your own experience.
This blog is originally published at TestGrid
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